It didn’t take them long to get to the next village. It had impressed him with how quickly they were moving, never slowing. He knew they couldn’t have had that stamina naturally. It must have been the magic usage Iratoi had advised about. He wouldn’t have been able to keep up with them.

He had landed outside of the village, asking Zuma to wait while he checked with them. He found them at the local stables, tying down supplies for the trip. Jaxtor handed him a pile of his own supplies, including more straps and a padded saddle. It was loose and not entirely molded for a horse. It was the closest he would get to a comfortable seat, so he took it with thanks.

Kaden was loaded down with goods as he waddled back out to meet with Zuma. They didn’t mind him strapping more things to them. It wasn’t too heavy for them to fly, so they must have been comfortable with their addition. He was hooking in the last leather water-skins when the three of them rode up on their horses.

The horses were not responding well to Zuma as they huffed and stomped fanatically nearby. He could feel the tension in Zuma from their reactions. He patted them, telling them it was okay in an effort to calm them before they decided to mist the scared creatures, causing more issues.

“We will be riding hard and fast through the next three towns, only resting for a brief time. Once we get to where the horses are having difficulties, we will swap them out for fresh ones. Keep an eye on us, we’ll get there in no time,” she winked at him and kicked her legs, causing the horse to lunge forward in a sprint. The other two didn’t hesitate and were quickly behind her.

“Guess we’re on scouting duty,” he said as he patted Zuma again before crawling atop.

The ride was mostly uneventful. He just followed his companions below. Zuma was casually gliding across the skies, not having to put much effort into the act. The world was so different from above. He saw swaths of farmland in differing patterns based on how things were planted and tended to.

Several ponds and lakes speckled the ground below; he hadn’t realized how many waterways there truly were. It finally made sense to him why they were called the water nation and not just for their dragon’s powers. The sun was setting after a while and he watched as his companions below disappeared into the darkness. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to keep track of them if he couldn’t even see them.

One of them in the back lit a torch as if on cue, letting him see where they were below. They had passed many travelers as they ran, most got out of their way when they saw them coming. Their robes were iconic and everyone could recognize them when they laid eyes on them.

He worried that the night would bring thieves and bandits. Kaden shook his head. “They would be able to put down any bandit they’d come across.”

Showing off the skills they had in a fight with the wolves was like something he couldn’t have even dreamed of. The way they manipulated the water into weapons and used it as extensions of their own fight styles impressed him more than he had realized.

If this political betrayal thing could be solved, he looked forward to learning how to fight the most. Kaden had never been that strong or nimble in a fight, but he only ever fought with his older brothers. Hunting was the only skill he truly excelled at. He knew that with proper training, he probably could do some damage in a fight.

There was only so much he could learn on the farm when it came to fighting. Their lands had been patrolled fairly well, so they never felt like they truly needed to learn anymore than they had. As Kaden had seen the mages twisting themselves in the air, creating water out of nothing, he wondered how much he could have learned with the proper training and how lucky his family had been that no one ever did try to attack them.

He knew that the others had been blessed and that those at the temple were deemed worthy of a dragon's will. Kaden knew that only the most honorable people were ever granted that opportunity, but there was a reason there were forces of mages that occasionally patrolled areas. They were overkill to normal citizens, so who were they really there for?

There had been rumors growing up that some rejected the calling but retained the magics. If the revelation that some lords would go as far as trapping a dragon was any sign, then he knew that it wouldn’t be that surprising if some magic users were a threat to the people instead of a blessing.

He didn’t understand how any of that worked, and it was going to be quite a long time before he felt he fully would understand the inner politics of his nation. A nation he was apparently supposed to represent while in other nations. The words rumbled around his brain as he listened to the whistling of the wind atop Zuma.

The idea of visiting other nations was never something that had ever come across his mind. He never envisioned himself going to the firelands or even the brilliant lands of wind. At one point, he had been happy staying in the water nation. He felt foolish. There was a whole world out there he never even thought about.

All his family worried about was if the fall harvest would be good enough to last them through the winter. Running his hands through the dirt, twisting it to aerate the soil enough to plant once more. The skills he learned were that of a farm hand. Cutting, slicing, skinning; those skills? He had to learn that on his own. Not once had it ever crossed Kaden’s mind that he should learn about how other realms functioned.

He had been lost in thought for quite a while before he looked down below again. His companion’s light was missing.

“Zuma, where’d they go?”

He hadn’t noticed the darkness that was moving in around them. A storm had brewed, and quickly. Zuma had flown right into it. Flying into a storm probably wasn’t that much of a concern to a dragon that controlled water, but when the first flash of lightning illuminated the sky in front of him, the thunder shaking him to the core, he didn’t think it mattered what a dragon could and couldn’t handle.

Terror seized his heart as another strike happened close to them. He pulled Zuma’s reins back, trying to will them to turn around, but it wasn’t doing anything. Zuma was in a trance. They continued forward, further into the storm. Rain was belting down on him, soaking his entire being. The wind whipped and rattled him. He was having a hard time holding on. Had it not been for the extra straps, he would have fallen to his death.

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He hugged Zuma tightly, trying to keep his body as close to them as he could. Kaden tried to force himself to focus and help warn Zuma of the danger they were putting him in. Reaching out with his mind, a surprise hit him as he felt a cool darkness wrapping itself around them. It was a similar cool darkness that froze them in place before.

The storm was the perpetrator then. Something about it held a power Kaden didn’t understand. It was destructive and dangerous. They called themselves the Guardians of the Tempest for a reason. This must not be a surprise to them that an Azure dragon was attracted to such power. That attraction was toxic to Zuma. The desire for power was corrupting Zuma, freezing their soul.

It felt like needles were piercing his skin as he got pelted with hail and sleet. Thunder rolled around him, vibrating his wet clothes, causing them to slap against his skin. He had to get Zuma out of the storm. If they got struck by the lightning, it would likely kill him. It was far too soon, too early into his new adventure for him to be taken out by a rain cloud.

Focusing on Zuma, he pushed his will out toward them. Letting it rest on the edge of the creature’s mind. Focusing on their connection, he pushed against it, put more power into the thought. They were bonded. He wasn’t going to keep that from the world. At first, he thought Zuma was just going to drop him off at the farm and fly back to their nest, but they stayed. They comforted him and they stayed.

Kaden could feel Zuma’s mind, he could feel the internal struggle. They were trying to fight the urge. Latching onto that feeling, he pulled at it, let it spring free. He felt Zuma shudder beneath him, shaking off the trance they were in.

Lighting struck in front of them, and Zuma came to an abrupt halt as it spread and skittered across the sky. The sudden stop forced his chest into their back, sucking the air from him. He gasped as they dove straight down. They were in the middle of the storm, there was no flying out of it. They could only try to find shelter.

Barreling down to the earth, Zuma picked up speed. Kaden was barely holding on as gravity pulled them closer to the ground. Pulling up abruptly at the last moment, Zuma’s belly skirted the earth. Small trees and brush were knocked over as Zuma slid to a stop.

Breathing heavily, Kaden looked around to see a barn not far from them. They had landed near a farm. Pointing toward it, he willed Zuma to make their way toward the shelter.

Lightning struck near them, exploding a tree close to where they stood. Covering his head, bark splintered and shot out toward them. The fire it caused raged despite the rain.

A roaring noise drowned out another roll of thunder, and his stomach dropped. Looking to the left of him, he saw something he hadn’t witnessed for years. The storm was producing a cyclone that was touching down near the barn they were about to reach. Nothing could stop such a thing.

He had seen the destruction one had caused to a neighbor of his family once. Their farm had been obliterated. Only the young son had survived the ordeal. He knew the power it held and how devastating it could be.

Kaden could feel that Zuma was now panicking. Even they were terrified of the twister. It was growing wider in size with every moment. Zuma was not going near it and twisted their body away to make a run for it.

Behind them it grew, swallowing trees and throwing them about. The roar was intense and deafening. It grew wider and wider as it moved, and Zuma couldn’t get any lift as the wind was sucked into the massive tornado.

They were being pulled into it.

Locking his hands underneath the straps, he held onto Zuma with every ounce of willpower he could. The night was so dark he could only see it growing wider when the lightning would flash and illuminate the skies.

It loomed behind them, pulling them in. He tried to give all his strength to Zuma, but it was no use. He felt their body lift off the ground as they were sucked into the cyclone.

Kaden hugged them tightly, not wanting to be ripped off their body and discarded like he was nothing but another tree. All he could do was focus on his grip, holding on to Zuma as they were tossed through the air. Trees, rocks, the entire barn all flew around them. The only thought he had going through his mind was for them to come out alive.

Nothing hit them as they were tossed about, nothing made contact with them. Squinting his eyes open, he noticed a blue hue. It wavered as he looked around and he realized it was coming from them. His will to survive, to survive together, was creating some type of barrier with the water that was flying around them.

He watched as tree limbs made contact and were brushed away by the torrent. Watching it happened made the orb of protection weaken. He wasn’t focusing on keeping it intact. Dipping his head back down, shoving his face back into the safety of Zuma, he focused as hard as he could on protecting them, keeping them safe.

Terror was creeping in, trying to pull the protection away. He could hear the roar of the wind all around him, his body already sore from having held so tensely to Zuma. He would not drift off in thought atop them ever again.

The wind eased as they were thrown in the opposite direction; the cyclone carrying on further without them. He could feel them spinning through the air, tossed from high in the sky. It had pulled them back up into the cloud they had just dropped from.

They hit the ground and the orb of water exploded, their protection gone. Zuma didn’t hesitate and sprinted away from the spiraling wind. Kaden couldn’t see where they were going in the darkness. The lightning and storm were moving away from them. All he knew was that Zuma was terrified, and he had to trust them.

The rain slowed to a stop, and Zuma eased their pace. They were panting, and he just kept hugging them, trying to comfort them. Something about the storm had pulled Zuma in with its undeniable power, but it was still a terrifying power.

He wondered what would have happened to Zuma had he not been able to shake them from their daze. He couldn't make out his hands in the night, but the pain from the rope and strap burns was unmistakable. The only thing he could imagine was that they were raw and red.

In their moment of respite, everything finally hit him like a wave. The emotions he was trying to keep in check so they could survive. He let out a loud sob as tears started to flow down his cheek. He had never feared for his life as much as he just had, tossed through the air like a rag-doll.

Zuma was shaking beneath him, feeling their own waves of horror and exhaustion. He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but they were still flowing. Kaden had nearly lost his life several times in just the last few days.

He almost died.

That thought alone was enough to stop a man in his tracks, but the fact that it kept happening to him was weighing heavily on his soul. If becoming a Guardian of the Tempest meant he had to endure such a destructive storm like that again, he would pass on that role.

Rubbing his eyes, he swallowed hard as he pat Zuma. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.”

Zuma was still shaking beneath him. He unlatched himself from his saddle and climbed down off them, his legs weak as they hit the ground. Shakily, he stood back up and gave Zuma the biggest hug he could, wrapping his arms around their neck and holding on tight. They did the same with their long neck and they stood there, frightened, but alive.