The sun peeked over the distant mountains and the shadows shifted. Light crept into their world, making its way to their perch upon a rocky cliff far above the ground. The valley below remained obscured by fog and cloud. The moon was a dim sliver above them.

They remained patient, waiting for the tendrils of fog to disappear in the morning light. He leaned forward in the saddle to stretch tight muscles.

"Any moment now," he said.

Limander was young, but soon he would come to his Day of Society; the day when he would be old enough to join the others in their life and make adult decisions. He had spent the last year in seclusion, away from adults and away from kids. He was part of neither. Trained as a hunter and strong from the hard work. Dark hair gently moved in the wind. Dark eyes tried to penetrate the veil.

The rumble was felt as well as heard from below. Limander listened, interpreting what was said. "I can see it."

As the saddle shifted, he moved with it. Long leathery wings stretched out, seemingly translucent in the sunlight. Claws from the four feet re-gripped the rock it clung to, and the head snaked around on its long ridged neck to look back at his rider.

The dragon he rode rumbled again, showing long sharp teeth in its snout. "Is it time, Limander?"

"Yes, Huthe, it's time." Reaching behind him, he grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows, readying himself. He set the bag to one side, within his grasp, tightening it down so it wouldn't fall off during flight.

Huthe released his talons from the rock outcropping, pushing off with his powerful hind legs. The wings beat down in a steady rhythm as the last of the fog disappeared to reveal the view below them.

The valley stretched the length of the river. Extending from the mountains and ending in a lake at the far end. On the other side, the road breached the pass and ran alongside of the river.

Snaking its way along the road, the caravan traveled its route. Dozens of covered wagons pulled by teams of oxen rumbled along. Along the side were guards, both hired mercenaries and those wearing the red and gold of the king of Synonne.

The two had been waiting for this. The caravan had only just broken camp and started along the road to the palace for the day.

"Do you think it's there?" came the hissing rumble from Huthe.

"Yes. A merchant caravan wouldn't have that many guards, and none in red and gold."

"Then let us go."

Before Limander could answer, Huthe went into a dive. The dragon's wings folded to his back. Limander's eyes began to water with the speed of their descent, but he was still able to knock arrow to his bow.

On the arrow was one of his inventions. He was very proud of it. A long string latched onto the front near the head running back to the sack he had secured earlier. On the other end of the string was a round ball about the size of his two fists together. Made from different sizes of wood, glued together with mashed rice, it would break on impact sending shards flying.

It would only work from dragon back. Only then did it have enough force to send the shards inside flying. It rarely killed, but could cause serious injury. And the loud POP of it bursting disconcerted those not used to the sound.

The caravan neared at an alarming pace. Limander could now make out individual people. He loosed the arrow. Huthe let out a deafening roar. Bringing his wings out, Huthe slowed their plunge. Limander, ready for the move, whipped back and forth in the saddle.

Recovering, he loosed another of his arrows. They needed to sow as much confusion as they could while they could. If the guards ever recovered the two of them would be outnumbered and could lose quickly.

Huthe closed in on the wagon. Horses, seeing the dragon approach, panicked. Front hooves waved in the air before they came down with a thud. The horses bolted, leaving the dangerous predator far behind them.

The guards who did manage to stay were on foot. But they, too, did not like the dragon any more than the horses. Limander and Huthe wreaked confusion all around from the pop of his arrows and the roars of the dragon.

Huthe ripped the top part of the wagon off. The two took a quick look inside, but it was filled only with cooking ware. There was no sign for what they searched. They would have to try to next one and the next, until they found it.

Limander loosed another arrow. It landed with the loud pop, the shards ripping into flesh. Huthe spread his wings and hopped to the next wagon.

The guards started to gain control over themselves and their mounts. Shouts were heard from someone, a captain perhaps. Limander saw the soldiers begin to group together into a unit. To his dismay, he saw that each carried a crossbow.

"Hurry up, Huthe."

The dragon tore at the next wagon, sending the wooden roof flying. They peered inside. And there they were. Just boxes, but they knew what they were. Nothing else would be lashed down so well or carefully.

The ffft of a crossbow was heard and the view was cut off. Huthe reared back, roaring at the top of his lungs.

The sound of the crossbow came again, more followed. This time Limander roared in pain. Fire flared in his leg. A bolt too, had struck him. Huthe's powerful wings beat at the air driving the guards back, sending the pair higher up, away from danger.

Teeth clenched, Limander reached down and pulled the bolt from his upper thigh. "Ahg!"

"Are you hurt bad?" Huthe rumbled.

"No. I'll be all right." He clamped his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding. "What about you?"

"My wing and back leg have been hit." Limander turned in his seat with a grimace to look behind. Green ichor oozed out of the hole in the wing, dripping off cascading to the ground. Luckily, the hole was no bigger than a half fist. Of the other wound, he could see nothing.

"Land us, Huthe. I need to check your wing."

Huthe circled to a landing on the other side of the valley. Mountains now blocked them from view of the caravan and the men they had attacked. Huthe set them down as gently as he could. Limander scrambled off when Huthe's back feet had touched ground. The wound in his own leg reopened, dripping blood to the ground.

He checked the wing first. Out of his bag he pulled ointment and slathered it around the edges of the hole. Huthe let out a sigh of relief.

"This should heal in a few days," he said going around checking on the other injury. The big dragon gingerly held his left hind leg off the ground. Ichor slowly made its way down the bent leg, dripping from the claws to the ground. The crossbow bolt still stuck out of the calf. Careful not to cause any more damage, Limander pulled it free then swabbed a liberal amount of the ointment all around. With no bandages available, he wrapped one of his shirts around the leg to slow the bleeding.

Done, he removed the saddle from Huthe's back, who promptly laid himself down on the warm stone, curling around to look at his injured leg. His tongue flicked out, cleaning the ichor from the leg.

Limander plopped himself down onto the ground and leaned against the saddle. "Well that didn't work."

"What now?" the dragon craned his neck to peer around at him.

"Now we eat, you heal, and we think of a new plan."

"Agreed."

The caravan approached the gates. Standing by a window high up in the main keep, Riisa watched its slow winding progress. It stopped many times before entering the courtyard. She stayed there until she received a summons to join her father. She grimaced, wondering what would it be this time? More run away slaves, flogging for insolence, raising taxes for the army?

Princess Riisa entered the throne room. Her father had strange smile on his face. His advisor Jouns stood by his side, surrounded by boxes. Bending over with a crow bar, Captain Corvick opened the first box.

"You sent for me, Heyles?" Her father looked at her, smile faltering slightly. Jouns glared.

"Why can't you ever call him, Your Majesty, or King Heyles?" Jouns asked. A smallish man with thinning hair and a pinched face, he always seemed to be glaring. But he had a mind able to calculate numbers quickly. That was one reason her father kept the man around.

She stepped up to him looking him in the eye. "Because he is my father." She turned her back on Jouns and stepped over to her father.

"What is it?"

Grinning, he pointed to what Captain Corvick brought forth from the box. "This."

The egg he held was as large as his torso. Mottled silver sparkled enticingly on the shell. Riisa's breath caught. "A dragon's egg." Her eyes narrowed, her mind spinning at the implications. "For me?" Heyles nodded. "How did you come by this?"

Jouns stepped forward. "It was my-"

"That is not important." Heyles interrupted his advisor. "What is, is that this egg is about to hatch."

"Well, we must keep it warm." She insisted. She took it into her arms from the captain, feeling its weight and carried it closer to the hearth. Corvick followed her with the box and the sand within.

She noticed her father motion the guards to move the other boxes from the room and she frowned. What was it he was planning? And how does it affect me? But then the egg sparkled from the reflected fire light and the thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind. Riisa stayed near it all day and night until, nearly a week later, it hatched.

Meat was brought and she fed the hungry hatchling until it fell asleep next her, half draped across her legs. The dragon gleamed a beautiful silver in the firelight. Riisa never strayed too far from the dragon's side. The bond between them slowly grew.

The days passed and the silver dragon grew. The cooks chopped increasingly more raw meat for its meals. Everyone remained on their toes around the castle. If the dragon was not feed or woke before its time, it would give out an awful screech.

Riisa and the dragon had been out on the riding yard for exercise and it was now time for a bath. Riisa looked down at the silver dragon. Wings spread out for balance, the silver reflecting in the sun, she looked the noble creature of legend.

Riisa stopped in her tracks, the dragon looking back at her to see why she stopped so suddenly. "When did I start thinking of you as a she?"

The dragon opened her mouth and out came a slight rumbling as of rocks falling against one another. As she listened, Riisa could almost imagine she understood. "Because that's what you are?"

The dragon head bobbed up and down. Surprised, Riisa came closer to the face looking the silver dragon in the eyes. "You can speak?"

The head bobbed again with another rumble. "Yes."

A smile crept across her face. "Can anyone else understand you?"

"No."

"But you can understand them?"

"Yes."

She smiled more ,continuing on their way to the pool. Again, Riisa stopped all of a sudden. "I haven't named you yet." She looked at the dragon. "You have a name?"

"Elladrith."

"Elladrith. I like that."

As Elladrith grew bigger and stronger, Riisa worried, her gut quivered in nervousness around her father. She constantly wondered what he really had planned and to that extent she attended more planning meetings and listened intently to what was said by her father, Jouns, generals: whoever attended. She studied maps of the kingdom and those surrounding them, noticing the deployment of the soldiers of Synonne and of the other countries.

It came to her then what it was Heyles planned. She had to make an effort not to reveal her shock

The council droned on. She only wanted to go back to Elladrith, to speak to her dragon, tell Ella her revelation.

When the council ended, Riisa ran to the stables where Elladrith was housed now. Barging through the door, she skidded to a stop letting the door bang against the wall and then back. Elladrith lay curled up in the straw, the light of the torches giving her a healthy glow. She was now larger than even Captain Corvick's warhorse and her wings spanned almost double her body length.

What a beautiful, magnificent creature.

Riisa stepped forward slowly not wanting to disturb her rest. Halfway there, Elladrith opened her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked still sleepy.

"You're almost ready to fly."

Elladrith flexed her wings. "Yes. And with you on me we can go anywhere."

Riisa blinked. Now why had she said that? She squatted down closer to her head. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Do not be afraid, loved one. I know what the king has planned."

"You do?"

"I am not stupid." The dragons' tongue flicked out.

Riisa shook her head. "Of course you're not. We will not be used for assassination nor domination."

"We will learn to fly and when the time is right, we will leave. Your father can do nothing to stop us. How could he even dare to control a dragon? To control us?"

Riisa shifted down in between the front legs leaning up against Elladrith's long neck. "So we wait until the time is right."

"We wait." Elladrith hissed. Riisa fell asleep in that comfortable embrace.

"It's been two months! Two months!" Limander paced in his favorite spot. "We should have reported this long ago, when it first happened. Oh, the council of Elders is going to kill me."

"We did what we thought was the correct thing."

"And look what that's got us." He pointed at the castle. "The dragon has hatched and is growing. Who knows what twisted things he's doing to it? oh, this is all my fault. Why aren't you worried, Huthe?"

"Worrying won't help. A solution will present itself. Did you know he's teaching it to fly."

"What?!"

The pair watched the distant speck rise into the air. It circled the keep before landing. The next time up it had a rider. All day they watched. The circles grew ever larger, the dragon testing out its wings.

The two of them watched, patient in their waiting. The days progressed one into the other and the flying duo increased flight time in the air and over distance. Then the duo passed over head bearing further then they ever had before.

"Now," he said to Huthe.

He slung the saddle on with urgency, not wanting the other pair to get too far ahead. He strapped it on tight and packed up his things before hopping on.

With a powerful lurch, Huthe dropped from the outcropping before beating his wings and following after. They hurried to catch up. But the duo must have seen them. The silver dragon ahead beat faster, putting distance between them.

"We need to catch them, Huthe, Before they turn back."

The dragon rumbled agreement. But the day progressed and the duo they followed showed no signs of turning back. Huthe gained on the younger dragon who slowed, unable to keep pace on its new wings.

"Are they still back there?" Elladrith asked. The weariness showed in the shallow rumble and the flagging wings.

Riisa craned her neck. "Yes."

"I cannot keep this up. My muscles are straining." The dragon dipped missing a beat.

"Find a place to hide yourself. If they want us, they'll have to fight. If I can separate the rider from the dragon, we may have a chance." Riisa patted the long knife at her side.

Elladrith, too weary to speak, nodded. Banking, she headed to a small clearing in the hills, thickly forested. Her small size would mean she could travel through the trees where the other larger dragon couldn't leave the clearing.

Landing, she folded her wings back to her sides and headed for the safety of the trees. None too soon, the other dragon landed behind her. The trees wrapped their branches and boles protectively about her.

"Keep going," Riisa said sliding off. "Make them think we went deeper into the forest." Feet on the ground now, she watched Elladrith run deeper into concealment. Turning at the sound of voices and a rumbling she couldn't discern, she scrambled up into a tree. Crouching on a branch Riisa hoped the leaves would be enough to conceal her.

The man came into view; no, not a man, a boy on the verge of manhood. He walked carefully not making much noise, following Elladrith's tracks and missing her own. His bow lay strapped to his back. The only other weapon he carried was a small knife.

Closer he came. She readied herself, and jumped from the branch, landing hard on his back. They sprawled to the ground. Rolling quickly to her feet, she faced the boy pulling free her knife.

The boy saw the knife and held up his hands, eyes wide. "Whoa. Hold on a second."

"Why?" She stepped forward. "Why are you chasing us? Who sent you?"

"We only want to talk."

Riisa stopped her advance. That wasn't what she had expected to hear. She sank into a ready stance. "So talk."

He told her why he and his dragon had come. She listened, skeptical, but he knew things."Heyles stole the egg, hm?" She relaxed slightly.

"Yes. It was under my safekeeping when stolen. But it was not the only egg that was taken. There are five more."

Riisa thought back to the other crates in the throne room. "Why haven't they hatched, then?"

"It was not their time of emergence. Yours was." He sat down cross-legged. "Listen, I need to get those eggs back. To do that I will need your help."

"Hmph." There were other eggs and she knew her father would not give up on assassinating leaders from other countries because she disappeared.

"King Heyles could twist the hatchlings to his own ways! He could breed new ones from those, ones that would obey him and are only bent on death and destruction. If he succeeded, he could drop the world into chaos. Do you want that?"

Riisa shook her head. "No. I don't. My father is capable of such things. I cannot let that happen."

"Heyles is your father?"

Riisa glared at him, not liking the way he said that. "Yes." She called for her dragon then. "Elladrith!"

"No need to yell." Elladrith came from the trees. "I am right here."

The boy smiled. "Yes, yelling is bad for the ears."

Riisa turned on him. "You can understand her?"

"Yes. Once you learn dragon tongue, you can understand all dragons."

"Oh."

"I'm Limander."

"Riisa."

"Yes. The daughter of King Heyles." He faced Ellidrith. "And your name, lovely dragon?"

"Elladrith."

"Come let me introduce Huthe. He's waiting for us in the clearing."

Riisa followed behind, bemused by the young man.

She pursed her lips. The plan he presented had merit. But only if she could find the eggs, and if she could to sneak them out to him. Then he'd be gone from her life and she and Ella could fly away.

She glared over the fires flames at him. He glanced up then and saw her.

"What?"

"I don't trust you."

He took in a deep breath, but before he answered, Huthe spoke. "Do you trust me?"

Riisa glanced at the larger dragon and answered honestly. "I don't know."

Ella joined in the conversation then. "They are not you, Riisa. They don't know deception exists around every corner in every hall of the castle. It was how you were raised, but not them."

She relaxed slightly, the glare lessening. "True."

"I wouldn't lie," the boy said. "Not about this, not about anything."

Huthe huffed out a breath and Riisa realized it was a laugh. "He is most incompetent at it."

"Thanks Huthe," Limander grumbled.

"Like the time you told your mom-"

"I think they get it, Huthe."

Riisa smiled then. They sounded a lot like she and Ella in a tiff and nothing like what she'd grown up with. That helped to sway her in their favor. They couldn't be part of Heyles plan.

"Are we going back?" Ella asked.

"Yes. We can't leave those eggs with my father."

"No, we can't," said Elladrith.

"Agreed," Huthe rumbled.

Back at the castle, Huthe and Limander having left earlier before being spotted, she paused. Where to start? Where would Heyles keep the eggs? It would have to be some place warm, but almost every bedchamber and hall in the keep had at least one fireplace. Plus the bakery, kitchens and forge. And she would have to do this a night. She saw most of the castle most days, so there were only a few places to check, but those places she had no business going. She padded down the long hallways. No light came from within the first room she came to. She had to go in. If she found the eggs or an egg inside, there would be guards. She had to take that chance. She could not let her father control the baby dragons.

Darkness greeted her. And a cold stone fire pit. One down, she though. Only seventy more places to look.

She spent the rest of that night and the next searching, but to no avail. She had now ruled out all the bedrooms, guestrooms, the dining hall, greeting areas and the kitchens. She had only the bakery, the blacksmith forges and her father's room to search. It would be like him to put them there, so he could watch over them all the time.

She would leave that for last. Back in black clothes, she slipped from her room and made her way down the darkened halls to the bakery. Hiding in the shadows, she crept past several guards. Twice she had to stop to hide when guards marched past on their rounds. But eventually she made it.

Searching everywhere, she even sifted through the flour. She came up empty and then headed for the forges. Grasping the handle, she turned the handle and slowly pushed it open. The door creaked on its hinges. Cringing from the sound, she slipped through.

The heat inside assailed her. She started sweating, the cold of the night replaced almost instantly. This had to be the place. The forges were kept hot, but not like this in the dead of night.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the neat array of eggs, lying on a bed of sand before the fire. She stepped closer. The red glow from the coals bathed each egg in crimson brilliance. She counted five. They were all here.

Now to get them out, but how? Each one reached up to her knees. She would have to have help in this. She turned to go and fetch Elladrith.

Stepping out into the cold night air, she stopped in her tracks. Her fathers personal guard surrounded the doorway, surrounded her. She could only make out their outline in the dark, but she knew who they were. Swords and spear tips glinted in the torch light.

A silhouette stepped forward from the center of the half circle. "Why do you betray me like this daughter?" Her father's voice filled the silence.

"You stole these eggs. They don't belong to you." She glared out at everyone, but especially Heyles.

"That never bothered you before. Why now?"

"Because you were going to use me." She spat at his feet. "I am not a pawn, nor assassin, to be used in your plans."

"All I ever wanted was a secure future for you and your children. But you couldn't see my vision. You had to turn from me." He flicked a hand. Two burly guards stepped forward grabbing hold of her upper arms. "Lock her up."

Taken away, she refused to struggle, refused to give Heyles the enjoyment of seeing her reduced in any way.

"Elladrith calls." The breath hit his face and he came awake rolling away from the stench. Huthe towered over him, a black form obscuring the stars.

"What is it?" Limander asked.

"She says she saw Riisa being led away by her father. She found the eggs, but could not get them out."

Instantly awake, he jumped to his feet. "Tell Elladrith we're coming." He readied what they needed and jumped into the saddle atop Huthe. Limander could hear the wind whipping past, could feel it, but had little sense that they were moving in the night. Only when they were nearly atop the castle could he make out its form in the moon light.

Huthe landed them in the courtyard near both the forges and the stable where Elladrith stayed. She pushed her way past the doors to meet them out in the yard. At the sight of two dragons, the guard raised the alarm. Elladrith moved past them, not heeding the cries.

"This way," she said, heading for the smithy.

Limander slid off Huthe, grabbed the sacks they would need and went running after him. He had to hurry. Pushing the doors open, he stepped into the room. The heat assailed him, but he paid that no mind and placed an egg into each sack. He then dumped in a warm protective layer of sand, and one by one carried them out to Huthe, tying them securely to the dragon's bulk.

The last knot in place, he patted Huthe's side. "Meet us at the outcropping. I've got to find Riisa."

Huthe heaved his bulk into the air, the weight of the eggs slowing him only a little. "You should go, too," he told Elladrith.

She shook her serpentine head. "No. I will wait for you two."

The yelling grew louder. Guards carrying torches came their way. He parted from Elladrith. Fingering his bow, he decided against it. Stealth, not confrontation, was needed now.

Limander slipped behind shrubbery. The first of the guards ran past. The guard checked inside the blacksmith's shop confirming that the eggs were gone. He came running past the shrubs and Limander on his way back to the castle keep.

Limander pushed off with his legs into a dive, wrapping his arms around the guard's legs in a tackle. The guard hit with a thud, followed by the whoosh of escaping air.

Taking the hilt of his knife, he clubbed the guard behind the ear knocking him out. Back into the bushes he scrambled, dragging the guard behind him. When he reappeared, he wore the uniform of the king. Butterflies fluttered in his belly. He felt at any moment he would be caught.

Setting off at a brisk pace, he wondered where they had put Riisa. He had to save her. It had been his idea for her to come back. If anything happened, he would feel awful. Thinking fast, he decided to try the dungeons. Down, he had to head down.

Into the main keep he kept up his quick walk. He passed a guard at the doors. Giving the man a nod, he walked on by.

He wanted to look back, felt an overwhelming need to look back, to see if his ruse had worked. But he knew that doing so he would give himself away. He continued on, moving beyond the need to look. He turned into a hallway only to be out of the guard's sight.

He leaned up against the wall, straining to hear a new alarm or the guard coming for him. Nothing. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, he relaxed a little. This might actually work. But where to go now?

He set off at a brisk walk down the hallway and through the castle. Passing other guards several times, but never once was he stopped or questioned. He wandered the castle for what seemed like hours, looking for the way to the dungeon.

A stairway spiraled down, cramped, and narrow. A cold dampness grew thicker, penetrating his bones.

Turning the last corner, his foot on the last step, he stopped before entering the light. The goaler sat on a chair, key hanging from a belt that was too small for the man. The man stared at him.

Limander cleared his throat. "Um." The greasy face seemed full of suspicion. "The king wished the prisoner to be brought to him." He was amazed at how quickly the lie came.

The goaler shifted his bulk and stood up, his chair groaning when he moved. "About time. Follow me."

Limander followed the grotesque man down into the moldy rotten cells. Most were empty, the others too dark to see, which was fine by him. He had no wish to see what stayed here. The goaler was bad enough.

The man stopped before one cell and opened it up for him. As Limander stepped inside, he wondered if he would be locked in as well. He stopped at the crumpled form on the floor.

Bending down, he confirmed it was Riisa. But only because of her pale hair. Even then, it was hard to tell. She was covered with dried blood. Gently he lifted her to her feet. She moaned but remained unconscious. With the dim light of the cell, he couldn't tell how badly she was hurt, but what he could see, tore at his heart.

He slung one arm over his shoulders to carry her out. He refused to look at her entering the better light. He didn't want to see what had happened to her pretty face. He didn't want to know what else had been done to her.

"Hurry up," said the goaler.

"Right." Limander left the cell as fast as he was able and headed back to the stairway, the goaler behind him. Up the stairs, he finally left the horrible man behind. Halfway up he had to stop and prop Riisa up against a wall.

"Riisa, Riisa wake up." She cracked an eye open around clotted blood, the other too swollen to move.

"Lim?"

"I've come to get you out."

She tried to smile but her cracked lips split anew, drawing fresh blood. She didn't say anything more. He slung an arm over his shoulder once more and started up the stairs. They didn't get far. Around the bend came a guard, crashing into them.

Limander reacted first. Dagger now in hand he thrust up and into the man's belly. The guard doubled over, sagging into the wall. Limander pulled the blade free. The surprise on the guard's face stared up at him until his breath left his body for the last time.

Limander didn't move, still staring into those eyes. He had never killed anyone: how easy and how terrible. A voice intruded on his thoughts.

"We need to keep moving," said Riisa. He didn't answer but moved on up the stairs.

The two walked down the hallway, Riisa leaning heavily on Limander. They paused to hide behind tapestry hangings and in shadows to escape notice of the guards. The castle bustled with activity still, but not nearly as bad as before. The two stepped into the courtyard from a side door, one close to the Elladrith and the stable.

They snuck across and in without being seen, but she knew they still had to get out again. She lay in the hay beside a concerned Ella. Limander saddled the silver dragon and packed away other things they would need.

"Will Elladrith be able to carry us both?" he asked.

Riisa looked up at her. Ella nodded. "Yes." She rumbled the answer herself.

"All right, we're set then." He turned to her. Riisa didn't want to get up, the hay was comfortable, moving would hurt. But she said nothing. He helped her to her feet and then onto Ella. It hurt the whole way.

The boy got on behind wrapping his arms around her. Ella took them up into the night. "Now we can go anywhere we wish," she murmured, trying to smile. She felt Ella's answering smile in her mind and soon she fell asleep in the warm embrace.