The human on his back protested at the change in course, but quietened down again once they realised that there was nothing they could do about it. They were a passenger here, and not a terribly welcome one, time to relax and enjoy the ride.

It took almost an hour of flying and multiple course corrections before he spotted the remains of the campfire. The smoke had drifted with the wind, dispersing into the thin air once the fire was out, and he had been looking for something much larger than what he eventually found.

It was the glint of light off metal and the small remains of burning embers that allowed him to finally spot it. If it hadn’t been in the centre of the road he never would have seen it at all.

Dragon circled above for a time, considering his options, and wondering if it was worth landing, before all of a sudden the fire below flared up. Burning with a renewed vigour, red and orange sparks flew into the air as more fuel was added. Against the light, he could see the silhouette of a waving figure, and on the wind, he could hear their distant shouts.

On his back, the passenger awoke, and then started to point and shout, as if Dragon had just happened to circle here by chance and this whole thing was a grand coincidence.

Adult humans weren't too bright, but he was fond of them anyway.

It took him a minute more to work out how to land without disruption. In the cities it was easy, everything was prepared for him, but out here the wind from his wings could easily throw the small fire into the sun-baked forest.

At least they’d camped on the road, he thought as he landed several body lengths away, walking towards the fire and crouching a little to allow the passenger to slide off.

Dragon paused as the previously-waving figure moved towards him at a trot, and then a run, with none of the fear he would normally expect. Was this an attack? He'd heard of those! But no, laughter, and then outstretched hands clasping of either side of his face, as he was drawn down for a hug and a kiss on the nose! Aww! Something happy fluttered in his heart, and the tension that had been building up inside him eased.

These last few days had been terrible, but this made it all better!

He bumped his forehead gratefully into their chest, careful to not knock them over, and then stepped back to let the humans do their talking thing.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

-

The short one and Passenger seemed to know each other. Both of them hugged upon meeting and then gestured at him as he settled down next to the fire, turning a few times to flatten the ground before wrapping his tail around his bulk, trying to make himself small. It was so much easier without the bags!

By the fire, he had found a third human, lurking in the shadows. They were more than a head taller than the other two and seemed much warier of him, unwilling to come any closer than necessary. He hadn’t spent much time studying human emotions in a while, but he thought their face looked tired and sad and nervous.

He’d learnt long ago that reaching out wouldn’t help, so he settled his head down to wait instead, letting out a sigh. Knowing humans, nothing would happen until the morning anyway.

-

The fire, which had been barely more than embers when Dragon first spotted it, had been stoked up and food prepared. The Passenger seemed more grateful for their food than he had been for the deer, maybe it was something to do with the cooking ritual? Dragon considered finding something for himself, but the forest was densely packed here and he wasn’t that hungry anyway.

On top of that, there was a smell of something in the air, as if something big had been through here recently, and it was unlikely there was any game left nearby.

He gave the forest a baleful eye. Whatever it had been, it was gone now, and it probably wasn't very tasty anyway.

Over the course of the night, Shortie and Passenger ended up leaning against his side, talking and laughing. The other figure finally came out of the shadows after much coaxing, but they still sat much further away, as far from his face as they could get.

They flinched every time he moved, so he did his best not to move.

He dozed until the dawn light started to lighten the sky, lulled into sleep by the sound of their voices and the warmth of their bodies. The mixture of the wood smoke and sweat, the green summer smell of the forest and the sparks in the air, all mixed with the lilts of their voices and the gestures of their speech. He recognised his name in there a few times, but it all washed past him. Maybe, he considered with a dream-mixed brain, the hand movements were what he was missing?

-

Come morning, the three of them attempted to have a discussion with him, and he really did try! It was obvious they wanted him to carry the three of them, and while they weren’t heavy- not compared to the parcels and letters- he was reluctant. He would have to fly much lower than usual, and if one of them fell off...

Shadows was on his side, shaking their head in negation, making movements with their hands and at one point even walking away, having to be cajoled back with soft words and clever little gestures.

After much back and forth and signing and head shaking, he agreed to take Passenger back to the first city, and then to come back for the other two. He knew where he was going, so if he flew fast then it would only be a day's flight each way. He'd wanted to take Shortie, but they had all pointed about the lack of harness, and he had in the end relented.

He missed his normal job already.