Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter five: Chase

Lukas had never solidly grasped sensing, but even he could feel that. 'And I wasn't even looking! It was like he had been bludgeoned by an invisible wall of energy. The power behind it... Tol only knows what they must have done to release that.' In the end, though, it had worked to his advantage – it told him where the spark was. Not a location, as such, but certainly a direction; since Sylas had fallen unconscious, a few had volunteered to be the new compass, but Lukas had advised against it. Down to only four Riders – including him, on his borrowed dragon – he didn't want any more out of the picture. Plus, he and Sylas had been the only ones paired up, so if it had happened again, a dragon would be tumbling out of the sky afterwards. Looking at Sylas's still figure, he sighed ruefully. He hadn't felt a thing when Sylas had been knocked out – he couldn't help but imagine how much worse the man in green's situation would be if he had still been acting compass when this hit. The image in his mind wasn't pretty.

When the small village came into view in the distance, the group dropped to fly just above the ground so as not to be seen. It had been a long time since the Outsiders had decided dragons were a myth, and the Council had decided they liked it that way. They skimmed along to the forest nearest the town, where the Riders gratefully slid off their dragons. Before they rested, however, they had to unsaddle their dragons and set up camp. Similarly, Lukas carefully unclasped Sylas and made a stone chair to gently set him down in. He looked down at the thin man and realised he'd found respect for him; Sylas had obviously been warned that this is what happened to the other sensors due to these sparks, and he had taken the duty anyway.

Tearing himself from his musings, he marched over to the nearest person in green: a woman with dark hair tied in a riding bun with string. "Who's your best sensor?" he demanded.
After a quick glace in Sylas' direction, she turned her flat grey eyes on him. "I guess that's me, at the moment." Despite the reminder of the dangers that put upon her sat unmoving in a chair a few feet behind him, her voice didn't even waver. Then she locked her fingers over her chest and bowed her head slightly, "I'm Jenna."
He knew of the traditional greeting for the Air element, even if it was still strange to him. In response, he held out his arm like he had to Jonah – she returned the gesture. "Lukas. Can you get someone else to finish this for you? We should find our target as soon as possible." As an answer, she just signalled to another of her comrades, who obviously got the hint; he set down the saddle he was carrying and got to work on hers. Watching the exchange, Lukas couldn't help thinking, 'Brave, open to different ideals, and practical... I like her already...' She reached into the bags and pulled out two knet rolls – preserved knet meat and a few long-lasting vegetables like tober and wass wrapped in a fido paste – and then they set off in the direction of the town.

They got more than a few odd glances as they walked through the town. There was no doubt they both looked out of place, but Lukas was quite sure it was Jenna drawing most of the attention. All the town women he saw wore long skirts or dresses, back bent to keep her gaze at the floor while at least one child ran around her. Jenna was perhaps the polar opposite – wearing the same clothes as Lukas (who the town's people had no doubt assumed was her husband) only green, she walked proudly and glared at any child who approached. As they walked, she pulled out the knet rolls she had grabbed, passed one to Lukas, and promptly wolfed down the other. Lukas – not a fan of the overly peppery flavour of the wass they put inside it – ripped his in half and went about picking out as much as he could. Jenna looked at him work for a while before pointing out, "You know they put that in there for a reason, right?"
"And I take it out for a reason, too" he retaliated. She just arched an eyebrow at him before trying to wipe all the crumbs off her face. "What, you've never avoided something just because you don't like it?" He laughed, disbelieving.
"Well, I'll admit I was never fond of AS, so I tended to walk slowly when it came to that." AS – or Academic Studies – was exactly how it sounded; the Council decided it had to teach all new students about the how The Dragon created the Elements, and they the world. It was supposed to make sure that the new Riders remembered what it is they fought against: Chaos. However, in Lukas' time, he hadn't seen any chaos be fought, only this war with the Turned. Even if that was their purpose, he'd never understood why they don't just give each student a copy of the book. Still, he wasn't a council member – and didn't plan on becoming one, either – so it wasn't his place to understand.