Master Maker

Chapter 32 - Bright Valley

By the time dawn had arrived most of the camp was packed and being carried away along the road, Mandrake and his daughter and Lucis, all riding by horse in the front of the group, as the rest of the men walked. Draco on the other hand was slightly frustrated at having to turn back now and then and having to double take a few times, his huge wings kept us ahead of the group we had one point were almost a good 20 minutes ahead of when we had to circle back to make sure that we didn’t lose them completely, I heard Draco let off a huge huff as he landed on the outskirts of the tree line. Now deciding that going by foot like horses would be the best bet for him.

I heard a squeal of delight and the next thing I knew Cassie was running up to us from her father, Draco made another huffing noise but he bent his wing down to help her climb up. I reached down and pulled her up, plonking her down in front of me. Draco’s wings rustled and he tucked them to his sides as he walked on.

“Daddy says it's still half a day to the valley,” Cassie said excitedly as she ran her hand over Draco’s scales. This little girl had somehow wound herself around my heart and it freaked it out slightly, aside from Lucis I would give my life to protect this little girl.

As the day dragged on the men at the back slowly started to complain for a  break. The heat was getting to everyone and there was no water in sight, soon everyone settled under the trees trying to escape the heat and sun. there wasn't much food but all the same, everyone spoke, laughed and drank what water was left. Some men had even gotten up again and started making their way down the path again…

“They know the way” Mandrake had said to me when I frowned at the men that had taken off on their own.

“no man is bound to this group they are free to come and go as they please” he explained as he leaned back against a tree and stroked his beard, Cassie sat next to him feasting on a raw piece of meat. She smiled at me when our eyes met and offered me a bite, wick I quickly but politely refused. As soon as we were back on the path, Cassie had joined me on Draco’s back again. Draco had taken to the sky again in an attempt to keep cool, he was flying in and out from the clouds that were beginning to collect, cold air rushed over us as he sped through a cloud formation, Cassie laughing as we exited the cloud, shrieking when Draco dived into another. Draco dipped down under the cloud bank again so that we were directly over the group, I looked down to see that his huge size easily cased a shadow over all the men, Mandrake and Lucis were a few meters ahead of them.

“oooh” Cassie gasped making my head snap up, ahead there was nothing but trees, the leaves ranging from red to orange to yellow, some even pink and blue. A huge body of water was smack in the middle of the trees, the sun gleaming off of it, birds of all sorts were flying in and out from the trees, I had never in my life seen so many birds or so many colors in one spot. Cassie had gone completely quiet and her eyes were darting from bird to bird then bac t the trees and back to the body of water.  I looked closer to the water and saw splashing, animals were jumping in and running through the water, there were even a few larger creatures that I only saw were dragons as we got closer. Mandrake shouted something to men about being close to Bright valley, my eyes widened as Draco made a bee-line for the body water, all but plopped himself into it, keeping us above the water at all times, he growled at two yellow dragons that passed by us, lifting his wings and shielding Cassie and me, as Draco soaked in the cool water cassie and I had taken off our shoes and had our feet dangling in the water as we waited for the group to catch up. We watched as dragons moved by, although I found it weird how much smaller they were than Draco. Birds swooped overhead as waterfowl landed and the surface, dipping their heads in and bring plants up to eat, a few bigger birds had actually dived under the water and came but up eating fish whole. I looked at cassie her face becoming more and more excited as she watched the creatures around us she was almost on Draco's head, with how much she had been moving about trying to see all around her. On the edge of the water a woman stood there, she was collecting water in a large jug. She waved at us and smiled as she twisted one hand above the water, it flowed into the jug. She turned on her heel and the Jug followed her,m she wasn’t even touching it! But it was floating behind her and moving as she did.

“I hope the other witches are as nice as you,” Cassie said now laying on her stomach on Draco’s snout, her legs were bent up she was slightly kicking her feet in the air as she rested her on her hands, giggling at the huffing that came from Draco.

“I’m sure they are” I whispered as the group of men made their way into the valley, I could see them off in the distance, Mandrake and Lucis had their horses running towards the body of water.

As the men reached the water’s edge they got off their horses, waving at us. I stood on Draco waving back. But my wave suddenly changed to hand signals as I tried to get them to look back.