Anara's fingers obsessively checked and rechecked the buckles and knots on the riding straps, smoothing down the many leather bags strapped to Inirath's massive haunches. As the biggest of the dragons on this journey, she'd be carrying the most, and although the silver beast grumbled over being used as a beast of burden, the grinding noise of her claws restlessly kneading the ground filled the cave. Inirath had fed well and was just as ready to go and [i]do[/i] something as her rider.

"Alright," Keltor eventually said decisively. "Enough." Inirath stilled immediately and helpfully crooked a leg into a kind of ramp, allowing Anara to quickly vault her way to the thunder dragon's shoulder. She settled in between two ridges, clipping a few safety straps to her belt, and good thing too—with barely a split second of warning, Inirath charged from a standing start for the cavern's opening onto the mountainside.

They broke into the cold dawn air—to Anara's mind, more bracing than any caffeine. Inirath waited until the last possible moment to snap her wings open, and even the stoic Sergeant couldn't quite keep the grin from her face as they soared parallel to the rising sun. If it had been even an hour later, their passing would have made quite the stir—people tended to look up when a shadow that [i]big[/i] passed by. Today, though, hardly anyone was even awake. It made for a welcome change.

Ambrell Ridge loomed ahead of them, nowhere near the side of Draketooth Mountain but still an impressive sight. Inirath banked around the dusty spines, startling a dozing whiptail as they flew overhead. They bypassed the Ridge itself and headed for one of the foothills,  one with a convenient view of the sea in the direction they'd be heading. With a quick command, Inirath backwinged to land on the sandy rock with enough force to send a shudder through the ground.

"Stop showing off," Anara muttered, but got only a haughty look in response. Sighing to herself, she nudged Inirath with her toes until the dragon maneuvered so she could see all the assembled riders. 

"Good to see that no one changed their minds," she called, not bothering with any formalities. They knew how important—and how dangerous—this was. She wouldn't patronize them. "It's a straight shot from here to the first stop. Ten hours of flying. If your dragon gets tired, let them swim for a bit instead. I trust you'll respect your dragon's wishes if not mine."

Tightening her grip on the straps, she stood in the stirrups, twisting to survey the horizon with a hand held to shade her gaze from the sun.

"If no one has any last words...let's get in the air. Caerel doesn't have time to waste."