Chapter 145

Riley's stomach leapt up next to her heart in her throat.

"We're going to die!" She cried as the wind roared around her.

The world pitched and spun around their open air cabin, as the dragon seemed to be having the time of her life.

She dipped and rose, only to dive again, screaming over tree tops so fast the protective warding strained and sparkled blue to Riley's eyes.

Tobias, as pale as a ghost, had his eyes clenched tight. Every muscle was rigid as he gripped onto its base for dear life.

"Ah-hah! I knew they tied us down for a reason." Cid laughed, bouncing and rolling with the dragon.

Caedmon was somehow asleep as Eastmund sat stoically, staring straight ahead.

"I want to get off!" Riley cried, never one for roller coasters. The serene, placid beauty of gentle flight as the world stretched out before her was one thing. It added to the magic and the wonder that she knew.

"But this shit is lame!" She screamed as Tobias winced both with the drop and the shrill sound of her mental projection bouncing around his mind like buckshot from a shotgun.

With a twitch, then a cramp that seized his core, he forced himself over the side to vomit.

Leaking through the wards, the fluid and mess soon became a victim to aerodynamics as the screaming wind whipped it off into the wee hours of the morning.

"You're going to be waking up some peasant with a surprise!" Cid cackled, slapping Tobias on the back, which almost started the whole process over again.

Hanging, more like clutching for dear life over the side of the open cabin on the back of the dragon, his woozy and tortured mind caught sight of the unmistakable signs of the outermost protective walls of the Ashenvale.

"We must be setting some kind of speed record," Eastmund called, preternaturally calm.

"Are you possessed?" Tobias cried.

Eastmund smiled with a zen-like shrug, "I've already survived worse."

"I'm not convinced there is a worse than this... and I've seen some shit," Tobias replied.

"Don't steal my lines!" Riley retorted, her claws having left dents and furrows in the bench they were strapped down to, just as a loud whoosh had them roaring over a tower barely twenty feet above its crenelations before the beast, blessedly, slowed and began to descend.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Please be over, please be over," Riley squeaked.

As if in acedence to her prayers, the beast touched down gently before emitting a contented roar.

"At least one of us had a good time. Next time, we need to set a safe word, " Riley relaxed, going slack against the board like seat.

She felt like a puddle of goo.

Fully out of danger, her stomach grumbled as the fatigue warred against the adrenalin.

Standing about fifteen feet out in the center of the field was a ranger with her hood up.

"She'll get you the rest of the way, untie yourselves, I must make haste back to Ranger Central," The dragon rider ordered, not even bothering to turn around.

Tobias called his dagger from their inventory, and, on shaky rubbery legs rose, freed Riley and scrambled down a rope ladder attached to the side of their open air cabin.

Upon reaching the ground, he sat her down only to flop beside her, stretching out his arms.

"Is he alright?" Came the voice of a young woman. Peering out from under her hood were two fierce brown eyes shining with intelligence. Her body was waifishly thin, though her leather jerkin and pants were immaculately clean, even her boots shone, though everything about her was as impossibly thin as Eastmund was.

"I am Ranger Redbud and will be taking you the rest of the way. Sabine sends her greeting," She said, holding out her hand towards Cid.

"Is this about the wagon or the cockatrice we hope to buy?" Cid replied, clasping arms.

"One broke a toe, so I'm inclined to take you myself. The poor beast can't even prance," she replied in code.

Cid nodded. "And you're a portal specialist? That's rare."

"It keeps me busy, even if I can only cover a few hundred miles at a time. I often move messages around," she said with a shrug.

"Is there anything we should know before you drop us in the city?" Caedmon asked.

"The attack was repelled; shortly after, the Viceroy of the Commons returned to take command. I was ordered to report this to you directly," she replied.

Riley's fur stood on end as Tobias went pale.

"He just arrived after the fact?" Cid balked.

"The report was he was en route after an emergency envoy to the Dracovani Kingdom. With the King Of Ashes away in a secure location along with his other advisors, he was the highest-ranking official remaining, so it happened under the auspices of the law. He has taken measures to bolster the guard and has been making strange moves. There are eyes everywhere and people disappearing."

"Sounds ominous, but it could work to our advantage. If they're scurrying around, we might be able to slip through," Caedmon pondered.

"All I know is that I am to move you, then make haste for Ranger Central. It will be a shorter journey for me than it was for you," she replied, bowing her head.

"Then let's see you on your way. What do you need us to do, lass?" Cid asked.

"Everyone form a ring around me and crowd in, no more than an arm's length away. You may experience some discomfort," she explained, as all gathered round, with Riley sitting up right in front of Tobias legs.

Reality warped and distorted, the world and its colors tearing themselves into violent prism and shapes before greys and dull browns began to wash out the golden hues of the field and the blueness of the sky they had left, just as the smell of earth hit them.

Riley felt the urge to run as her stomach rebelled while the world resolved around her. With steely resolve, she held fast as their basement respite came into view.

"Out of my way!" She cried, running for the restroom, as all save Ranger Redbud collapsed down to the floor or to one knee.

"Oh, I'm never going to be used to that," Cid bellowed, shaking his head, rising first.

"Further is worse. Farewell, and may the light of the thirteen guide you," Ranger Redbud said, before vanishing away as quickly as she came, only for the sound of boot falls to echo on the stairs.

"Rangers, we've a lot to talk about," Sabine announced without ceremony as she stormed into the room.

"Aye, it sounds as if we're going to have to storm the castle," Caedmon replied as the pathetic sounds of Riley retching echoed through the low ceilings and off the walls.

"Why storm when you can go under the walls?" She grinned.