Each day Cobalt seemed a little stronger and his limp grew less. Sara left his splint on during the night to give his leg more support while he walked, and when they found shelter for the day, she took it off to check his skin and give his limb a rest. Every evening before they started, Cobalt spread out his wings and practiced flapping to strengthen his muscles. Sara knew it would not be long before he could be airborne once more.
The trek seemed to do him good in other, more subtle ways, too. The dark shadow of depression gradually eased from his mind. He still bore the scars of his loss and his grief, and Sara knew from experience that he always would. Yet since the evening they had talked in the cave about their past, he seemed more himself. He ate heartily, took interest in his surroundings, and lost the tendency toward sickly self-pity. He told Sara tales about Vincit and their adventures, and he often revealed a sense of humor his nestmate, Flare, had never had. never had.
The only real problem she had with him, and this had the potential to be a big one in the regions near her village, was his complete disregard for ownership. Cobalt did not think twice about snatching an ox or a horse or a cow from a farmer's field at night. If he was hungry and the animal was available, he took it.
Blue dragons in Lord Ariakan's service were taught the concepts of his dark honor and the dishonorable nature of theft from friends and allies. But Cobalt did not consider the people of Solamnia his allies, and therefore their stock was fair game. Sara worried that his thievery would alert the residents to their presence and send a party after them. She admonished him several times and tried to explain her reasons, but he simply shrugged and ate his catch. Sara knew full well she would have to find a way to impress him with the importance of hunting wild animals, or he wouldn't be able to stay long in Coastlund.
As it happened, her point was made for her by an unexpected source. Just one night's journey from Sara's village, they stopped at dawn and took refuge in a tall stand of evergreens. Cobalt made a nest in the fallen needles and was about to tuck his head under his wing when he sensed something coming, and coming fast. His head reared up to scan the sky.
"What is it?" Sara asked, then she, too, felt it, a gathering fear that weakened her legs and sent her body shivering, Instinctively she ducked under a tree and pressed her body down into the undergrowth.
Cobalt curled into a tighter ball. "Khellendros," he hissed fearfully.
Sara managed to look up through the trees and saw a tremendous blue dragon winging slowly overhead. The rising light of morning gleamed on his underbelly and sparkled on the iridescent blue scales of his back and neck. Sara knew Khellendros had returned to the north and claimed the Northern Wastes as his own, but she had not yet seen him flying over Coastlund until now. She swallowed through a dry throat. By Huma's shield, he was huge! The largest blue dragon ever to darken the skies of Krynn.
She watched as he flew lazily overhead. Was he looking for them? Or was he just surveying the landscape? She cast a quick look at Cobalt and was relieved to see he was staying huddled in his nest, perfectly still.
Finally Khellendros veered away and flew west toward the coast. Sara watched him go until the sapphire of his shining hide was lost in the blue of the sky. Her breath blew out in a gusty sigh of relief.
"That is the other reason I do not want you to draw attention to yourself," she said fervently. "Khellendros would kill you in an instant if he thought you were a threat."
Cobalt turned his amber eyes toward her. "I knew he was back," he whispered, "but I didn't know he was so close to us."
"He has several lairs in the Northern Wastes; he rarely come here. But let's not give him a reason to!" Sara crawled over to Cobalt's side and put her hand on his folded wing. She knew when to push home a point. "When we find a cave for you in the Vingaard Mountains near my home, you must promise me you will not take farm animals or do anything to terrify the people. There are plenty of deer and elk and other large animals for you to hunt. No one needs to know you are there. Agreed?"
Cobalt took one more glimpse at the sky. "I promise."
The next night they reached the village of Connersby. Sara recognized the familiar landmarks of the creek and the huge willow that grew near the bridge, the farms and the tavern at the edge of the common fields. She made a wide berth around the village and hiked up into the high foothills to the east. She found the path over the ridge that led to her practice area, and from there she struck north and east, deeper into the mountains. In the years that she had lived in Connersby, she had explored extensively the mountain region beyond the village, not only because she wanted to familiarize herself with possible escape routes but also because she enjoyed exploring and hiking. She knew well the faint game trails and the paths made by travelers of all descriptions. She knew where to find water and shelter and where the best berry patches grew.
She also knew the location of a large isolated cave seldom used by anything but mice and an occasional bear. The cave was a long walk from her cottage, but its seclusion was better suited to the blue dragon than the caves closer to her home. Unerringly she led the dragon down the ridges, up rocky slopes, and through woods, dense with evergreen and pine, to a deep valley far from the regular mountain trails.
Cobalt checked the cave from end to end and pronounced his satisfaction by settling down on a dry, flat place near the opening and promptly going to sleep.
Sara rubbed her hands along his steel-colored horns in farewell before she sought her own cottage and bed.
She left before dawn the next day to visit Cobalt, taking her sword and bow with her. She practiced her sword play under his interested gaze, and to her surprise, he made several astute suggestions about her footwork and the angle of her blade in two different parries.
"I used to help Vincit," he told her.
Afterward they went hunting, and Sara brought down two elk. Cobalt carried them back to the cave, where he ate and saved the rest "for later." He complained about the hardness of his bed and the itches in his healing skin.
Sara spent the remainder of the morning treating his wounds and oiling his itches. She promised to bring some hay for his bed the next time she came.
She hurried home to clean house, set up her loom, and fix something to eat. A farmer came late in the evening and asked her to attend a laboring cow. By the time Sara fell into bed after midnight, she was exhausted.
Her days fell into a hectic pattern as the winter gave way to spring. She quickly decided to purchase an old but spry bay horse, who could carry her to the dragon's cave in half the time or carry bales of hay or meat when needed. The horse soon learned the dragon would not harm him, and he stayed in Cobalt's company with only a halfhearted show of nervousness.
While the horse helped shorten her traveling time, he could not help Sara with her countless other tasks. She divided her time between her cottage and her garden, the village's animals, and the dragon. The farmers often wondered at her constant absences, but any time they asked, she told them she was hunting, or looking for herbs, or trapping, or anything else she could think of at the moment.
She also spent time at her loom. She was still a weaver by training, and she supplemented her income by weaving rugs, wall hangings, and fanciful cloth for clothes. Much of her work she sold in local markets, but the better items she stored in her loft for a trip she planned to make someday to the markets in Palanthas, where she knew she could get higher prices. If she ever had time to go.