After speaking with Margorie, Ginelle scooted out the back door and made a mad dash for the woods to get as far away from the logging camp as she could. She could hear the sound of the soldiers marching in the distance but never turned back to even glance at them. She didn’t want to get caught looking back and risk the soldiers catching up with her, so she just kept running and hoped that Marcus got her message to Garrak. The young witch jogged up to the river and was relieved to see the big wolf was already there, drinking from the waters when she arrived.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Garrak said as he noticed her arrive. “I was becoming impatient and was about to start looking for you. Did anyone else come with you?”

“I’m afraid not,” Ginelle replied, and just as she said that there was a rustling coming from behind her. “We have to go.”

“Which way?” the wolf asked her.

“Let’s stick to our usual path,” Ginelle said, “And head north.”

Ginelle jumped onto the saddle on Garrak’s back and he sprinted away from river and the oncoming the sounds of the soldiers looking for them. With the big wolf sprinting rather than his usual jog, it took them all far less time to move up to their usual meeting place with Ruki. Ginelle dismounted and started to look around but there was no sign of her the big dragon. She took a deep breath and sat down on her bench and tried to relax a little.

“We can’t stay here!” Garrak informed her, “I can smell them, men on horses are riding after us!”

“How much time do we have?” Ginelle asked, as she wanted to wait and see if Ruki would return to help them.

That question was answered mere seconds later as three solders riding horses emerged from the bushes and stopped to look around at their surroundings. The man leading the group has a silver helmet and was no doubt the man in command.

“Your path was unwise,” the commander said, looking around. “You’ve cornered yourself in this remote spot. I suggest you surrender immediately.”

“No,” Ginelle said, “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You are coming with us,” The commander repeated, “There is no where else for you to flee.”

“I wasn’t just fleeing from you,” Ginelle corrected him, “I was running towards something. I didn’t run myself into a corner, you ignorantly followed me into a trap.”

Before the commander could respond or take any action, there was a loud, piercing roar that came from the skies. Second later, the large black dragon dropped out of the sky and landed right between Ginelle and the mounted guards. The commander and his men were stunned to see the mighty creature before them, unsure what to do next.

“Who are these men?” Ruki asked the young witch.

“They are my enemy,” Ginelle answered, “They’re here to take me away from the camp and from you.”

“Is that so?” Ruki said, as he let out an aggressive growl to articulate his displeasure. “What shall I do with them?”

“Kill them,” Ginelle ordered. These were the same men that had separated her from her mother, and now from the loggers and Margorie. She didn’t care for them at all or for their well being.

Ruki could tell by the tone of her voice that the young witch wasn’t fooling around and that her order was legitimate. The dragon responded by taking in a very deep breath and blowing out a yellow and orange flame that sprayed out towards the three guards and their horses. The dragon was not pleased with the idea of losing Ginelle and didn’t hesitate to roast all three men and their mounts until they were ash. Just as the dragon finished cooking them, at least twenty other soldiers had arrived just in time to witness their commander and his men get roasted but the fierce creature.

“Them too?” Ruki quickly asked.

“Yes,” Ginelle confirmed, “Kill them all.”

“What about the trees, and the forest?” Ruki asked, concerned about burning down the logger’s livelihood.

“At the moment I don’t care,” Ginelle said, with that same tone as before. “Burn it all.”

Ruki didn’t wait for any other instruction as he spread his wings and lifted himself ten feet off the ground, which gave him an elevated advantage over the soldiers who had just spotted what the source of those flames were. The soldiers had originally thought the witch they were hunting had used a fire spell and had planned to swarm her and the wolf, but they were sadly mistaken. Ruki took another deep breath and this time sprayed as much fire out as he could and covered as much ground as he could, which pretty much setting the forest on fire. The flames he shot out this time had a greater range as he was spraying them forth without any concern for the soldiers or the other wildlife for that matter. More than half of the soldiers were immediately ingulfed in Ruki’s flames while the others had already started to run the dragon was spotted. Many of them were lucky to get away unsinged. No one wanted to stick around and fight the dragon and continued to run back towards the camp where the other soldiers were stationed with the loggers. Ruki stopped breathing fire and floated back down to the ground.

“Are you alright, Ginelle?” the dragon asked her.

“I’m alright, thank you.” Ginelle said, looking at all the trees as they were burning. “They’re going to be back with more soldiers.”

“Then I suggest we make our exit then.” Ruki suggested.

“Where would we go?” Ginelle asked.

“I have an idea,” the big dragon said, “But it requires the both of you to trust me.”

Ginelle didn’t like the idea of fighting more soldiers, even if she had a dragon on their side. She put a hand on her wolf to reassure him they would both be alright.

“We do trust you, Ruki.” Ginelle said, “What did you have in mind?”

“I will fly you both away from here,” The dragon informed her, “I know a place far away that should be out of reach of those men. Very far away.”

“How will you carry us?” Garrak asked, rather concerned.

“I will ask the witch to climb onto my back and hang onto the spikes.” Ruki answered, “You’re too big to climb on, so I will carry you with my talons. I promise that no harm will come to you while in flight.”

“Where are you going to take us?” Ginelle asked.

“To that house in the mountains.” Ruki answered, “We will cross a few borders while traveling there so those evil men will not be able to follow. We shall all safe there.”

“Alright,” Ginelle said, as she had little choice. “Let’s get going.”

Ruki laid down on the ground to give Ginelle a chance to climb onboard without much trouble. Some of the spikes on his back were so big that Ginelle was able to slip between two of them and use one to support her back like a chair. She made herself as comfortable as she could and padded his back to let the dragon know she was ready. The dragon stood back up and used his wings to lift himself up in the air again, just high enough to reach down and pick up the big wolf with his talons. He used both legs to grab onto the wolf and once he had a good grip, Ruki began to flap his wings harder and elevate into the sky even faster. Ginelle held on tightly as the ground became to look smaller and smaller as Ruki kept rising. The red dragon also let out a loud roar as he rose above the black smoke from the fires, pretty much letting everyone know below who was responsible for them. Ginelle was able to see the logging camp from where she was and hoped that everyone was alright, but she couldn’t tell from that distance. Without warning the dragon turned away and started to move at an incredible speed away from the camp and towards their new destination. The loggers had told her that dragons were able to cover great distances, but to watch Ruki move so fast was incredible. The wind was intense, but the spikes were helpful to aid Ginelle as she held on. They sailed past mountains, and even over a few lakes. After what was only a few hours the dragon decided to descend and make a landing. He softly put the wolf down first before landing on the ground himself.

“Are we here?” Ginelle asked.

“No,” Ruki said, taking a few deep breathes. “I need to take a short break. I’m not using to carrying people or creatures this far.”

“Then let’s have lunch,” Ginelle said, gesturing to her basket. “I have some food that will help fill you both up, and then we’ll be off again after a short rest.”

“I like that idea.” Garrak agreed, as he was not eager to get going again so soon and wanted a break as well.

“I need a moment,” Ginelle said, as she removed some of the food from the basket and held them in her hands as she started to chant a spell. The food was just normal, and she knew Ruki would need as much energy as she could give him to carry that heavy wolf the rest of the way. After a few moments of energizing the food, she fed them to the dragon who happily accepted them. She ate some of the other normal foods with Garrak while they rested for a few moments. Ginelle knew they couldn’t stay there long in case someone saw the dragon and could possibly cause a panic in any nearby town.

“Where are you taking us?” Ginelle asked as she ate.

“The abandoned house I told you about,” the dragon informed her. “The same one I stole the bench from. It’s not too far, but not too close either. There’s even a small village not far from it that you can use to gather supplies and other things you might need. It’s pretty elevated so I should be able to find a nearby spot to nest so I won’t be far away this time. I remember resting there when I fled from my own kind, and it seemed like such a nice place. No one lives there so you should both be safe from the people that are hunting you.”

“It’s a very nice idea,” Ginelle said, “It will also provide me with a safe place to practice my magic.”

“Then its settled,” The wolf said, as he seemed excited as well. “We’ll all travel to this cabin together and make it our new home.”

“Are you sure it’s abandoned?” Ginelle asked.

“As sure as I can be,” Ruki answered, “I had passed by it and even slept near it many times. There is no one else there.”

“Alright,” Ginelle said, packing away their leftovers. “We should resume our travels and get to this house as soon as we can.”

“Climb aboard,” Ruki said, laying back down for her to board. “I have more then enough energy to make the rest of the trip.”

“Thank you for your help,” Ginelle said, as she climbed aboard.

Ruki took Ginelle and Garrak back into the sky and managed to travel even further than they did the first time, as the dragon seemed very eager to get them to the house he was flying towards. By the time Ruki had reached the house he was looking for, the sun was going down and it was getting dark rather quickly. Ruki made a quick landing to a clear spot that appeared to be close to the house that he was looking for.

“We’re very close, but it’s getting dark.” Ruki sad as he laid back down and allowed both Ginelle and Garrak to get comfortable. Ruki waited for Ginelle to gather a few branches and the dragon provided the fire as they started to make a camp where they could rest for the night. The flame was a bright orange, but it was also very mellow as it sparkled away. Ginelle had a blanket in her bag, and Garrak insisted that she lay on him, using his soft fur as a bed for her to rest upon. It seemed to do the trick as Ginelle quickly faded to sleep and was out like a light.

“She looked rather tired,” Ruki said to the wolf.

“It’s been a long day,” Garak replied, “This was the day she knew was coming but never wanted to see happen again.”

“Again?” the dragon repeated, “When did this happen before?”

“I spoke to the blue bird about it,” Garrak answered, “He’s a bit of a gossip so he listened in on the loggers talking about it. She had to flea the city and because the crown and church have been arresting and locking up all the witches. Something about them being an abomination to nature and using divine providence to lock them all away. Ginelle managed to get out of the city, but it appears her mother didn’t make it.”

“That is upsetting,” the dragon noted, “It’s no different than the humans coming after myself and my kindred dragons. Chasing us for our scales and whatever magical advantage they could steal from us. I detest these evil men who seem they can do and take whatever they want.”

“It’s up to us then,” Garrak declared, “Ginelle saved my life, so I will spend the rest of it protecting her from these evil people who mean to take her away from us.”

“I will do what I can to assist you,” Ruki assured the dragon, “But for now let’s get some rest. We’ll make it to the house tomorrow, and then we can all start over again.”

“Alright,” Garrak said as he put his head on the ground. “I shall try but I am a light sleeper. Good night, dragon.”

“Good night, fluffy wolf.” Ruki said before also laying his head down. He had been using his breath to keep the flame going but it was no longer needed so he let if fade out. He was confident that the blanket the young witch was using along with the body head from both himself and the wolf would be more than enough to keep her warm throughout the night. They would complete their journey in the morning, but for now it was time to rest as the dragon closed his eyes and faded to sleep.