Raven Girl

Chapter 24

"You've got to be joking. You're insinuating that..." She stared down at the legend.

"Yes." He leaned back in his chair and swigged from the mug of ale.

"I can't. It's not possible."

Ragnar stood up. He whistled, and Nadine shuddered involuntarily at the sound of the golden dragon lumbering towards them. Ragnar sauntered past her, beckoning for her to follow with a lazy hand.

She decided that she hated him.

But Nadine followed as he led Tharos to the cave entrance. He scrambled up the shining flank and sat himself on a large leather saddle that Nadine had not noticed before – she'd been preoccupied by the teeth and claws.

"Watch and learn, sweetie," Ragnar said, and tapped Tharos. A rush of air blasted through the cave as Tharos shot outside. He plummeted like a stone.

Nadine ran to the lip of the cave, where she dropped to her knees and stared out. Tharos's wings snapped open. Ragnar was a tiny speck astride him as they rocketed into the air, the sunlight turning them into a firebrand as they soared. They were of one heart, one mind. Nadine cringed, wondering how Ragnar could bear it. What if Tharos changed his mind one day and decided their camaraderie was at an end?

They sailed through the sky, looping and swerving, riding the currents of the wind. Even from the distance, Nadine could see how exhilarated Ragnar was. She dived out of the way as Tharos glided back to the cave. His claws clicked against the floor when he alighted, strangely graceful.

"I'm not doing that," Nadine breathed.

Ragnar raked his windswept hair out of his face. "We'll see."

They found the black dragon in the cave of treasure, inspecting the jewels. Kutkh – the traitor, Nadine thought – was perched on one of its spines. Nadine sat and watched Ragnar struggle to put a saddle on it. The dragon shied away and kept turning its back pointedly, and she refused to help.

"This is madness," she said, as Ragnar finally managed to loop the straps around the dragon, tightening the buckles at its underbelly. "Why don't you ride it instead? I'd fall off."

Ragnar patted the dragon. "Not with this saddle, you won't. And you've already flown across a mountain range and lived to tell the tale."

"Yeah, because I was holding on so tightly my fingers nearly fell off –" Nadine broke off with a shriek as Ragnar grabbed her. He tossed her onto the saddle like she was a doll.

Instinct made her clutch the leather. Ragnar slapped the dragon's haunches.

"No, no, no! Ragnar! I can't – you can't do this!"

Too late. Ragnar grinned as the dragon launched into a charge, making for the cave entrance. Nadine swung her legs over the side of the saddle, determined to get out of this, and had almost pushed herself off when she saw the floor disappear. Mountains unfolded beneath her.

Bile rose in her throat and she backtracked, scrambling back into the saddle and hanging on to the handles in front. Like before, breeze whipped her hair back and her eyes stung, but the saddle provided security – and there was a long strap which she found she could connect to her belt, preventing her from flying off if she lost her grip.

Nadine tried to scream at the dragon to stop, or land, or go back to the cave, but the wind ripped her words away. She stopped when her throat became sore.

The dragon dropped low until they were gliding over a sea of treetops. The harsh wind dropped.

Nadine let out a breath, amazed at how calm everything suddenly was. She looked down at the trees, watching their crowns skim the dragon's claws. Ahead, she could see the sun peeking over a mountaintop, warming her skin.