Dragon Wings: The Clean War - Chapter IV
“So, everybody has their orders. You all know what to do. Let’s get this show on the road!” Manners yelled for the assembled crowd. Up and down the long runway, men and women stripped and became dragons in the blink of an eye, Jensen and Chris amongst them. Beside them, Colin became Merlin, and they all efficiently got their flight harnesses on. Bradley stepped up to Jared and Steve, his usual swagger even more pronounced than usual.
“Good luck, lads. We’ll meet you in Calais, yeah?” Jared shook his hand, wishing he could pretend to have that much confidence too. Eirian leaned forward and bumped into Bradley’s back with his head, earning him an eye scratch in just the right place to make him hum. “Yeah, yeah, you big softie. We’ll take care.” This made Jared frown, uneasy with someone touching his dragon so familiarly. Merlin made a displeased sound too, until Eirian wrapped his tail around the smaller dragon in an approximation of a hug. Merlin seemed to deflate at that, making a growly noise that was clearly put upon acceptance. Bradley laughed, but finally said, “I mean it, though. You two be careful. We want to see you back here ASAP.”
“Will do.” Jared answered just as solemnly, and Steve nodded as well. Jensen crooned softly, sadly, and Grymus snorted at him, rolling his eyes.
Steve laughed and shrugged. “He isn’t fond of chick flick moments.”
“Oh, it is on as soon as you aren’t all dragony, Kane.” Bradley threatened, and the massive copper dragon chuffed his amusement.
That was all the goodbyes they had time for, however, as Morgan-turned-dragon leaped into the sky, followed by the rest of his troops. Merlin had to scramble, once his rider was seated and clipped on, to catch up and take his proper place in the formation. Steve and Jared took their own places, taking their time as they were in no rush. They weren’t supposed to meet up with the others. They were using the attack as a diversion, which meant they wanted to give the enemy dragons as long as possible to become involved in the skirmish. Twenty minutes later, they could wait no longer. Grymus and Eirian leaped skywards almost as one, immediately flying south-west. The plan was to actually fly out over the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay, crossing into France just inside the French side of the border, as the previous envoy had reported that the French forces were patrolling the Spanish coast and border before he was assassinated. It appeared they assumed that no one would be stupid enough to try flying over enemy territory.
They saw no one, not even a stray patrol. The distance from land was too far for anyone to worry about. It would have been the battle front if you had drawn a line on a map; instead, it was just empty ocean. They were flying fast and high. Whatever the reason, they met no resistance and continued to make good time. By the time they made the French coast, however, the riders could feel their dragons beginning to tire. Jared concentrated on getting Eirian’s attention.
”Eirian. We need to stop and rest. Tell Grymus.”
There was a moment when he thought that his mate was going to ignore him, but he got a reluctant agreement. Another moment and he heard, ”Grymus doesn’t think it is a good idea, but Steve concurs.” Amusement filtered down the link. ”We will be landing as soon as we find a relatively protected position.” Jared didn’t argue with them. Already they were flying over the foothills of the Pyrenees and protected valleys were in plentiful supply. It was only another five minutes before they were spiralling down into a deep crevasse heavily wooded with trees. It would be hard to spot anything from above, especially once the dragons took their human forms. As it turned out, however, the dragons had no intention of changing. They argued that getting back into their harnesses would take too long in an emergency, and both riders had seen the sense in their argument. They let it go, and watched their dragons weave themselves between the tree cover before they closed their eyes to rest.
Once they were sure that the dragons slept, Steve and Jared took out the small lunch that had been packed for them. “Do you think they will okay to go on without food? They’re the ones doing all the work.”
Steve smiled at Jared’s question. “They’ll be fine. We should reach Andorra by late afternoon if they can keep up this pace. I’m sure they’ll provide us, as Ambassadors, something to eat.”
“I guess.” Jared picked at his sandwich. “I just feel bad that here I am eating while he’s asleep and expected to go on when he wakes up.”
“You truly love him, don’t you?” Steve asked softly.
Jared frowned. “Of course I do.”
Shaking his head, Steve told him, “As much as I do love Chris, we have a long time before we can know each other as you and Jensen do.”
“Oh.” Jared smiled slightly. “Well, we have been friends for years. I already loved him a little before I found out he was my mate. I guess it wasn’t that far of a stretch to love him more.”
“He’s special. You know that, right? The way the other dragons respond to him...”
Jared scowled. “There is nothing wrong with him.”
“I never said there was. When I say special, I mean special, not wrong. No one can work out what it is. I don’t think he knows either. Just be prepared, one day, to be surprised.”
“He always surprises me.” Jared smiled fondly, and Steve let it go. They settled back to rest against their mates, eyes vigilantly watching the skies so the dragons could sleep in peace.
***
Back in the air after their break, they headed deeper and deeper into enemy territory. The mountains below them provided little cover, but they carried on as though they belonged there. Every now and then they would spot another dragon in the far distance, but either they were couriers only interested in the task at hand, or they were supremely confident that no enemy dragon would be in their territory. After so many years where that belief had held true, it wasn’t inconceivable that this was still exactly the case now.
As they midday sun dipped lower into the late afternoon, they knew they had to be near their destination. Both Eirian and Grymus had begun to slow, the beats of their wings just that little bit less rhythmic. They were reaching their limits. Now more than ever, however, they needed to be careful. It wasn’t a surprising conclusion for the Allied forces to reach out to neutral Andorra for help, and they had no doubt that the borders there would be patrolled much more regularly. As it turned out, they were, and not only by French dragons. It seemed the Andorrans were taking an active role in making sure France did not invade their peaceful lands. There was no way they could evade so many patrols, and Steve and Jared knew their dragons had little in the way of reserves for a prolonged approach. They had just decided they would approach an Andorran patrol and beg for political asylum when a French patrol spotted them. Suddenly, the chase was on. Jared felt Eirian gather himself up and start to beat strongly at the air. Beside them, Grymus did the same. The no doubt better rested French dragons gained on them, and Jared could feel his mate’s fear thrumming along their link. One of the patrol - a largish midweight - pulled ahead of his flight and roared flame at Grymus’ tail. Eirian turned back on himself, quick as lightning, and slashed at the attacker’s snout with his vicious hind claws. The mid-weight screamed and pulled away, a long wound bleeding freely along the length of its snout, one eye closed and possibly damaged beyond repair. Eirian spun once more and hurtled after Grymus, catching up just as he reached the Andorrans, screeching out what Jared assumed was a plea for protection. The Andorran’s hovered impassively for a few moments, before giving their assent for the Allied dragons to approach and enter their territory. It seemed the French patrol, further spurred on by the maiming of one of their own, would follow them, but cooler heads must have prevailed, for they peeled off just before the Andorrans made ready to attack.
The four Andorran dragons encircled their visitors, guiding them towards the Royal Palace. They had barely landed long enough for Jared to slither from Eirian’s back before the dragon changed, and then Jared was forced to catch him as Jensen collapsed, completely unconscious.
***
Jensen woke up to the knowledge that his mate was concerned about him, though not in a panicked way, and that he was not in the room with him. Instead, a woman sat by his bed, watching him calmly. She was likely in her forties, though still closer to thirty than not, and was dressed well. At the least she was a member of the royal court, and Jensen wondered what she was doing here. Her lips curved up like she knew what he was thinking. “Welcome back, my brave young dragon.” Her voice was heavily accented, but clear enough.
“Thank you, milady.” Jensen tried to smile, but he felt drugged. Oh god, they hadn’t drugged him, had they?
The woman gave a soft laugh. “You don’t know who I am?”
Jensen frowned. She looked at him steadily, as though willing him to realise, but he honestly didn’t know. “You are a dragon, I can tell that much, but I’m afraid I don’t know you. I’m sorry if that is of offence.”
“No. Not at all. It is something of a relief, actually.” She smiled widely this time. “I had feared the Allies had sent you to try and use your influence on me, but I can see it is not so.”
“Influence? I have no influence beyond what information I can lay out before the King and Queen.” Jensen scoffed. This, at least, seemed to surprise the woman.
“You truly do not know what you are?” Seeing the confusion clear on his face, she told him, “You are not just any dragon. You are a Royal.”
The darkness was tugging at the edges of his vision, teasing him to just give in and rest. Even this strange woman’s words were not enough to tether him to the here and now. He barely had time to murmur a question before he was pulled back under, “A Royal...?”
***
Jared felt Jensen wake in his mind and wanted to go to him, but he was currently being held captive by an extremely friendly (and quite dull) courtier who was desperate to know what had happened to his aunt who had moved to Wessex just after the war began, before travel between the continents became too difficult. Jared had explained that he was an American and had never been to Wessex, nor even heard of it before now. By the time he had done so, a confused Jensen had drifted back to sleep and Jared sighed at having missed his chance.
Steve sidled up beside him, a wan smile on his face. He hissed out of the side of his mouth, “How long before we can escape?”
Chuckling, Jared answered, “I don’t think we can go anywhere until the King dismisses us.” Steve’s sigh, much like his own, made him chuckle louder. Sobering, he told him, “Jensen woke up briefly not too long ago. How is Chris?”
“Oh, he’s fine.” Steve waved his hand airily. “He woke up a while ago too but had no desire to join us, so he elected to stay and rest up.”
“Envoys.” A cool, regal voice made them turn. Both men bowed to the woman before them. “Welcome to Andorra. I hope your trip proves fruitful for us all.”
“Thank you, your Majesty.” Jared answered. He had asked, in the last few hours, what the King and Queen were like. The descriptions hadn’t varied by much, and Jared had gotten the impression that the Queen was the power behind the King.
She smiled, and it softened her features. “We look forward to hearing your proposition tomorrow, but for tonight I hope you will enjoy our hospitality.”
“Of course. Thank you.” Steve answered, inclining his head.
They watched her walk away through the throng of courtiers crowding the room, like a ship passing smoothly through wild waters. Some of the dragons in the room seemed helpless but to follow her with their eyes. It made Jared uneasy. Still, he and Steve did their best to settle in and enjoy themselves. It was clearly expected of them and, with their dragons asleep, there was nowhere else they needed to be.
Chapter V: http://lady-krystal-79.livejournal.com/39023.html