Chapter 1

Snow covered the ground. Harrison Talbot tipped his hat back to scratch his forehead debating what to do. Three days ago, the Rover captain Jehna Talon and three of her animal companions had taken the main trail and gone up into the Ghost Mountains. Granted she hadn’t said how long she’d be gone, but still, the sudden weather front dropping a blizzard on the Triple D ranch had him concerned.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Molly said from behind him. He turned slightly from the window to look at her. She wore a long brown gingham dress with a frilly white apron over it. “Them Rovers are a tough breed. Besides, she’s got them animals to keep her fed and warm.”

“All she took was a small pack.” He’d watched the woman leave after securing her ship. He’d admired the captain for sensibly taking a thick warm cloak. Her companions on the other hand, and he shivered after all the dark whispers he’d heard about the creatures from Arial, he wasn’t too sure about.

In the air above the Rover had soared a red-tailed hawk. He supposed the animal acted as some sort of advanced aerial scout. Loping out in front had been a tan and brown wolf along with a black leopard. He’d longed to ask how they’d come to her, but she must have sensed his question and managed to divert their conversation to business.

“Wonder how the cat is?” Molly muttered, retreating back to the kitchen. His nose detected beef stew and fresh biscuits.

“I’m sure it has plenty of food and water.” The Captain’s final companion had been a silvery white cat named Crystal who he’d been informed would stay on the Rover ship.

“Dang it,” he cursed. He grabbed his heavy woolen coat, shrugging it on over his broad shoulders. “Don’t hold lunch for me!” he called to his cook.

“Now you wait just a doggone minute,” the rotund woman replied.

He heard shuffling in the kitchen, and some slapping pans, as he pulled on his winter boots. Minutes later Molly appeared with a sack and a large canteen. She handed them to him wordlessly.

“I’ll be careful,” he promised, grabbing his leather gloves and the offered food. “You tell the foreman where I went and to keep things running smooth till I get back.”

“You be careful and take Sandy. He’s the best horse for a search.”

He didn’t really need her advice. But, allowing her to give it anyway made Molly feel important and not just his cook and housekeeper. She’d come to him after the death of her husband of twenty orbits wanting a job and he’d taken her in. Everyone on the ranch loved her.

“I always am,” he reassured her.

She put her hands on her ample hips and glared at him. “If’n the Rover had been a man; would you go searching?”

“Since the Ghost Mountains are on my land, yes.” Or at least he figured he would.

“Uh, huh.” She didn’t sound like she believed him. “You watch out for that old dragon.”

People still had prejudices about dragons buried deep in some old racial memory. Harrison shook his head. “Not much to worry about there.”

“We’ve lost livestock to it.”

“I don’t begrudge ‘em an occasional meal, Molly. He or she was here first.”

“Hummpf.” She toddled back to the kitchen.

Harrison took a deep breath before allowing the freezing air to invade the house. He pulled his kerchief over his unshaved face and stepped out into the storm. White whirled everywhere and he blinked. Maybe searching today would be a mistake, yet the vision of the woman shivering, freezing and exposed to the elements spurred him on. He didn’t want to answer to her clan chief if anything happened to her.

Fighting his way to the barn, he pulled what he needed from the tack room and saddled up Sandy. He’d been lucky to get the horse since those on Valhalla and Valqurie reluctantly sold their breeding stock. The horse had been designed a bit stockier than what he normally rode. Not to mention a thick fur coat, which would protect Sandy from the cold and damp.

He patted the horse’s neck. “Ready?”

Sandy snorted his response and the two rode out into the blinding storm.

~ * ~

Freezing wind invaded the small cave where Jehna and her companions had taken refuge from the winter storm. It howled through the canyon outside and pushed brittle leaves into her sanctuary. She began piling them at the entrance, mixing in the thick wet snow, hoping to block out some of the cold.

Hawk perched on a ledge, his russet feathers fluffed out and his head tucked under his wing. She’d never called him anything, but what he was. When he’d accepted her as a travel companion, he’d claimed giving her his name gave her power over him. He didn’t want that. She’d graciously agreed although she felt it kept a barrier between them

.

Tanner, the wolf, and Dannon, the leopard, had had no problems giving her their names. They joyfully walked beside her as full companions. They’d had many, many cycles of adventures together and would soon embark on a new chapter, if the valley proved acceptable, of their shared lives.

If Uncle Daniel could get the Rover clan leaders to agree, and if she could find enough of her cousins to join her. She might have to reach out to the other clans. Not something generally done. The importance of starting a new Homefall overrode custom.

“Wish the storm hadn’t started.” She rubbed her hands together and pulled them back under her cloak, thankful the hood covered her dark brown hair. Tanner tugged at the fabric, trying to pull her away from the entrance.

‘You’ll freeze’, he told her.

“All right, I’m coming.” She retreated as far as she could inside the small space. Jehna didn’t dare start a fire because the smoke would suffocate them all. Dannon growled, pacing. He didn’t like being confined. “Easy, Dannon. We have only to wait out the storm.”

‘Should have moved ship,’ he grumbled.

“I’m not making any profit on this trade.” She had to ration her fuel. “I agreed to drop supplies for the Triple D in exchange for the right to hike the Ghost Mountains.”

Dannon already knew that. She’d discussed the agreement before they’d landed. The Arial tended to think more as the animals they shifted into rather than the intelligent lizards she knew them to be. They didn’t live in their ruined cities anymore. Their civilization had declined. Probably the main reason they’d agreed to allow their planet to be re-colonized by a younger race. If that ever happened.

“We’ll be setting up the new Homefall in a valley between the ranges. I wanted to get an idea what it would look like and the weather patterns. Make it much easier on the other pilots.”

The leopard sneezed and crawled up next to her. She put her arm over his neck. She squeezed briefly before laying down next to him on the hard ground, using her pack as a pillow. He cuddled in close and sighed. Tanner stretched out on the other side, laying his muzzle on her stomach.

Her cloak also helped keep her warm. The snug wrap had been made from spider grass, a rare fabric only found on Sharmain. The Argollian wise women were stingy with their secrets. As one of their blood she had certain rights and her mother had trained her as a healer. Her Rover father had insisted she be allowed to return to the Talon Homefall, Ronia, if she so wished.

She’d done so on her tenth cycle after the death of her mother. Jehna shut down her thoughts. She didn’t want to think about it right now. Not when she needed every ounce of her will to survive.

‘Still sad,’ Dannon whispered in her mind.

“Yes.” She closed her eyes and hoped she at least got a nap. Night was coming and she’d doubted the cold would allow her much sleep.

~ * ~

The trail narrowed and Harrison had no idea how Sandy knew where to safely put his hooves. He rocked slightly back and forth in the saddle. The swaying made him want to close his eyes and sleep.

“Stay awake now,” he told himself as his breath came out in warm puffs.

Overhead the gray clouds thickened and the snow fell more heavily. He reached up, dumping several inches off his hat. He also brushed flakes off his shoulders. Night approached and he needed to find a secure place to camp. Not just to keep him and the horse warm, but to also have a place to stand against the dragon, in the event they encountered the large reptile.

He didn’t actually expect the creature to be hunting in this weather. Most of the sightings, rare though they were, had been during the long summer. His ranch hands had reported odd four or five toed tracks near the corrals. One of them showed him a hard red scale and an odd bristle-like feather.

No one had actually seen or heard the creature.

The horse’s head jerked up.

“Easy,” Harrison soothed. “Just a bit further.”

Shadowy trees brushed his coat. On the other side of the grove there would be a cave they could camp in. Large enough for the horse and small enough to help conserve body heat. Luckily he’d grabbed a warm stone which would help. Worked better than a fire.

They finally cleared the trees and he urged the horse to the side. He’d traveled there many times and knew about the pond on his right and granite cliff on the left. He dismounted and led Sandy into the small cave. He hobbled the horse’s front legs, took off the saddle, and gave the horse some oats.

He activated the stone. Heat radiated out and soon the black igneous began to reflect the warmth back. “We’ll be toasty here all night,” he said, pulling out the food Molly had packed for him. He dined on warm beef stew and a biscuit with fruit jelly. Afterward, he spread his bedroll on the ground and pushed his hat over his closed blue eyes.

Night fell and he slept sporadically. The wind howled outside like he imagined the shifter wolf traveling with the Rover did when the moon was high.

He woke in the morning, stretched and froze.

Regarding him with clear round eyes, was a tiny creature who looked something like a lizard with a red feathery mane around its head. He’d never seen anything like it before. It blinked and scuttled forward, nosing at his food bag.

“You hungry?” Slowly he reached for the bag. The little lizard ducked back, hiding in the shadows. “Shy little guy aren’t you?”

Sandy shuffled from one back leg to the other and swished his brown tail. Harrison patted the horse’s hindquarter. “You aren’t scared of it.” A good sign since animals had instincts about what was dangerous and what wasn’t.

He hunkered down and pulled out a bit of dried meat. Extending it to his odd little guest, he waited. The creature finally ventured out, grabbed the offering and raced back to safety.

“But you are of me.”

Harrison warmed his hands over the stone then ate a breakfast of biscuits and lukewarm tea. As he saddled up Sandy, he watched the spot where the little lizard had retreated. He saw it peek out, look around and then nuzzle up against the stone.

“You cold?”

It raised its head, eyes whirling. For the first time he could see specks of gold and green.

“I’m about to leave and this cave is going to get cold again.”

The small reptile put its head back down and shut its eyes. He could see its sides slowly moving and suspected it had fallen asleep much like any baby would after a good meal.

He debated briefly on whether or not to leave it. No doubt it was native to the mountains and knew how to survive. Yet he hated to leave any young thing to fend for itself unless he knew mom lurked nearby.

“You’re an idiot,” he told himself, even as he pulled an extra kerchief out of his saddle bag. He dropped the fabric on the lizard and managed to bundle it up. It never stirred. He tucked it inside his coat, thankful for all the interior pockets. The creature should be snug and warm there.

“Come on Sandy,” he took the reins and replaced the warm stone in the saddle bag. “We need to keep searching.”

~ * ~

Dawn crept in and Jehna opened her eyes. Her two companions both stretched their limbs, Dannon arching his back. The leopard washed a spot on his shoulder while Tanner trotted to the entrance and looked out.

‘Snow stopped,’ the wolf reported.

‘Should go back,’ the leopard grumped.

“We’re almost there.” Jehna reached into her pack and pulled out some rations. The roll she selected tasted of cinnamon, raisins and oats. She sipped sparingly from her water container. “If we don’t reach the summit today, I promise we’ll go back.”

Hawk stirred, dumping poop on the rock. He sprang from his ledge and flew out the opening. Tanner leapt outside and Dannon reluctantly followed her into the cold, white world.

The trees sparkled like frozen waterfalls. Jehna gasped in wonder. “It’s beautiful.”

‘My feet are getting wet,’ Dannon complained.

Tanner bounded through the snow, leaving a trail for her to follow. Jehna took a deep breath and plunged on, thankful for her fur lined boots. They’d been a gift from her cousin Lon Talon.

What she needed to do was important to the Rovers’ future. Too many clan leaders had hoarded their people on their Homefalls after an unknown plague had devastated their numbers about fifteen cycles ago.

Jehna had been a young child when it had happened. Her mother had protected her on Sharmain, but she remembered the wailing as the death toll had been announced. The Rover clans had been hit hard, killing most of the adults over thirty, including Daniel Talon’s father, which pushed the young man, only seventeen cycles, into a leadership position before he’d learned all he needed to about leading the clan.

Uncle Daniel had done well though. He’d managed to keep the clan together along with raising several orphaned children. Aunt Taeia, his Argollian wife, had been very supportive and Jehna suspected had been placed in that position by the Arvona herself.

Not that she’ll ever admit it.

Jehna knew her aunt well and the policies of the wise women. They stepped in when needed to aid the leadership of any planet or clan.

Unfortunately, their high position in the Five Systems andBorders was a draw for the powerful. The Arkon had claimed the Arvona, her aunt’s sister, for his son. Rumors had drifted back from Aris that he’d had the wise woman leader killed after she’d given him a grandchild. A girl of course, not the grandson he craved.

“One day,” she muttered under her breath as she followed the wolf, “we’ll reclaim her daughter.”

‘You hope,’ Dannon said. Gingerly he put his paw into the snow again.

“We will. There are few who cross the healers who do not pay a high price.”

By what she gauged to be midday, they stood on the peak looking down into the valley. A vast expanse spread below them in a field of pristine white. There would be plenty of room to plant crops and possibly an orchard. Meandering along the west edge a wide river emptied into a good-sized lake. Near the north end stood what looked to be an old stone castle.

“Now that’s a find!” Jehna couldn’t believe her luck. The castle would save a great deal of time and expense. Granted, she had no idea how much repair might be needed, but to already have a place to live was like receiving an approving smile from the All Knowing One.

‘Good find’, Tanner agreed, his tail wagging wildly. He pushed his muzzle against her leg.

She scratched behind his ear. “Yes, it is.” Her sea green eyes drifted upward, taking in cloud formations and making some guesses about wind shear and other factors based on past flying experience. Hawk circled overhead. She sensed his delight as he drifted on the air currents.

‘Go now?’ Dannon asked, pulling ice from between his toe pads.

Jehna nodded. “I’ve seen enough to support Uncle Daniel’s proposal.”

‘Good hunting,’ Tanner told her. He nosed under the snow and yipped. Rubbing his black nose with his paw he said, ‘Odd smell.’

“Well, we don’t exactly know what wildlife lives here. Come on,” she turned around. “Let’s get back to The Lady.”

Hawk voiced a high-pitched warning. Jehna saw the shadow and instinctively stopped. Dannon and Tanner both growled, crouching down into attack positions.

Before her, as if it owned the mountain, stood a huge, red-plated dragon with a wild matching feathered mane, looking at them with baleful golden-green eyes.

~ * ~

Sandy plodded up the mountain trail. The sun sparkled on the snow and the wispy clouds floated across the sapphire sky. Harrison thought he heard something and pulled back on the reins. The horse bobbed his head as he obediently stopped.

The high-pitched screech repeated itself and he kicked the horse in the sides. Sandy broke into a trot. Although Harrison knew the sound could be coming from anywhere, and even farther away than he thought, he hoped it was closer.

The pair cleared the narrow canyon and beyond he could see several figures near the cliff’s edge. Hovering over them stood a huge reptile, which could only be the unseen dragon. Without thinking he yanked the rifle from its saddle holster and aimed at the creature as Sandy trotted on.

“Don’t shoot!” the Rover captain yelled.

Harrison hesitated before lowering his rifle. The huge red reptile turned its long neck to look at him. It backed up, its hindquarters bunched as if to run away.

The Rover made a stopping motion with her hand. He reined in the horse and sat watching the scene before him.

Captain Talon slowly moved away from the cliff edge, urging her animal companions to follow her. They both crouched low, ready to spring. The leopard’s tail flicked constantly.

After several long heartbeats she stood next to him. Her hand rested on the horse’s neck. “We’re in no danger.”

“It’s a dragon.” Whatever he might have said to Molly about not begrudging a cow or two, was true. Coming face to face with the monster and not knowing when it would pounce, another.

“It’s very shy. It almost ran away when Dannon and Tanner growled at it.”

“Why didn’t it?” His heart pounded in his chest.

“It’s curious.”

“No wings.” He wasn’t sure why he thought it should have them.

She shook her head. “It gets around like a lizard.” The Rover pointed at the tracks in the snow.

Like the lizard Harrison had in his pocket. He opened his coat and a small head poked out.

The dragon took two steps toward him, flicking its serpent pink tongue and whipping its tail.

“I suggest you put its young on the ground and then let’s get out here.”

“Good idea.” He removed the lizard and handed it to the Rover captain. She put the youngster on the ground. It swam through the snow and bumped the adult on the leg. Its mother tasted it and then the two vanished into a high snow drift.

“Time to go.” Jehna lifted her arms. Harrison helped her mount. She sat behind him and put her arms around his waist. “Thank you for coming to find me.” She giggled. “Would be a long cold walk back.”

“You’re welcome. What were you doing up here anyway?”

“We want to start a new Homefall. The valley below,” shepointed with her chin. “Has good potential.”

“I own it you know.”

“Well, then, you and I have some business to discuss.”