“Nah, Dylanyue liked me. He’ll say hi.”
I was impressed with Fin’s confidence but not entirely convinced by it. I said nothing as he sat cross-legged on that cave floor, a position we had both grown to be comfortable with, and closed his eyes.
I saw him smile. “He says, hello.”
My jaw dropped. Was that possible? Had to be; Fin wouldn’t lie.
“He’s out over the Pasaocea seas.”
Even further away than I’d expected.
Then Fin screamed and fell back as if someone had pushed him. He curled into a foetal position, clutching his head and groaning.
“Fin?” I was with him in a second, Shi right beside me.
“Is fine.” The reassurance was somewhat dulled by the obvious pain in Fin’s tone.
At ten, Fin was getting big, nearly to my shoulder, but I lifted him back to sitting up. There wasn’t a mark on him, but his eyes were shadowed and his body shook involuntarily.
“What happened, Mister Segast?” Shi asked.
Fin huffed out a sigh and looked at him. “I was told to stop. That I was being too loud,” he said. “Too dangerous.”
I frowned down at Fin. “Dylanyue said that to you?”
He shook his head. “Another dragon said that.”
My frown and my concern deepened. “What other dragon?”
“Don’t know,” Fin shrugged. “He’s powerful, though.”
Shi patted Fin on the shoulder. “Your father was right, I pushed you too hard, too soon. But to reach across to the far side of the world and contact a dragon?” He shook his head and offered a smile. “That is a mighty impressive feat, young Mister Segast. When you are older, you will be powerful too.” He helped me help Fin to his feet. To his legs that were less steady than they should have been. “But for our next lesson, we will concentrate on closer options. Control over distance. Yes?”
Fin nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”
He wasn’t the only one.
“You are dismissed.”
Over the top of Fin’s head I mouthed the words thank you to Shi and accompanied my son back to our rooms.
That was typical of Ang Shi. Strict, yes, he pushed us all, but he knew when limits were reached.
He also fought to get the best he could for this fortress. We now had more regular supply times, a healer much better than me would now visit once every four months, and he fixed what I couldn’t. Yes, life was good. Safe.
And I found myself frequently watching Flight Captain Shi and his cool command. He had taken on something of a superhuman role in my mind. His long hair was never out of place. His composure never cracked. And I admired that when my composure was all too often cracking.
Chapter Eight
I am not sure what first alerted me to the relationship between Rider Jimny and Stable Master Fenwick. Maybe it was just the occasional look, the consideration they showed each other, the way that everything and everyone around them breathed out and relaxed. There was an age gap, but also a meeting of hearts and minds. And they were discreet.
Some months after my realisation, I was coming off shift, soaking wet from another rainstorm - I swear sometimes it felt like it was all one rainstorm all year long in that outpost - that I finally felt I had to speak to Fenwick.
“Is there a problem, Sullivan?” he asked as he was ticking off store items in the dragon pantry. This area was less about what they ate than it was about medications and the healing arts. The real dragon pantry as such was kept on the mainland. Goats, sheep, and pigs that were bred by the infantry guard and curated with the express purpose of feeding the dragons. Every other day they would fly the half hour there, graze on whatever livestock the infantry let out, and then glide slowly back for a nice long post-glutinous nap. I swear the dragons ate better than we Riders. For a start, they got regular meat, and they didn’t have to suffer nothing but gruel for days on end because there was nothing left and the supply ship couldn’t make the journey across because the seas were too rough.
A couple of years ago, Lord Aurexian had been so disgusted by the lack of supplies, obviously due to something Ang Shi was thinking or feeling, that he took an unmanned wing across to our supply depot and flash froze the consignment in the depot, so that the three of them could grab a frozen ice block each and carry it back to Unkea. Dora privately admitted thatit was the most fun she’d had in years. Not surprisingly, supply trips came a little more regularly after that, though Ang Shi was also disciplined for the incident. Fool wouldn’t even let me heal him when he finally got back.
“Not really,” I told Fenwick. “Just a bit of a favour to ask.”
