Deadweed Dragons: The Complete Series by Ava Richardson

Author:Ava Richardson [Richardson, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Dayie, and The Old Woman of Shebeel

We left before evening, the Wild Company rising from the rocks outside of Dagfan and heading for the setting sun. The red burn of the horizon felt like a dark omen, and the mood amongst the Wild Company was muted.

With us came Latifa on her Sinuous Blue (the older, bad-tempered one that seemed to suit Latifa’s sharp humor just as well), but Chief Talal wouldn’t allow any of the other Riders – none of the Seven nor any of the trainees— to fly with us.

“I need them to start training in the defense of the city,” he had told me, which I knew to be true, but I still didn’t like it. It felt to me like Chief Talal was trying to keep as many of the Training Hall dragons away from the Wild Company dragons, as if he were scared he would lose all of them to Akeem’s far more comfortable and bonded Riders.

Which he might do, if he doesn’t change the training methods, I agreed bitterly. I was thankful at least I had given Nas as explicit instructions as I could to try and change the Training Hall regime as Talal was too busy to even listen to me, starting now. No cajoling, no threats, as much time outside for the dragons as possible. Eventually, I wanted them to not even have gates on their caves – and to have the entrance to the caves itself permanently open so that the dragons could come and go as they wished. Nas had looked at me as though I were crazy, and I could tell that he didn’t believe that they would ever be able to do that.

After what I had seen on the Binshee Birthing Caves, though, I was sure that he was wrong.

With all of these worries, it was easy to fall into a somber silence as we flew – Akeem guiding us to fly high over the desert sands ‘as it was more difficult to fly near the surface,’ making moving and swaying movements with his hands as he described the howling currents of winds that swept over the dunes.

There was still so much I had to learn about flying! I gritted my teeth, annoyed at my own ignorance.

“Why do you need to know more? I’m the one with wings,” Zarr informed me.

“I know, but the way the Wild Company ride – they seem to help their dragons fly in combat,” I pointed out (although, ahead of me, now, all I could see were the dark, robed, and shrouded humps of the Binshee Riders black against the starry night). I thought about how I had seen the Riders throw their weight to one side or the other, more skillful than the best horsemen I had seen.

“And I would like to know about the different winds of the world,” I admitted. The Tall Wind of the mountains, the faster ‘scorching winds’ that scoured the sands near to the surface. I knew

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