Free Dragon and Phoenix by Joanne Bertin Page A

to his fright, she’d never stay on him, not on this trail. “Don’t be silly—they won’t eat you!” She hoped the stallion listened.
    Boreal stopped, hooves braced wide, trembling in every limb, but now set as immovably as the boulders around him. Maurynna patted him on a shoulder suddenly dark with sweat, and dismounted. It seemed courteous, somehow.
    The five truedragons seemed even more surprised than she. Almost as one they reared back, heads well up, watching her as she approached, leading the stallion by the reins. Boreal followed, reassured now that he was not to be dinner.
    There was something wrong, Maurynna realized, in the wary poses, the uneasy glances they cast at each other. She stopped, unsure what to do next. Surely these lords of the sky could see she was no threat?
    *Greetings to thee,* the largest said at last.
    “Greetings, my lord dragon,” Maurynna replied. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, my lords.”
    The truedragon who had spoken came forward a few steps. That would be Morlen the Seer, Maurynna guessed. He was huge, larger than any living creature she’d ever seen; she wondered if even the fabled great whales of the far northern seas could compare to this truedragon. The slanting light of the sun washed over his dark green scales. The other four came up until she stood ringed by truedragons. She looked at each one in turn, tilting her head far back to do so. Boreal crowded her back, no doubt having second thoughts about the wisdom of all this.
    Like Dragonlords, the truedragons were various colors. Morlen was a deep moss green; of the others, two were brown, another a deep sapphire blue; the fourth was the color of amethyst and Maurynna knew she looked upon the flower of dragonkind, Morlen’s granddaughter, Talassaene.
    A sudden—memory?—of a white-haired young woman with violet eyes overwhelmed Maurynna. Someone she didn’t recognize, had never met, but knew nevertheless. The gaze of the violet eyes haunted her. She knew that if that woman—Who is she? And how do I know her?—had been a Dragonlord, she would have been the color of the truedragon standing here … .
    Maurynna shook her head to clear it of the unbidden image, and returned to her study of the first truedragons she’d seen close up. As with Dragonlords, their belly scales were the color of old ivory, and their eyes shone with ruby fire. They were utterly beautiful and dangerous beyond anything she’d ever met with.
    She faced Morlen once more.
    *No, thee do not disturb us,* Morlen said. His mindvoice was kind, if perplexed. *We have merely paused on our journey back to our own mountains.*
    Ah; no doubt they were discussing whatever they’d learned from Taren, then. It would account for their initial wariness; she’d surprised them. Still, the smoke curling from the nostrils of two of the other truedragons sent chills up her spine. The magic that made her a Dragonlord was proof against all harm from fire—all, that is, save dragonfire. If these were so minded, she would die here and no one would be the wiser.
    Should she mindcall Linden? To what end? He could do nothing against the likes of these; even the smallest of these truedragons was larger than he was. If the gods meant her to die here nothing would help her. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.
    But the look in Morlen’s eye was as kind as his mindvoice had been. With a grunt he settled himself in the long grass and continued to study her; the others followed suit. She wondered what went through Morlen’s mind.
    * I am Galinis,* one of the other truedragons suddenly said, the brown one to Morlen’s left. *These others are Aeld , Aumalaean and Talassaene,* the truedragon continued, pointing with his chin sunwise around the circle, naming the other brown, the blue, and the amethyst dragons. *Aeld, Aumalaean, curb thy fires. They are not needed. And thee are … ?*
    Before Maurynna could introduce herself, Morlen spoke again.
    *I see thee,* the huge