Chronicles of Carnezia (Book 1): Dragons of Dracona

Chapter 18: Unwanted Escort

Chapter 18: Unwanted Escort

            It took a fair four days to reach Hone. Even though the distance (straight, not by road) from Lanji to Hone was about the same as from Baedon to Lanji, the road curved a lot more and that added the extra time. Also, I didn’t have the knowledge of Ky accompanying me about how to best split the time with the riding. To take as little time as possible but not to overwork Aspen, we headed on for a good hour or two at full gallop and then slow down to a trot for another hour so he could relax and cool down.

            Other than losing Frain a couple of times and spending the nights out in the open, the journey was near enough uneventful. The times that Frain went missing they were only again because he had hunted out some sort of meal that wasn’t too difficult to prey on and catch. When we would start to gallop off then he would hop into the saddle with me or clamber up to my shoulders. Even though he usually kept out of Aspen’s sight, they weren’t a bother to each other which was good for me as I didn’t have to keep them apart by myself; though maybe when Frain was much larger Aspen might have a bit of a problem being around an adult dragon.

            Eventually, on a gloomy rainy day, Hone came up on the horizon. Shaking his head, Aspen snorted and whinnied at me. ‘I don’t suppose one night would be a problem. Come on then.’ And he cantered off.

            Once inside the massive iron portcullis fashioned gates, that swung on huge hinges, I noticed immediately the huge difference to the towns I had only merely been recouping in for a couple of nights. The streets were paved, not cobbled or muddy like most of the roads I had been travelling on. People filled the way and it would take a long time until I even got an eighth of the way through. There was steam and smoke and weird, ghastly smells filling the air.

            ‘Hmm, maybe this was a bad idea,’ I whispered to Aspen as I had leant forward to pat down his neck. Before coming close to the city, I had told Frain to stay in a larger bunch of trees out of sight and I would pick him up before leaving the next day. Somehow he managed to obey that simple request and hadn’t followed. Aspen twirled his ears so they pointed back at me; clearly he was baffled and annoyed at the same time.

            ‘You!’ I heard someone shout. Looking up from being leant forward, I saw an angry face not too far away. ‘You, on the horse!’ the man shouted again but a lot louder. Gasping, I kicked Aspen in the sides and pulled the reins to the right. Turned around, he whinnied loudly and the crowd split just before we galloped off towards the open gate again. I didn’t attempt to look over my shoulder but they were either running after me or had given up and mingled where I wouldn’t see them.

            I managed to reach the gates without any trouble; it was outside that I was in for a bit. As soon as I was at the most three hundred yards from the gates, I wasn’t the only one galloping in the grass. I had risked glancing over my shoulder but soon wished I hadn’t. Another rider was chasing after me and just as fast too; and I wasn’t getting any further away from them.

            They jumped in front of my path (somehow) and Aspen stopped. My eyes narrowed and I dropped my head a little. The man took a deep breath and settled his black steed down. ‘Right, there,’ he said with a rough voice. ‘Now, you,’ he addressed me which I found offensive. ‘What were you doing?’ It was then that I realised it was the man who had shouted at me inside the city. Pursing my lips and turning my head, I remained silent and tried to turn Aspen away. ‘Now stop right there. Coming into the city, you must be crazy,’ he declared.

            That pushed my buttons. I was soaking wet, my horse was tired, we were both hungry and I wanted to get a proper meal and a descent night’s sleep. ‘Listen here, you,’ I addressed him back. ‘I have been riding in the rain all day and all I want to do is dry off and to be left alone. Now, if you don’t mind, buzz off.’ At that, Aspen trotted off but it did no good.