Crimson Primrose- Glad to see you're still reading my fic! I was worried the twelve month lull would destroy my loyal fan base, but it appears it is not so! *Lol* And yes, I'll be keeping it up. I hope to finish the story before summer ends. Then you guys can start bugging me about sequels XD

Lord Snowl- Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! …and you didn't notice it was AU? *grin* Well, while I do like my version of events better…

Rainbowrose- Okay, she didn't actually duct tape me to the computer. But she did duct tape me to the phone once. Although that's another story entirely.

Luna's Meow- Yes, Fou-Lu and I get along well. It must be that overwhelming sense of hubris we share… ^_^

Please see introduction for disclaimer regarding this work.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Two Steps Back

Her head was pounding violently as she regained consciousness and opened her eyes. The sun overhead was bright and as it rebounded from every available surface the air itself seemed to glow. She closed her eyes with a surge of nausea, briefly aware that some kind soul had placed her in the only shaded spot for miles around.

Her stirring had gone unnoticed, and after a few more moments of lying with her wings pressed into the warm sand, she dared sit up and take account of her surrounding. Straightening up, she nearly struck her head against the impromptu lean-to that had been assembled to shade her. On closer inspection, the two pieces of twisted wreckage that had been propped together had clearly come from a sandflier of some sort. One hand clutching the edge of one of the slabs, she managed to keep her balance as she stood and moved out into the light of the sun.

After the spots stopped dancing behind her eyes, she could see again the expanse of desert around her. The unremarkable scenery of sand and sky was interrupted by a heap of blistered scrap metal and charred ashes. It was half buried in the sand several meters away and the winds that whipped dust up into a frenzy had already begun scattering the soot over the desert landscape. The scattering movement of the air had left a fine patina of black over the sounding area. It thoroughly coated the few pieces of scrap that had broken off the main body of the craft when it had hit the ground and bounced.

A clatter from the area behind her turned the dragon about, suddenly alert to possible danger. There was another crash site there, although the remains were significantly more recognizable. Two sandfliers were interlocked on the desert floor, the prow of one driven entirely through the hull of the second. The second sandfliers had collapsed in on itself, and parts of its stern had snapped clean off. The actual engine of the ship was nowhere to be seen and presumably had torn off during the crash. The first ship, her former vessel, had survived no better than its opponents. Most of the ship had been consumed in the violent explosion of its engine. Only the skeletal metal frame of the ship had survived the blast.

At the site of the crash, Darnik kicked a piece of rubble away from him with a loud and inventive oath. His curses grew even more inventive as the windian hopped back and clutched at his stubbed toes. Putting his weight back on his bruised extremity, the windian threw a glare over his shoulder at the remains of their aircraft. Yahla presumed he had been attempting to salvage something from the wreck, a clearly lost cause to start with.

He glanced back around as Yahla walked to join him, her feet raising dust to join the choking haze of smoke in the air. The mortal grinned at the sight of her, momentarily forgetting the offending junk heap. "Hey, Your Divinity! It's about time you decided to wake up and smell the coffee! Do you always take this much shut-eye, or did you feel you had some catching up to do?"

Fairly used to Darnik's odd exclamations by this point, Yahla did no more than eye him oddly as she asked, "For what stretch of time hath I been heavy with sleep?"

"A couple of days, and I must say I'm glad you've finally finished your forty-eight hour nap." The human motioned cynically at the remains of their ship as he leaned against one of the skeletal 'ribs' of the downed sandflier. "Because damn if I know what the hell we should do now." The dragoness remained silent, dismayed by the turn of events, and Darnik added more seriously, "I thought you'd kicked the bucket when you hit your head on the dash and keeled over." As she had brought the ship around to ram the other sandflier, the jolt of impact and her awkward sense of balance had resulted in the loss of her footing. Her face had made intimate acquaintance with the ship's controls and she had been deprived the chance to see the demise of her opponent.

Surprisingly touched by the simple concern evident in his voice, Yahla murmured, "Thank thee, Darnik." Though the human was often annoying and their arguments occasionally escalated into mild violence, the windian had become a friend. He was loyal to her in his own way, and she had the feeling he would lay his life down to protect her, should the need arise. On her part, the windian reminded her of a puppy, which one could never remain angry with for long, no matter how many times it stained your floor. She was admittedly fond of him, and his quirky sense of humor more amused her than irritated her as she grew accustomed to it.

"It's just that corpses get to smelling pretty damn strong pretty damn quick in these parts." He barely dodged her fist, grinning at her vexed look. "Nah, I'm just glad I managed to drag you out of the wreck before the engine blew you to deep-fried dragon bits."

"And thou hast mine thanks," The dragoness said firmly, returning her gaze to the wreck of their transportation. Walking the length the Alliance truly did not appeal to her, and she asked, "So. What presently?" Though she had hoped her companion would perhaps have an answer to their dilemma, she was not surprised by his equivocal response.

"I kind of hoped you'd have an idea about that," the human admitted ruefully, rubbing his chin contemplatively. He hadn't shaved in several days, but young as he was, he had only developed a minor case of peach fuzz.

Twirling a lock of hair absently between her fingers, Yahla nodded unhappily. "I wouldst continue, but with our vehicle riven from us and the aggregate of our supplies lorn…"

Reflexively, she caught the bundle Darnik tossed her, her claws biting deep into the weave the canvas bag in question. It was a relatively light load, and Yahla shifted the weight to side as she raised an eyebrow at Darnik. "Not all our supplies," he elucidated casually, hefting another such bundle under one arm. "I managed to toss a couple of our waterskins overboard before the engine blew. We might not have any food, but we've got enough water to last for a while, if we ration it. By the time we run out we should be able to make it to a town." But the goddess shook her head and he frowned. "What?"

"We shouldeth give wide berth to the towns," Yahla informed him, not quite as unhappy as before. Water was more essential under these conditions than food. A month or more she could last without food, but were she to travel without any water at all, she would be considered lucky to last a week.

His brow furrowed as he asked, "Why?"

"Why shun such places?" she responded, holding the human's gaze as she spoke. "Giveth thought to our exigency, Darnik. By what means cameth we here? These pursuers, why dideth they offer us threat?"

"They could be bandits," he offered rather belatedly, shifting uncomfortably under her piercing gaze."

"Nay," the goddess rebuked grimly. She crossed her arms under her breast as she watched Darnik squirm. "A military sandflier be an expense no common lout couldst afford."

Darnik looked puzzled a moment before he realized her line of thought. "Yeah, only someone with a lot of power could afford both of those sandfliers. But…that means…the people here…they know who you are…! They're trying to nab you!"

She nodded, pleased that the windian had finally understood the problem. "That be mine fear. Whether they attepteth to seize me for ransom or for other needs, I ken not. Nor ken I who doth order these attempts or by what means they found mine identity."

"Well, the desert was grounds for most of the recent battles in the war…so I imagine there's a lot of pent up feeling toward the Empire here. But if they know who you really are…None of the smaller nations around here would dare to piss off the Empire on their own, and most of them also can't afford to commission fully armed, military vehicles." The windian shrugged expressively, his face betraying his inability to do anything about the situation. "As for figuring out your identity…you are pretty out of the ordinary, Yahla. And I happen to know quite a few of the nations in the Alliance have spies in Windia. They'd definitely have noticed you dropping in for tea, so to speak."

Yahla shook her head, long hair fanning out behind her as the wind seized it and protracted the motion. "Regardless, we canst nay tarry here. 'Til the night, let us take our rest, then venture to continue upon our journey." Her tone of finality signaled an end to the conversation. Turning away, Yahla ignored Darnik's mocking salute and retreated back to her patch of shade.