His deep crimson scales reflected the light of the sun, making it seem like a rock of liquid lava soaring through the clouds. Kreium’s attention cracked like a whip when Fides spoke out to him, it had been four long years since another dragon had connected with his mind, the sensation somewhat tickled his conscious, filling him with an estranged elation. It felt good to be around another of his kind, but that didn’t allow for carelessness in his caution.
‘Fides, I heard your rider call you, is that correct? I have great pleasure in making your acquaintance fellow knight of the skies. It will be rude of me not to acknowledge your inquiry, however, there is little I would care to divulge at this moment in time. Forgive my ill manner. Shall we ride?’ He said as he pushed forward through the skies, throwing more speed into his course.
Kreium appreciated the warm invitation that Fides had offered him, but he dared not take it. Her rider bore a pistol, no one bore pistols in the East. Yes, Kahli and himself were killers, but they killed to survive. Who were these people who wiped the lands clean of criminals, who were these riders that judged the actions of others? This was all new to the young dragon, and he remained uneasy, even though Kahli was letting her vigilance slip.
As they passed over the caravan of burnt and charred bodies, Kahli’s stomach leapt about within her, making her feel nauseous. She didn’t mind dead bodies, clean, dressed in their own blood, but the scene of burnt flesh was not something she was akin to. She decided it was also something she didn’t want to learn to care for. There was spitting distaste in Lynch’s voice as he spoke about them, an anger that she could almost taste herself. What had these people done for such hatred that had resulted in their demise?
“May I, truly?” she yearned as he offered her a pistol of her own. Maybe this rider wasn’t a dishonest character as she once had suspected. His words seemed warm and genuine, maybe he would take her and love her like the Eastern Star Gazers once had. Lynch had even allowed her to ride at the helm of the V with him, an honour she donned with great pride.
‘Careful dear one’ warned Kreium as he had once before ‘Don’t donate your trust to a charity whose cause is unknown. The consequences may be dear.’ But Kahli couldn’t help but feel warmth swelling within her, for, for first the time in four long and lonesome years she felt welcomed. She had to pull herself together, however, stay rational, analyse with the mind not the heart and keep her emotions as emotions, not a tool to make decisions with. Better understanding the flutter of nerves in Kreium’s mind she held herself on the edge of entrusting faith in him, begrudgingly pulling herself out of the elation that was erupting within her.