SWNOVELS Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns – Chapter 9
Devarius stood at the mouth of a cave, watching a storm in the twilight. They were safe and warm for the night, but Devarius didn’t know for how long. He needed to bring them to Vaereal, but with every dragonrider in the empire searching for them, he didn’t know how he could.
“What worries you?” Paedyn asked from behind.
Devarius turned around. He half smiled at his friend. “How will we reach Vaereal without the empire finding us? Now that they know we’re traveling at least as far south as Laeraed, they’re probably searching every village from here to there. Besides, we’re hiding in a bloody cave dug in the ground, and they have dragons. If they know this cave is here, or if they spot it, they will search it.”
“We are at a risk, this is true. But it’s better than being in the open. At least we have one thing going for us right now.”
“What’s that?” Devarius asked.
Paedyn grinned. “This horrible storm. If the dragonriders fly in it, they won’t be able to see us. They’ll most likely travel over us to search the villages as you said, but they won’t notice this small underground cave in this weather.”
Devarius clasped his hand on Paedyn’s shoulder. “You always do know how to improve my mood, don’t you? How do you always stay so positive?”
Paedyn shrugged. “Someone has to.”
Devarius shook his head. “Any ideas on how we can reach Vaereal without giving notice?”
Paedyn bit his top lip. “Now that they know we’re traveling in a party of thirty, they will expect us to travel slow. That dragonrider saw we are low in supplies, and most of what we had, he took from us. I don’t believe we gathered much in our rush to leave, and they’ll know that. They’ll stick to the villages and cities, waiting for us to arrive and restock. A large party like ours entering any community would bring notice … like the last time.”
“Yes,” Devarius replied. “That was a mistake. We should have known better.”
Paedyn shook his head. “It’s in the past, my brother.” Paedyn coughed, glancing behind them to make sure no one was listening. He made sure to keep a careful eye on Dasyra. “They won’t expect us to travel south by the river, and it’ll be the fastest way. We’ll need to exit the river when the mountain comes into view so we don’t travel all the way to Laeraed, where they’ll be watching for us for sure. Then, we have to pass around the mountain from the north, around the west side, and back south to Vaereal.”
Devarius shook his head. “That’s a complicated journey. And why are you so sure they won’t check the river?”
“Thirty people traveling downstream without boats? They may check once or twice, but it won’t be their focus. They’ll be focused on the villages. I don’t know how many dragonriders are after us, but that dragonrider made it seem like there was a captain and maybe a few others. Even with dragons, that is a lot of ground to cover. So far, it doesn’t seem we’ve attracted the attention of the entire empire … At least, not yet.”
Devarius laughed under his breath. “We’ll see how long that takes. Hopefully, we’ll find the Resistance by then.”
Paedyn smiled.
“I have one problem with your idea.”
Paedyn tilted his head.
“Where are we going to get boats? We’ll need from seven to ten boats, depending on size.”
Paedyn’s eyes glinted. “Trevium is just east of here.”
Devarius raised his eyebrows. “Trevium? Trevium is the closest city to where that dragonrider held us. They will definitely be looking for us in Trevium. We can’t just stroll in there to buy ten boats. We can’t stroll in there, period.”
“They’re looking for a large party. Thirty people. Not two or three people. We’ll have the rest of our party travel just south of Trevium. We’ll meet them down there after we acquire the boats.”
“Still, what if someone grows suspicious and they talk to the dragonriders?”
“We’ll create a distraction.” Paedyn glanced back over to Dasyra. “It’s time we lost a little deadweight. I have a plan.”
Devarius scratched his chin. He eyed Dasyra with suspicion. His eyebrows rose. “What did you have in mind?”