bedeviled & beyond 04 - bedeviled & belittled by sam cheever

human population in the hopes that her experiences with people would ensure the continuing prosperity of the black dragon race alongside humans.
    However, for all her regal beauty, Glynus was still a kid at heart. When I emerged from the stairwell, she started hopping from foot to foot and spewing excitement fire from her nostrils.
    I threw myself behind a huge, metal box and rolled, narrowly missing being toasted alive.
    Oops! Sorry mother halfling.
    I peeked over my protective barrier. “I guess I should have worn my flame retardant jumpsuit, huh?”
    She giggled behind a massive paw with six-inch-long, curved claws. You can come out now, mother halfling. I promise I won’t roast you.
    I leapt over the box and ran, springing onto her wide back as I used to do when she was younger.
    Glynus giggled and lifted her wings with excitement. Hold on, mother halfling . Her massive wings pounded the air, blowing my hair around my face and nearly driving me right off her back. Debris lifted out of the crevices and corners of the roof where it had been caught and flew in all directions. I had to duck as a large, dead bird swung toward my head.
    I grabbed the base of her wings and held on, lowering myself as we lifted off in preparation for that first, powerful gust of air slamming into me.
    The ride was a bit rocky until Glynus climbed to a height where she could level off and skim gracefully along the air currents. Then I released my hold on her wings and sat up, enjoying the bird’s eye view of the world below.
    The nearest air car was miles beneath Glynus’s wings. They looked like bugs buzzing from place to place.
    Okay, Glynus. Tell me what’s going on. I need to know what I’m stepping into.
    She sighed in my mind. The Mount has exploded into chaos. The Queen of the Reds is in an uproar because her oldest daughter was attacked and killed. She declared war against us in the belief that we were behind the attack. Of course we knew nothing about it until the skies started boiling with red dragons and blood began to be spilled on our beautiful meadow.
    Does your mother have any ideas who might have been responsible for the attack?
    Glynus turned and fixed a worried, violet eye on me. She and my father cloistered themselves in the throne room and discussed it for hours. When they emerged they declared their intention of visiting the Red Queen. I couldn’t get them to tell me what they’d decided. All they would say was that it was better if I knew nothing.
    So they went to see the Reds.
    Glynus nodded. That was almost three passages of the sun ago. And I haven’t heard a word of how they fared. She snorted angrily, spewing impotent smoke through her wide nostrils. If the Reds have harmed my parents they will know war as they’ve never known it before.
    Beneath my thighs her muscles tightened and bunched in anger. Her wings slammed the air and our speed picked up noticeably.
    I suddenly realized my little girl was growing up. And she had a temper. I was glad I was on her side. Patting her on the shoulder I said the only thing I could say. “We’ll find them, Glynus. And if they’ve been harmed I’ll fight at your side to avenge them.”
    ~SC~
    Unlike the black dragons, who lived in a beautiful meadowland overseen by a giant, sparkling waterfall, the red dragons roosted in the stark, jagged rocks high on the opposite side of Mount Olympus. The approach to their Queendom was stunning and ruthlessly efficient, but decidedly intimidating.
    Per royal protocol, Glynus approached the Queen’s caverns directly, without stealth, showing her lack of aggression by her visibility and guileless approach.
    As a result, with every mile we came closer to the reds’ caverns, we picked up a couple more guards. Until, as the yawning face of the royal caverns opened up before us, we were a single black dot in a surrounding sea of red. From a distance we probably looked like a giant poppy.
    Glynus flew toward the largest cavern, directly in