League of Improbable Riders

9

Shaska pounded down the hall, feet flying. Once again, she was beating Rogue at a race. Why does he bother challenging me? She chuckled to herself. He always loses.

Skidding around a corner, she shoved a wooden door open and dashed inside the weapon room.

After weeks of hard training, they had permission—from Jareck himself, this time—to go with a small retinue of riders to take over a Commoner village called Leanon. They still hadn't found their companions from the prophecy: no green eyes and no nothing.

She grabbed her bow off of its rack and slung a quiver of arrows over her shoulder just as Rogue panted in.

"Why do you bother torturing yourself?" she teased. "I beat you every time!"

"I'll win one day," he gasped, leaning against the doorway as his eyes sparkled.

Shaska laughed mischievously, "No you won't," she vowed. "Look at you! You're gonna collapse and I'm hardly even puffed." With a cheeky smirk she sprinted out the doorway.

Running to her room, she quickly mounted the impatient Taz, and, spreading his wings, the dragon leaped into the air and cork-screwed out the doorway, flicking it shut with his tail as he left; Shaska whooped.

They arrived at the gate in the Southern Wall where they were departing almost a quarter of an hour before Shadow and Rogue eventually appeared.

Alfsten was going with them, and at his command the dragons sprang into the air and followed his lead away north.

The flight was considerably longer than the one to Gordean, and colder, but Shaska enjoyed it: it was nice to be free for once.

They swooped down silently on the town, trying to stay out of sight, and first took out the scorway rookeries, collapsing the buildings and setting them on fire before slaughtering the birds as they tried to escape the hungry flames. Alfsten was a good commander.

Then they descended on the town and Taz's battle-rage was awoken. He roared ferociously and dove for the kill, burning and biting like the dragon he was, and burning several Commoners as they tried to flee.

"Stop, Taz!" Shaska cried, horrified. "Don't kill them needlessly!"

Taz rumbled deep in his throat and turned to swipe at a spear-wielding boy, throwing him into the air.

Shaska watched him as he spun and, for an instant, her eyes met his and they were—green.

Green eyes—how can you get more unlikely than a Commoner? The thoughts flashed through her head in an instant.

"Taz!" she yelled. "Catch him! Quick!"

Surprised, Taz leaped forward and swooped under the flailing boy and he landed in a heap on the dragon's back.

Swift as lightning, Shaska seized him, pinning him still, and whipped an arrow out of her quiver, holding the sharp point to his throat. She wasn't actually going to hurt him, but he didn't know that and froze, hardly breathing.

"Can you fly us somewhere safe please, Taz?" Shaska asked the dragon and he growled, unwilling to leave the battle, but did as she'd asked anyway, wheeling around and flying a short way out of the town.

He touched down and Shaska leaped out of the saddle, dragging the boy behind down by his hair. She didn't like being so violent, but she had to keep up the pretence that she would kill him at any moment.

Yanking him over, she pinned him against a tree and examined him with narrowed eyes. "Who are you?"

His blond hair quivered and his eyes showed intense fear as he gave out all the information he could think of. "My name's Kanah; I'm the oldest twin of Robine, close companion to the chief. I don't—" He was wild with terror and bantered on, talking nonsense.

Shaska sighed, "I don't really care."

He stopped with a gulp and Shaska shook him, frustrated that he wasn't answering properly, and she didn't know the right questions to ask.

Taz approached and lowered his head to look him in the eye, snorting smoke in his face and ruffling his hair. "Ask him if he knows anything about dragons," he suggested after a bit.

Shaska did so and the boy shook his head frantically, "No, nothing—only, I love dragon steaks."

Taz snarled angrily, his lips curling to reveal fearsome teeth.

The boy shrieked, "I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry! I thought all dragons thought that's fair!"

"Ah ha!" Shaska crowed. "You do know something about them!

"Spill it," she ended grimly.

Kanah sighed, "Fine, but please don't hurt us."

"We won't."

Ish.

"I'm a Commoner; but, several days ago when I went to kill a dragon—to be considered an adult, you understand—I don't know how, but—I mean we touched and—Oh," he sighed, and shook his head, unable to describe how he felt. Then he met her eye with a determined expression. "I'll never let you take him. You can kill me, or torture me, but I won't reveal his location."

Shaska nodded, pleased, but she had to make sure he couldn't escape. "Good," she nodded, and promptly punched him in the head, knocking him out.

Shaska stepped away from his limp body, letting him topple to the ground, and rubbed her wrist ruefully; wishing she hadn't had to punch him; before fishing a length of rope out of a special saddle-bag on Taz's saddle and tying him firmly to a tree. "Sorry," she muttered as she finished the knot.

Leaping onto Taz's back, she rubbed his neck and patted his side. "Come on, Taz," she said, "Alfsten still needs us."

Taz roared and leapt into the air, beating his wings powerfully and accidentally tossing Kanah's head back into the tree from the force of the wind.

They flew back to the town, but the battle was all but over, Shaska and Taz helped finish it off and destroy the last remaining buildings before meeting up with Shadow and Rogue.

"Where'd you disappear off to?" Rogue asked accusingly, a teasing smile playing at his lips.

Shaska was sober, she couldn't understand how a Commoner could be part of a dragon and riders' prophecy. How could a Commoner even bond with a dragon? But she said: "I think I might've found the third person of the prophecy."

Shadow started, and Rogue looked incredulous, "Here?"

She nodded, "Yup."

"But, but what's a rider doing out here?"

She looked him in the eye. "Rogue, he's a Commoner."

"What?" Rogue yelped and clutched at the spike in front of him as Shadow nearly fell out of the air, but just managed to catch herself.

"Woah, you guys," Shaska teased, "it's like you think a Commoner bonding with a dragon is weird, or something. Calm down."

Rogue ignored her. "That's—that's insane!" he sputtered. "That's not even possible!

"I don't believe you," he decided finally, "you've got to be wrong. Where is he? I want to see him."

"He's over there," Shaska told him, pointing.

Rogue grinned, managing to recover himself slightly, "You let him go free? Unguarded?" He laughed.

"Nah, I knocked him out and tied him to a tree."

"What?"

Shaska laughed at his surprised face. "You heard.

"Come on, Taz," she said aside to her dragon, "we'd better tell Alfsten about—Kanah, did he say his name was?"

Taz rumbled and flipped over and around, facing the other way, before spiralling forward and down toward the distant shape of Teradun.