Dragon Mage (Book 3) 9. Danger In The Clouds (Patreon)

Corvus supposed he shouldn't have been that surprised that Hattie proved to be a decent rider. Though Charm's neck was much wider than that of a typical horse -- or whatever her water demon was -- she had a light and well balanced seat and seemed to show no fear from falling off.

She sat in front. Corvus was not going to have the demon girl where he wouldn't see her. Though he almost immediately regretted the arrangement. Her arms when he brushed against her skin was unpleasantly cold and clammy. Like a fish.

He wished Gwen was with him instead. He would have liked the excuse to wrap his hands around her waist. But she was still in the bowels of the dungeon and unreachable.

He still sent a quick PM to her and Roan before he left, explaining the situation. They would receive it when they cleared the dungeon.

Charm took to the sky with powerful snaps of her wings.

As they flew, he and Hattie pointed at points of scenery below and exchanged words for them in each other's language.

He didn't gain a new level in foreign language understanding, but he still felt on the brink of some new gain.

Soon, he spotted the trail of dust thrown up by galloping horses. Away from the city, the land became hot and bleached -- subject to occasional monsoon rains but not much more than that. It made for swift riding and the small band of riders were making excellent time.

They were nothing to Charm's speed, of course.

Charm kept high in the sky, her pale belly not unusually visible in the sea of pale blue. Charm easily flew on ahead of the group and then backtracked, coming in for a land right in their path with wings outstretched. Using her metal bonding spells, her claws were coated in gleaming steel sheaths and golden threads collected in between her scales.

She made for a magnificent sight. It was a credit to the riders that they didn't bulk.

In fact, looking at the men through Charm's eyes, Corvus caught a scowl on the lead rider's face.

He was unusual in that he rode a dappled stallion. Usually the Horse Folk bonded to the gender opposite to their own. However, this man's stallion was every bit as large and impressive as Gwen's NightShade.

Once Charm landed, Corvus slide down off her neck, indicating to Hattie that she should stay put up there. The girl watched on without comment.

The horse riders slowed as they came up to Corvus. Several rode around as if to circle him, but a lifted lip from Charm had their horses balking back.

The man in front kicked his stallion right up to Corvus. The horse's nostrils were flared, and it was clearly nervous from being so close to a dragon, but the man sat straight and looked unafraid.

The colored rags woven in his hair were of green and red. Different from the red and blue of Kale's Horse Folk. This guy was from a different clan.

"Well, well," the rider said dismissively. "If it isn't Kale's pet healer. The boy who thinks he's good enough to ride with the Horse Folk."

Corvus stiffened, but he refused to be goaded that easily. This guy was below him in every sense of the word -- in rank, in power, and if he insisted on insulting him in front of Charm... lower in intelligence, too.

"I'm Corvus," he left off the 'prince' in his title. No one from the Horse Folk would care about that. "Looks like you're riding out to meet the royal messengers -- against my orders."

The boy spat to the side. "I don't care about Towner orders.”

Calling someone a ‘Towner’ was about the highest insult in the Horse Folk. Corvus felt his eye twitch, but again he didn’t rise to the bait.

Honestly, he was surprised he didn’t get an increase to his Emotional Control skill.

“You aren’t one of Kale’s men,” Corvus said, deciding to take a different track. “Whose clan are you from?”

The teen grinned at him. “I’m Horseman of my own clan. These are my men.” He gestured behind him, and the other riders whooped and hollered in immediate support.

Corvus couldn’t help himself. “Horseman of a clan of… ten. That’s impressive.”

“That’s what Kale’s daughter said.”

All humor drained away. “Gwen?”

The boy grinned back at him, lazy and satisfied. “Word is, Kale means to marry her off to another clan head. She and I were supposed to meet this winter gathering, but I figured… why wait? I travel down here with my men only to find out some uppity Towner has his eyes on her. But that’s okay, she hasn’t met a real suitor yet—”

Corvus strode forward – fists clenched. He only got two steps before the rider laughed and wheeled his horse, putting himself out of range.

“My name is Ferrick,” he said. “Remember that.”

“Gwen would never—” But Corvus’s words were lost in the sound of thundering footfalls as Ferrick motioned to his men and they started into a gallop, flowing around the growling Charm as if she were a stationary obstacle.

Stiffly, Corvus marched back to Charm. His anger had reflected back on her and there were long furrows in the ground where she had dug it with her claws.

He was a little surprised she had not lashed out at the horses as they’d passed. Then again, she had spent her hatchling years with the Horse Folk, and he had been very strict about the herds being off limits.

“He dares insult you…” she hissed, low and dangerous.

That was another reason he couldn’t afford to get angry. His emotions reflected on her, and her impulse control historically was not… optimal. Corvus took in a deep breath and tried to release his anger on the exhale. It didn’t work.

“Insults are all he has. He hopes to impress Gwen by blatantly defying the towners – defying my orders.”

Thankfully, Gwen wasn’t an idiot. But the idea that this nobody little pissant thought that he could somehow win her over… it was more than he could bear.

“He’s leading his people to the royal messengers,” Charm commented. There was a gleam in her eyes. She knew what he was thinking.

He smirked at her. “He’s come all this way. What a shame if he were carried back to the city in dragon claws.”

Charm’s draconic laugh was deep and growling. “I can’t carry the horse.”

“That’s fine. He won’t continue on without his partner. He’ll follow us to the city.”

Corvus jumped lightly back to Charm’s neck and retook his seat.

Hattie looked on with a cocked head. “Problem?”

He did not yet have enough of her language to begin to explain the situation. In fact, he wasn’t sure he could even if they were fluent in each other’s language. He settled with. “Fixing problem.” With prejudice, he thought.

Then Charm took to the sky, and they once again were flying after the retreating riders.

To their credit, they had gained a good deal of distance on them in a short amount of time. In fact, it seemed they were riding the horses flat out. Even a Mountain Heavy couldn’t maintain a gallop indefinitely. Seriously, they couldn’t expect to outrun a dragon. What were they thinking?

Ferrick is an idiot, Corvus concluded smugly. Really, he knew that Gwen wouldn’t look twice at a moron, but it would still be good to send Ferrick packing with his tail between his legs.

Charm climbed high in preparation to dive down, exchanging altitude for speed. It would be more dramatic to snatch the fool off his horse at the end of their dive, just to drive the point home that they were faster and far superior in every way.

This high, he could see the gleaming curve of the shallow sea just to the west. It usually made a spectacular sight, but Corvus ignored it in favor of keeping an eye on the riders below.

Charm reached her greatest height and snapped her wings to the side in preparation to dive—

Hattie screamed in his ear.

All of Corvus’s focus had been downward. As he whipped around to see what scared the demon girl, he again caught the gleam of the sea out of the corner of his eye. Hattie was pointing to it and when he looked he saw it was not only the sea, but the billowing storm clouds above it.

They were not normal clouds. They billowed out before Corvus’s eyes, going from a far off expanding mushroom to a dark cloak which stretched from one horizon to another – all within half a breath.

Hattie pointed again and spoke so quickly that Corvus couldn’t tell what she was saying. Only that she was frantic.

These clouds taste of magic, Charm said in his mind.

Aborting the preparation for her dive, she spread her wings to arrest her motion.

At that second a fierce wind picked up out of nowhere, catching her wings like sails and pulling her close to the sea. Charm let out an enraged shriek, half tumbling to the side before she righted herself.

Corvus and Hattie clung onto her scales and for a dizzying moment Corvus caught sight of the ground… and the riders which had stopped their headlong rush and were now riding in a wide circle. As if… as if they were signaling someone who’d watched from above.

This was a trap, he realized. That arrogant prick lured me out here—

Lightning flashed in the sky and just above the gathering clouds, framed in a dark silhouette was the outline of a massive dragon.

Hattie spoke, her thickly accented voice frightened. “Daffodil.”