Free Dragon-Ridden by T.A. White Page B

we’re
attacking her?” one asked. “We’re the ones with injuries.”
    “Five against one,” Ryu said,
eyeing them like they were a puzzling new specie of insect. His eyes had taken
on a strange light. He looked almost hungry. “I hardly see Tate taking on those
odds. Now, why were you attacking crew?”
    Only four remained. The one who’d
asked after Danny and Riply had already disappeared.
    “We were practicing knife fighting,
sir,” the leader said. “Isn’t that right, Tate?”
    All eyes turned towards her. One of
the knives was still clutched in her hands, her posture defensive. She
swallowed. “Yeah, sure.”
    Ryu snorted. He obviously didn’t
believe her, but he waved for them to leave anyway. Watching them creep off
dragging their wounded friend behind them, Tate wished she could leave too. Ryu
had refused to let her move when she tried.
    She didn’t really want to try to
explain what had happened.
    “Knife fighting?” he asked, folding
his arms.
    She tucked her chin and focused on
placing her knife back in its hidden sheath. Its twin was still in her
attacker’s back. Luckily, she carried more than two knives on her at all times,
just for situations like these.
    “Tate? What was that?”
    “I’m not feeling so good.”
    “Don’t think you can get out of
this with that excuse.”
    She leaned over and puked as he
stepped towards her. All the liquid in her stomach came gushing out, some of it
landing on his boots.
    There was a weary sigh above her
head and then cool hands reached to pull her hair back from her face. “We’ll
talk about this later then.”
     
    Sleep refused to come. Ryu had
helped her back up to her room after she’d finished thoroughly embarrassing
herself.
    Danny and Riply had made a point of
stopping in and seeing how she was faring, after having heard about her
troubles from Ryu. Both obviously felt guilty about not being there. Nobody
believed the story that they were practicing knife fighting.
    “I was going to give this to you
later, but considering what’s happened, perhaps now would be better.” Danny grabbed
Tate’s hand and placed a pair of triangular red gems in it.
    “What are these?” Tate asked. She
was relieved to see that her hands had stopped shaking.
    Danny didn’t respond, instead
grabbing her hand and pressing her thumb against one of the gems. A low hum
tickled her senses and a sharp sting pricked her. She would have jerked back if
Danny hadn’t had such a firm grip. Energy rose to encircle her hand, vibrating
along her skin, making it itch. It lapped at her forearm before dispersing as
quickly as it’d come. The gems sparked, a piercing fire shined briefly in their
depths, before fading to a dull red.
    Danny finally released Tate and she
cradled her arm against her chest. “What was that?” Though it hadn’t hurt, with
the exception of that sting, it had thoroughly unsettled her. She didn’t like
it, not at all.
    Danny dumped the gems back into
their bag and held them out to her. Tate didn’t immediately reach for them and
stared at the bag. Danny shook it at her in exasperation.
    “These are barrier stones,” he
finally told her. He grabbed her hand and dropped the bag into it. It was
either catch them or let them fall. She caught them. It was more reflex than
choice.
    “Is that supposed to be an
explanation?”
    “For most people, yes, it would be
an explanation,” he said, striving for patience. Usually he didn’t have to
explain things like this. People just knew. In some ways Tate understood things
few only vaguely grasped. At times though, it was as if she was a child
discovering the world for the first time. “They can create a barrier which
prevents others from entering.”
    “Like magic?” Tate asked
incredulous. “You gave me magic stones.” Something in her voice must have
hinted at her disbelief.
    “Tate, magic exists.”
    “Really? Because Trent’s experience
would suggest otherwise.”
    Danny rolled his eyes.