I looked up, seeing that we were still in the shadow of the mountain. There was no sign of life around the summit, no telltale flicker of golden or red scales, or the rumbling of beasts. The horses seemed nervous, but that was normal this close to the dragon roost.
I thought about screaming, and decided against it when Zeke held a blade out. He didn't try to attack us with it, but the threat was obvious enough. He wouldn't hesitate to cut out our tongues or take a few fingers. Slaves didn't need to talk to be useable.
My stomach turned in revulsion and I wrapped an arm around Ravi. I could see, now, that she was almost a foot shorter than me, and had tanned skin and very dark hair in keeping with the normal Lakeside people. She looked up at me with wide eyes, which looked almost black in the darkness.
I gave her what I hoped was an encouraging smile as we were herded into the trees by Zeke. There were other men around, almost a dozen, checking the wagon and laughing at each other as they shared bitter-smelling ale from skins between them.
We went into the trees, and I let Ravi go. "Do you need to go?" I asked her, aware that Zeke was hovering nearby, making sure we didn't try to run.
Ravi shook her head, biting her thin lower lip. "No," she whispered, visibly shaking.
I didn't need to, either, but who knew how long we would have to wait until we were allowed another break? "Try," I whispered, and she nodded, going over to a tree. I could feel Zeke's eyes on me and shivered at the thought of him watching.
My cloak had been taken, and while Ravi was still in her hood and cape, it wasn't long enough to give us any sense of modesty. I pulled my shirt up so that I could reach for the hem of my trousers, gritting my teeth at the thought of attempting to go in front of my kidnapper.
It was then that I felt another set of eyes on me. Ones not belonging to Ravi or Zeke.
I froze in place.
Behind me, the horses gave a terrified whinny.
"Zeke!" a man called, his voice high and frantic. "Zeke, we're -."
He didn't get to finish his sentence. Though there was no sunlight, the moon shone in silver hues on the ground and the trees and the wagon. And then there was darkness, with the deadly silence that comes right before a huge crack of lightning. For a moment, rain wasn't falling on me at all.
The plume of fire was brilliant and so bright I shielded my eyes, lunging for Ravi and holding her tight to my chest as I ducked behind a tree. Zeke cried out in alarm, temporarily forgetting us, and I grabbed Ravi's hand.
"Run!" I yelled, and she stumbled after me, gaining her feet and keeping pace admirably, considering how small she was.
I heard a roar, so powerful it shook the ground beneath me, and looked up. The flames illuminated the belly of a huge golden dragon, its wings so large they disappeared from sight within the trees. The dragon's teeth and the insides of its mouth shone with fire as it snarled, and released another jet of flame upon our captors. They were screaming, and I could smell them as they all caught fire and were burned to a crisp.
My heart was hammering in my chest, as I led Ravi through the trees until I came upon a clearing, and froze in place when, in front of me, I saw another dragon. Ravi screamed in fear, and I held her close, wrapping both arms around her.
"Don't scream," I whispered. "Don't scream. It's okay."
The second dragon was smaller. Reds often were. It's eyes shone a blistering shade of copper, like molten metal, that matched the membranes on its wings and the tip of its hooks, as well as the feather-like ruffles that framed its face, and ran down its back, ending in a plume of feathers at the tip of its tail. It stared at us as though it was just as surprised as we were.
It was the size of a horse, not nearly as large as its golden cousins, and perched on its legs, peering at us like a curious bird. Delicate nostrils flared at the end of its snout, and it rumbled in a way that, to me, sounded more curious than anything else.
I held Ravi tightly, so that she didn't run or scream. She was sobbing with fear. "Please don't hurt us," I begged the dragon. It tilted its head. "We were captured. We're not your enemy."
When the dragon didn't immediately eat us or set us on fire, I continued; "I come from the Pass. And she's from Lakeside. We're your friends."
The dragon blinked, slowly, its eyes shining brightly. Then, they lifted, and the dragon's muzzle wrinkled in a loud snarl. I turned to see Zeke barreling out of the trees, panting and coated with ash. The dragon growled when it saw the blade.
I gasped in surprise when I felt, not the swift bite of savage teeth, nor the sudden bright flash of dragon fire, but an enveloping heat. The dragon prowled forward along the grass and wrapped one of its wings around me and Ravi, shielding us. Protecting us.
Zeke's face went pale when he saw the dragon. He lifted his blade in threat. "Stay back!" he commanded. I wanted to laugh at the notion that he thought he could tell a dragon to do anything. The dragon, it seemed, shared this thought, as the guttural trill it let out had the rhythm of laughter. Behind Zeke, the trees stretched tall with fire and the screams of his cohorts had fallen silent, as the dragon's golden cousin finished with them.
"That's our property you're holding, Wyrm," Zeke snarled. I stared at him, eyes widening with horror when I saw that his eyes had taken on a red sheen, his teeth looked more fanged and savage than a human man's. This man couldn't possibly be one of the wolves! They had never dared come so deep into the dragons' territory before.
The dragon's tail twitched in aggravation, and the long claws, like fingers on the arch of its wing, wrapped around me and Ravi more tightly. It was defending us, I realized. It knew we were one of its own, and wasn't going to let us be taken.
"Release them and I'll be on my way," Zeke snarled. The dragon's nostrils flared, and I watched with awe as the lighter scales at the base of its throat began to glow, rising in a line of heat and promising fire. I covered Ravi's eyes so that she didn't have to watch this man be burned alive.
In the end, the red dragon didn't have to, for the gold appeared from behind Zeke and ended him with a final snap of its jaws. Blood drenched the beast's teeth and claws, all four of its legs covered in ash and viscera. It sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with cold, because I wasn't cold, held as close in the red dragon's wing as I was.
The beasts rumbled to each other, their muzzles touching like sheepdogs sent to guard the same herd. The golden dragon was much larger, close to the size of a house than a horse like the red one. Its head was more squared, features vaguely cat-like, its eyes as golden as its scales.
Then, the golden dragon looked down at Ravi and myself, and she flinched, whimpering in fear. Its head tilted, and it lowered its muzzle, its breath warm and stinking of burnt meat. I winced, and held Ravi as tightly as I dared, my heart hammering in my chest.
The red dragon snapped its teeth together, another series of throaty rumbles coming from its chest. But it seemed like they reached an agreement, for the red dragon removed its wing and lowered its head, and gently nudged my shoulder with its muzzle.
I gasped, my eyes wide. I had always wanted to speak to the dragons that lived in the mountains, to converse with them and spend some time up there. I had never dreamed I would be close enough to touch one.