23. Nosedive
NOSEDIVE
Aaryn felt wrong, trembling with adrenaline and awareness as she walked away from the chaos, holding Carissa steady with an arm around her waist.
Starspark paced behind them, just as silent, just as tense.
Carissa shook in Aaryn's arms as she led the woman not to the healers, but to her new home, at her insistence. Where Rolim was supposed to be. It was quaint and similar to Thea's, and Carissa moved about the space as if she were familiar, even though she seemed quite lost at the moment.
Outside, organized havoc was taking place, and each murmur or shout Aaryn heard beyond the walls made curiosity and urgency bubble within her.
She stared out the window—giving Carissa some privacy—wondering what she could do to help, fearful of asking, fearful of staying.
"Go," she heard softly.
Aaryn turned, and found Carissa's gaze on her. "What?"
"They're going to need all the dragons they can get. Skymore is overcrowded. They have very little means to fight back. You should go, and help how you can."
Aaryn took a step toward her. "Are you alright on your own?"
Carissa nodded. "I'll be fine."
Aaryn hesitated a moment longer.
Carissa's smile was watery, and Aaryn couldn't help but cross the room and pull her into her arms. "They'll find Rolim and bring him back to you. I know it."
Carissa sniffled and then shoved her away weakly. "Go!"
Aaryn left Carissa's home and waded into the disarray, making her way to her dragon, while others were already returning.
The people on their backs were shuffled to the healers, teary-eyed and shell-shocked, before one would take to the skies again, his rider fierce and determined. Dragons had been arriving in waves with more people, some injured, some only shaken by the events.
Her dragon was flustered, unsure from all the commotion, and waiting. Once Starspark's eyes lit upon her, he sat up in expectation.
Aaryn smiled, reaching out. "Wanna help, big guy?"
"And just how do you think you'll do that?" Vaelen asked.
Aaryn turned and found the archdruid in dark, shiny armor. She tossed something toward her and Aaryn caught it with an “oof,” its weight surprising.
"I'll show you how to saddle him."
"You think I don't know?" Aaryn asked, and motioned to Starspark. He laid his head down onto the grass and Aaryn climbed up, tossing the seat over him. She’d watched others harness onto their dragons for days now, and strapped it quickly into place.
Vaelen helped to save time, and in seconds Starspark was ready.
"Put this on," Vaelen said, and handed Aaryn a vest. It was lined with scales, thick around the chest and belly, protective.
"If I let you get killed on my watch, Thea would have my head."
"They don't need you here?" Aaryn asked.
"They have their orders. I trust my people. Let's get down there."
Aaryn drew in a breath and collected herself as she lowered the vest over her head.
And for the first time, she sat in a proper saddle on the back of Starspark. Vaelen sat behind her, a staff in her hand, and dragged her hand along his scales. Her expression was fierce, intense, and… soft, as she touched him.
Aaryn had never flown him further than another isle. She told the archdruid as much, a hesitant flush on her cheeks.
"Have some faith," Vaelen said. "He knows what to do. He will listen to you more than anyone else."
"What about your dragon?" Aaryn asked. Nearby, her eyes were locked on Vaelen, waiting.
"This isn't her first rescue." She nodded in her direction and she took off, a silent whoosh of wind the only evidence of her departure.
Time seemed to slow as Aaryn's pulse raced in her ears like thunder, though there were no storm clouds.
In the midst of it all, an odd thought occurred to her.
She wished Thea were here to see this.
"Let's go," she shouted to Starspark.
His wings beat on either side of her, lifting them off the ground, just like Vaelen's dragon, through the barrier, and into the setting sun.
"Hold on tight," Vaelen warned.
Starspark dove, an arrow through clouds, precipitation stinging Aaryn’s cheeks. As they flew lower, the light dissipated, the effects of the setting sun felt more on the ground than in the circle.
"Do not leave this dragon, do you hear me?" Vaelen called in her ear.
Aaryn nodded.
"I'll show you where to go. We'll find who we can, and return."
Her heart galloped; her hands clung to the saddle, Starspark warm beneath her.
In the dark, she saw the glow before she realized what it was.
Fires. Smoke. Destruction.
Aaryn's hands tightened on the harness. The scales on her vest felt heavy, the belt around her waist a trap.
Dragons flew past them toward their safe haven in the clouds, and some circled the fires.
Vaelen was solemn behind her. "We'll save who we can."
"Should we put out the fires?" Aaryn asked, her heart aching at the sight of so many homes, boats, the market, burning.
"You can always rebuild a home. You cannot rebuild a person."
Her arm extended past Aaryn, her finger pointed toward a small beach, surrounded by fires. "There."
Aaryn directed Starspark there with a squeeze of her knees, a gentle tug of the reins. She had not even thought about the correct way to fly a dragon.
She'd just done it, as if Starspark sensed her intentions before she acted.
Her elation was short-lived, because the saddle suddenly went light when Vaelen jumped, landing as softly on the ground as Starspark did a few seconds later. She took off, and Aaryn's first instinct was to follow, but Vaelen's words rang in her head.
Do not leave this dragon.
So Aaryn waited. She watched from the sand as boats in the harbor burned. As the market went up in ashes.
Skymore was once known for its tourism and magic islands, lavish in riches.
But ever since the Great Dragon had sealed himself to protect them and magic had been restricted, they'd become known for their fishing trade.
It was a cramped community along the waters of a thousand families of fishermen trying to make a living. A hard-working people.
And now they burned.
Evergale had done this.
Why? Why hurt these people with so little, when Evergale had so much?
It made Aaryn want to scream and cry and rage and give up and fight all at once.
Vaelen returned moments later, pointing her staff in Aaryn's direction. Behind her a small family followed. A tearful mother of three, a haggard-looking husband.
Aaryn stood from her saddle and sat in front of it, Starspark's scales warm. It seemed the whispers of the druids had reached even Skymore, and this family was eager to escape with them.
"Take them back. I'll find more," Vaelen yelled over the inferno.
Aaryn accepted a small child from the mother, body on autopilot, buckling her tiny frame into the saddle. The mother strapped the second into the other seat, and sat behind them, and the father sandwiched the third child between himself and the mother, and clutched them all tightly.
Aaryn nodded at Vaelen and pet Starspark. "Easy," she told him.
His wings fluttered gently—proving he was capable—disturbing the flames along the harbor as he took off. "Home," she told him, and he flew up, a gentle incline as opposed to the nosedive he'd taken at first.
The wind disturbed her braid and she glanced back at the family, their soot-covered cheeks tracked with tears, a grateful expression on the father's face as he stared right at her, unseeing.
That gaze would haunt her.
It was only moments before Starspark flew them through the hole in the barrier, just like she'd watched other dragons do. He was a quick learner.
The brand on her palm burned.
The sun was well and truly set now, so the lights of magic torches lit their way as Starspark was rushed by healers, who pulled the coughing children from Starspark's back. The parents followed and Aaryn seated herself back in the saddle.
She stroked Starspark's scales in thanks and felt a determination light within her.
"Again," she said.
Her stomach swooped as Starspark straightened into another nosedive.
The fires had encroached upon the beach, the dry reeds of the warm season burning to embers. Ashes filled the air and the sky bled crimson with flames and smoke.
Aaryn's heart raged at the destruction, and for a brief moment she felt a hopeless fury. But as Starspark slowed his descent, his wings buffeted the flames, and a few dispersed.
She clutched at Starspark's scales with her hands. "Stay here," she said. "Hover."
Starspark flapped his wings, gusts of wind knocking out the flames on the beach, making it safer for the evacuees.
Then they landed and Vaelen brought her another group, covered in soot and faces full of despair.
"Go!" Vaelen shouted, and offered her a rigid nod.
Starspark took flight.
Again and again she made the trip to collect people, while the fires burned and the smoke plumed. They darted through the clouds, untraceable.
As she returned, she passed another dragon, a familiar shape on his back amongst a small group of others. Small horns, square shoulders.
She wasn't in the saddle, simply riding along.
Thea's eyes widened at the sight of her. Their dragons huffed at one another in passing, and slowed for just a second.
Long enough for time to stop, the inferno below reflecting in the pools of Thea’s eyes.
Aaryn's head turned as the dragons passed, following the figure, and—
"Starspark!" Thea called out.
Her heart stopped as she saw Thea stand, the dragon steadying himself and her in turn. The sky was red with fire and hot against Aaryn’s skin, and her heart was in her throat as Thea's feet began to move. She ran down the length of his back, steps confident, practiced, and dove off of his tail.
Aaryn shrieked as Thea went airborne, her calves squeezing Starspark in alarm, but he had turned his head at the sound of his name, already prepared and steady when Aaryn failed to be.
He swooped his wings, slowing his descent, and caught Thea on his back, behind Aaryn.
She landed perfectly, straddling him, and Aaryn turned to clutch at her vest with a fist.