Dragonback

By Samwise Graber

Riding a dragon is the best way to travel—most of the time.

“Karr, what are you doing? This is not Adron city!” I lean over as the dragon touches down on a grassy hilltop.

“I’m stopping for a nap.” Karr slurs the last word into a yawn and his purple tongue curls like a cat’s.

I grab one of his spines and pull myself onto his neck to look him in the eye. “But we took a break for lunch not half an hour ago.”

“Yes, Winn, and eating makes me sleepy.”

“There will be time to sleep when we get there. I want my new sword!”

“Boys and their blades.” Karr sneezes a vigorous puff of flame.

I throw up an arm to shield my face and promptly tumble off the dragon’s neck. I smother a spark on my right sleeve.

Bloody dragon’s going to singe my eyebrows.

“Karr, what was that for?”

“I’m allergic to swords.”

I roll my eyes and scan the surrounding landscape. Grass, grass, and—oh wait, more grass.

“Karr, do you know where we are?”

Karr tilts his gaze down and studies me with a golden eye. “Would you be so kind as to remove my saddle? It’s getting rather itchy.”

I slap the base of his right wing. “No, I will not take off your saddle. It wasn’t my idea to stop. We need to keep on toward Adron. If we don’t hurry up the blacksmith will be closed by the time we get there.”

Bertam does the finest sword work in the land. I’ve only just saved enough coin to commission a new blade to replace my old scrap of metal. If we ever make it there.

I frown and study the rolling hills. “Are you sure you know where we are? I don’t see anything but grass.”

“I know. It’s so—” Karr yawns again “—soothing.”

Three tons of dragon roll toward me. I dive forward to keep from getting flattened and tumble down the hill. I land in a sprawl at the bottom.

“Burn it, Karr!”

Karr raises his head to find me, then lets it fall when he sees I’m not pancaked. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

I huff and collapse back into the grass. Sun rays soak into my skin and warm my chest. The coziness spreads across me, like being wrapped in blankets in a nice warm bed. I should get up, but I just need a few more…

The time. I pop one eye open. The sun is high and to my left. Still a fair bit of daylight remains, but shouldn’t the sun be behind us?

“Karr, weren’t we meant to be heading east?”

The dragon only snorts in response.

Lazy beast. “Are you sure you know where we are?”

“Of course. We’re on a hill.”

I sit up and throw a fistful of grass at the dragon. “A hill! Is that all you can tell me?”

“A very nice hill.” Karr releases a heavy dragon sigh.

The breeze puffs most of the grass directly back into my face.

“A very—” I let out a wordless growl. “Karr, which way do we need to go to get to Adron city?”

“How should I know?”

“Because you’re the one who’s supposed to be flying us there!”

“Naturally. You want to rush to every corner of the earth but it’s the dragon that gets to fly you there.”

I leap to my feet, eyeing the surrounding hills. Nothing but green. The sun’s position suggests we’ve been flying south, but I missed when we turned. It must have been while I was daydreaming about my new sword.

I kick the dirt. “Burn it, Karr, we’re lost!”

A rumbling dragon snore is the only answer I get.

Of all the lazy beasts.

I stomp up the hillside and draw back my boot to deliver a solid kick to Karr’s side.

Karr’s chest expands, rippling the light streak, like a line of chalk, that runs down his side. That must be where he got hit by an arrow when we ran into those angry woodsmen the other week.

I hesitate.

I got him into that skirmish. Oh, and the group of angry farmers the week before. And then there was that knight…

Karr’s chest rises and falls in a mesmerizing rhythm. He lies on his stomach, his right wing sprawled out beside me. A few fluffy white seedlings drift in the air around us. Karr’s nose twitches as one brushes past.

Karr always complains that I work too hard. That I’m always going every which way and never thinking about who’s crops we might tread on. Maybe he’s right.

I sigh, sink down on the grass, and lean my back against the dragon’s side. My torso rises and falls to the rhythm of his breathing. In. Out. In. Out. In…

A yawn escapes my mouth. I close my eyes.

Bertam will be open again tomorrow. Perhaps getting un-lost can wait.

I snuggle further against the rough scales and the warmth they give off. Karr has a mind of his own, but riding a dragon is still, by far, the best way to travel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Graber is an author and software developer with a fascination for stories that explore friendships and romance. He loves to write fiction that blends creative fantasy elements with realistic relationship challenges.

---

More Stories | Author Website | Facebook |  Twitter