Dragon Kin 2

12

Carmen

He said we weren't supposed to fly across the walls into the city, but he did it anyway.

Liam flew behind us, with three of the packs.

These guys were seriously strong. I could barely lift one of the packs. I certainly couldn't carry one. If I had wings, unless the muscly parts were made of stuff other than me, I wouldn't get off the ground with one of those packs.

Liam was strong. He looked strong. He wasn't as wide in the shoulders, or in the arms and legs, but he was well built. Built for things like lifting and running. And apparently flying. He didn't appear to be hampered by the bags at all.

Of course Vlad was carrying two, and me.

We were joined by a guard of ten warriors who were perched on the walls as we flew by. They saluted Vlad as we passed, then spread their wings and fell in behind Liam. I had the impression that they served both as an honor guard, while also guarding the city from us. They could go either way.

I looked into Vlad's eyes. Any place that called him Commander, couldn't be all bad.

We didn't travel fast. I felt I could have walked faster. Apparently he would break the flying law, but not the disturbance laws. The city was a hill. A hill of stone. Perhaps at in the past there had been dirt as well. Now, I could see nothing except stone. Every square foot, every pillar, every wall was cut stone that had been fitted to serve its purpose. The craftsmanship, the designs and architecture, all of it felt modern.

"Is the hill hollow?"

"What?" Vlad asked me.

"Is there anything inside, besides dirt and stone?"

"Yes," he said.

"What?"

"I can't tell you," he told me. "You're not a citizen."

I frowned. "Dragons keep secrets?"

He frowned, "You're joking with that right now, right?"

I laughed. I couldn't recall the last time I threw my glee into the air with a carefree toss of my head. Even after giving it some serious thought. I wondered if I ever had. I looked around, and then, noticing a missing person, I looked harder. Then I asked, "I don't see Ocean. Was he going to come as well?"

"No," Vlad said. "He's not expected to be around for a while."

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What, like he's on restriction or something?"

"Something like that," he agreed.

"Wow. What'd he do?"

"Kept asking what we were hiding inside the hill."

I bit my upper lip and then patted his cheek, "Cheeky bastard you are." Then, I kissed his lips. It wasn't something I planned. It just happened.

"So," I said, trying to cover, "It's something you're hiding, then."

"I'm a sworn officer of the King. You'll get nothing from me, no matter how many kisses."

"Huh," I grunted. "I might put that to the test. Is that the place there?" I asked, jutting my chin toward a large manor house, with an open gate and six guards standing between the pillars.

"Yes," he said, and we descended to the stone road.

As soon as he stepped onto the stone, he set me down and undid the straps for the pack on his back. After gently setting the stuffed pack on the ground, his wings began to fold, and I nodded my understanding. The pack was too wide and heavy to bring in his wings. His tail had disappeared as well, though I never saw that happen. It was fast.