Bonds of Fire (3 page)

His fingers closed around Yakov's collar as he disappeared under the water, and Drekken found a frightened River Dragon clinging to his arm. Very rapidly, Drekken hauled himself backwards and brought the others with him. The water was reluctant to give up its claim, but Drekken was stronger and he staggered backwards, collapsing against a large boulder as Yakov and dragons splashed down at his feet. Malachi waded the last metre or so very rapidly and knelt down to his friend, who was gasping and coughing and trying to comfort the mewing Hawkhead. She was not the only upset dragon: Renar was whimpering; the River Dragon female was hissing and clicking her teeth and, most importantly to Drekken, the baby Grey Wing had emerged from the sling making scared little clicks that set off every defensive instinct he possessed.

Cradling the baby, Drekken looked down and, trying not to sound too accusatory, asked, "What happened?"

"My bag strap broke," Yakov mourned, kneeling up and hugging the Hawkhead to him. "It's all we have, so I tried to reach for it and lost my balance."

Drekken glanced down the river, but the bag was nowhere in sight. He stifled any regret for the few supplies they had had, they were gone, and moved on, "Not a problem. Let's get off this bank and up to the tree line."

Yakov looked up at him then, face haunted and body trembling, and told him sincerely, "Thank you."

~*~

The cave was small, it was going to be a cramped night, but it had a concealed entrance and with a half a dozen wet and tired children and two shivering carers, Drekken decided it would have to do. They could only have been a mile away from the river, it was risky stopping so close to the village, but the near miss at the river had knocked the stuffing out of Yakov and Drekken led them all into the protected space. There were loose rocks all over the floor and he kicked a few into a pile in the centre. He knelt down then, positioning them more carefully into a balanced heap and held out his arm. His energies were low and it took him a moment to call forward his dragon fire, but when he finally felt it rising to the surface, it brought with it a comforting relief. His flames licked over the soft scales on his wrist and the back of his hand and out into the rocks and quickly the temperature around him increased. He watched as the living magic took hold of the stone, creating a glow that lit the cave and he pushed as much energy as he could manage into the rock. Yet, it had been a tough day, and he had to break off knowing that the heat would not last the whole night.

The civilians shuffled round him, sinking quickly to the floor and becoming a pile of humans and dragons near the new heat source. Drekken gave them a quick appraisal: they were all drained and anxious, but Malachi and Yakov gathered the little ones to them, leaning on each other and offering what comfort they could. Drekken didn't want to deliver more bad news, but it had to be done, so he told them, "We are too close to the village to risk hunting for supper tonight."

Malachi's face fell and Yakov looked guilty. The dragons made varying noises of dissatisfaction. Drekken reached for his belt and unclipped four packs there and held them out to Yakov.

"But, share these out," he offered what solace he could in the form of his field rations. "They won't fill any bellies, but they'll keep your energy up."

Yakov nodded his thanks and then Drekken turned, stood up and moved to the entrance of the cave. The way the rocks had formed, he could lean on the wall and see out to the hillside, but he, and more importantly, the fact that there was a deeper cave was hidden from those who might be looking for refugees. Six hatchlings would be a prize for any Feras division, who bought and sold dragons like animals, and the thought made Drekken's blood run cold. Self-consciously, he hooked his arm under the baby resting against his chest and held her a little more closely as he surveyed the world outside for any hostiles. He felt her snuggle into his body through the sling and his flight suit and her sleepy presence in the back of his mind settled him a little. However, it also reminded him he was missing another presence: Miri was alive, his instincts told him that, but he still needed to know what had happened to her.

"You are worried," Yakov surprised Drekken out of his thoughts and he turned sharply to find the youth standing at his shoulder, holding out one of the small protein discs from the rations.

Drekken took the disc without replying, but the enquiry in Yakov's wide blue eyes stopped him from ignoring the youth entirely. There was anxiety in the look he was being given and he reassured grudgingly, "Not about us, we'll be safe here for the night."

Tired and aching from his fall and damp from the river, Drekken was in no mood to talk, but annoyingly, Yakov did not retreat with the attempted dismissal, in fact, the youth's face went from anxious to thoughtful for a moment. Then Yakov observed, "You are thinking about your dragon."

It wasn't a question and the forwardness of it raised Drekken's hackles. He had never been good at hiding his feelings and with an empath it wasn't even worth trying. Yakov took a step backwards when Drekken fixed him with a look to go with his gut response, but did not back down entirely. Instead, Drekken was given a vaguely frustrated stare and it was obvious that Yakov was on the verge of saying something more. Drekken would have given the youth a more direct dismissal then, but Malachi reacted first, calling, "Yakov, Keril wants you."

The little Hawkhead chattered and, to Drekken's relief, Yakov turned away. Before there was any chance Yakov could reengage with him, Drekken went back to scanning the view out of the doorway.

~*~

It had been a short and uncomfortable night with his charges sleeping only fitfully. On edge, Drekken had forced himself to remain alert until the sun had risen. Then, he had spoken to the group only enough to explain that they had to keep to the trees up the lower slopes and then he had led them all off. However, the early start took them up into the mountains-proper by the time the sun was over head and Drekken's tension eased off as there was no sign that they were being followed. A quick stop for a lunch of berries and ice apples recharged them all and Drekken was impressed with the babies as they continued to make good time in the afternoon, so much so that Malachi had a chance to practice his hunting skills. When Drekken sought them out a place to shelter for the night, Malachi was carrying enough rabbit to feed them all.

Everyone was in surprisingly good spirits, including Drekken, when they all clambered carefully through a narrow entrance into another cave. This one was huge compared to the one from the previous night, and Drekken smiled to himself as the small ball of flame in his hand reflected off what he had hoped to see when he had noted the stream outside, a gently flowing pool. The afternoon had been warm and close and Drekken's shoulder scales itched as he eyed the clear water. Quickly, he ushered everyone past him onto the small sandy shore of the pool and then he heaved at a boulder that was lying next to the entrance. His already aching shoulder complained, but the rock was not a large one for an augmented human and he slid it across the entrance, mostly blocking the path. A couple of smaller stones on top and no-one outside would know the cave was passable.

Seven pairs of eyes were watching him as he descended down to the shore and Drekken surprised himself as he smiled and told them, "We'll be safe for the night."

The relief was almost palpable. Yakov smiled back and Drekken was still more surprised when that made him even happier. It was a strange and unexpected feeling that rather put him off balance, and so, after a second, he turned away and busied himself making another stone hearth, one that would this time cook their supper. He knew he was being watched as he gathered the small rocks and fed them with his replenished fire, but he concentrated on his task and, eventually, Malachi announced, "I really need a bath."

There was the sound of a sniff and then Yakov agreed with distaste, "We all need baths. Everyone, into the water."

It didn't take long for Drekken to finish his task and his odd reaction had settled by then. However, when he turned to the sound of splashing, it was not only that feeling that leapt up to greet him. He had heard stories about empaths lacking inhibitions, but he had not expected to see two young, athletic, naked bodies entering the water and his libido reacted instantly. As a soldier, he was used to seeing his comrades, both male and female, in states of undress and dragons found the whole concept of clothes rather quaint, which had rubbed off on him somewhat, but what really caught Drekken's attention was the way Yakov's hand was wandering down over Malachi's arse and Drekken had no hope of quashing the rush of heat that ran through his body. He bit his lip, hard, and turned rapidly away again, cursing the fact that it had been far too long since he had enjoyed any company.

Drekken fiddled with the hearth, moving stones around, piling them just so and trying not to remember the flash of pale, slender flesh behind him. The whistles and clicks of young dragons as they too entered the water helped settle his libido somewhat, after all, it was hardly appropriate to be fostering such thoughts in the presence of children. However, his arousal wouldn't disperse completely and he could only listen as Malachi called, "Keril, come on, it's lovely."

Drekken heard a stamp of foot and Keril made a sound of disquiet. There was a short pause and then Malachi's response was, "Oh."

It was a knowing sort of 'oh', and it was faintly amused.

"You want Drekken to come in too," Malachi interpreted.

His face heating up, Drekken swivelled on the spot and found himself Keril's centre of attention. He was not sure when he had gone from being a source of suspicion to one of interest, but the Hawkhead was looking at him expectantly. Drekken glanced up at Yakov and Malachi, who were waist deep in the pool and lazing against each other and a rock, and swallowed hard.

"It's lovely and cool," Yakov announced and, dropping his head onto Malachi's shoulder, winked at Drekken.

Drekken concluded that as well as no inhibitions, empaths in a good mood also had no shame and both of them were very much aware of his reaction. However, Keril was not and she snorted at him, the universal sign of dragon impatience. The water did look very inviting as the scales on Drekken's shoulders continued to itch. Renar was wallowing in the shallows, his eyes closed in bliss and Ghemas, the River Dragon, without a dangerous current to worry her, was slipping through the water as she had been born to do, her head causing barely a ripple when she surfaced. The Sandy twins, Isthy and Misthy, were the only ones who did not look like they intended to enter the pool. They were sitting on a rock together, their tails just flicking the surface of the water and eyeing the liquid with disdain. Thanks to Keril, however, all the dragons turned their attention to Drekken as well and waited.

Drekken mentally kicked himself: he was too old to be embarrassed by a perfectly natural reaction to good looking young men. However, he could still feel the heat on his face as he stood up and began to unstrap his boots. It was such a relief to remove the constrictions on his feet that he sped up as he turned to the rest of his clothing. He dropped his gauntlets and belt onto the sand and then things became more complicated. A flier's uniform was designed for two things, aerodynamics and warmth at altitude, but not necessarily ease of removal. However, the leather-like synthetic fibre fitted him like a second skin and, as he reached up to detach the back panel from the collar, that gave Drekken ideas.

He glanced at Malachi and Yakov, who were watching him a little more than casually, and his embarrassment morphed into bravado. He was not a big man: for a flier, being hefty would just have been impractical, but Drekken knew he had a good, lean, muscled body and he wasn't above showing it off, especially after the tease from Yakov. Carefully, he unhooked his arm from the sling so that it was hanging only around his neck. The back panel that, only being held in place by the fastenings at the collar, enabled his gliders to unfurl, dropped to his waist and he turned his back to his watchers, ostensibly to lift his little charge off of his body and to lay her down on a rock that sat opposite the Sandys' perch on the beach. However, what the move also did was to show off what he had been told was a very impressive collar of iridescent Grey Wing scales over his shoulders. He smiled to himself as he heard the intake of breath from one of his companions.

Yet, his pleasure did not last long, because the baby, who had been sleeping most of the day, lifted her head out of the cloth and clicked her disquiet at no longer being against his chest. Drekken felt a twinge of guilt too as his magic shifted without her tiny presence close to his heart.

"I won't be long," he promised, placing her carefully on the flat boulder, and, all tease gone, he unclipped his collar, took hold of his body suit in both hands and pulled it down.

It peeled off him easily and, following that with his standard-issue briefs, he then strode rapidly into the water and ducked right under the surface. The pool was chilly, but so refreshing after the sticky feel the climb had left him with, that he stayed under and let the current tug gently at his scalp. His aching muscles relaxed in the slow movement of water and he would have groaned if he'd been above the water. However, slowly his contentment was replaced by a nagging anxiety and Drekken surfaced a little frustrated. It was then he heard the urgent chirrups and whines that told him where the anxiety was coming from. Now aware that the emotion was not his own, Drekken waded over to where the rock stood at chest height and reassured his young charge, "It's okay, Baby."

He shook his head and showered the tiny dragon in droplets of water. She screeched, but then shook her head back at him, and, as he leant down and accepted a nuzzle at his cheek, the shots of delight let him know that his tease had had the desired effect. However, tuts from behind him reminded Drekken that he wasn't alone and he turned to see Malachi and Yakov, still lazing against their own rock, shaking their heads and trying to look superior.