Asha opened her eyes—which was another mistake. At the sight of the treetops whipping by, she slammed them shut again. In the darkness behind her eyelids, all she could think was:I’m riding a dragon.
Which made everything worse.
Branches cracked beneath them, and when Asha looked, she found the dragon flying too low. Its tail and wings kept catching on trees. So the slave issued a series of clicked commands, and the dragon banked out over the river.
Finally, with nothing but blue sky before them and water below, Asha let herself relax. She looked back over her shoulder and couldn’t even see the city wall in the distance.
Suddenly, the tree line broke, turning into rock. Asha looked ahead to find the river disappearing.
Or rather,falling.
A waterfall roared below them. And then, without any warning, the dragon dived.
Asha bit down on a terrified scream as they dropped with the water. She felt herself lift, felt her stomach tumble over itself. Her arms tightened hard around the slave and she pressed her cheek against his shoulder. His hands came around hers, lacing firmly through her fingers as they flew straight into engulfing mist.
And then into darkness.
The dragon rocked as it landed hard on solid ground, nearly throwing Asha from its back. The slave reached for her waist to steady her as the dragon shook itself, spraying water droplets everywhere. The only light came from behind them, where water rushed off the cliff.
Asha stayed perfectly still, willing herself not to be sick.
The slave dismounted. His footsteps echoed on rock, and a moment later, she heard a struck match, then the smell of a flame flaring to life. Soon a bright glow illuminated the glistening cavern.
“Sorry. I probably should have told you. We spent the day practicing.” He cupped the back of his neck with his hand. “I thought—”
“Practicing?” Asha trembled as she dismounted, her limbs shaking with shock. “Practicing?Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Links were formed in flight. They deepened each time a rider and his dragon flew. As Asha shouted, the dragon cowered behind the slave. It slipped its flat, scaly head beneath its rider’s hand, seeking comfort, and the slave rubbed his thumb across the crown of its head, as if to sayI’ll protect you.
Asha threw up her hands and stalked closer to the mouth of the cave, where the waterfall rushed and water ran in rivulets down the rock, making the ground shiny and slick. But as she stared into the glistening, thunderous waterfall, a quiet question slipped through a crack in her wall of anger.
Why wait for me?
The dragon could have flown this slave to freedom, as he wished. Why risk the danger and wait for her in the woods?
Asha turned back to find both of them staring at her, like mirror images, even though the dragon sat at almost twice the height of the slave.
The sight made her soften—just a little.
“You could have left,” she said. “You could have flown far away from here.”
“We had a deal,” he said simply, then turned and headed deeper into the cave. “Come on. I want to show you something.”
“All right,” she said, “but first I need your help.”
At sunset they would put everything in motion. Asha told him the plan as she followed him down slick rock-hewn steps.
When her foot slipped on the stone in front of her, she pitched forward.
He caught her around the waist.
“Careful,” he said, mindful of the stitches in her side. He was warm and steady beneath her hands, and for the merest of heartbeats, neither of them stepped away.
An odd silence rose up. And then, quite suddenly, he ducked his chin and released her, continuing on down the steps, following the click-click-click of dragon talons below.
Asha broke the quiet. “How did you find this place?”
“Redwing found it.”
