Magical. Though a
tremendous understatement of the ride Meredith gave them, it was the
closest adjective Jacob could ever seem to come up with. Whether
shooting straight up into the air, diving with folded wings,
spiraling over the rivers and hills, valleys and forests that made up
the country, Meredith maintained a smooth, swift gait. Crisp air
rushed past them so fast their faces tugged up as they
swooped down into a valley. So fast did they dive that although Jacob tried to close his eyes to keep out
any debris, his lids lacked the strength necessary to push past
the up-rushing wind.
After several
minutes of flying wherever the whim of Meredith or Annie would take
them, Jacob noticed a change in his companions as they began
practicing routines. Every year, the village held a three
day festival where the people celebrated their crops, freedom, and
alliance with the dragons. During this festival, different
departments of the small defense force would compete against each
other in various challenges of skill, speed, strength, and wit. This
would be the first year that Meredith and Annie could compete, and in
preparation for the challenges, they practiced difficult maneuvers in
what they referred to as “trick routines.”
Suddenly, as she
was coming out of a spiraling sideways loop, Meredith's body
stiffened and her wings beat with a different purpose. Troubled by
the dragon's abrupt change of manner, Annie glanced around them in
all directions for a threat. Although she saw nothing, Annie knew
something about the area had changed in the last few minutes. “Get
us out of here calmly, Merey,” Annie whispered, “we might be
running from shadows, but better safe than sorry.” Meredith
accordingly turned for home and flew as fast as she could in that
direction. As they hurried directly for home Meredith suddenly let
out a quiet, low moan: a warning to Annie. Heeding her friend's
unease, Annie scanned the sky again; this time she caught a brief
glimpse of deep red which disappeared in a storm cloud a good
distance behind them.
“What's going
on?” Jacob asked in a low voice, sensing Annie's extreme concern
and Meredith's borderline panic. “Why is Merey so tense?” Annie
took her eyes off the sky briefly to judge the fear level of her
passenger. His eyes were wide open and his grip on the dragon's neck
was tight, but he might get much worse if he knew how bad was the
danger in the sky. Still, if the thing was a red dragon, and it was
after them, the shock of it charging them might be worse if he did
not expect it at all.
“We aren't alone
in the sky, Jacob.” Annie watched him closely as she spoke, careful
of how much information to give him. “I don't know if it's a dragon
or not, but it is not the same color as any of our allies. We are
trying to go home without any trouble, so be as quiet as you can and
hold on tight. Merey will get us home, don't worry.” As she spoke
these reassuring words, Annie could not help grimacing at how empty
they sounded. How could she have been so stupid: taking a young boy
out when she knew the fishermen last month had seen a dangerous red
dragon by a neighboring village? How could she have brought him out
here without being completely sure it was safe? If he died....
No, he would not
die. Annie and Meredith were going to take him home. The dragon—for
it was a dragon—appeared from another thick cloud, closer than
before.
So several minutes
passed: the dragon would disappear into the clouds only to reappear
closer not long after. Before long he no longer vanished in the
clouds, but flew steadily to the left and slightly above Meredith a
few wing strokes behind her. With this superior flight path, he could
easily outdistance Meredith's endurance; they must come up with an
escape plan quickly.
Changing direction
might help, short term at least. But Meredith already showed signs of
fatigue, and the Red One could probably beat her in speed as easily
as in distance. Perhaps they could turn and fight then? Even if they
had not just put themselves through an exhausting practice, Annie and
Meredith could probably not even come close against a red dragon with
fire capabilities.
The red one moved
in closer. Any moment now and he would make his move. Annie needed to
make hers first, in a moment of sudden decisiveness she told Jacob to
hold tight to the leather strap and not let go no matter what.
Carefully she shifted back on Meredith. In combat training, they had
practiced this move many times. The idea was that with some help from
Meredith Annie could leap a short distance to an enemy dragon and
fight him at close quarters where he could use neither claws nor
fire. In practice against the defense force it seemed to work pretty
well, but they had never tried it in actual danger. Annie, drawing
her dagger, paid close attention to the rhythm of Meredith's wings
and carefully rose to her feet. She bent her knees, whistled the
signal, and on the next down-stroke made her leap.
She landed too far
down his back, and before she could thrust her dagger into his neck
where the scales were softest, he snapped his head back hitting her
solidly with one of his dull spikes. Annie faintly heard herself
yelling to Meredith to fly on without her, then everything went
black.