his black dragon form would help them hide safely in the dark sky.
Nico kept a careful eye out for a likely place to rest and, before long, found a village. Not quite large enough to be considered a city, the place was still big enough that they could blend in with relative ease. There were also small fields with crops growing all around that would make good places to hide. There were only a few rocky outcroppings on the otherwise flat plain and the small tributary that wound through the area allowed crops to be grown.
Nico picked a rock cluster, knowing most of the skiths that normally lived in such places had already been herded toward Draconia. He didn’t see signs of the nasty creatures from the air, so he weighed his options as the sun peeped more fully over the horizon. He had to land. Quickly.
Setting down as gently as he could, Nico searched the rock formation fully while still in dragon form. As a dragon he could fight any remaining skiths and probably win, but if he were caught in human form, it would be difficult indeed. Finding no skiths, he scraped his belly along the ground to make it easier for Riki to climb down off his back.
Riki was bone-weary as she stumbled down off the dragon’s broad back. She’d been tired before, but not like this. This was a good kind of weariness that came after the greatest exhilaration Riki had ever known.
There was a stir of movement behind her and then two strong, human arms came around her, steadying her as she wobbled on her shaky legs. Nico. Her savior and her protector. A dragon in human form and a spinner of tales about her family. A bringer of hope.
But what manner of man was he, really? Riki had been too badly deceived by those she’d trusted before. So far, Nico had been all that was good and kind to her. Fierce when necessary, he was also gentle with her when she’d had so little gentleness in her life.
“Drink first,” Nico said softly in her ear. She blinked open her sagging eyelids and saw his hand stretched in front of her, pointing toward a small stream. Suddenly she realized just how thirsty she was. “Then I can heat the little pool and you can have a bath, if you like.” His hand moved slightly and Riki followed it with her gaze to a small area where the stream fed a shallow pond just to the right.
“That sounds like heaven.”
Nico chuckled as he released her, slowly, as if to be certain her feet would support her. She stumbled toward the fresh, flowing water and sank to her knees on the soft bank. The water sparkled at her in the early morning light, beckoning her to drink her fill.
Riki didn’t know how long she knelt at the stream’s edge, repeatedly cupping water into her hand and bringing it to her mouth, but the cool freshness of the water roused her from her lethargy. She was aware of Nico drinking at her side. After a while, he moved off to rustle around behind her. Riki had no idea what he was doing, nor did she particularly care. No, at that moment all that mattered was the fresh, clean taste of the water against her tongue and the astounding feeling of freedom.
She hadn’t been outside the palace walls in more than a year and hadn’t seen the sun in months. Lucan kept her chained in his room and there hadn’t even been a window for her to glimpse the outside world.
“Now to get those manacles off you.”
Riki looked up to find Nico standing at her side. She pushed back from the edge of the stream, but didn’t—couldn’t—rise. Her legs were numb. Nico crouched down next to her. He had two rocks in his hands. One was large and somewhat flat and the other was fist-sized with a sharp edge. He lay the rocks down next to her and took her hand, rubbing lightly at her sore wrists.
“I know these must hurt.” His hushed words went straight to her heart. “But we’ll get them off one way or another.”
The manacle was welded shut around her wrist, with the remnants of chain trailing down her arm. Nico, in dragon form, had snapped the chains easily, but once she’d gotten a good look at his wickedly sharp dragon talons she realized why he’d left the delicate work ’til now. Still, his strength