Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 33

            The wind blasted around them, tugging at any loose bit of clothing and pulling Miette’s hair out of its braid. Valerie had lost her wig in the first few thrusts of take-off. Not that she noticed. Below her, the ground was spiralling away as Rish used a nearby thermal to help gain height. Just above them Faal was doing the same, his wings held straight out, the careful cupping and tilting of his wings helping him change directions.

            The air was cooler up there and had Val been able to process anything other than “I’m flying on a dragon!” she’d have been glad for her coat. The powerful beats of Rish’s wings just behind her and Miette’s legs shifted them forward then backward with the movement of the dragon’s body. Here, Valerie’s riding lessons paid off as she was able to grip Rish’s chest with her legs and move more easily with her than if she would have been able to had this happened when she first arrived.

            When they’d gained enough height, Rish and Fall levelled off, using the strong winds and occasional thermal to keep themselves aloft. Valerie looked all around her, eyes wide and the grin splitting her face. Above her were grey clouds, heavy with the promise of rain with only a slightly lighter patch telling her where the sun was hiding. Below her she could see everything. Or close enough that she didn’t care.

            Below them was a huge blanket of gold spotted with patches of grey from rocky outcroppings. Fading behind them were the purple mountains the tops dusted with white. Ahead of them was the sea of fire, the reds, oranges, and yellows of the forest appearing like waves. Off on the horizon she could see where the trees met the sky though right at the edge, the land seemed to sparkle.

            “What’s that shining bit?” she wondered aloud as the wind continued to swirl around her.

            “The ocssean,” Rish replied, her eyes remaining on Faal.

            Val jerked her head. She hadn’t thought it possible, with the wind stealing away everything not tied down, for the dragon to hear her. “You can hear me?”

            “Yesss. You arre within my sspherre of influencsse.”

            “I don’t understand.”

            “You arre closse enough to me that you have enterred my magic field. It iss why you will not fall unlessss I allow it.”

            She thought about it for a moment. Then shrugged. She didn’t understand magic and truth be told, it didn’t interest her as much as it perhaps should. “Then can I ask you some questions?”

            “You may assk but I may not ansswerr.”

            She grinned. “That’s fair. So you’re Faal’s sister right? So why do you keep saying ‘our son’?”

            “I am Faal’s ssissterr. And Kerrashix iss my sson. I am unmated and the only female of ourr nesst sso I sstand asss ssecond motherr to Kerrashix. Had Haxifuss an unmated brrotherr he would be a ssecond fatherr.”

            “So it’s a traditional thing then?”

            “Yess,” Rish said, her hiss rising above the rush of the wind. “Among thosse of uss who arre civilizsed, it iss common practicsse.”

            “Ah! That’s right. Darren mentioned that there are two types of dragons, ferals and civils.”

            The dragon snorted. “Human terrmss. We arre drragonss. They arre mindlesss beasstss no differrent than the food we hunt. Who iss Darrren?”

             Valerie’s smile faltered as she thought of him. “He’s the prince of Armith.”

            “He iss yourr mate?”

            She flushed. “Not exactly.”

            “Yourr mate,” Rish said, the tone of her hiss making Val think she had decided the term was apt. “Sso you would then be a prrinscesss. You intend to rresscue him?

            “I’m not a princess. I’m not even from this world. But yes, I’m going to rescue him. And if that means I have to gut every person who’s between me and him then that’s what I’ll do,” she said, her own voice dropping into a hiss by the end.

            Rish made the noise that Valerie thought to be a chuckle. “You have sspirrit. You would have been a magnifiscent drragon. I can ssee alrready you would have been a sscarrlet beauty with powerr, much chasssed by the maless.”

            That brought her smile back. “I would have liked to be a dragon though I’m not sure I’d have been happy being chased.”

            “It iss good you arre not.”

            She felt a bit of a sting. “Why?”

            “Becausse then we would have been rrivalss. I do not like rrivalss.”

            Val grinned. “Don’t worry. Neither do I.”

            Rish chuckled again. “Then it iss good we arre differrent sspesciess.”

            She nodded, glancing back down at the ground. Already they were halfway to the forest, a trip that had taken them three days done in thirty minutes. Valerie could already tell that anything after dragonback was going to be a disappointment.

            As she looked down at the ground that was slowly getting more trees, she noticed they were losing height. She looked at Rish who was staring ahead, her wings tucking into her sides as she put them into a shallow dive.

            “What’s wrong?” she shouted over the wind, forgetting Rish could hear her fine.

            “Faal. He iss flaming and aiming to land. Sssomething is wrrong.”

            Valerie looked at the green dragon and saw that Rish was right. Tiny flames were dancing around his head as he spiralled rapidly down. Praying that Isaac would be okay, she could only just see him on the other dragon’s back, she squeezed Rish’s side tighter as they dropped.