Dragon Tamer
Chapter 21

I was yanked awake all too soon. Zellar had the end of my sleeping bag between his teeth as he pulled me towards him. I rolled out of the sleeping bag, catching the concern in his eyes. My gaze instantly snapped to Camden, but he was sleeping as soundlessly as he could, all things considered.

Zellar grunted softly, grabbing my attention and swung his head purposefully outside of the cave. I stepped around his legs and peered outside. The sun had risen over the mountains, casting shadows over the desert plains; it lit up our side of the mountain quite clearly, giving me a full view of the group of men and horses riding up the mountainside. They were so close I could hear them from our perch.

“Are ye sure ye saw a dragin, Keith? We’d been lookin’ all night and got nothin’ to show fer it.” It was impossible to tell which man it came from as they were all muttering to themselves. It didn’t really matter, they all looked the same: bulky, mean, and fugly. They bore weapons made of dragon bone and armour made of their scales. One man even had a very young dragonling skull attached to the top of his helmet.

“I know what I ser,” Keith snapped. “T’was a biggin. He came from de East.”

“Why would a dragin be flyin’ from de East?”

The “dragin” they referred to must be Zellar. It left an unsettling knot in my stomach that we’d been followed by at least forty dragon scavengers. Goblins, I could fight. One big beast by myself was stretching it. A platoon of dragon scavengers? No one was that good unless they had a bunch of dragons and Dragon Vain to back them up. I had one and a bag with only so much Dragon Vain.

“Fuck if I know. I know is dat he’d make us a lot erf money.”

I didn’t like the cart they had in tow behind them; a ballista sat on top of it, several steel arrows longer than I was tall laying beside it in the cart. A weapon that powerful with arrows that big. . . one shot was all they needed to take down Zellar and then Camden and I wouldn't be making this out alive.

And we were in firing range.

Swearing under my breath--because I didn’t dare make a noise any louder--I whirled around for the cave and threw everything onto the saddle as fast as I could. I woke Camden up last, praying I wouldn’t have to lift an unconscious prince into the saddle.

“Cam?” I hissed, shaking him. “I need you to wake up and do your best to get into the saddle--and do it quietly.”

He moaned, and I had to cover his mouth. I waited two beats, listening out for any signs the scavengers heard him, then when Zellar gave me the all clear, I pulled my hand away and rolled Camden onto his side.

“Please, please, wake up. I can’t do this by myself.” I should have let my brothers come and risk the dragons’ wrath. Dragon scavengers were not people to mess with.

His eyes flitted open; they were his normal green eyes, though they were more dazed than usual. “Kali?” he rasped. “What’s happening? Why are you so scared?”

“Dragon scavengers followed us and if you can’t help me get you into the saddle, we’re going to die.”

He let a tremor pass through him before rolling onto his hands and knees. Grabbing his arm, I helped him straighten up and guided him to the saddle. I climbed on first then reached down to pull him up. With much effort on both of our behalves, he was on, leaning forward in the saddle. It was all I needed from him.

“Thank you. You can go back to sleep if you need to.”

“What. . . about. . . the scaven. . .gers?”

Gods, like he could do anything if he was going to struggle that much with that sentence.

“Let me worry about them,” was all I said, though.

Camden passed out again.

I peered down the mountainside to see where the scavengers were; they weren’t in view anymore. I wasn’t naive enough to believe they’d come halfway up this mountain to give up on the dragon now. No, they probably went around the corner to replace a better path for the horses.

“Zellar, now’s our chance. If we’re fast enough, they won’t have time to set up the ballista. Be prepared for evasive maneuvers on my command.”

The dragon nodded then prepared to launch off the cliff face. The wind picked up, throwing my hair back since I didn’t have time to tie it back. A second later, Zellar leapt off the ledge, spreading wings wide to catch the current. We shot upward, reaching the top of the mountain within seconds. Shouts were called out below, but we were so high up and moving too quickly for me to hear what they said. Zellar angled to the side, exiting the current then flapped his wings to gain speed for the nearest volcano.

We left the mountain line surrounding the dragon lands. We were hit with a wave of humidity and a cloud of mist. Zellar had to decrease our altitude for better air currents closer to the jungle’s canopy. Some trees were so tall, Zellar had to veer away from them. Elesor had done it agily, barely fluttering her wings to make the movement as long as I moved with her, but Zellar was nearly twice her size and when he turned, he made much larger arches, nearly hitting other trees in the process. He could swing sideways, but with the weight Camden was right now, we’d both fall off, so poor Zellar had to risk clipping a wing.

“When we get home, I’ll buy an entire bag of jerky just for you,” I promised the loyal dragon. It still wouldn’t convey how thankful I was for all of his efforts, but it was a start.

He purred at the very thought.

It wasn’t long after we entered the jungle when large shadows loomed over us. I stole a peek upwards and saw three massive green-and-yellow dragons flying above. They roared and split up, one taking the rear, one staying above, while the other went below. The one behind us nipped at Zellar’s tail. Enraged, Zellar roared back at them and whipped his tail across the jowls of the dragon who had attacked him. They did not take that kindly, the one above dropping low, claws out.

“Look out, Zellar!”

It was too late and it didn’t do what I expected, which was to claw at Zellar’s wings. Instead, its claws took hold of my waist and plucked me off his back. Camden slipped off Zellar’s back and plunged down into the jungle.

“Catch him, Zellar!” I cried, holding onto the claws as they loosened their grip on me to drop me into the endless jungle below. I could deal with a dragon, Camden wouldn’t survive a fall like that.

Zellar dove down, dodging a swipe from the dragon under him and collected Camden in his claws before he fell too deep into the canopy. Relieved the prince was safe, I began my climb up the dragon’s leg. It hissed at me, shaking its leg. I kicked its jaw when it tried to pry me off with its teeth.

Oh, this dragon was in for a nasty surprise if he thought he could just pick me up and drop me. I was a dragon tamer. This was my thing.

The dragon continued to attempt to throw me off, but I held strong, replaceing holds underneath its scales and in its joints. Once I was situated underneath its wing, I wrapped my legs around the joint and swung myself onto its back. The wind was much harsher down the middle of its spine, but as long as I had my feet positioned on its wings’ joints, I wasn’t going anywhere. It bucked and rolled to the side and upside down. I clung to it like I had with every dragon that had tried to shake me. Once it appeared it’d stopped trying to do aerials to get rid of me, I unwrapped the whip still coiled around my leg and aimed for its snout. I caught it the first time round and yanked it to the side. The dragon had no choice but to obey where I steered it.

Now in control of my ride, I peered around to see where Zellar was. The other two dragons were attacking him from different angles, clawing and snapping. Zellar had gotten a few good scratches into their hides, but with two of them, they would steadily gain the advantage.

I steered the dragon down for the one attacking Zellar from above. We collided into it, a thunderous clap ringing out in the sky. The dragons, stunned, didn’t see the tree and smacked right into it. We went tumbling out of the sky, falling in the canopy. I held onto my dragon, ducking as close as I could to the wings where it would instinctively protect itself from collisions.

And then we hit the forest floor. I went flying off its back, rolling through the ferns until I hit a tree. The dragons cried out and thrashed in the tangle of vines they’d gotten stuck in. The vines were as thick as the thorns in Thorn’s Forest, too thick for a dragon without Dragon Vain to escape.

Clutching my ribs which appeared to hurt the most--though my head was a close second--I limped over to the wailing beasts. The canopy was so thick, there was hardly any light to touch the bottom, but where the dragons had fallen, it opened up and the plants around the new sunlight seemed to react instantly, angling towards the light. It also made the vines that held the dragons thicker and tighten around the beasts. One was wound around a dragon’s throat, constricting ever so tighter. It whimpered, and when I came into its view it tried to hiss but only a cough escaped its lips. I held my hands up, showing it I didn’t have any weapons--but my shortsword was ready at my hip and the whip was back around my leg again if I needed them.

“I didn’t come here to hurt you,” I told it softly. From where I stood, “it” was actually a “her.” “I can release you of these vines if you let me.”

The other dragon who was not being strangled snarled at me, doing everything he could to twist around and bite me. He was bigger than she was, more muscular too. The angry roar escaping his jowls was a promise to kill me if I so much as touched the female.

“Is she your mate? I can save her. Look at those vines around her neck. They’re killing her.” His eyes flashed to the vines then to me; he understood what I was saying.

Apparently understanding didn’t mean he trusted me; he growled.

Deciding he was too frantic to make any choices for his mate, I pulled out my shortsword and cut at the vine encasing her foot so they could see I meant no harm. The male roared so loud the jungle quaked in fear. My ears rang for a few moments, but I kept going, slicing my way through the vines until I got to her throat. The female watched me closely, eyes darting wildly between me and her mate. I held her gaze. I needed her to trust me because as soon as I cut her neck free she could kill me in a flash.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I told her again, putting all the serenity I had in my tone. I could barely hear myself speak over my pounding heart.

This was it. The day I replace out if I pushed my trust in dragons too far.

I reached forward, gripping the vine in one hand and placing my blade beside it. Very carefully, I began to saw away the tendril. It snapped free, flying in opposite directions. She swung her head high and shook the rest of the vines off her body. The movement knocked me back on my butt. I stared up at her, helpless to stop her if she chose to crush me with the weight of her foot or swallow me whole. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited.

And waited.

And then I felt her breath on my cheeks. I gasped, knowing the pain came next.

At least your last deed was saving a dragon’s life. Yeah, that was a good way to go out, wasn’t it?

The heat of her moved away from me. Dragons groaned and growled. Vines snapped free. The forest rustled.

I braved a peek. The female had freed the male and now rose to their full height and stared at me, undoubtedly wondering what to do with me. There was no more aggression in their eyes, so maybe after seeing I meant no harm, they would treat me in kind. One could always hope, anyway.

Feeling probably braver than I should, I climbed to my feet and sheathed my sword. “My friend is sick,” I informed them. “I read that a volcano might be able to save him, that’s why we’re here. I’m not here to hurt anyone, I promise.”

The male curled his lips back, revealing very large, pointy teeth. However, the female hit him with her wing and seemingly glared at him. She bumped him again with her head then took off through the hole in the canopy. Helpless to his love for her, he didn’t give me a second thought and jumped to follow her. Leaving me all alone in the dark forest infested with all kinds of creatures that would love to eat me.

At least your track record for dragons is holding strong.

Yeah, at least there’s that.