Dragons Awakening
CHAPTER TWELVE: A Long Flight

Pain sliced Zi’s face. Through blurred vision, a wall of black wavered. Her body could have been ensconced in a caterpillar’s cocoon. In fact, her backside stuck to her clothes when she pushed upward. Tingles shot through her legs when she straightened them. How long had she been sitting like this?

It’s been about six hours, the voice in her head replied.

Eyes closed, lips pursed, she leaned her forehead against the black spine in front of her. In fact, slamming against the spine when they landed had likely been her wakeup call. Not pleasant. She groaned, stretching each part of her body. The ground seemed far away, although the dragon rested on his belly beside a crude mine. The pulley systems on the well-like rectangle nearby had existed for centuries. Only the fact that cables rather than ropes hung on the wheeled device kept it from looking abandoned.

“I need to eat.”

Ugh. Gruesome hunting would follow.

“Gemstones fuel my body, seer,” Ezer growled. “Dragons devouring flesh is propaganda invented to compel people to hunt dragons. Lies which led to my race’s near extinction.”

“Is it my fault if those razor sharp teeth and claws appear predatory?”

“The claws help us dig into mountainsides to replace nourishment. Only the front teeth are shaped like knives, to aid us in battle. Our back teeth are hard, flat grinders.”

“Not sure the diamond industry can fuel a clan of your kind.” Zi stared at the ground, less than ten feet away. “How do I get down?”

“Try jumping.”

The cramps in her legs burned when she imagined landing on them.

“Could I climb down? My legs are quivering from this awkward position.”

Smoke curled from the black nostrils. The intelligent eyes stared at her. His sides relaxed slightly, as if he had let out a sigh. The spiked tail curled toward her.

“I’ll lower you to the ground.”

That idea appealed more than jumping or climbing on her unsteady legs. Grasping the wicked-looking spines on the end of his tail caused her empty stomach to tumble and clench.

“I will not allow you to be injured,” Ezer said. Somehow his words offered no comfort.

Zi shrugged the heavy blanket off her shoulders, stuffing it inside her backpack. She tossed that toward the ground. It landed a few feet away.

She clenched her gloved hands into fists several times. Yes, her fingers worked. Time to get this over with. She swung her leg around the spine and grasped the spikes hovering near her head.

After a tug upward, Zi dropped toward the ground. Her shoulders screamed at the jarring sensation. A blink later, her feet rested on dusty rocks. Beneath her, the earth shuddered as the dragon trotted toward the mine. With a gigantic whoosh of air, wings folded tightly to his sides, he plunged face-first into the opening barely wider than his shoulders.

After stumbling to her backpack, Zi allowed her legs to have their way. She collapsed in a disorderly heap, half on the bag. Rolling to her side, she opened the front pocket, pulling out an energy bar. More than anything, she had to relieve herself, but her growling stomach demanded immediate attention.

The ground shuddered. Dust puffed out of the vertical shaft several feet away. Apparently, gemstones weren’t just lying around waiting to be consumed by a dragon. Dragons ate gems. Who would have guessed it?

She scarfed the first energy bar and ripped open one of the protein variety. Chocolate peanut butter. She gazed at the narrow valley. Rocky hills rose on every side. Would she replace anything of use here. A toilet would be a good start.

Zi’s throat burned like a desert. Thoughts of pouring liquid in made the her body demand relief. Zi stood and headed toward a ramshackle building on the opposite side of the shaft. A simple sliding bar kept the door closed. Inside, dust circled in flurries, making Zi sneeze through the fingers covering her mouth and nose. A lone storage bin occupied the back corner. Her fingertips left perfect prints on the dusty surface as she snapped the cover off, creating a dust storm.

A few tools rattled together as she shoved them aside. Beneath them, faded blue and red striped bands caught her eye. Bungee cords. These would be perfect for keeping her secure during their flight. Nothing else merited attention. She dropped the lid, gazed around the murky interior, barely lit by two small windows.

Zi squeezed her legs together. No other structures in sight. Zi wrinkled her nose and headed into the scrubby bushes behind the shack. This is what she had come to, squatting in the dirt to answer nature’s call. She gripped her pants forward. If anything could be more humiliating than peeing in the open, it would be wearing the stuff for the duration of the trip.

She had found something to keep her in place on the hard spine, which should make the trip more bearable. Four thousand miles exposed to the freezing atmosphere with nothing to occupy the time. Her head fell back against the bulging pack. She was in the middle of nowhere with only a dragon for transportation. Time to make the best of the situation.

When she walked by the mine, dust swirled above it like a cyclone. Wood splintered and metal grated on rock. If the mine wasn’t abandoned, the workers would replace a surprising disaster on their return. The thought of them discovering a dragon chowing down on gems made her lips twitch into smile.

Zi drained her water bottle and dumped the bungees on her pack. She needed more water. The higher altitude of flying would dehydrate her. She stepped toward the steep cliff, searching for some sign of water in the shade. Thirst began as an itch in the back of her mouth. Soon her tongue rubbed like sand-paper and her throat ached.

Ezer bulleted from the mine shaft, wings snapped out. “What are you doing?” His gruff voice vibrated her bones.

Zi flinched, squinting her eyes. “I need water.” The words scratched her throat, barely audible.

“There is a stream on the northern side of this valley.”

Relief flooded through Zi, slumping her shoulders against the rock face. The sensation was cut short with Ezer’s command for her to climb aboard.

She didn’t move quickly enough. A heartbeat later, he reared onto his back legs and pushed off, his front claws closing over her shoulder. The ground rushed past beneath her feet. Zi screamed even though his grip didn’t puncture. Her neck rested in the pocket between individual claws.

Zi inhaled. This wasn’t a bad way to travel. The thought had barely formed when the claws released her. She plummeted to the ground, sprawling onto her hands and knees to lessen the impact. She ended up face-first in the dust. Advance warning might have been appreciated.

“Could you not see we had arrived?”

Zi brushed her hands against her shirt and pants, beating the dust into a flurry that made her cough. She scowled at the dragon as she retrieved her pack and slung it over her shoulders.

“Put those gems into that leather bag.” The dragon flitted his gaze toward the objects when he spoke.

Zi stared at the chunks of deep red rock. They didn’t look like any gems she’d be interested in seeing. There were five, each the size of a two fists. She stacked them on the leather, a metal-workers apron, and rolled them up. The ties at the side wrapped them snuggly.

She tied the neck strap to his leg before wrapping the tails of the apron strings around and through it, knotting them securely. When she couldn’t move it from side to side, she stepped onto his foot, prepared to climb up, her thighs and triceps screaming at the exertion.

Ezer swung his tail toward her. Zi grabbed it, content to be lowered onto his back. After wiggling into her blankets, Zi wrapped a bungee cord around her spiky backrest and the spike in front of her, making a figure eight.

Zi opened her mouth to let the dragon know she was ready for takeoff. At the same instant, Ezer leapt into the air, creating a swirl of dust beneath his wings.

Right. She clenched her hands around the spike in front of her. Mind reader.