Dragon Academy
Page 22
We used our emergency rations, since cooking was a risk. I poured a vial of olive liquid on Ignimitra’s tongue. It was supposed to be a meal in a vial. She grimaced at the taste.
As we took to the air, I looked back at where we had set up camp. It was impossible to tell that four Pyralians had been there—we’d even gone as far as scuffing dirt over the tent holes.
The electricity in my veins died down to a low hum.
Maybe we could make it out of here undetected. We’d reachFire Star Island by nightfall, then all of this would be behind us.
THE DAY WAS SERENE, the sky calm, nearly cloudless and everlastingly blue.
Even the waves in the sea below us were gentle, much like the breeze that buoyed us along. Few days were as perfect as this.
Ignimitra’s anxiety was gone. She flapped her wings with a little more gusto, turning to look at me more often, her tongue lolling and her eyes closed. I smiled at her every time she did, stroking her on the neck.
We’d made it past the worst.
If the Astraphotians were going to attack us, they would have done it last night when we were most vulnerable, when our dragons were tired. Everyone else seemed to be in good spirits too. Solra caught my gaze and smiled. Avek was like a slab of stone in his saddle, focused on the mission. I bit back a smile at the thought of him.
When this mission was over, we could figure out what was going on between us. Maybe we could go to Dragon’s Bay, or just watch the sunset together. What we did wasn’t as important as doing it with him.
I didn’t know how relationships went at the Academy, but I wanted...
Squawk! Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!
A flock of birds rushing past us pulled me out of my thoughts.
Ignimitra caught one in her teeth, and I chuckled quietly. Perhaps the vial wasn’t exactly a meal in a bottle. I’d have to tell Betheka to tweak her formula.
The thought had barely appeared in my mind when the sky grew angry.
Out of nowhere, grey clouds appeared. They were so thick, I could only see Nurik’s tail, and Solra had completely disappeared. My heartbeat sped up.
A storm?
It didn’t make sense.
The winds picked up, and I grabbed Ignimitra’s reins.
At first, it felt like we were successfully weathering it. Then we started spinning, falling out of the sky. The wind was heavy on my shoulders, pushing me down, pushing us down.
Ignimitra shrieked, paralyzed by the force of the wind.
“It’s okay, Ignimitra,” I wanted to believe myself.
But the wind was hurting. Ripping my headband out of my hair, slicing my gloves and my leather clothes. It felt like being stabbed by millions of tiny knives, forcing us lower and lower. The cries of Zelkor and Titan shattered the sliver of belief I had been holding to.
Over the din of the wind, I could hear Solra and Irikai too. They were so far away. Hadn’t they been beside us just a few moments ago? I was losing my bearing of our position in the sky.
Were we near the water now? Were we even right side up? I braced myself for the impact. I could swim, but Fire Dragons didn’t do well with water. My thoughts felt like shouts.
Ignimitra shrieked and writhed and tried to flap her wings, but we were only falling faster. I gripped her tightly, dread freezing my arms and fingers into place around her neck.
You’ll be okay, we’ll be okay. I promise.
Thunder rumbled past us.
My heart was about to explode. Terror was thick in my mind, in my heart, in every bone of my body. There was nothing I could do to stop any of this from happening and that made me feel like I’d been hollowed out completely.
“Brace yourselves!” Avek’s voice came through clearer. He was right beside me.
A bright flash of lightning illuminated six figures in the storm. Two of them were in the heart of the storm above us. I gripped Ignimitra as tight as I could, wishing that somehow, I could protect us both.
I love you, angel.
I felt the lightning before I saw it, washing my senses with a burning, searing, impossibly white sound. Then, I slipped into darkness.
“THE CAP’N IS GON’ BE pleased.”
Irikai, is that you? Words swam in my mind, but the world was black.
“I smelled ‘em, better give me my credit.”
Solra? The voice sounded too deep to be hers, but everything was drowning in ink.
“Who cares, we’re all gon’ be rewarded. The white one alone is worth all this trouble.”
Something was appearing slowly in my mind, but focusing on it sent a searing pain through my body. I couldn’t make out what it was, nor could I tell what was happening.
Am I dead?
“Not yet, roach.”
“Oi, who ya callin’ roach?”
Darkness claimed me again. It felt like my father’s embrace.
Chapter 22
The pain in my head made the world feel numb.
The world was dark and sharp, pain searing every inch of me. At first, it felt like I was lying in a vat of jelly, until everything started spinning. My eyes were closed.
I cracked an eye open. What I saw confused me, but I didn’t know what it was. Pain tickled my brain, memories of a storm and lightning dancing through my consciousness like a nightmare. Was I falling?
I wanted to move but couldn’t. My lungs were full of water.
Suddenly, a sharp pain slicked through the wad of feelings, bringing with it the memory of what had happened. The storm that had thrown us out of the air. The terror that had turned my limbs into ice. The lightning that darkened my world.
It was hazy. Was this what being dead felt like?
No, it couldn’t be.
I became aware of myself limb by limb. I wasn’t falling. I was sitting, with something holding my feet together. My hands were behind me, frozen stiff.
My vision cleared at the edges first. A few minutes of blinking and craning my neck helped me to orient myself. I was bound to a pole. It was a support beam for a tent.
A faintly glowing lamp cast orange light on the room, illuminating the stains and patchwork of the tent, as well as unfamiliar objects strewn around the room. I squirmed against the restraints, kicking up dust.
It was the same dusty earth of The Wastelands. How did I end up back here?
It felt like I was feeling the world through three feet of water. I should’ve been terrified. But all I felt was a searing pain in my head and an awareness of something filling my mind.
Maybe I was dying.
And I was dying alone, without...Ignimitra.
My headache crescendoed. Where was she? Did she get hurt in the attack?
No. She was fine. I could feel it somehow.
She was near. She was in pain, but she wasn’t dying. I was sure of it.
The haze continued to lift; the water was receding.
What about Avek? Solra? Irikai? Were they okay too?
Suddenly, voices filtered into the tent. I thought I was imagining them, but then I recognized one of them. They didn’t speak my language, but I knew that voice.
Trying to think sent pain rippling down my neck.
I shook myself harder against the restraints.
“It’s no use, roach.”
I froze.
It was the same voice from outside the tent. Heavy footsteps approached me.
I didn’t dare breathe.
He was every bit a savage. Tall and chunky, dressed in nothing but a pair of patchy pants with a leather scabbard around his waist. He had something like dirt smeared all over his skin, and he smelled like onions. Bleh.
When we’d learned of the great lightning dragons of Astraphotis, I had imagined them with more elegant handlers. Even a Vromiko street cleaner would turn their nose up at this man.
“Let me go, bastard!” I spat.
We’d been trained to be brave in the face of danger, but my vitriol surprised me.
He let out a deep belly laugh.
A thick finger snaked down my face.
Chills ran through me, terror rupturing my bravado.
He gave me a demented smile, then disappeared behind me.
I had only seen two dragons in the storm. There couldn’t have been that many of them. Unless, they rode in pairs or groups like the Hydralians did.
Deep breaths stilled my pounding heart enough for me to hear what was happening outside the tent. The conversation had resumed.
I could only pick up two voices.
Outside of that, the place sounded desolate. No faraway sounds, no distant chatter, not even the sound of animals. This wasn’t a town.
They were waiting for orders. This was my window of opportunity.
He wasn’t very bright to tell me that. A familiar weight on my thigh proved how dumb they were. I still had my knife.
In my new cadet uniform, I had asked for a special notch for it. The new carrying case blended in seamlessly with my fatigues.
They didn’t realize that I was still armed.
The stars had aligned for me.
I just needed to figure out how to use it. I was more or less immobile, and the brute was right outside my tent. I didn’t want to die like this.
I didn’t want to die like my father.
You won’t.
The thought appeared out of nowhere, blending with my own.
It was insidious, feeling like it belonged in my mind, but I knew that I hadn’t thought that. It didn’t even sound like my own voice. Was I losing my mind?
No, you aren’t. I’m talking to you.
A chill ran down my spine. Was I hallucinating because of the attack?
The voice laughed—a curious lilting sound that was more perfect than anything I’d ever heard.
Kaos, it’s me. Ignimitra.
My jaw slackened.
IGNIMITRA?
Yes, Kaos.
My eyes were burning and wet.
We were finally fusion bonded. What a time for this to happen.
Better late than never, right?
Her response startled me. Could she hear all my thoughts?
Most of them, yes. More than before.
You could hear my thoughts before now?
Is this really what you want to spend our window of opportunity talking about?
Her words burned through my haze of happiness. We didn’t have the time to catch up, or explore this. Our lives were in danger.
Where are you?
Images of Ignimitra appeared in my mind. A heavy netted chain fastened her to the ground, held in place by heavy metal stakes. Her feet were bound spread-eagled.
I can sense Titan and Zelkor nearby.
I exhaled. If their dragons were here, then everyone else was here too.
What about Nurik?
I can’t smell him.
A sharp pain seized my heart. Our formation had been broken by the time the lightning hit. What if they had been hit directly? What if Avek and Nurik had—
We shouldn’t think like that now, Kaos. We have to think of a way to get out of here.
Ignimitra was right. I tried to push the pain that had blossomed in my chest to the back of my mind. Emotions had no place in Dragon Guard duty. The preservation of life was foremost.
How many enemies?
I can smell two dragons. Full grown. And two men.
Perhaps they were the two whom I’d seen in the heart of the storm.
They smell the same.
How can we overpower them? A tendril of shame tickled the back of my head. I was supposed to know what to do.
Don’t you remember what we read about fusion bonds? Her voice was cynical, the edge bruising my ego.
I chuckled.
We’re a team.
Exactly.
If I can find my cadet sword, we have a chance.
It’s in a tent close to you. One on your right.
I was amazed. How did she know?
It reeks.
You can smell it?
It is made from poison, how can I not?
I had carried that sword religiously from the day I had recieved it. The idea that it could’ve been so offensive to Ignimitra troubled me.
After a while, I learned to ignore it.
Guilt prickled the back of my throat.
What else had I done that had hurt her feelings? Had I been a good partner to Ignimitra? I had abandoned her in the throes of our fusion bond issues. Now we were staring death in the face. I had acted like a child.
I’m young too.
What?
We’re both figuring this out. I’m still figuring out how to be a dragon. Maybe it was my fault that it took this long for us to be bonded. If we were, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.
Her words sounded all the way wrong. They reminded me of my own feelings before I had spoken to Betheka.
I want to be the dragon you deserved.
Angel, you are. You’re perfect.
I could feel her warmth, her happiness careening across my own skin. She laughed.
I like it when you call me that.
I smiled.
Do you know why I call you that?
No.
You saved me. We can make it through this, Ignimitra. Though the odds are stacked against us. Our training prepared us for this.
I felt her strength radiating through me.
We are stronger together.
We’re unbreakable.
We’re unshakable.
Always victorious.
We’re the strongest of Pyralis.
We are the Dragon Guard.
When we had learned the Dragon Guard pledge weeks ago, it meant little to me. Now, it was everything. We were the strongest of Pyralis, and those Astraphotians would learn it the hard way.
My heart was full.
But the feeling was quickly overshadowed by something else..
My hand caught fire, stabs of pain licking at my wrist and fingers. It didn’t spread, only got worse. My nerves were raw.
When it finally died down, my mouth tasted of copper.
I’m sorry that hurt so much. I don’t think it will the next time.
My thoughts were jumbled.
It is to help us get out.
What will?
Break the rope.
I had tried. It wasn’t as simple as she thought. But she felt expectant.
I pulled my hands apart sharply.
Shlick.
The rope split.
I looked at my hands in awe.
Despite the searing pain, they weren’t burned. They didn’t look much different. Only, my dragon mark had changed.
It wasn’t the same lavender scar on the flesh of my thumb. It had grown, stretching to my wrist in uneven stripes like stretch marks. It glowed bright purple.
I was speechless.
I’ve lent you my strength.
What? How can you do this?
We’re stronger together. She laughed weakly. It drains me. We must do this quickly if we are to escape.
Suddenly, the playing field was level. We had a fighting chance.
I’ll get my sword, then I’ll come get you. Together we can find the others.
Chapter 23
Breaking my binds and arming myself with my blade didn’t solve the problem of the hulking man outside my tent.
You only need to surprise him. He isn’t very smart.
I stifled a chuckle.
Is he alone out there?
No, he is with his dragon. But the dragon is asleep.
Taking a deep breath, I centered myself. This was the culmination of our months of training. The next few minutes decided our lives. I had to make it count.
I’ll come get you soon, angel.
I stood, slinking towards the entrance of the tent. His shadow was p
ressed against the slightly parted fabric.
Electricity sizzled through my veins—Ignimitra’s imbued power. It was foreign, but had all the makings of something natural. Something that was meant to be mine.
I held my breath. The only thing separating us now was the thin tent cloth.
Then, I struck.
In one deft motion, I lifted the cloth and hit him squarely in the back of his jaw with all our might. His head spun unnaturally, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap at my feet.
The slumbering dragon stirred.
My heart was in my throat, but he didn’t wake.
Your sword is in the tent on your left.
This one looked much bigger than the tent I had been held in. More carefully than quickly, I made my way to it. Leading with my blade, I parted the cloth—half expecting to see another enemy.
There was no one, only piles of clothes and weapons. I took a few more tentative steps in.
These weren’t just any clothes and weapons.
I recognized a black Dragon Guard helmet, a five-ribboned Royal Militia sword, and a pair of boots just like the ones I wore. These clothes and weapons were from our Drakkendom. These Astraphotians hunted Fire Country soldiers.
My stomach churned.
Had they been the ones that killed my father? Had they stripped him of his clothes to keep like trophies after they tortured him?
Kaos, don’t think of that now.
Her words were lost in the inferno building in me.
My cadet sword was in the pile closest to me. Three dragon saddles were there, even Ignimitra’s bracelet. I took my own, as well as two others that I assumed belonged to Solra and Irikai.
Can you sense where the others are yet?
Ignimitra didn’t respond immediately.
No.
I have their swords; they can’t be far. Where else could they be?
Perhaps their scent is disguised.
I shrugged, readying my sword.
I’m coming to get you now.
I’m east of your location, at the edge of the camp.
I broke out in a cautious run.
The camp was just a few tents dotted around a smoke pit. The tent that I was held in was the smallest of them all. My path took me by the soldier that I had knocked out.
His dragon was still asleep, but I didn’t feel as scared as I did before. My cadet sword made me braver—I had a fair chance of mortally wounding the dragon before it could attack me.