The Warrior's Assault

by Kristen Banet

  She jumped off and was hit by another gryphon. The front talons of the beast scratched at her thighs. Before she could attack in return, the rider died, and so did the gryphon, both falling to the stone below. When the beast’s body stopped blocking her view, she saw Luykas, his gold eyes dark with anger.

  “Fly,” he growled. “If you want to fight, stay at the back of the flock and defend.”

  She nodded quickly, soaring back up, keeping her eyes open for any more of the gryphon riders. Nearby, Matesh dodged a spear, dove down and came up below one, opening the gryphon’s belly with one easy slice. The Elvasi would die on impact when he fell with his dead mount.

  It was chaos. Mave looked down to find only the elderly left in the courtyard below, Arjana already dead.

  “MOVE!” Alchan roared.

  Mave looked up to find dozens and dozens of Andinna over her, a few females holding small children.

  They had to leave. Already, Alchan was waving for the freed Andinna to start flying north and many were moving in that direction, trying to get away from Ellantia. If they kept altitude, arrows wouldn’t reach them. If they were fast enough, they might outrun the gryphon riders.

  Mave had hope. She tapped Mat on the shoulder and pointed up. Following her lead, they met Bryn and Luykas at the back of the pack. Zayden and Leshaun were also with them, and she was glad to see both relatively healthy. Zayden’s shoulder injury was concerning, but he didn’t let it slow him down.

  Somewhere in the mess of wings, she hoped Senri had made it through with Kian, Willem, and Gentrin. She hoped Allaina, of all females, was okay.

  She followed the group over part of the large port city, watching arrows attempt to reach them and fall. A screech made her turn and she found the gryphon riders weren’t giving up. Rain had been keeping them very busy, but now her little brother was following them, being jostled and attacked by the Elvasi. Coming around him were even more of the riders, realizing their quarry was leaving.

  “Company!” she called out, spreading her wings to catch air and slow her down. “We’ve got them on our tails!”

  Right as she finished the sentence, one she didn’t see beneath her came up. The gryphon’s beak grabbed her hip and began shaking. She knew pain. She had fought the beasts before, but never when they were both in their elements. Both flying predators, the Andinna were at a disadvantage. She couldn’t exactly bite it back.

  This was pain on a level she had never experienced before.

  On the back of the gryphon was the worst part of the problem. While she went for a painful ride, the Elvasi tried to stab her. She grabbed the spear and held it before it could plunge into her chest.

  She struggled to lift her sword and drove it down into the gryphon’s head right as the Elvasi soldier on its back was able to send his sword into her shoulder.

  The gryphon’s beak loosened and released her, but that didn’t stop her from plummeting with the pair. She extended her wings, trying to catch the air and was just able to before falling into the city below. She was close enough, she could hear people scream as the bodies of her enemies hit and went through the roof of a building.

  As she regained altitude, she dodged another attack. Rain flew by next, fire shooting out of his mouth after his prey. Much of the group was still flying north, trying to get to the mountain forests north of the city, trying to find cover and a place for them to regroup and find out who survived the night. At a glance, she could only find her males, Luykas, Rain, and Zayden. The others had to be defending the large group.

  “Keep moving!” Luykas ordered, dropping to let an Elvasi rider scream over him at an impressive speed.

  She turned and tried to keep up speed. She couldn’t get left behind, not now. They were nearly out. The night might have gone to hell thanks to the gryphons, but that didn’t mean they had to fail. If they made it out of the city and toward the Dragon Spine, they could say they had succeeded tonight. They could say they had assaulted an Empire port city, freed their people, and won.

  We just need to get out of here.

  As she flew, a gryphon rider appeared below her. The gryphons were faster, more agile, and fresher than the Andinna, which meant they could get around the meager defenses. She dropped down, going for a kill to stop it from passing her. The Elvasi looked up at the last moment and veered off, causing her to miss. A sharp pain erupted on her left wing, then stopped as quickly as it started. She flipped, looking up to the sky, and saw Matesh attack the rider who tried to destroy her wing. She could feel it bleeding but quickly realized it was just a scratch.

  “Thank you!” she called out as the gryphon rider pulled back injured, and Mat came up beside her. She righted herself, and together, they flew. She wanted to stop and check his injuries. She wanted Bryn next to her, but she couldn’t see him in the dark. “Have you seen Bryn?”

  “He’s fine! I left him to help you!” Mat pointed up. “Let’s get up toward the clouds!”

  She nodded and followed him up. She was inexperienced in the air at best. The fact that she was alive was thanks to her own sheer refusal to die, but that didn’t make up for the innate knowledge Mat had for being in the sky. They all had something she was still learning—positioning, safety, air currents at different altitudes—things she needed more time with.

  It felt like it took ages, but they left the city, the Elvasi trying to pick them off every step of the way. She dodged and ducked as they attacked. If they could get into the trees, they would have a better chance, hiding who they needed to hide. Alchan was leading the free Andinna so far in front, she could barely see them, but that was a good thing. If the Elvasi were only harassing her and those left in the back, the females, children, and slaves were safe.

  And that mattered. Mave could die for that idea.

  As they made it over the forest, she saw the forward group wasn’t dropping down yet, realizing they still considered it too close to the city. Riders on horses could catch them if they were too close. Her wings began to ache. Long-distance flying wasn’t something she had trained for, and she wobbled at one point, nearly losing her air.

  It was fast, it was dangerous, and every time she made a wrong move, there was a gryphon and Elvasi waiting to try to take her. She couldn’t fight them all. There was no way they had the numbers to beat back their attackers.

  It began to feel hopeless. Just a small seed of the feeling wormed its way in.

  A roar split the air around them, sending the gryphons in a fit. She saw how they all tried to buck their riders for a moment. She tried to find Rain, knowing his roar like it was his everyday voice.

  She found him alone over the forest, several of the gryphon riders around him. In the dark, she could see he was falling. Her little brother gave so much, and now, he was going to drop from the sky.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not Rain.

  “Mat!” she cried out. “Rain needs us!”

  Andinna fly nearly horizontal, so when she called for Mat, he tilted, looking like he was standing in the air, his wings holding him in place with even beats. She started moving to her little brother, her wings giving her everything they had left. Mat followed her, even pulling ahead, Bryn coming up beside her with Luykas.

  But none of them were as fast as Zayden. The father pulled his wings in and became a bolt, speeding through the air with his eyes only on his objective.

  And in front of all of them, they watched Rain take one more spear to his back and roar again. Then he started to fall.

  35

  Zayden

  Zayden hurt like hell, but he was proud of what his people had accomplished during the night. They were on their way out, and that meant they were going to win. Even more, he was proud of his son, who was a nightmare to fight in the air. There wasn’t a group of Andinna alive who could handle an intelligent wyvern like him. His son embodied everything that scared the fuck out of Zayden. All the ferocity of the beast with all the intelligence of the Andinna, and a warrior spirit that cou
ldn’t be contained, no matter how much Zayden wanted to.

  So, when Rain cried out in pain and began to fall, he knew his son wouldn’t want anyone to feel guilty for any injuries he received. His son had made his choice, and Zayden’s only job was to support his young. Rain was a warrior, and warriors got hurt. They fought until their last moment, through broken bones, bleeding limbs, and more.

  That was the way of an Andinna warrior, even if it killed them.

  Rain would love to die a hero.

  Zayden, however, couldn’t tolerate that last part. Hero or not, his son wasn’t allowed to die before he did. Not before his son found out more about the beautiful things in life, like love.

  He’d been ahead of Mave and Mat when Rain roared for assistance. As Zayden fell after his boy, he realized his son must have run out of the liquid in his body that produced the fire, something they had never worried about before. He could have easily roasted the gryphon riders when they surrounded him. Zayden knew a lot about wyverns from raising his son and had poured hours into his own education when his son was young. Anything to help Rain, he’d thought.

  Now, hopefully, it was going to save his son.

  He dodged the gryphon riders following his son down. He was going to die for this boy. Rain was his legacy. Rain had a future, a bright one. He would one day be one of the most respected Andinna alive. A father’s dreams for his son, now beginning to come to fruition, thanks to his son’s hard work.

  And Zayden wasn’t ready to lose him—he would never be ready for that moment.

  He can’t die tonight.

  As he dropped, he cut into the side of a gryphon, causing it to careen away from him. Another rider made it to the ground before him and was about to pounce on his downed son. Zayden roared as he landed on the Elvasi and gryphon. He sent the rider flying with him, tumbling to the dirt as he opened up his enemy. The gryphon ran for it, realizing nothing was forcing it to face the beast and the Andinna next it. Zayden tried not to kill the gryphons. Proud beasts, they were too rare to murder. He would rather kill every one of their riders. He would rather see the beasts somehow get free.

  He ran to his son, looking over his boy.

  “Oh, son, what have they done to you?” he asked softly. Thumping behind him announced the arrival of others. He looked over his shoulder to find Mave, Mat, Bryn, and Luykas waiting. “Don’t come closer,” he ordered sharply. “I’m going to have to pull all these spears out, and he’s going to thrash. Keep the Elvasi from coming for us.”

  “We can help—”

  “And get killed,” he snapped, cutting his friend off. Mat had the best intentions, but an injured wyvern was dangerous. He had ages of experience helping Rain in this form, even if the beast side of his son didn’t always recognize his father.

  “Protect us!” He looked up to see the gryphons coming. They were going to try to finish the kill. “My son can’t die tonight.”

  Rain gave a half whimper, half growl. Zayden felt over his son’s large abdomen. If Rain stayed in his wyvern form, he would be fine when the spears were removed. If he tried to turn back to his Andinna form, he would bleed to death as the injuries translated between the two forms.

  With that knowledge, Zayden came to terms with the idea that he wouldn’t talk to his son for at least a week. They might be in the Dragon Spine before his son could safely shift back into his natural-born form.

  He gripped a spear and began to pull. Fighting erupted behind him, snarls and roars covering the sound of his son’s pain. The large blue tail beat the earth as Zayden kept pulling with all his might.

  When it finally gave way and slid out, Zayden tried not to think of the pained roar his son gave. He tried not to think about the blood pouring out of the wound. Wyverns could survive dangerous battles against each other, carving each other open like it was nothing. His son could survive this—that was all that mattered.

  He found the second spear jammed into his son’s shoulder, which was probably what helped take his son out of the sky. It impeded the wing’s movement just enough. He had to climb onto his son’s back to grab it and tug upward. Unable to contain the pain, his son began to shake, trying to stop whatever was happening on his back.

  “Whoa! Rain!” He tried to talk some sense into his son. He glanced at the fighting and realized he was taking too long. Mat had talon marks across his back now. Bryn was bleeding from his head, covering his face in blood. Luykas and Mave were trying not to be pinned down by three of the riders.

  And one was coming straight for him.

  He drew his sword, readying for the attack. As the gryphon jumped for him, a dark shape, followed by several others, fell into the small clearing Rain had made with his bad landing. The gryphon never made it to Zayden, and he was shocked to see the Andinna that killed it and its rider was none other than Alchan.

  “We all heard his roar and watched him drop,” the king quickly explained as more Andinna dropped around them, including the females and children. “Let’s get these out of him.”

  “No one can help. He’ll hurt someone.”

  Alchan studied him carefully. “You know your son best.

  “Everyone, perimeter defense! Make a circle. Nothing takes our mutt today!” The Andinna cheered in response. He lowered his voice to talk to Zayden. “I’m going to help you. I got him into this, I’m going to help him get out of it.”

  “He could—”

  “I’m the king and more dominant than his beast. He wouldn’t consider hurting me.” Alchan seemed so sure.

  He didn’t want to argue with the king, so he helped Alchan onto Rain’s back. Together, they pulled out the spear. Around them, a war was being fought. When a gryphon and rider tried to drop on top of them from above, it was met by Kian and Senri together. Nevyn and Varon were also guarding the sky, killing another foolish enough to try to get to his son.

  They found the next spear on the opposite side of Rain’s abdomen. It was lodged deep, forcing both of them to pull with all their might, slowly drawing it back out. He heard the steel tip grind against bone, which was concerning.

  The next two were easier, in his left back leg, right next to each other. They would make walking hard for Rain, but they would also be the fastest to heal.

  And as they worked, the attacks stopped. The Elvasi called for a retreat, but Zayden didn’t look over his shoulder to see what was happening. For all he knew, the retreating Elvasi could be hoping for reinforcements.

  Zayden felt the watchful stares of the Andinna around him as he and Alchan worked to yank out every spear and sword that had found its way into his son. Rain, to his credit, only thrashed at the deepest and most painful ones. He roared twice, shaking everyone to their core. Zayden could smell the distinct fluids wyverns had that helped produce the flames, but no flame came. His son was drained, depleted, injured, exhausted.

  He didn’t have to think about who to blame for this. Alchan was giving it to himself, something Zayden made note of. Rain was now the king’s charge and student, so it was only proper Alchan would blame himself. Zayden could blame himself, but his son wouldn’t be told what to do.

  By the time they got to the last spear, Zayden realized there was no one to blame except the Elvasi. They forced his son not only to be a warrior but to fight. They forced the Andinna’s hands and made them jump into action for these very fights. So, he fought, his son fought, his friends fought. They all fought to the end.

  What else are we supposed to do?

  “Can you walk?” Alchan asked, walking to his boy’s big blue head. The wyvern nodded, letting his jaw thump against the ground, the eyes drooping closed. Zayden saw Alchan reach out and run a hand over his scales, the first time their King had ever touched the wyvern. He even went for the snout, a dangerous place to touch Rain in this form. “You can’t sleep yet. Get up and get walking. We all need to move.”

  “It could be dawn before the Elvasi get to this point. We should be able to make distance and give ourselves a good le
ad,” Luykas added. “Alchan, we might run into more fighting on the way to the Dragon Spine.”

  “It’s possible, but we don’t have time to worry about that. We just need to move and fight when it’s time. Females and children, I want you to the front. We’re entering the wild territory before the mountains, so we won’t be running into any farms or villages. Keep an eye out for wild animals and for Elvasi coming up behind us.”

  “Yes, sir!” they all screamed. Zayden winced as Alchan sighed in what sounded like annoyance. The male hated being called sir.

  Zayden didn’t pay attention as everyone started off at a brisk pace. He kept an eye on his son, who wobbled precariously as he stood up. He was still bleeding, but there was nothing to be done. Big blue eyes looked at him when his son was finally up on his legs and wings. Wyverns walked like bats on their wings, an interesting sight.

  “You did good, my boy,” he whispered to his son, knowing the keen hearing his son had would pick it up. “You did well.”

  A blue snout bumped his chest. Zayden rubbed it slowly, his heart rate finally slowing. His son would live and probably tell tales about this night for years to come. His boy was a fucking warrior.

  And Zayden was proud of him.

  Someone grabbed the back of his pants and pulled him back. He growled, about to snap at whoever did it, but when Mave came into his vision, he quickly stopped. She wrapped her arms around the blue head. Skies, the female loved his son. As Rain gave an almost feline purr at the contact, Zayden was glad to have fished her out of the ocean that night. Alchan chuckled next to him.

  “You’re his father. I’m his king. Who gets the affection? The female.”

  “I know, and he’s into other males. Doesn’t make any sense.” Zayden snorted but smiled. “Thank you, Alchan. For the help.”