A waft of hot, dry air passed over Cita in the dark, and she could hear shouts from others. If this were death, it would pass quickly,
Then the darkness cleared.
She had forgotten the dragon.
No, she thought, her feelings still confused. It was not possible that she had forgotten the very reason they were here. For a moment, she looked up and doubted the huge green creature she saw soaring above them. She doubted everything they had done to get here.
Tennon suddenly put a hand on her arm, and she felt an odd little sting. It did not clarify her thoughts, at least not at first. However, looking at Tennon brought new thoughts to her mind that helped to clear the way for others.
"Mage," she said, and hoped that made sense.
"It was clear from the start that they had some magic, or else they wouldn't be able to take Faylyn's stone. I had to clear all thoughts of the Dragon from your minds or else he'd realize that Atora was not just escaping with the pretty babble."
"And she saved the Dragon and came back to us," Urdo said with a shake of his head.
Cita understood that reaction. Until now, Atora had done little more than what was required of her during their journey. She was steady but unimaginative. Looking upward, Cita could see her companion riding the Dragon as it swept down on panicked rock trolls and sent them running again.
"This is madness," Cita decided. "But I think this means we have won?"
"I have one last matter to settle," Tennon replied. "And here comes Faylyn with just the one I wanted to talk to."
The Dragon circled once and then settled with a ground-shaking thump. It reached out with huge talons and daintily dropped a rock troll that landed face down on the ground before them.
"Mage Strongstone," Tennon said with a nudge of his foot.
The rock troll muttered something into the ground. Then he rolled over and slowly sat up. Unlike the other trolls, he wore jewels and scarves and had a symbol of power etched into his forehead. It glowed with changing colors, shifting from blue to green to red and back again.
He spoke before Tennon could. "I had no idea it was a dragon stone. Do I look that human? Let me rephrase that one. Do I look that stupid?"
"And yet here you are, fighting us for it."
"King Orcsmitter sent us," Mage Strongstone said as he struggled to his feet. Cita realized he was not young. "My apprentice sensed something strong in this area. The king gave me guards and told me to get here. We had no idea we were dealing with dragons."
"That makes me wonder who set this up as bait and what they intended to catch," Cita added.
That stopped Tennon. He must have been ready to say something but he suddenly turned to the sky and shouted to Farlyn to land.
"I would guess it was set for the Godling," Urdo replied. "The rest of us are unimportant."
No one argued. They were all watching for trouble, though. Cita Thought all the clouds look like strange creatures preparing to attack them. Forcing herself away from that fancy, Cita focused on the land around them instead. It did not help. Shadows appeared to move for no reason and she feared they were gathering at the base of some trees. She had been in dangerous situations before and could not figure out why this one so bothered her that she would imagine it to be worse.
It was the magic, she supposed. She had never dealt with mages very much, let alone dragons and Godlings. What good was Tennon, if all he did was bring them to this trouble? Cita turned to snarl some words at him, but realized in time that it would not help. Then she thought of the one question that might give them some answers.
"Is there something else that we have forgotten?" she asked.
"We have forgotten that this is home," Tennon replied. He signaled Farlyn to him. "And even I have allies here. I just have to draw their attention."
Before Cita could ask what that meant, Tennon dropped to his knees and put both hands to the ground. "Blood calls to clan. I request help."
He started to stand, but in that moment an army appeared, all of them with swords in hand. Friend? Foe? Cita couldn't tell, especially since both Tennon and Farlyn both looked startled and worried.
A woman stepped forward. Unlike the others, her sword glowed blue with power. Cita stepped back from such power, even though the woman didn't come near her.
"So," the woman said. Se rested her sword on the ground like a walking stick and a circle of blue spread across the ground. "At least you and Farlyn are still together."
"Mother," he began, but then faltered and stated to fall. She had to drop the sword to catch him.
"I hate dramatics," she admitted as she gently lifted Tennon into her arms. "Come along. Trouble will be on the way by now."
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