I threw my hands in the air. “If you would just stretch your back legs out more, I could make the climb up your tail with the saddle, but it’s too steep to not use both hands to hold onto your spikes as is. I already told you this!”
A large huff of air came from the dragon, quickly becoming a steam cloud that blew around me.
“Don’t give me that attitude. I swear you’re trying to make me fail on purpose.”
A rumble came from the dragon then, his large body shaking with his apparent mirth.
“Did you just laugh at me?” I asked in shock, staring up into the eye I had grown used to seeing in his human form, the scar that marred his face apparent in the rough skin around the eye in this form as well.
“Well, it has been amusing to watch you slip and fall onto your ass so many times in a row. As I seem to recall, you don’t like being in saddles, anyways.”
I gave him my best unamused look before walking right up to his large head with both hands on my hips. “Can we consider us even now, about me not staying in the horse’s saddle? I promise to stop bringing up how you definitely almost killed me on our journey here.”
His large head tilted, and I was painfully aware of how similar the movement was to how he reacted to me in his human form when he considered my words. A rush of wind and snow chose that moment to blow against us, causing me to lose my balance at the gale-force strength of the gusts rolling in. Soon enough, my outfit wouldn’t keep me as warm, if the blizzard that seemed to be roiling to life in the clouds kept up.
I threw my hands out to balance myself but found myself hitting a warm, scaled foot that moved to stop my fall.
A heavy sigh of exhaustion fell from me as I pushed off of his foot.
“Thanks.”
“Pick up the saddle and climb up. I will lower myself further onto the ground, just steer clear for a moment while I move.”
Relief poured through me as I grabbed the leather saddle and stepped back. His muscles bunched as he first lowered his front half onto the ground before plopping down on his backside. The large tail curled around him until the tip pointed directly at me. I squinted through the snow and nodded as the path I needed to take seemed much more manageable now.
Quickly I ambled up the flat part of his tail, hauling the saddle in one arm while using my hip to carry the brunt of its weight, considering my other hand was still tender from the bones Theo had set the night before. As I started my ascent up the back, I slowed my pace and took calculated, sure steps to ensure I didn’t slip as I moved higher. Without needing any of the spikes' assistance now, I made it up rather quickly, beaming with pride as my feet finally met the larger scales of his back.
“I did it!”
“You remember the instructions from the saddler for where to hook it in?”
“Yes, dragon boy. I read it over until I had the directions memorized.”
Keeping to the flatter stretch of scales around the spikes along his spine, I made my way across his back to where his saddle was sized to fit in front of his shoulders. I saw the smooth area the saddler had mentioned and rushed to drop the saddle down. My shoulders and biceps ached from how long I’d been lugging it around, and I was happy to be rid of it.
The saddle fit in place perfectly, with the pommel sitting just behind a large scale that curved upward. It would apparently protect me from the wind coming directly at me if we had to fight against the gusts. Anything strong from the sides, though, andI’d have to hope that the leg straps would stay in place and my hands wouldn’t slip from the pommel.
Yanking the long straps that were rolled up and fastened to the edge of the saddle, I slid on my butt to get down to the top of his shoulder where the saddler had left a small cut to fit into the correct scale. Fastening the anchor around it, I used the strap to help me climb back up and then moved to the other side. Once those were in place, I had to run back down and grab our supply packs. Tossing those over each shoulder, I was heaving with my attempts to get air into my lungs by the time I reached the saddle and clipped the tops of the bags into the designated area on the back.
“I think we’re good to go. The saddle is anchored in and our supplies are fastened.”
I wasn’t sure if he’d fallen asleep while waiting for me, but he startled at my words and lifted his head from where he’d been resting. Craning it around to look at me out of the side of his eye, he nodded after a few moments of glancing over my work.
“Get in the saddle and let me know when you’re strapped in.”
Lowering myself into the seat, a thrill ran through me. I strapped my feet into the boot-like areas and fastened them all the way up to my knees. Supposedly these would keep me in place if we had to roll upside down and I lost my handle on the saddle, but I wasn’t too keen to test them out. I moved on to the lap belt that looped around from the back of the saddle and to just below the pommel.
“All set!”
“Siyana?”he questioned in a serious tone that had my smile faltering.
“Yes, Theo?”
“Do not ever tell anyone I let you ride me.”
I cackled at that.“Oh, I’m going to tell everyone. All my friends will be?—”
He cut me off, his words thick with dry sarcasm,“All two friends? Don’t act like you’re so popular all of a sudden.”
