Dragon's Blood

Flight

"Iyla wait!" Bill called out to her as she strode across the castle battlements. By the time he had got to her room, she had dressed herself in the clothes they had been given when they first arrived at the castle and it was clear she had no intention of staying in her room as she had said.

"Leave me alone Bill!" she called back to him, "I am going to find my brother and no one is going to stop me." Bill didn't doubt it, he had never seen Iyla like this, his mind went back to Sam talking about Kade's single-mindedness when there was something he wanted and he couldn't help wondering if Iyla might have something in common with her real Uncle after all.

Pandra came swooping down towards the castle, her scaley hide sparkling in the sun. Bill suddenly realised what Iyla was going to do.

"You can't ride her Iyla, you've never done it before! You don't even know if she's strong enough!" His voice was desperate, he could see that he had no hope of catching up with her before she reached her dragon, which was now precariously perched on the battlements, small pieces of brickwork crumbling under her talons grip and tumbling with delicate splashes into the moat below.

"I'm just going to fly in the right direction," Iyla shouted, "Until I can get Tobias to tell me where he is, then I'll come back."

"Iyla!" Bill shouted in frustration, "Don't be an idiot!" He was close enough to see her hurt but determined look as she swung onto Pandra's back as if she'd done it a thousand times before. Pandra took off into the air with Iyla settled high up on her back, above her shoulders at the base of her neck. He cursed to himself; Iyla was flying off to goodness knows where to get herself into goodness knows what trouble and the last thing he'd done was call her stupid. He made his decision in a split second, turned and ran towards the stables.

Faine was there, tending to his horse. "Bill!" he was surprised by Bills sudden and hurried entrance and then noticed his friends expression, "What's the matter?"

"It's Iyla," Bill said, jumping onto his horses back, "She's gone looking for her brother, I need to go after her before I lose sight of Pandra."

"She's on Pandra!" Faine exclaimed, "She's never flown-"

"I know," said Bill grimly, "It didn't seem to be a problem. Theres no time Faine, I need to keep Pandra in sight, your parents told me to look after her, can you tell Camen what's happened?"

"Which way are you going?" Faine asked, not once questioning Bills decision.

"North!" Bill shouted back, "Tell them to get the gates!"

Iyla felt exhilarated. Flying with Pandra was like nothing she had ever experienced and despite her fear for her brother, her rage at her friends and her blind fury at Kade, she smiled and closed her eyes as the wind flew against her face and the forest passed in a blur beneath them. She felt connected to her dragon in a way she never had before, it was as if she was simply an extension of Pandra and Pandra of her. She knew Pandra was strong enough to carry her and she felt perfectly safe. It didn't matter that she had never rode a dragon before, it came naturally, she knew exactly where to sit and how to hold on in a way that didn't interrupt any of Pandras movements, the dragon could fly as easily with Iyla on her back as she could without. Iyla could sense Pandra's joy that they could share this together now and, had the situation been different she was sure joy was all she would have been feeling herself.

But of course, that feeling was tainted, she was hurt that nobody trusted her, even Bill didn't think she should go after her brother, the one person she thought would stick up for her against the adults and their endless questions. What good was constantly questioning everything? That wasn't going to help Tobias escape Kade and he could help them, he'd been inside Kade's castle, he might know things that would ultimately help them defeat Kade, he might even be able to give them a lead as to where her mothers powers might be. No one had thought of that had they, while they were doubting her and delaying things?