[b]"We had better get moving soon. SoNem, you will carry Dovah."[/b]

SoNem blinked in surprise at the dragonelle’s suddenly commanding tone. He drew his lip back in something of a snarl. Who made her the boss? She was injured and weak; not in any condition to assume a position of leadership. Nevertheless, he held his tongue and moved to where Dovah was finishing his meal to pick him up.

While he was reluctant to comply, Feneya’s orders were the unarguably rational. Flight was their quickest means to get from point A to point B, and he was probably the most capable dragon to carry Dovah for a great distance.

“I hope you’ve finished eating,” SoNem said as he gripped the drake’s flanks with his [i]sii[/i] and hoisted him about a tail-length above the ground, trying to get a feel for his weight. Dovah wasn’t much smaller than him in mass and SoNem had to awkwardly adjust his grip to prevent himself from dropping the drake, but he determined the task was doable.

In the air, he spotted a small group of humans in the distance. They were a fair ways away from the hillside where the dragons resided, but their presence was still unsettling. Could it be a scouting party from the hunters that attack them before? SoNem narrowed his eyes to get a better look. One of the humans looked familiar. He remembered the straggling human from the previous night and matched the two faces in his mind. Yes, this was the same one. But why was he coming back?

SoNem let himself drop back to the ground and released Dovah from his grip.

“There are humans on the horizon,” he announced unceremoniously, spreading his wings to take flight again. “I’m going to find out what they want.” Without waiting for a reply, he took off.

“Wai—” Istatia started, but she was too late. She rattled her scales anxiously and turned to the others. “This isn’t good… If he goes by himself, he’ll probably kill them.” She paddled her [i]saa[/i] with nervous energy and focused her eyes on the ground. “Sorry to bother you, lords, but I-I think someone should go with him… Just to make sure he doesn’t do any more harm, you see.”

Istaria briefly flicked her gaze up to the others to gauge their responses, and then lowered it to the ground again. She mentally cursed her master for causing so much trouble in such a short amount of time. She always knew him to be a handful, but this was something else entirely. The trauma from the Queen’s death must have affected him more deeply than she first suspected.

“I-If it’s too much of a bother, I can go instead,” Istaria suggested meekly. She didn’t want to cause these dragons any more of an inconvenience than SoNem already had.