Dragons Rising ✔️

Ch 61: The Truth

Rearing on her hind legs, Tezzla roared. "You lied, mage."

"What are you-" Prip, Leera was still wearing her collar. "It's not what you think."

She fell to all fours again. "This dragon is collared. You said she wasn't a slave."

"She isn't."

Leera glanced back at me. [That's debatable.]

[Don't debate it right now unless you want me dead.]

She didn't say anything, though I didn't know if that should comforting or not.

"This dragon will speak for herself." Tezzla raised a claw to her mindstone, and it glowed as she muttered something in another language.

Leera's collar fell from her neck, and she kicked it away. "Finally."

Tezzla snarled. "What you think of the biped now?"

"I'll still protect her," Leera said aloud.

"Because of forced bonding? If you are freed, what would you do?"

"I wouldn't want her killed, no matter what happens to me."

Tezzla opened her mouth to say something else, but she was interrupted by the arrival of the other riders in our expedition. They landed their dragons, thunderbeasts, and Farot's katalni near Leera and I. The watching katalnis greeted them with many snarls and roars at the sight of their mind-jinking collars.

"Your friends enslave our cousins as well?" Tezzla growled.

I decided that telling the truth might only make the situation worse, so I stayed silent.

Tezzla was not the only katalni who lifted their claws to free the dragons and Farot's katalni. All chaos broke loose as their collars fell to the sand. BlueIsle started wailing, which sounded like a sick dog. Farot's katalni threw him off and bolted for the sea. Several of the island katalnis went after him. Kuertis's dragon threw him off and tried to pounce on him.

Kuertis ran around Leera to hide with me, which brought Leera into a fight with Flametongue. She, being three classes higher and significantly larger, pinned him easily—which happened to be exactly what Moonhawk was doing to Clarisa at that same moment. She'd obviously been set upset about the collar for some time. Past them, the thunderbeasts were racing around, riled up by all the chaos.

"Enough," one of the katalnis roared. He stepped from the crowd, radiating power in spite of his advanced age, which was obvious because of his paling brown scales. The katalnis cleared a path before him, and the dragons bowed low. Even the thunderbeasts were quiet.

"Our cousins will come with us and rest, then they will decide what will be done about the two-legs." With a sweep of his claws, all the dragons' saddles and gear fell to the ground. He turned to leave. The dragons followed.

Leera was the only one who hesitated. "Will our riders be safe here?"

"No harm will befall your ex-rider unless you give the order. The same is true for the others."

Leera left. She didn't even say goodbye. Many of the katalnis left too, though about fifteen, including Tezzla, stayed to watch us. Tezzla in particular seemed to be angry at me, but none of the katalnis were looking at us with any measure of sympathy.

"They can talk?" Tawny asked right behind me.

I spun around. "I told you they did."

"That was only a mental echo. This-"

"There's no such thing as a mental echo." I threw my arms up. "That was BlueIsle trying to keep you from making her life miserable."

She took a step back, eyes wide. "Ella! That's not- I didn't-"