Firedrake - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,41

did they have to make things so difficult? Krysta was right. She had the contacts here, not him. She had to go, but she couldn’t go alone, and Jenet might have grown up quite a bit in those intervening years, but he remembered well the way she would tire from flying long distances as she grew. He didn’t want to put too much stress on Jenet. There was no help for it.

“Send for help from the Castle Lair.” Drake asked Jenet to relay the message.

“Already done. He’s on his way.”

“Who?”

“Nellin.” The way Jenet practically purred the other dragon’s name gave Drake pause. Then he thought of Nellin’s partner.

“And Mace.”

“And Mace,” Jenet agreed rather smugly. “They have taken Krysta aloft before. I thought it would be easier for her to fly with a team she knew.”

Drake had to concede to the young dragon’s wisdom. “Good. There’s no time to waste.”

He turned to Krysta. “Are you ready to fly?”

She moved away to speak in a low voice with another Guardsman. Turning back to Drake, her face was set in determined lines. “I’m ready. My men will carry back news of where we’ve gone to the Guards and the castle.”

“You’ll fly with Mace and Nellin. They’ll be here shortly.”

As if on cue, Nellin trumpeted from above and the bystanders cleared a space for the massive dragon to land. Drake had to admire the skill Nellin displayed in setting down in such tight quarters with perfect precision. Nellin too, it seemed, had grown from the youngster Drake had once known.

Mace jumped down and jogged over to them, greeting Krysta first, then nodding to Drake. “Nellin told me what Jenet relayed to him. We’re up for the flight whenever you’re ready.”

“Krysta will fly with you.” Drake didn’t like the tiny spark of satisfaction that edged into the knight’s eyes when he looked at Krysta, but there was no hope for it. Jenet was still too young to carry him and Krysta riding double, however much Drake would have preferred to hold Krysta close to him. No, he had to trust her care to Mace.

And if truth be told, Drake did trust Mace to take the best possible care of Krysta. He was an able knight and the boy he’d known had been steady, respectful and wise beyond his years, even back then. Drake knew too that Mace had strong feelings for the Guardswoman. Krysta could have no better knight looking out for her on this potentially hazardous and long flight.

That didn’t mean Drake had to like it.

“It will be our pleasure,” Mace replied, his admiring gaze for Krysta alone.

Drake scowled. “We don’t have time to waste if we want to catch them before they reach the coast.” Mace’s attention focused back on Drake, for which he was glad.

“We’ll catch them, Drake. Don’t doubt it. We’ll flame the gryphons themselves if we have to, but we’ll get Wil back. No matter what.”

Drake was pleased to hear the same determination that flared in his own heart in Mace’s words. Drake clasped hands with the knight before turning to Jenet.

“Let’s be off.”

With little fanfare, the humans found their way to their respective mounts, climbing nimbly onto the dragons’ backs and then taking to the sky. It had been years since Drake had last ridden on Jenet’s back, and even back then he hadn’t done it often. Jenet had been a petite dragonet and Drake had grown quickly. He’d never flown with Jenet for longer than an hour or so, not wanting to overburden her, though she was always game for more. Still, he loved her and looked out for her back then, just as much as he wanted to now.

But Jenet was nearly fully grown, with a juvenile dragon’s seemingly unending supply of energy. She could fly for longer than even most adult dragons with the added metabolism of the adolescent. She could support his big frame easily now, and Drake was glad he wouldn’t be too much for her to carry over the long distance that awaited them.

Drake had second thoughts about the wisdom of their headlong flight, but something within him refused to give up the chase to others. He’d made a promise to Roland, Nico and his own father. He’d find Wil. It was his task. His quest.

No other would fulfill it.

Drake didn’t dare examine why his thinking was so adamant on that score. It was not his nature to interfere where others with more skill would be better suited to a task, but this