League of Improbable Riders

3

"What? We can't pick on Borte and Rasak anymore? You're joking, right?"

Shaska shook her head.

"Unfair!" Rogue was mildly annoyed.

"I know, right," She agreed, swinging her legs as she sat atop the boy's desk, "what'd we do to deserve this? I mean, we only dropped one or two slimy minnows down his shirt; nothing much, really."

"Remember his face!"

The two delinquents howled with laughter as they re-lived their many pranks on the poor general; the dragons looked on, sharing their own memories.

"Oh well," Rogue sighed after a bit, "we can at least go overrun Gordean." He grinned and leapt astride Shadow's back.

Shaska cheered and clambered onto Taz's back as the deep-blue dragon followed the camo through the many corridors and passage-ways, until they swooped down to land in front of thick stone doors that were only just big enough for full-grown dragons to squeeze through.

"Where're the guards?" Shaska asked, twisting to look around at the empty hall.

"I told you; I bribed them."

"But this gate needs defending," she protested, "it's the closest one to the commoners; this's too risky, Rogue."

"It's fine. They're only gone for half-an-hour, and then they'll return until we get back," Rogue assured her. "Now come on, let's go."

With the combined strength of both Taz and Shadow, they managed to squeeze out the door and into the world that lay outside and the dragons leaped into the air, soaring high over a steep precipice that dove down from the middle of the mountain to its stony foot.

Shaska held tightly to the spike before her as a crisp wind buffeted her, attempting to blow her off of Taz's back. She was already wearing a thick sheep-skin coat and wool-padded jeans, but she wished she had another jacket; the wind was cold, and since the safest place for dragon riders was inside the mountains, she was unused to outside air.

Shaska looked down at the nearby Shadow gliding on a currant of air. "Do you even know where Gordean is?" she yelled at Rogue, gasping slightly as the wind whipped her breath away.

"Um, no," the boy called back sheepishly, "only that it's the closest village to us. I just figured you'd know." He grinned up at her.

Shaska sighed as Taz chuckled deep in his throat. "Come on, Taz," she said, "I guess it's up to us to make sure this adventure succeeds."

Taz flicked his tail and beat his wings, propelling himself forward, and flew around the mountain, Shadow close behind.

After they had cleared the line of mountains Taz stopped and growled: "I've never actually been to Gordean, where is it?"

Shaska sighed in exasperation. "It's a straight flight from the gate that we exited by, over the tree-line, and past the Roaring River."

"Oh. So we're actually going the wrong way?"

"Uh, yeah."

Taz tilted his two right wings, spinning them round to face the other direction, and shot forward, flapping swiftly now that he knew where to go.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

Taz started underneath Shaska. "There it is!" he said.

Shaska stood in the saddle, peering forward, then spotted a few roof-tops popping up from the earth ahead and grinned, "Enemy village ahead!" she called back to their two comrades.

Rogue whooped in response.

Shaska re-seated herself; excitement freeing the butterflies in her stomach, and felt Taz straining as he beat his wings harder, eager for battle. With a sudden start Shaska remembered that she hadn't strapped herself in and bent down to tie her legs into the saddle, ensuring that she wouldn't get thrown out when her dragon twisted to avoid arrows.

As they soared over the town Taz roared, proclaiming his arrival, and many faces looked sky-ward; many voices shrieked in fear.

Taz waited for Shadow to catch up before dropping like a stone toward the doomed village, spouting blue fire as he went.

Several houses went up in flames, crackling with a blinding blue heat.

Landing on the roof of a stone building, Taz turned a semi-circle, burning, burning, burning. Burning everything within reach.

Shaska cheered as a hut collapsed into rubble, then, seeing armed men running toward them from behind, whipped her bow off of her back, loaded an arrow, and fired, killing or wounding two of the men.

"Taz! Behind us!" she yelled, and Taz whirled, snarling threateningly.

Shaska ducked suddenly as an arrow whizzed toward her, and it struck the dragon's tail. Clattering harmlessly to the cobblestone street, the dart did nothing but enrage Taz and he roared, lashing his tail and unintentionally swiping the roof off of a nearby building. With a loud bellow he leapt toward the unlucky men, claws outstretched to maim and kill.

He dove into their midst, burning and biting, beating off their attacks with his four powerful wings, and soon laid them all to the ground.

Shaska looked at the prone bodies and dry-retched. "Let's move on, eh?"

Taz growled in answer and took to the skies, the wind from his wing-beats fanning the fires. He flew on as the light of the fire reflected dully off of the blood on his body and brilliantly from his deep blue scales.

The area around Rogue and Shadow was in similar dis-array, destroyed and lifeless.

Taz landed next to them and fanned his wings as he roared, eager for battle.

Shaska stared at the dead bodies, slightly horrified. "It's fun fighting, but I hate killing—no offense, Taz and Shadow: you're dragons."

"Mmm," Rogue agreed, "look at all these people we've slain who had family, friends, and lives still to live. I try to only kill in self-defence—then it's a case of me or them—but I still don't like it."

"Enough talk," Taz rumbled, and Shadow growled in agreement, licking her lips, "what's done is done; we will let as many citizens survive as they themselves will allow, but when we're at war, sometimes we have to kill. Don't worry, you kill them, and they would just as willingly kill you. Don't let yourself enjoy killing as much as dragons and you'll be fine."

Shaska nodded. "Thanks."

"What did he say?" Rogue couldn't understand Jewel-flame speech.

"Enough talk," Shaska told him, "this village isn't ours, yet." Most of Taz's words were for her.

The two dragons took flight and worked their way to the centre of the village, razing it to the ground.

"Uh, Shaska," Rogue yelled over suddenly, "should we be, like, trying not to destroy this place, so Jareck can use it for barracks, or something?"

Taz snapped his jaws shut, cutting off the flow of flames streaming from his mouth. "Oops."

Cocking her head Shaska thought for a minute or two. "Naah," she decided finally, a mischievous grin creeping across her face, "I don't think he really needs it."

"That's good enough for me!"

Once again the dragons dove.