The Mythos Trials

Chapter Twenty-Six, Part Two

Gwen thought she would choke on her fear, her nails digging into the thick, scaly flesh of the dragon's neck as it rose higher and higher. A scream stuck in her throat, and it was with a concerted effort that she managed to glare at Phenex sitting on the dragon next to her, his laughter ringing loudly over the flapping of wings.

"Think of it this way, Gwen," he shouted, laughing still, "at least they're only taking us as far as the lowest plateau."

Yes, because that makes me feel so much better. Even if she'd been able to form the words, they would have been lost to the battering winds as they climbed well beyond the treeline, slowly ascending toward the peaks of the Elven Mountains.

Like the trees surrounding Zephyrus's mansion, these too fell away beneath the clouds, the incandescent black and violet dragon Gwen was riding following in the slipstream of the one that had first landed in the trees short moments before.

Now that they had the upward draft to work with, the dragons' wings ceased their sharp flapping, the near-deafening snapping sound they made falling silent as they skimmed over the clouds. Frigid droplets clung to Gwen's eyelashes, and she shuddered, grateful for the thick lining of her coat and the extra layers of clothing underneath.

A sudden blast of wind sent her dragon banking left and right, and Gwen let out a terrified yelp, her hands digging into the thick, stone-like scales behind its horns once again, her knees pinned against the sides of its neck. The dragon let out a staccato of low rumbles, and it was with a nagging suspicion that Gwen realized it was laughing. At her.

"Oh sure, it's funny to you," she groused. "It's not like you're the one who would fall to your death, here."

The dragon made the sound once again, its head jerking with the force of its growling chuckles. Scowling, Gwen turned her head aside, trying to ignore both the dragon's mirth at her expense, and the frigid air dragging the breath from her lungs.

"Take it easy, Gwen," Phenex called over the roaring of the wind, laughter in his voice. "Faiyas won't let that happen."

How can you be so sure? Instead of asking it aloud, she let her expression speak for her, one eyebrow slightly raised. Or at least she thought it was; her face was a bit too frozen at the moment to tell.

Phenex must've understood the question behind the look, for he answered, "Once a dragon makes a pact with someone, they see it as their sworn duty to keep that someone safe until the pact is satisfied."

Interesting, she mused, studying the massive reptile under her. I definitely don't remember that being mentioned in Forneus's lesson plan.

Exhaling a shaky breath through her nose—partly from the cold, and partly to dispel her fear—Gwen relaxed her hold on Faiyas' neck, and squaring her shoulders, hazarded a look at the surrounding sky. What she saw took her breath away all over again.

All thoughts of fear and the biting cold left her, surrendering to the gold-tinted clouds stretching out below them, dappled with pink and purple where the sun's light was weakest. Higher up and on par with their trajectory was a thin layer of silvery mist, glittering with hundreds of thousands of ice droplets. Between the thinnest layers of cloud, the sun poked through, stabbing yellow shafts of light into the brilliant periwinkle of the morning sky.

The moment passed, cold air stinging her cheeks and burning the back of her throat, but by this time, Gwen didn't mind. Now that she had been assured of her safety, it was so much easier to appreciate the spectacular view surrounding her, to appreciate the magnificent creature soaring ever higher, its muscles bunching and extending with each flap of its large, bat-like wings. Even more magnificent was the sensation of flying itself, the wind whistling in her ears with her hair rippling out behind her.