Dragons Rising ✔️

Ch 42: Evasion

I'd known Leera was upset—so upset that she'd gotten blood frenzy and attacked me—but she hadn't gone through with it. Even when she'd had the chance to kill me, she hadn't done it. But I knew that wasn't entirely true. Her instincts would've told her that killing me would kill her too. Now she had the katalni's spear, that wasn't a problem. At least, it wasn't a problem for her.

I couldn't force my claws to release the branch I was sitting on until after Leera and the bronze katalni flew off. My whole body trembled violently. When I lifted my wings, they sounded like leafy branches in a hurricane.

Wait, I couldn't fly after Leera. If she spotted me, she might decide to pause her murderous rampage to grab a quick snack. I would turn into my usual half-talme form to save magical energy while I waited.

As I grew larger, I realized the branch was significantly smaller than it'd seemed to be when I was a hawk. It creaked beneath my increasing weight, and I jumped down to a stronger branch before finishing the transformation. I wrapped my tail securely around the branch as soon as my tail appeared.

Then I sat back against the tree trunk to try and wrap my head around what was happening. Leera was going to try and killed me with an enchanted stick because some strange super dragon had told her to. All of this while on a mission to try and keep Ferentis from getting a cache of powerful weapons that could destroy Lykela as I knew it. My stomach was in knots.

[Where are you?]

The sound of Leera's voice scared me so badly that I jumped halfway off the branch and ended up hanging up by my tail with one leg over the branch. I immediately shut my mind off from Leera's, leaving open only the smallest of gaps in my mental wall to answer. I didn't want her reading my thoughts and seeing where I was.

[I'm looking for you east of the camp.] I pulled myself back onto the branch. Hopefully, sending her in the opposite direction from where I was would keep her from catching me alone.

[I'll come pick you up.]

[No, I'm fine. I can get back myself.]

[I want to say I'm sorry for attacking you. I overreacted. I was just so angry about what I saw at the mine that I wasn't thinking. It happens to the best of us, doesn't it?]

[Of course it does. I wasn't thinking, either. I'm sorry for saying what I did. Of course you're not savage or anything.] I was sorry, though I would've been more sorry if she wasn't planning to kill me.

[I want to apologize in person.]

[Then we can meet up back at camp.] Hopefully, she would be less likely to attack me in front of everyone else.

[It would be better if we were alone to talk.]

Of course it would be. If I was alone, she wouldn't have to deal with Moonhawk or the other dragons possibly trying to protect me.

[You can talk to me back at camp.] I put as much force into the thought as I could, making it clear that I wasn't going to change my mind.

[Fine. I'll see you there.]

It took several minutes of flying to get back to camp, and the entire way, I wracked my mind for some way to resolve my Leera problem. I landed by my tent to transform out of sight of Tawny and Kuertis, who were playing cards by their tents. I didn't see Leera, Moonhawk, or Clarisa anywhere. After a quick partial shift to hide my fangs, I hurried into my tent to change into something that wasn't charred.

When I came out, Clarisa was standing there with her arms crossed. "You took your time."

"I was looking for Leera."

"Well, she got here before you. I was ready to prepare her mind with spell, but I couldn't do it if you weren't there. Come on." She headed past my tent into the woods.

I followed close behind, keeping an eye out for sneak attacks. We soon stopped in a clearing overhung by branches. Leera was laying inside a circle of blue ashes—burnt ileski leaves. Moonhawk was across from her in a similar circle. To the right of each dragon were biped-sized circles made of the same ash.

Clarisa went to stand by Moonhawk. "Step in the circle by Leera, and stay there until I say so."

I followed her instructions, keeping a keen eye on Leera. As Clarisa knelt in her circle, I mimicked her pose. She slipped off her jacket to reveal oddly small butterfly wings growing from her back. Their eye-spots pulsed blue in time with the ileski ashes.

[Why are you blocking me out?] Leera asked, disturbing my thoughts.

I jumped, almost sweeping aside the ash aside near my hands. [I'm not. It's just part of the ritual.]

[Uh huh."

The pulsing lights grew faster, and a strange fog rose from the ashes before swarming around our heads. My mind buzzed like it'd been filled with wasps as I struggled to keep Leera out of my head.

As suddenly as the fog had come, it dissipated. Clarisa was shaking, no doubt from the exertion of doing the ritual twice in one day.

"When they search your mind-" She took a long, shaky breath. "-you'll be able to hide the memories you don't want them to see. You'll be able to make them think that you actually deserted Lykela. But it won't start working for at least sixteen hours, and there'll be side effects until then. Dizziness, confusion, loss of impulse control, and fatigue are common. Make sure you don't give away any secrets." Her voice was uncharacteristically neutral, no doubt entirely due to exhaustion.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be much use when Leera attacked—and Moonhawk looked just as exhausted.

[You're still blocking me,] Leera said.

I avoided her sharp gaze. [It must be another side effect.]

[She didn't say anything about-]

[Since when is Clarisa an expert on anything?]

Clarisa was heading back to camp with Moonhawk, and I followed close behind them, determined not to be left alone with Leera.

[Stay. We need to talk.]

I glanced over my shoulder and caught the gleam of the enchanted stick in her claws. She'd apparently been hiding it under her while she was laying down.

[We can talk back at camp.] I moved even closer to Moonhawk.

Leera snorted and followed after us. She sounded like she was walking normally despite the stick, and I looked back to again to see she was carrying in her mouth. My first thought was that she wouldn't be able to use it like that, but then I realize that her neck was much more flexible than mine. She could use the stick in her mouth just as easily as if she was holding it in her claws.

At this thought, I moved close enough to keep a hand on Moonhawk's haunch. She glared back at me and gave me a relatively gentle kick that set me sprawling on the ground. She and Clarisa pulled up ahead while Leera came closer to me, and I scrambled to my feet. Before Leera reached me, I took off running for camp, getting there easily before Moonhawk and Clarisa.

I sat with Kuertis and Tawny. They wouldn't be much protection from Leera, but at least their dragons would come to their aid if a fight broke out.