The Sword and The Mountain (Kathardra book 1)

They went on like that for the majority of the day. Zar set the course and Storm followed after. Lessa would occasionally ask questions, typically about the surrounding flora. Many of the plants she recognized, but few she didn’t have any name for.

As the day went on the trees they traveled through got smaller, they had gone from towering redwoods to normal-sized trees quite suddenly. They were still massive trees, but a person could not hollow them out and make a home.

They never took an established path. Occasionally they would find a game trail, but nothing that looked traveled regularly by humans. Not that Storm kept to the exact path that Zar took. His horse could travel down the game trail, but Storm wound her own path between the trees that could most accommodate her bulk.

They stopped for lunch, Zar called it a midday meal, of dried plain meat strips. Lessa started feeling guilty because he clearly only had food for one and was sharing with her. But her guilt was alleviated when she remembered it was his fault that she was here, to begin with. Never mind that she ultimately had chosen to come here.

They kept moving almost right away, Zar was clearly in a hurry. This did not bother Lessa though, she was getting used to riding the dragon and it provided for less awkward silences.

It was late afternoon when they veered from the trees and the landscape opened up to green rolling hills.

Lessa was admiring the new landscape and didn’t notice Storm’s wings slowly unfurling until it was too late.

“What are you doing?” She gasped just as Storm raised her wings high overhead, she burst forward down a small slope and her wings slapped down firmly against the air.

Lessa was slammed into the dragon’s back as Storm left the ground. Her wings frantically beat the air pulling them higher and higher. Lessa’s legs struggled to grasp Storm’s back and she reached as far around Storm’s neck as she could.

Storm take us back down! Lessa shouted with all of her mental might trying to not lose her stomach. This time the dragon responded with the glorious feeling of wings in the sky. However, Lessa’s heart was beating too fast from panic to fully indulge in Storm’s sudden joy of flight. She clung desperately to the dragon, sure that any second she would slip over the side and fall to the ground, which was likely miles below at this point.

The wind whipped over her back, and Storm’s wing joints flexed up and down rhythmically just behind her. The heat coming through the scales of her neck provided a stark contrast to the chill of the air rushing along her length.

“Storm!” Lessa begged, both mentally and verbally, though her words were whisked away on the wind.

After an eternity of wingbeats, of her heart trying to break through her chest, of air ripping at her, attempting to pull her from the dragon’s back, the wings behind her steadied, and the wind calmed.

Open your eyes, Lessa. Storm’s thoughts were joyous and tranquil.

No! Lessa shrieked silently.

Open your eyes. Storm said no less calm, but more demanding.

With great hesitation, like she was expecting to flood her eyes with soap, Lessa pried her eyes open. What she saw took her breath away. They were so high, she could see so far. The towering trees were off to the right, their canopy so thick it looked like an ocean of leaves. The rolling hills surrounding them were thick with foliage, scattered boulders, and stands of trees.

And everything was drenched in the thick orange of a sun that had just begun to set.

“Wow,” Lessa said into the air, and just like that she was flooded with the same exhilaration that Storm was at being let loose into the sky.

Her emotions merged with the dragons as Storm dipped a wing tip down and they soared into a spiral. It was magnificent.

Lessa no longer feared. It almost seemed ridiculous that just a moment ago she thought she would fall. Of course, Storm would never drop her. Sitting atop Storm’s shoulders, with her wings flapping and her nose cutting the wind, felt so natural, like breathing. In a way, this was the first breath Lessa and Storm had ever taken.

Until this point, they had not actually been living. Whatever life was before this moment didn’t matter. Life was now flying, the miles could disappear below them and nothing could stop them. Nothing else mattered.

He is stopping. Storm said, pulling Lessa from her reverie.

Oh. Lessa responded, peeking over Storm’s shoulder, looking for Zar far below on his horse, she couldn’t see him but obviously Storm could. The sun was nearly gone behind the horizon at this point, the landscape had grown very dark below them. I suppose we should go down.

Hold on. Storm said, dipping her nose down.

To what? Lessa asked wryly. But she tightened her legs as much as she could and leaned low over Storm’s neck.

The dragon took them to the ground slowly, spirally low to where Zar had picketed his horse.

When they reached the ground, Storm became serious about Lessa’s need to hold on. The dragon’s rear end dipped low, and with a jolt her rear feet hit the ground, followed nearly instantly by her front feet. The shock was too rough for Lessa, belatedly she realized her legs had progressed beyond weary. She slid from Storm’s back at the second jolt and fell to the ground. She landed on her feet but almost instantly fell to her knees.

“Are you alright?” Zar asked instantly, rushing over.

Lessa laughed out loud as she tried to push herself to her feet. “I’m fine,” she gasped out. “I’m fine. Just tired.” She couldn’t wipe the grin from her face, the flight had been exhilarating.

He stared at her for just a moment, she was sure she looked like a crazy person. “Please, try to stay out of sight up there.” He was obviously very concerned. “Dragons are not common in Kathardra, her being sighted here would cause a world of problems.”

Lessa shrugged, her enthusiasm dampened slightly. “We didn’t see anyone but you all day. And I’m pretty sure Storm would see anybody before they saw her.”

Zar nodded a concession but Lessa could tell he was still worried.

Storm turned her back to them, just as Zar started unsaddling his horse, and spread her wings once more.

Where are you going? Lessa asked her in a slight panic, the rest of her good mood suddenly evaporating.

Hunting. Storm responded simply, but clearly letting Lessa know she would be back soon.

The burst of Storm’s wings beating against the ground nearly sent Lessa to her knees again. The horse reared in fear and then danced around pulling at his tethers.

“Where is she going?” Zar asked, staring after Storm.

“Hunting, I guess,” Lessa answered also staring after the dragon. She gathered the borrowed coat around herself, fighting the sudden vulnerability.

“She will come back, right?” Zar questioned.

“Yeah, she’ll come back,” Lessa said. Her eyes briefly met his.

Zar went back to pulling the saddle from his horse. Lessa’s eyes wandered around the site he had chosen for the night.

“Should I gather wood for a fire?” She asked, looking for something to do.

“Sure.” Zar had just started rubbing his horse down with soft grass, pulling the sweat from his sides. “Just don’t go too far.”

Lessa mentally rolled her eyes, how far was she supposed to go? Her ride just flew away and he was the one with a horse. Not to mention she had no idea where they were.

Zar had chosen an outcropping of rock that provided a bit of shelter to one side, there were trees on all sides and plenty of fallen wood and twigs for kindling. It didn’t take Lessa long to fill her arms, she never even had to leave the line of sight of camp.

She dumped what she had in a likely fire spot and dropped to the ground. She was exhausted. She hadn’t slept much the night before and riding through the sky for the last several hours had sapped the rest of her strength.

Shortly after Zar came over to the pile of wood she had dumped and put his hands on each side of it. Fire sparked to existence between his hands and started consuming the discarded tree limbs.

Almost at once, Lessa put her frozen hands close to the fire. She hadn’t realized how cold they were, the flight had sapped all warmth from them.

“So, can everyone in Kathardra do that?” She gestured to the fire.

“Start fires?” he tried to clarify.

“No. I mean…” She found she had trouble using the words. “Can everyone here use magic?”

“Oh, no. Not everyone. Not many in fact. Quite a few people can do very small things. Stirring pots, dusting shelves. That sort of thing.”

“But other people start fires?”

“Yes.” He grinned at her from across the fire. Lessa’s heart gave a small lurch, he had a really nice smile. “Others can start fires. After we find you a teacher you’ll be able to do so much more.”

Lessa shook her head. “Not me. I can’t do magic.”

“Are you sure?” He asked with a piercing stare.

“I’m very sure.” Lessa reaffirmed. “No magic here.”

“Huh.” Zar voiced noncommittally.

Storm returned not much later. And she even unceremoniously dropped a venison leg on the ground at Lessa’s feet. Zar was rather impressed with the dragon’s offering. Tonight, there was no guilt for Lessa as she filled her stomach. Zar ate as well, and everything left over Storm crunched and swallowed, nothing left.

Sleep came easier to Lessa than it had the night before. She was no longer plagued by thoughts of her family missing her. Lessa knew that her family was still missing her, but the pain was not so recent and therefore easier to deal with. It still hurt, but was now bearable. And deep down, deeper than Lessa was able to consciously acknowledge, something about Kathardra felt right.

Upon waking Lessa’s legs were so sore that she could barely move. Her legs shook when she tried to climb up on Storm and she had to rely mainly on her arms to pull herself up. She felt ridiculous and clumsy and hated that Zar was watching because she felt like she was going to fall on her back.

Eventually, she was mounted and Storm was ready to jump in the sky.

“Please try not to be seen.” Zar urged before Storm had a chance to rise. “We will be passing a town shortly and it would be bad if a dragon was seen in the area.” Lessa nodded in response and Storm took off.

Storm had been practicing how she went airborne the night before while hunting. It was a much gentler jump and Lessa was not quite slammed into her back, but she still didn’t feel very secure while Storm climbed into the air.