Chosen: Book 1 in the Dragon Queen series
12 – Permanent Damage

Fire and wind roared around us. The ground fell away and I had to force myself not to squeeze my eyes closed and flinch away. The mage who’d tortured both us and the dragon stood below with two other robed men.

The mages extended their arms, reaching out as though they could stretch through the sky and drag us back. The wind screamed, shaken by their actions.

Something tugged at my foot. I kicked wildly, as though I could shake off magic. The grip tightened. I looked down, half-expecting to replace that the mage who had tortured me had launched himself into the air and that it was his fingers around my boot that I could feel.

He was still below, glaring up as the wind whipped his cloak around him.

I kicked again and the sensation slipped off my foot. I hitched forward on the back of the dragon, trying to pull myself away from danger, but it was as much as I could do to keep hold as we sped through the air.

Hold on.

“I wasn’t going to let go,” I ground through clenched teeth. The dragon turned and instead of gaining height we moved parallel to the ground, speeding so the wind smacked tears from my eyes. I could see nothing. The world narrowed down to the noise of the wind, the cold of the air rushing past and the stiff, half-frozen grip of my fingers on the dragon’s wing ridge.

When my fingers were so cold I was sure the next buffet of wind would knock me off his back, we slowed. The screaming wind diminished and something knocked at my boots. I looked down, surprised to replace we’d landed.

My hands were numb, but I managed to release the dragon’s wing and slither to the ground. I stood straight, discovering every kink in my body from the sudden flight. On the other side of the dragon, Brunna regarded me with wide eyes. “Next time, I think I’ll take my chances with the mages,” she said, teeth chattering.

“We’re safe,” I pointed out.

“Barely.”

The dragon’s flanks were heaving. A pang of guilt assailed me. We’d been worrying about the discomfort of the flight. The poor dragon had needed to carry two people as well as himself and he wasn’t strong to begin with. “Thank you for bringing us to safety.” We’d escaped from the mages, but I had no idea where we were. I looked around, searching for clues. We were in woodland, but the trees here were the same as any trees anywhere in the kingdom. The dragon’s head was still bowed, his breaths audible. “I’m sorry. Were we too heavy for you? You should have set us down earlier.”

The dragon’s head shook. I brought us as far as I could.

I stepped closer. “Are you all right?” I set a hand on his skin and felt the laboured breath that had caught my attention. “I’m sorry; you must be exhausted.”

The creature threw its head up. I am free. And that is worth any price. He looked at me. If we rest I may be able to take you farther in the morning. He curled up and tucked his head beneath his wing. I wasn’t sure if he’d fallen asleep, but I understood the desire not to be disturbed.

Brunna fidgeted beside me. “What should we do now?”

I glanced at the dragon. “He said he’d try to take us farther in the morning. I guess we’ll camp here overnight.”

“Where is here?” Brunna asked.

“We must be in the Murval woods.” A map of Muirland was displayed on the wall of the shop and I remembered seeing the tiny trees drawn on the parchment. The woods ran all the way from Muirland City to the Firethorn Mountains, home of the fae and their dragons. When I turned, I spotted the walls of Muirland City farther down the hill, already tiny and distant. We’d only been flying for a few minutes, but we were half a day’s walk away already. This was the way to travel.

Brunna followed my gaze. “The mages turned out to be no help.”

I blurted a laugh at the understatement. “No, it’s safe to say they won’t be handing over a cure for Pa.”

I glanced at the dragon and shivered. The mages were lauded in Muirland. They had the ear of the king and everyone thought they were special because of the magic they yielded. The truth was, they were evil.

My teeth chattered. I reminded myself we were at least safer now than when we’d awoken in the mages’ tower. But we were leagues from home, and I was no closer to replaceing a cure for Pa.

“What happens in the morning?” Brunna asked. “Where did the dragon say he’d take us?”

I paused. I didn’t want to sound insane, but Brunna was my partner in this adventure. She deserved the truth. “He said that I should go to the queen.”

“The queen?” Brunna’s tone reflected my surprise at the suggestion.

“I think I must have misunderstood him,” I admitted. I didn’t really think I had, but there was no other explanation that made sense. I looked up, past the tree tops towards the greying sky and tried to stiffen my spine. “We can decide what to do when the dragon’s rested.” I wondered if this dragon would be able to help Pa. After his treatment by the mages, he didn’t have much reason to trust Muirlanders, although he’d been willing to help me. Because the queen was interested in me. My thoughts spun. Why would a dragon tortured by the Muirland mages care about Queen Lelanie? I sighed and shook away everything but the most immediate task before us. “We should fetch wood,” I told Brunna.

Her jaw jutted, but she knew as well as I did that we could go nowhere on our own tonight.

“Will you stay here?” I addressed the dragon. It was bad enough that we didn’t know where we were or where we were heading; we didn’t want to lose our guide. He gave no answer, his sides rising and falling in sleep. He wasn’t going anywhere.

I hooked my arm through Brunna’s, guiding us into the trees. We needed to replace dead branches that would burn, but we had another task first. We needed to get Brunna’s manacles off.

I had naively thought it would be a straightforward job. But replaceing a flat stone to use as an anvil and a smaller one to act as hammer was only the start.

“Wait, wait!” Brunna reared back when I told her to hold still and raised the stone in my fist to strike down on the lock. “You’re going to smash my wrist.”

“Of course I’m not.” I frowned at her wide-eyed expression. “Don’t you trust me?”

Her hands were up. She looked comically as though she’d try to box my ears if I stepped closer. “It’s not a matter of trust. You’re not a blacksmith. How many times have you done this?”

“None. But those manacles won’t come off for wishing.”

“Couldn’t the dragon remove them?” Her tone was pleading. “Surely he could use magic?”

“He could breathe fire and melt them off, but I don’t suppose you would like that.” She shuddered. “We don’t need other people to solve all our problems, Brunna,” I chided. “This is part of the adventure.”

She snorted. “I don’t intend to go home with fewer limbs than I started with.”

“You won’t. Come on, it will only take a minute.”

“Try to pry them open,” Brunna said. She found a thin sliver of rock and handed it over.

There commenced tedious trial and error. We ended by prying the lock as wide apart as we could with a stick, and then hammering it with a broad stone until it gave way. Both my fingers and Brunna’s wrists were bloodied by the end of it, but she was free and no permanent damage had been done.

“I suppose I should say thank you,” Brunna said, dabbing her wounds against her dark breeches to absorb the spots of blood.

“No thanks required,” I answered, sucking my sore fingers. “Now: wood.”

Ten minutes later, Brunna and I returned to the clearing with armfuls of wood. Our feet snapped twigs and crushed leaves beneath our feet. We hadn’t thought there would be a need for caution this far out of the city. Not until we returned to the clearing and discovered the dragon had disappeared.

Brunna dropped her load of wood. I put my hand on her arm, holding us both still, searching the trees for danger. Had the dragon abandoned us – or been stolen away? He was gone, but someone – or something – was lying close to where he’d been. I lowered my wood to the ground, keeping my gaze on the prone figure. I was barely breathing, trying to figure out what had happened. Had the mages caught us up? And re-captured the dragon? I wasn’t sure why one of the mages would have stayed behind if that was the case. Had they been injured – even killed? Or was this a trap?

“Stay here,” I murmured to Brunna.

She bit her lip as though she wanted to protest – but not so hard I’d change my mind and ask her to step into danger.

“And be ready to run,” I added.

I stepped forward, wincing at every sound underfoot. The figure didn’t stir. My heart flipped over. Was I advancing stealthily on a dead body?

The figure was pale, not a dark-robed mage like I’d expected. His hair was pale, too, a white-blonde that barely existed in Muirland, even paler than my own. I crept closer. My hands were clammy and I wiped them on my skirts. He was breathing, although my pounding heart wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad. I glanced around, peering through the trees, but I couldn’t see anyone else.

I trod closer still. He was lying on his side. His ear was clearly visible through his hair. I stopped and simply stared.

“What’s up?” Brunna hissed from the cover of the trees. “Is he dead?”

I crouched down to check my eyes weren’t deceiving me. There was a distinct point to his ear. When I looked up, I met Brunna’s worried gaze. “He’s a fae.”

“A fae?”

My gaze returned to his ear. There wasn’t any doubt.

Then his eyes flashed open. I reared back as his violet gaze fixed on me, falling on my backside on the leaves.

“Alliss.” His voice was scratchy, like it hadn’t been used in a while. “Don’t worry, it’s me.”

I would have scurried away, run like I’d told Brunna to be ready to do. But shock held me still. “How do you know my name?”

“I had to take my fae form, to heal.” His lips curved. “I’m the dragon who carried you here.”