I can't even think right now, with all I've got planned for the next chapter. Hope you like this one!
Exhausted as she was from the events of the previous night, Peri woke again before the sun had begun its decent towards the horizon and couldn't get to sleep again. Her limbs itched to be on their way again, because she felt like a sitting duck up here in the oak, but she knew it was safer to wait until nightfall. That didn't make it any easier though, and the dragon was the only thing that kept her sane through the long hours she had to wait. Sometime towards the evening, when the light had just begun to fade, it occurred to her that she only thought of the dragon as just that: the dragon. Leaping on the distraction the way a starving man leaps on bread crusts, she dove headfirst into the names she knew and liked.
How about Thrain- wait, are you a male?
The dragon shook its head from its perch on a limb by Peri's head, looking rather amused by the assumption. Peri smiled bashfully and nodded, sorting through the names remaining.
How's… Larya?
The dragon shook her head almost immediately, stretching her delicate wings in the air like a cat after a snooze. Peri bit her lip and moved on.
Nyph?
Another head shake, this time followed by a loud squeak. Peri shushed the dragon and glanced around, worried that someone- a hunter, or a trade caravan- had heard the noise. Once she was satisfied that no one was around, she relaxed back into the rough bark of the oak.
Night?
The dragon paused at this, and after a long moment of thought, slowly shook her head.
Rai?
A slight pause, but the dragon was quick to turn the name down. Peri gave an exasperated sigh and turned her gaze upward, like she could seek answers from the fading sky above. Even though she continued to list names in her mind, the dragon disapproved of all of them, and Peri watched the sky gradually fade from blue to purple to the midnight blue of her dragon's scales. It was now plenty dark enough to get moving again, but she was determined to find a name that the dragon accepted.
Ijera?
The dragon paused for an agonizingly long time, and Peri dared to hope that perhaps the dragon finally liked this name. She watched the small silhouette, outlined against the moonlight, and bit her lip. And then it shook its head. With an exasperated cry, Peri sat up and reached for her pack where she'd hung it.
"Well what then?" she snapped, swinging the pack around her head to settle it between her shoulders. "If you're so clever."
Datia.
Peri stopped dead to glare at the dragon, her hand half-extended towards her bow.
"You came up with that name hours ago, didn't you?"
The dragon gave a mischeivous trill in response and hopped down to land on her shoulder, nibbling contentedly at her ear. Peri huffed out a breath and flapped her hand at the dragon, wincing when she bit down harder. Peri shook her head and began climbing down the tree, quickly reaching the bottom despite the fact that she had been perched as high up as she trusted the branches to support her. She had to drop the last few feet, and the dragon's claws dug into her shoulder to keep herself upright. Peri gritted her teeth against the pain and set off at a brisk walk, her right hand wrapped around the handle of her knife. She hadn't gone three steps before the dragon rubbed her scaly head against her cheek and chirped in her ear. Peri turned her head away from the smooth head, but she simply followed her until she was practically looking back the way she came. Peri had to turn her head or else risk tripping over a root, and when she did the dragon shoved her face right up against hers. Her big, midnight blue eyes stared into hers, wide and innocent, and Peri had to force herself to glare back. But her fierce expression soon slipped and she sighed in defeat. The dragon chirped and retreated back onto her shoulder, rubbing its head against her cheek again. Peri smiled softly and lifted her free hand to run her fingers along the dragon's spines.
"What am I going to do with you?" she murmured, stepping around a stump in her path. "Datia it is, then."
The dragon chirped happily, then gave a protesting squeak as Peri broke into a jog, her pack thumping against her back with each stride.
It was three days into her flight from Dragon's Landing and Peri was seriously considering leaving Datia in a tree. The dragon had grown nearly double her size during the trip and had gained so much weight that when she leaped onto Peri's shoulder, it usually unbalanced Peri so much that she fell over. Despite having been told a thousand times that she was too big now to ride on her shoulder, Datia insisted on perching there when they set out each evening. Datia had begun speaking in short sentences, usually to convey needs. Food, water, sleep, etc. Datia ate like she wasn't getting another meal for weeks, easily devouring a turkey by herself, and her appetite was only going to grow with her size. Peri took to practicing with her bow in the mornings before she went to sleep, when she wasn't trying to satisfy a growing dragon, and her aim was improving. She still doubted she could really use it as a weapon in defense, seeing as she had to be standing perfectly still and her target had to be as well. The morning after her third night on the run, she was sitting next to a small campfire and her eyes were locked on the pigeon she had spitted and placed over the fire to cook. It was nearly ready and the smells were tantalizing, but Peri knew Datia was probably going to be the one eating the bird. She'd get maybe three bites before the dragon took notice and slipped over to steal chunks of meat from right under her nose. Datia could be silent as a cat when she wanted to.
The sound of wingbeats overhead startled Peri out of her thoughts, and she bolted to her feet, sending Datia tumbling away. The dragon had been slowly creeping into her lap, hoping to catch any crumbs that fell once she started eating. It took Peri three seconds to stomp out the fire and grab her pack, and in that time the wingbeats had faded away to a distant thud, but she knew they would be back. Tossing her pack onto her shoulder, she snatched her bow from where it had been resting on the ground and took off through the trees. Datia fell into step beside her, wings half-extended, occasionally pushing off the ground to glide a few feet before resuming her pace. Peri knew better than to believe that running would save her, so the moment she spotted a thick grove of bushes, she sprinted for it. The sound of wingbeats was returning, and a roar split the air off in the distance. Peri reached the grove and dropped to her knees, shoving her way past the stiff branches and wiggling deeper and deeper. Once she was certain she was completely invisible to anyone standing outside the grove, she stopped dead and dropped onto her stomach. Lying completely still, she listened to the wingbeats gradually zoning in on her location. She felt something press against her side and heard a comforting hum in her mind from Datia.
Stay still and don't make any sound, she thought softly, as if the Rider above might hear her thoughts if she thought them too loudly.
Yes.
Now there was nothing to do except sit and wait, and pray that whoever hunted them didn't find them.
The roar of wings grew until they were directly overhead, and then there was a deep thud as something heavy landed amongst the trees. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Peri eased her hand to cover her mouth. If her hunter was an elf, there was no telling whether he or she would hear her breath or not. Peri preferred not to take the chance. At first there was no sound except for the wind occasionally whipping through the trees, and then the sound of footsteps reached Peri's ears. It was rather pointless, covering her mouth to muffle her breath, because at this point Peri had ceased breathing altogether. She listened as the footsteps grew closer and closer to her hiding place, each crunch of shoes in the leaves nearly giving her a heart attack. Finally they stopped just outside the grove and there was a long silence. Whoever was out there, they weren't moving, weren't making any effort to search for her, and Peri realized it was because they already knew she was there. Of course they did, they were Riders. And she didn't want to be dragged out like a child, so she braced herself and rose back onto her hands and knees.
Stay here, and don't move, no matter what, she thought to Datia.
Be safe.
Peri turned her head to smile at her dragon, although she saw in Datia's head that it looked more like a grimace. Before she could change her mind, Peri began wriggling back through the branches, working her way towards the faint sunlight. Datia gave a pitiful hum in her mind, but Peri ignored it and pushed her way out of the grove, standing quickly so she wasn't caught unaware. She didn't remember pulling out her knife, but it was in her hand when she turned to face the Rider standing only a few feet away. It was a male, and a human at that, his hair cut short to expose his ears, which were rounded instead of pointed like an elf's. He wasn't looking in her direction, instead gazing steadily at his dragon, a royal purple and small, almost as slight as Kaji. Neither of them moved for a heartbeat, and then the Rider glanced in her direction. Peri glared back fiercely, determined to go out with a blaze, but instead of attacking her the Rider jerked his chin for her to follow and strode off towards his dragon. Confused, Peri hesitated a moment before following.
Peri! came the distressed cry, but she kept walking after the Rider.
Stay hidden. I'll be back.
Peri… this time it came as a whimper, but there was defeat in it as Peri reached the dragon. The human Rider had already climbed up into the saddle on the dragon's back, and he leaned down to offer her a hand, which Peri promptly ignored. She scrambled up the dragon's side, using the enormous spikes on its back to pull herself up behind the Rider.
"Better hold on," he said, and Peri was surprised to find his voice was… calming. Trustworthy. Peri frowned, blaming some sort of magic, and reluctantly wrapped her arms around the Rider's waist, her hand still wrapped around her knife. The moment her grip was secure, the dragon surged underneath her, making a great leap to get clear of the canopy. Despite its small size it managed to break through the barrier of leaves, and its wings snapped out in the blink of an eye. They cupped the air like great sails, holding their burden clear of the trees long enough to gain some altitude, and then they pushed downwards with tremendous force. The dragon flapped once, twice, three times before turning to coast off across the trees, and Peri frowned in confusion. But… wasn't Dragon's Landing the other way? But she soon lost her train of thought as they soared higher, and she was mesmerized by the rippling pattern of trees passing beneath their wings.
From up here, everything appeared small and insignificant, like she could crush it under her thumb if she pleased. Entire forests passed in the blink of an eye and rivers were tiny silver ribbons sewn into the green fabric of the world. The wind ripped past her ears with a crack, deafening her to everything but the thunderous wingbeats, and her eyes began to water from the sheer force of the wind. Shielding her face behind the Rider, she stared across the dragon's wings to their tips, amazed by their endless length. They nearly double the length of the actual dragon, and the skin between the thin spurs of bone was stretched taught to keep them alight. She felt an extreme longing that nearly made her leap off the dragon's back in order to fly for herself, and it took her a moment to realize it wasn't her longing but Datia's. Immediately she felt horribly guilty for leaving the dragon behind, but she somehow knew it would be safer for Datia where she was.
I'll come back for you, I promise, she thought to her bondmate, remembering Kaji using that term.
I know.
Peri swallowed a lump of grief and sighed, although the sound was lost in the roar of the wind. Almost immediately afterwards, the dragon tipped forward suddenly and went into a shallow dive towards the ground. Curious, Peri straightened to peer over the Rider's shoulder at their destination. Ahead of them lay a small meadow, or at least it appeared small from here. But it was steadily growing larger and as they got closer she could make out a small cluster of tents in the nearest corner. So she was being taken here to be killed, then. Peri pressed her lips together and relaxed, not wanting to watch her death grow closer and closer.
Before long, she felt the dragon lean back and a moment later there was a shudder as they settled onto the ground. Immediately she released her hold on the Rider's waist and sat up, stretching a little before climbing out of the saddle. She leaped to the ground, landing lightly despite the pain in her joints from sitting rigid for too long. She didn't hear the Rider dismount, but soon he appeared in her peripheral. He didn't say anything, but when he started towards one of the tents, she followed. The purple dragon gave her an unreadable look, and it made her shiver. She was more than glad to slip through the folds of the tent after the Rider to escape its gaze.
At first she couldn't see a thing, but gradually her eyes adjusted to the change in light and figures emerged from the murk. The Rider who had brought her here was standing across the tent, speaking quietly with a shorter Rider who was sitting on a cot. Just then the Rider stepped away and the seated figure rose to their feet. Peri tightened her grip on her knife as the figure stepped towards her, but when the figure stepped into a patch of sunlight it nearly dropped out of her slack hand.
Smoke.
Aah! Plot twist #1 in the long line of plot twists I have ready for the next chapter. I mean, I've confused myself and I'm the one writing it.