It was a much easier flight on the dragons as they returned. The warm air and tailwind meant they could glide along with ease for the most part.
The air smelled like the fruit from the cacti below and MeiAnne loved every second she got to breath it in.
Soon they reached a larger city, buildings made of sandstone bricks, and had to slow down to monitor. As the Flight slowed MeiAnne could see many of the people rush to hide in buildings. Nothing like what the cities close to the capital were like.
It was enough for Raba to find it suspicious as MeiAnne saw Loola flash a light above them once, the signal for one Flight to land and check it out more closely.
Everyone else remained in a slow circle above the city as they watched the Flight led by a yellow dragon descend.
As soon as they landed young boys, no older than their teens, ran and threw rocks at the soldiers. They shouted and yelled trying to get them to go away.
Instead MeiAnne had to watch as the yellow dragon surrounded the boys in a wall of fire. They screamed in terror and held each other as the Flight Commander strode through the fire protected by his dragon to apprehend them.
She covered her mouth as she watched this, unsure of what to think. She gazed next to her and saw no one else seemed shocked. Quickly she pulled herself together, in order to not embarrass Raba by being the only one reacting that way.
The fire wall shrank until it was just a ring of smoldering sand, and in some places it shone to show it was hot enough to make glass. People MeiAnne assumed to be leaders in the city came out to see if the boys were harmed.
Some of the older men talked with the Flight Commander and they seemed to come to an agreement as they shook hands. The boys were led, still tied and restrained, to a building that resembled a prison as the dragons took off to join the rest still circling above.
No one batted an eye as they returned to their patrol flight except for MeiAnne. She remained in a dazed state, letting Molis take control, so she could try and wrap her mind around what she just witnessed.
Why would those young boys try and drive the soldiers away, and why didn't anyone ask them?
The sound of the boys screaming as the fire rose up around them echoed in MeiAnne's brain when they landed back at the base. Her legs were tense from being on Molis' back, so she felt her legs creak as she moved.
"Would you like a hand?" How did he get down so fast? MeiAnne thought. Raba was already beside Molis with his hand outstretched.
"Thank you." Despite her surprise she gladly took it.
Her legs wobbled some as her feet touched the ground, but not enough to be worried. She knew she would be saddle sore until she got used to long flights like those.
Raba's presence at her side made it easy to forget the events of that day. She was aware of how close he was beside her. MeiAnne looked up and saw his hair was a mess, but his smile was wide as he chatted about something she wasn't taking in.
When he looked down at her with his pale blue eyes she felt her face grow warm. She had to look down quickly when she saw his smile soften as he gazed down at her.
The pair followed their dragons back to their stables, MeiAnne waving goodbye to Raba as he traveled further to Loola's.
That's when she heard Molis chuf at her as she let herself into her stable.
"Excuse me ma'am. What's that about?"
Molis swayed her shoulders and let the movement carry up her long neck so her head shook with it. MeiAnne was never allowed to forget about how smug Molis would get or the sass that often came with it.
"Mind your business." MeiAnne laughed at her partner poking fun at her as she locked the stable up for the evening. Molis needed to sleep before she would be allowed to eat to keep her from getting sick.
MeiAnne liked the sound of a nap as well before she realized it was already later in the evening. As the sun reached the top of the tree line it reminded her that most were either heading to wash up or eat in the mess hall.
She chose to join those going to wash up. She was very tired from traveling all day, despite Molis doing most of the work, and planned on skipping dinner.
It was a good thing she did as she promptly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. It was wonderful having the bed she was used to in her barrack she had grown to cherish. The women she shared a room with were nice, but there was nothing like coming back to your own room after a trip.
The next morning she woke up hungry. She knew this would happen after skipping a meal, but didn't regret it.
MeiAnne knew if she was hungry Molis would be twice so. She rushed to get down to the stable to let Molis loose.
As soon as she was allowed out of her stable Molis took off into the sky. MeiAnne had to run to keep up and keep an eye on her partner.
MeiAnne knew her partner was so hungry she was angry as soon as she used magic to chill the whole area. MeiAnne forgot to grab her coat in her rush so she had to run her hands over her arms to keep from shivering. She watched Molis dive at her prey through her breath that was visible in the air.
As she watched Molis rip the animals flesh from the bone, staining her glacier blue maw red, she got to thinking. How close was she the previous day to seeing young boys meet the same fate?