The Tellanon

13. Snow

Emyra's feet were soaked. She trudged on and on through the wet grass beside Alea, until she could mount again. Last night's rainfall had been heavy and some rivers had overflowed. The dragon's wings had kept her and Serin dry for the most part, but the ground hadn't been spared. It was squishy. Aswad and Alea had already gotten stuck several times. The going was slower than Emyra would have liked, now that summer seemed to have left early. It had been cloudy for three days now. She could practically hear Merrón's traders grumbling about it. Summer was good for trade. Cloudy weather was good for nothing. Not for trading, not for playing, not for travelling.

Serin seemed annoyed as well, but Jylinde Norak didn't show any emotion. The dragon had barely talked since they had met, except to give instructions. The way to Nazren was hard to follow, and treacherous paths lead to it, so the dragon kept telling them what to do. That was what made Serin angry, not the rain. Wanderers were used to the rain. Rain was good, like snow. People telling her what to do were bad. Dragons telling her what to do was even worse.

"By whatever gods Nazren has, how long is it going to take? We should be crossing the mountains by now, shouldn't we? They're, what, two hours riding away? If you go slowly." She yelled at the dragon, who was high up in the sky by now. The politeness she had managed to maintain when they had met was gone. She simply wasn't able to keep that up for so long. Even with a dragon who could rip her throat out in less than a heartbeat if it wanted to. It wouldn't, though, so Serin remained rude and safe in the knowledge than anything from Nazren had to be safe.

"We will reach the mountains within the hour, Wanderer Serin. Please be patient." The dragon called back. Emyra was glad. However much she liked the soft landscape of Thén, she would like to see mountains. It was a pity that they were the Shadow Mountains. Serin and she both suspected that the Nightmares would attack again, once they were there. Jylinde should keep them away for a while, but how long? And would she stay? Emyra refused to think about that now, though. She was going to see mountains. If ever she had children, they would love her stories. Emyra smiled at that, causing Serin to look at her.

"What's the joke?" She asked. Emyra didn't answer. She was lost in memories of Lynn. She remembered teaching her how to swim. They had gone to the river and Allen had moved Lynn's legs and Emyra had moved her arms until she got the hang of it. It had taken hours and Lynn kept telling them to  stop and just to tell a story like they had promised, but eventually she gave in and started enjoying it.

"She is thinking of her sister and herself telling tales, Wanderer Serin." The dragon answered from above. Emyra's head snapped up.

"You can read my thoughts?" She asked. The dragon confirmed it.

"Oh, by the God Akkanaro. Remind me, why did I yell if I could just use telepathy to ask you a question? My throat hurts now." Serin said.

"Don't worry about your throat, you're used to it anyway. What about my thoughts? They're privet." Emyra said. The dragon told her not to worry.

"I will not share your secrets, Emyra Tellanonfriend. I will not remember them. I can know, as all heavensdragons, what you think, but I will not remember unless I feel I have to." She said with that serene tone of hers. How someone could shout and still sound serene, Emyra didn't know.

"What precisely is a heavensdragon?" Emyra thought to Jylinde. 

"We are of the stars. B'gorn, our ancestor, came from a faraway blue star, it is said. We navigate by the stars, we can fly much higher than all other dragons and we can spread starlight from our bodies. The moon is sacred to us also, and we have great knowledge of the future and the sky."  Jylinde answered. Emyra nodded. None of them spoke after that. Not until they reached the mountains, half an hour later