Dragon: A Histories of Purga Novel

Chapter Twenty-Six

Asher flew as fast as he could through the trees, his heart pounding with exertion. It was nearly pitch black with night coming on and his hawk's eyes weren't well suited for the task, but so far he managed to keep himself from being brained by a tree branch or a tree trunk. A chirping sound emanated from his left and he turned to see Blink. He'd retrieved it from its hiding place after slipping away from his dad. Technology of any kind was viewed with suspicion and automatic hatred. So he had stashed it somewhere safe so that he wouldn't have to watch it be destroyed. Whenever he'd gotten a couple of spare moments, he'd gone to watch with amazement as Blink turned into whatever he wanted. He was awed with the thing and the applications it could have.

Right now, however, it was in its drone form, flying fast and eagerly beside him.

Asher thought he would've been making better time by now, but his progress was considerably slower thanks to the chameleon he grasped in his talons. The extra weight, along with the sluggish pace due to nightfall, made it that much harder to get to his destination. He cursed his bad luck when Fowler had caught him trying to sneak out of Vitari and then demanded to come with him as payment for keeping his silence. Asher tried to persuade him against it, telling him flat out that he was flying to Roanoke to try and save his sister. Fowler, however, hadn't backed down or relented. Eventually, Asher agreed to let his friend come with him and now they were flying toward the sentry post where Gar had previously been stationed with all haste. They were about thirty miles ahead of the massive army marching through the woods on their own way to Roanoke. He knew that his dad was in front, riding one of Beltar's beautiful horses. He knew that almost every able-bodied warrior was with them, male and female, along with the thirty or so Callers the village had to offer. Along the way, battalions from Untari and Candu had met up with the army while the battalions from Yowil and Ledun will travel around the forest from the north and meet with them in the Javardi desert.

He pumped his wings, trying to keep up the speed but eventually exhaustion overcame him. He found a nice, thick branch high up in the trees and settled in for the night. Far away, some miles distant, the army stopped and broke for camp as well. Faintly, Asher could see orange, flickering glows from dozens and dozens of campfires.

He let go of Fowler and they both tried to get as comfortable as they could. Blink continued his ever present hovering beside him and Asher fell asleep to the constant humming sound the machine made.

It felt like he'd been asleep only a handful of seconds, but all of a sudden, sunlight poked at Asher from behind his closed lids. He cautiously blinked them open and found the dappled light filtering through the thick forest canopy high overhead. He stretched his wings and shifted his talons slightly. Fowler was in front of him, literally sticking to the tree branch, the eyes on either side of his head closed. He thought he could hear his friend letting out soft, whistle-like snores, but that might've been his imagination. Blink was still floating next to him, looking as if it hadn't moved an inch the whole night.

Asher looked to the army's camp and found them on the move again. They marched rapidly through the trees, some in their animal forms, while others were still human. A double line of horse-bound warriors, thousands strong, led the army with his father, Tarvo, dead center. Now that it was daylight, his superior vision could easily see the big man, even though he was still several miles away. There was a twisted look of hatred on his face that made Asher even more nervous.

He jabbed the end of one of his talons into Fowler's soft hide. The little chameleon jumped up, opened its eyes, and lashed out with his tongue. It hit Asher's talon and stuck there. A shiver of revulsion ripped through him and he glared at Fowler, who blinked and then disengaged his tongue.

Asher ruffled his feathers, grabbed the chameleon again, and took off through the trees.

He felt a little better now. Flying by night was a tricky thing for him and he didn't do it very often, but traveling in the day, that was a different story. He had no troubles there. He zipped through the trees, even with Fowler's extra weight, as though he knew on a deep level where every single one was. His vision was sharp and he could see for some miles with no problems. All in all, he made up whatever time he'd lost sleeping and was about forty miles ahead of the army now. He did some quick math and was confident that, based on the average speed of the army against his current speed and the remaining distance to where he needed to go, he would have plenty of time to complete his task.