League of Improbable Riders

13

The meeting as usual, was boring and uneventful; though there was a strange tension in the air borne of having a Commoner in their midst. Both Kanah and Blind Shoreck—What's the old man even doing in here? Shaska thought; she suspected that he had simply snuck in, for some reason—seemed to be hiding something, and Jareck's gaze was malevolent and savage; not to mention Fury's.

Taz filed out of the hall behind Shadow; his rider and Kanah seated on his back.

Shaska leaned forward and spoke quietly to the dragon. "Taz, could take us somewhere private?"

Taz rumbled in acknowledgement and leapt into the air—nearly brushing their heads on the rock ceiling—and darted away.

"Spill it," Shaska demanded as she jumped down from Taz's back, and looked up at the boy determinedly.

Kanah was startled. "What?" he asked innocently, fidgeting with Taz's saddle.

"You know who the fourth person is and you're not telling us," she said accusingly. "Who is it?"

Kanah face darkened. "You're not getting my sister," he muttered sullenly.

"What?" This was unexpected. "You've got a sister?"

He nodded sullenly. "And she's classed with my dragon: you're not kidnapping her, either."

Shaska nodded. "Of course; but, think about it: she's all alone in a dangerous world, her home is destroyed; her village is destroyed; her parents are dead, and she most likely thinks you're dead. Do you want to leave her alone like that?"

Kanah wavered; Shaska knew what she was doing.

"Wait," Taz objected, "how do we even know whether a random girl is the right person?"

Shaska stopped, stymied. "Oh, yeah."

She turned on Kanah, "Why would your sister be part of the prophecy? Does that even make sense?"

Kanah stared at the ground and nodded as he finally slipped down from Taz's back. "Yes. She's my twin and her eyes are green; we could quite easily be classed as one person. And her dragon is 'unique amongst its kind', too: she's a silver Fire-thrower."

Shaska stepped back, wonder in her eyes.

Bending his neck Taz blew a smoky breath over the two of them. "This's unexpected," he observed. "Who would've thought it?"

Shaska shook her head. "Not me," she murmured.

Kanah gazed at her, fear in his green eyes. "I can't do it," he said, panic seeping into his voice, "I—I want Keera to be safe, but I can't thrust her into destroying every Commoner with me. I can't.

"I don't even know if I'll have the strength to!" he continued wildly. "I can't force my sister into destroying our whole world.

"I'm not strong enough." He sank to the ground, covering his face with his arms.

Shaska stood chewing her nail; she didn't want to say this, but she had to: "Is—do you think she's even alive?"

Kanah quivered, and Shaska hated herself as he didn't answer.

"Sorry," she said, half sheepish and half guilty.

Taz spoke suddenly, and as he continued, Shaska's delighted smile grew.

"Of course!" she crowed. "That's it!"

Kanah raised his tear-stained face and gave her a curious glance. "What?"

"Me, Taz, and you," Shaska began in hurried excitement, "maybe Shadow and Rogue: we can go back to your town, search for your sister and your dragons, and hide the three of them somewhere where you can visit them occasionally!"

Kanah leapt to his feet. "It's perfect, Taz!" he cried. Then he paused, suspicion entering his mind. "But, you might betray them to Jareck and Fury," he said cautiously, "how do I know I can trust you two?"

Shaska looked slightly troubled, and Taz flicked his tail.

"I don't know," the girl said slowly, "I guess you're going to have to choose between keeping them safe from us, and possibly not seeing them again; and trusting me, moving them, seeing them occasionally, and maybe being betrayed. But if I revealed anything, then Jareck would bring them here, to stay with us; the world is a dangerous place for dragon riders.

"There's no way for me or Taz to prove ourselves to you, but we can say that neither of us likes being in the prophecy or the 'new' Jareck. You can trust us if you need to."

Kanah had nearly made his decision, but he needed one more question to be answered. "Why are you helping me? Aren't you worried that we'll mess up the prophecy? We are Commoners, after all."

Shaska laughed. "Of course not! The prophecy only says what will eventually happen, so we can do what we want: the prophecy doesn't rule us, it was only a few words to give us hope. Words predicting what will happen." She laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, "And take heart in this: the prophecy never says that we'll kill the Commoners—those are Jareck's words—all it says is that we will stop the war."

Kanah nodded. "Alright," he said shakily, "I can't bear to be apart from my dragon or my twin any longer.

"I trust you; you're my only hope."

"Good." Shaska grinned, "But you're still gonna need to wait while I sort out supplies and see if Shadow's willing to bring Rogue."

Kanah groaned, but he was hiding a grin. "Thanks, Shaska. And you too, Taz; good idea."

Taz dipped his head in acknowledgment.

They ran back to the younger peoples' rooms, and Shaska showed Kanah his before hunting down Rogue on her own: Taz decided to stay in their room and sleep.

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

Rogue tilted his head thoughtfully, "Oh yep; okay," he said, "I'll come if Shadow wants to. Sounds fun!" He grinned, then turned and rubbed the sleeping dragon's scales.

Shadow was sleeping in a large, well-padded indentation in Rogue's bedroom, next to the bed, and Rogue was sitting with her, enjoying her company as Shaska perched on her usual spot—the table corner—and laid out her plan.

The camo dragon stirred, breathing a plume of smoke, and opened one black eye, looking first at Rogue, then at Shaska with curiosity in her gaze. She rumbled something and Rogue quickly explained the plan, ending with an inquiry as to whether she wanted to go or not. Shadow raised her head and peered at Shaska with a knowing curl of her upper-lip. She grunted, and Rogue jumped up with a cheer.

"Count us in!"

Shaska pumped the air. "Thanks, guys!

"I have the feeling we're going to need all the help we can get," she added soberly.