Fight or Flight

Chapter 24

Simon

I can now confirm that everything Katerina told us is true. I will explain further in person, so that the charm can verify I am not lying. Meet me at-

I stared up at the late afternoon sky and thought about the hidden message written on the paper I held. I needed to give Connor a meeting place... but I wasn't sure where I would be. If Enola wanted me to stay, I could ask Connor to meet me here. I could walk to Lakeshire to mail the letter, and then Connor would meet me there in a week or so.

Or Enola would tell me to go. She would come out of her lair tomorrow and tell me she was done. I would pick up Smokey from Lakeshire, ride to Yellowseed, and arrange with Captain Mason for somebody else to take over the crystal mining for me. If nothing else, that would end his subtle comments about my being a rider. I would mail the letter from Yellowseed, and Connor would meet me a day or three after that.

In both cases, I would tell him that everything Katerina had told us was true. He would check the charm I wore beneath my shirt and confirm I wasn't under a spell, then he would spread the word. The Wellsprings would know they could move into the dragon lands and build a village. Some of them would. They would be safe. They would have lives.

And then I would...

What?

If Enola told me to leave, would I go to that new village? It would offer me everything I wanted. A life I still couldn't bring myself to dream for. A simple farm where I could build my home.

But... Enola would still be here. Stuck, without any magic. With one less friend – back to the occasional visits from Cess, after I had gotten her used to company again. Because I had forced this odd friendship we now had onto her, when she had only wanted to be left alone... just so that I could get answers I wanted.

Could I really enjoy life in that village, knowing that I had left Enola like that? I had a responsibility to her.

But if Enola didn't tell me to leave... did I want to stay? This wasn't really the life I wanted. It was better than any I had hoped for, yes, but it was still isolated. Lakeshire was small, and Yellowseed was days away. And when I was around humans, I would have to worry about keeping a secret. Two secrets, actually, since now I had Enola's secret. If I left for the dragon lands instead, I could have a life free from all that. No more traveling, no more secrets, no more... hiding.

This had all seemed so simple when I had thought up this idea. Find the strange dragon living on its own, butter it up and find out what treasures I could give it to create a magedebt, then get my questions answered. A week or two at most, then I would be out.

How had a simple search for answers turned into something so complicated?

Is this what it's like to have a home?

The sound of wings drew my attention. I shook my head to pull myself out of my daydreaming and looked toward the sound. The blue dragon – Cess – was speeding toward me. He was already close, but it only took him a minute or two to close the distance, then dive for the hill.

He came to a graceful landing – one far more graceful than any I had seen Enola make, just like I usually saw him manage – and looked down at me. His eyes burned with concern and anger. "Where is Enola? Did you hurt her?"

I held my hands up in what I hoped was a calming gesture. "I didn't hurt her. She's fine. She's resting in her lair; she didn't expect you to get here until tomorrow."

"The soldiers I am helping had traced the bandits to this area, so I wasn't far. What happened? Is she okay?" The blue dragon looked down the hill as he repeated the question I had already answered, towards the passage that led to Enola's lair... and I saw him step back.