“EASY, BOY!” BERT screamed. He was not angry, but concern tinged his voice. “Hold steady!” He surprised himself by locking on with his legs and rotating his body around, his head now hanging well below the dragon’s neck. He inspected the wound, shocked to see an arrow had manged to penetrate the dragon’s hide. Blood flowed, but slowly. For all of Bert’s concern, Yellow didn’t seem bothered at all. Bert considered pulling the arrow, but remembered Dray’s nephew, Nock, treating an arrow wound at their battle against Garrick Crowe. Nock had shown him that many arrows had barbed ends that made them impossible to pull out. You either had to dig into the wound with a blade to remove it, or else push and pull it the full way through, risking further damage. Bert wasn’t sure what to do, and he didn’t dare try anything in the sky.

  Returning back to his normal position, he spoke directly to Yellow’s ears. “I can’t remove it. We’ll need to fly to Castle Tall Tree to get help.”

  Yellow rumbled his agreement, but his tone was mixed. He didn’t stop circling the courtyard.

  Bert sighed, looking down. He saw Cat with the king and queen guarded by many men in Keelwick colors. More still did battle up in the tower where Grahame Eel had surprised them.

  Just before, as Yellow and Bert had been descending into the courtyard after circling the city several times, a sudden barrage of arrows had suddenly bounced off the dragon’s scales. Bert had considered himself lucky he hadn’t taken an arrow himself. Bert had pulled up immediately, the dragon flying out of arrow range. Bert had looked down carefully, wishing he had his wizard’s scope to see better. He had seen Eel leading a group of similarly dressed men. There had been about ten of them in total, but only two had the larger bows Bert had seen back in Wyrmgate designed to penetrate a dragon’s hide. Yellow and Bert had been lucky they didn’t have more, or didn’t have one of the giant ballistas from the boats they were working on. One of those would have knocked Yellow from the sky. Bert and Yellow had circled one more time, looking down to see that Cat was safe. She was making an X with her arms at them, letting them know not to land. Only then had Bert noticed the arrow that had sunk into Yellow’s calf.

  Now, Yellow was hesitant to leave Cat on the ground. Bert wasn’t sure how he knew this, only that he did.

  “We must trust her, my friend,” he said quickly. “She is as capable as anyone I have ever known. She might look alone, but she is among friends now. Elric and the king and queen will keep her safe. I know now that the queen had intended to join us all along. I am learning about how these powerful people operate. The fact she had the entire court on hand just when they were needed to make the decision she did…that was not a coincidence. A woman worthy of respect, she is. Elric was in on it as well, I think. I bet he sent word before he found us. In any case, we must leave her, heal you up and meet up again later.”

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  Yellow rumbled.

  Bert felt like the rumble sounded. He knew that they had to leave rather than risk a battle that might kill them both. The wound was small, but continued to spew blood at the same rate. He didn’t know how much blood a dragon had, but it couldn’t flow forever and the flight was long. No, they had no choice but to seek help for Yellow. Cat would be okay. This is the type of situation she was born for. “I know how you feel, my friend. I love her too, but we must leave her.” He was taken aback at his words. Had he said that aloud before? It had been building in his heart all this time, and now that he knew they must be separated, it had just spilled out.

  Seemingly convinced, Yellow finally banked north and began to rise into the sky where the wind would aid in his flight.

  Once settled, Bert slid around and down once more and used some of his dwindling water to wash the wound. It ran clear briefly, but then crimson flowed once more. It did not seem to staunch like a wound on a person might. He pulled off his cloak and wrapped it around the arrow. The cloak became sodden, but eventually blood dripped once more. Unsure of what to do next, he left the cloak wrapped and slid back up to rest against Yellow’s neck. He began to whisper encouraging words to his friend, remembering Mira and Dray’s words that a human they trusted could help a wounded and tired dragon. Yellow purred as Bert talked, so he snuggled in and kept talking.

  As he talked, his mind raced with what would happen to Cat. Somehow he knew she would be safe, but he also wondered what would happen next. The court of Keelwick seemed convinced. He was sure that if they had taken a vote in that courtyard that they would have joined their rebellion against the dark forces moving in the country. However, they hadn’t reached that point.

  Was it possible that Grahame Eel and his men could topple the monarchs there? Could they escape with the sailors and fighting men of Keelwick before the king and queen could rally them? The truth of it was, Bert had no idea how many Eels were in the town compared to men and women loyal to the crown. Maybe the royals would end up locked inside their castle while the Eels besieged them. Bert realized there was nothing he could do about for the moment.

  He would have to keep his trust in the considerable ability of Cat. She had managed to survive under Garrick Crowe’s rule without much support. She had followed him through dragon territory before they had any idea what awaited them. She had led an army against her home to liberate it and she had won! She had convinced her elders in Keelwick of the rightness of her cause.

  She would find a way. He had no choice to believe it.

  As the sun began to set below the clouds, Bert continued to do what he could. He patted Yellow’s neck and whispered words of encouragement. It was the best he had, for now.