Crows circled above the rotting land, while swarms of rats rummaged through the soil.
Two white dragons cast faint shadows below.
Elder flew a hundred miles into territory claimed by the Rikaner Kingdom, his mood sour. At last, he spotted the first Town since setting out.
Elder put his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle.
Iroda caught up from behind and drew level with Ai Alison, the dragon Elder was riding.
Elder opened a chest on the dragon's back, scooped up a stack of flyers, and tossed them to Iroda. Then he stood up high in the sky, arms out for balance, stepped onto Iroda's wing thousands of meters above the ground, and climbed onto the other white dragon.
They had built that understanding over two years together.
Elder tossed Iroda another stack of flyers. The lively dragon plunged downward and caught them in his claws.
Elder whistled again. Both white dragons began to descend, drawing closer to the lone Town.
When they reached the air directly above it, both dragons opened their claws.
The falling stacks of flyers broke apart in the wind, scattering like snow across the Town below.
Before the locals could react, the two white dragons climbed again and vanished into the Clouds to the north...
Dozens of minutes later, Elder repeated the trick over a neighboring Town. Again, no one tried to stop them.
It was an easy job. All Elder had to do was scatter flyers over each Town.
The people in charge either couldn't be bothered with someone dropping scraps of paper or didn't want any more trouble—and catching them would have been difficult anyway.
A disgrace to the Dragon Clan was still a dragon.
After five drops, Elder reached the sixth location: Ize Bay. It had been specially