Ramaeka (The Ramaeka Series Book 1) by G. Corin

fairly rough.  To a dragon
who had been raised in a mountain fortress it was really no problem at all.
    Using his
strong fingers and toes he pulled himself up the wall, finding cracks and tiny
jutting pieces of stone that would have defeated a human.
    Within seconds
he was over the wall.  He dropped lightly to the earth, barely jarring his legs
despite the ten length drop.  He hurried into the cover of a dark alley way
several lengths from the wall.  He stopped for a moment listening for outraged
voices or the sound of chasing footsteps, but there were none.  He hadn’t been
seen.  He let out the breath he had been holding in relief.  Then sniffed.  He
grinned, Stripe and Shady had hidden in this alley as well, and he could smell their
familiar scent.  He followed his nose down to the end of the alley bounding to
the top of the wall at the end as he followed the scent onto the roof tops.  He
hurried after it jumping from roof to roof.
    After several
minutes of running, the scent stopped.  Frowning Ramaeka looked around,
rooftops spread for miles around, but he couldn’t see any sign of his two
companions.  He sighed, that meant they had probably gone to ground then.  He
jumped lightly down onto a window sill then to the ground.
    A faint whiff
of Stripe immediately struck his nose before the smells of hundreds of humans
and animals overwhelmed him.  He winced and forged forward trying to catch
Stripe’s scent over the stench of close living.  He wondered how people could
live like this in tiny closed off buildings without a patch of spare earth or
grass, save for the street itself which was cobbled.  He wandered through
several streets before eventually losing the trail in a dingy unlit alley. 
Anxiously he walked back out into the street hopelessly lost.  So much for not
letting Shady get the better of him he thought darkly.
    “You looking
for some company there love?” a smoky voice queried from the shadows of a
doorway.  Ramaeka jumped, he hadn’t even smelt the person’s presence over the
reek of the street itself.   Now he wondered how he could have missed it as the
smell of sweat, perfume and something rather sour assaulted his nose.
    “Er, actually
I’m lost,” he replied shyly.
    A woman
stumbled out of the shadows, she was dressed in very little and as she got
close to Ramaeka she pulled back her shawl slightly exposing her chest.
    “Well look no
further sweetling,” she smirked at him.  “You’ve found what you’re looking
for.”
    “Um,” Ramaeka
backed away.  “Actually I’m looking for my friends; I would really appreciate
it if you could help me out.”
    The woman
stopped with a frown. 
    “Well ain’t
you a polite one then.”  She thought for a moment.  “Alright kid, you look a
bit young anyway, who you looking for?”
    Ramaeka
hesitated, she probably wouldn’t know Stripe and Shady if they were visitors,
but Shady had said that someone was going to put them up.  Who was it?
    “Ma Dresden!” 
He grinned in relief.  “I need to find Ma Dresden.”
    “Oh that’s
easy,” scoffed the woman.  “C’mon sweetling, follow me.”
    He hurried
after her as she walked off down the street. 
    “I’m Ramaeka
by the way,” he told her smiling shyly.  She blinked at him in surprise then
smiled back.
    “I’m Makkie;
it’s a pleasure to meet ya Ramaeka.”
    He grinned.
    “A pleasure to
meet you too Makkie.”
    Within minutes
Makkie had led him to a large clean looking inn that had a sign reading Drunken
Dragon on it.  Ramaeka grinned wearily at the coincidence then followed Makkie
inside.
    “Oy!” yelled a
strong female voice.  A large tough looking woman bustled into the front room
scowling ferociously at them both.
    “We don’t want
your lot in here, out you go then.”
    She shooed at
Makkie with her hands.  Ramaeka placed himself firmly in front of his new
companion. 
    “Excuse me
ma’am but I was supposed to meet two friends here.  I unfortunately