Rynn and Ebontyne ran through curtains of hissing steam and large puddles of half-melted snow, following the sound of the dragon's wingbeats to the scorched rubble of what had once been a lofty tower. Large blocks of stone were strewn about in the slush and among them, barely visible, peeked a gleaming length of bone. No one needed to say anything. Humans and dragons set to moving the heavy debris as cautiously as possible, so as not to damage the horn. It had, however, already suffered quite a battering from the original destruction of its tower. Rynn would have expected something crafted from bone to break, not bend, but this was not the case with the dragon bone horn.
Dented, bent in a couple of places, but whole, the horn was twice the length of Arokh's forearm, curved slightly, had a mouthpiece small enough for a human to use and a large mouth that fanned out.
"This came from a dragon?" Rynn asked dubiously. "Which part?"
"The dragon was called Drakaur," Arokh explained. "He was quite large in life, I was told. I think it was one of the leg bones." He shrugged his large wings and flexed talons sore from the unaccustomed labour. "Let's stand it up and wind it, hm?"
So they did. Rynn was doubtful that she could make any instrument that size produce a noise, and quickly discovered she was correct. Red-faced from all the blowing, she eventually stood aside for Ebontyne to have a try. The war mage's luck was better (or lungs stronger), and a deep, handsome tone trumpeted from the horn and shimmered in the air for a long time. Ebontyne, looking satisfied, stepped down from the horn.
"Now we just have to wait for someone to answer."
Two days passed without a sign of the other two Bonded: Nashiva and Star, Kang-shi and Glaive. Rynn passed the time experimenting with her magic, sparring with Ebontyne (who rather reluctantly admitted the young woman was quite skilled), hunting for food and spending quality time with her own dragon. She tried not to let the uneventful passing hours disturb her. After all, if Navaros had her brother, he was sure to be safe. Who would dare attack him?
"Tell me how a bond works, exactly," Rynn asked Arokh on the second night. "I remember you saying when we first bonded that you didn't have a choice..." she trailed off.
Arokh curled beside the large fire he'd lit and looked up at the two moons, thinking. At last, he replied, "Every dragon has a dragonstone - a soul crystal. The human a dragon joins with on his or first Bonding is a choice given solely to the dragon. Only the dragon can create what you would call the altar required for the ritual." His fiery eyes turned down to the snow. "It was up to the dragon to know what the human he or she wanted was like in here," he tapped his chest meaningfully, "because the dragon would be responsible to that human until one of them died."
"A dragon has to do what its rider tells it to do?" Rynn asked.
"Yes. We can argue, but we can not disobey. We can do nothing our rider would not want us to do. That's why it was so important that we chose the right humans, if any at all." Arokh smiled. "For those who were wise in their choices - which was most of us - it was nothing like the servitude you're probably imagining." He chuckled at Rynn's 'you-read-my-mind' expression, then looked sombre. "Heron was my friend. That's why I Bonded with him. I knew and trusted him. I would have done anything for him because I knew he'd never ask of me anything I would fight against."
Rynn was silent for a moment. "When I Bonded with you..?"
Arokh bowed his head slightly. "Any Bonding after the first time is different, as the altar is already in existence. What's more, sleeping as stone, the dragon has no say on who claims his or her dragonstone. All the human has to do-"
"Is put the soul crystal in the altar," Rynn finished softly. She hesitated, then asked in a small voice, "Arokh... am I your friend?"
The red dragon lowered his head to put his eyes on level with her own. "Yes, Rynn. Had I got to know you the way I got to know Heron, I would have asked you to Bond with me."
"That's so sweet," Morghus said, his tone half-mocking as he landed on the other side of the fire and Ebontyne dismounted. "In fact, I think I'm going to be sick."
Arokh winked at Rynn and she turned to face the black dragon and his rider. "How did you two get to be Bonded?"
Morghus' eyes lit up with a kind of wicked humour but Ebontyne rounded on him and ordered, "Not one word." Then, with a warning glance at Rynn went to warm her hands at the fire.
Morghus gave Rynn and Arokh a sidelong glance and murmured through a grin, "Ask me sometime when she's not around." Then, ignoring Ebontyne's glare, stretched out on the ground and yawned. "By the way," he said in an offhand tone, "we saw a pair of dragons heading this way from the west. They'll be here any time."
A laugh escaped Rynn's lips and she jumped up. "Shouldn't we fly out to meet them?"
"Not unless you're planning to fight them," Morghus said with a snort.
"It's courtesy between dragons, Rynn," Arokh explained. "You let the visitors land to talk to you."
She nodded impatiently and spent the next hour watching the sky in silence.