I didn’t even notice what they were serving in the mess hall. The other four teams, including King Magnar and two smaller males who were obviously his sisters in disguise, sat around five cadets’ tables pushed together. Niger straightened and gestured at the empty seat next to his. A male with burgundy hair, wearing a cadet’s uniform walked past and took the seat. It was Phoenix.
“I hope you don’t mind,” said Fyrian. “He felt Evolene’s nerves and wanted to know what we were doing.”
“As long as he won’t tell Master Fosco,” I replied.
“That’s the thing. No one but us knows they’re bonded. Phoenix wants to keep it a secret.”
“Because they’d work out that he was part of the team that broke Evolene out of prison?”
“That’s right.”
With each step toward the group, my heart struck hard against my ribcage. All faces turned to me, and I gulped.
“They’re expecting a speech,” said Fyrian. “Say something rousing.”
“Right.” I cleared my throat. “Thank you, brave warriors, for volunteering to rid Mount Fornax of the scourge that is Asproceros. While most villains will be hiding in their lairs, lying low until it’s time to strike, Asproceros the coward will wander the terraces and hallways under a cloak that makes him both invisible to eyes and wards.”
The Griffon brothers and the others who had been attacked muttered their displeasure.
“With the help of Evolene’s magical invention, we will set a trap that will let us see when he approaches,” I continued.
“How does it work?” asked Albens.
I gestured to Evolene, who sat at the far end of the tables next to Stafford.
She squared her narrow shoulders, reached into her cloak, and pulled out a handful of empty vials. “T-throw this at the entrance to the dragonet dwellings. I-it contains an invisible powder that turns red when in contact with certain enchantments.”
Roseate tilted her head to the side. “What spells did you use to craft this?”
“I-its a trade secret among alchemists and their apprentices,” said Evolene.
I raised my brows. She probably didn’t want to admit to everyone that she had created the invisibility cloak Asproceros used to commit his crimes. After her recent experiences with witches both inside and outside the Magical Militia, I didn’t blame her.
A member of each team took a vial.
“Good luck, everyone,” I said. “Sound the alarm if you need help.”
We all stood and went in our separate directions. Since my team were watching the purple dragonets, we headed to the lowest levels of the dry side of the mountain, where the terraces stretched six-feet wide.
“There are two entrances, so we should split into groups.” Phoenix turned to me. “I will take Evolene and Cadets Griffon and Bluebeard. You take the others.”
Stafford bristled. “I should stay with Evolene.”
Evolene nodded. “S-Stafford and I usually work together on these adventures.”
I glanced away. That wasn’t quite true, but I suppose she was trying not to hurt anyone’s feelings.
“Fine,” Phoenix said with a growl in his voice. “I will take Roseate.”
She folded her arms. “I’m staying with Evolene.”
I rolled my eyes. Evolene was awfully popular for such a quiet little witch.
“What does it matter who stays with who?” snarled Rufus. “Asproceros is trying to steal dragonets!”
“He’s right.” I turned to Phoenix. “Will you be all right with just Rufus and Gobi?”
Gobi puffed out his chest. “You need not worry about us.”
Phoenix gave Gobi a pat on the shoulder. “Let’s watch the exit.”
“Phoenix.” Evolene pressed a vial into his hand. “You’ll need this.”
“Thank you.” He smiled, reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of natural sponges. After handing us each a pair, he said, “You must put these in your ears in case I need to use my voice as a weapon. They’re enchanted to block out only harmful sounds.”
The rest of us walked to the spot above the entrance of the purple dragonet enclosure, which was already guarded by a group of four armed grooms. Evolene threw her vial onto the ground, and it disintegrated into dust.
My brows rose. Obviously, she had a lot of experience in sneaking about. We sat at the edge of the terrace and peered down. So far, no strange marks appeared on the ground.
I lay on my belly at my vantage point and listened to the grooms below speculate on the whereabouts of Asproceros. When they fell silent, I glanced out into the horizon, hoping Evolene had remembered to make her powder visible after dark. The sun disappeared behind the distant hills, staining the thin covering of clouds on the horizon blood-orange. More of the strangely colored clouds stretched out over the mountain, leaving expanses of dark turquoise in their gaps.
Over the next several minutes, the sun receded and darkened the sky. I stifled a yawn. Waiting around in silence wasn’t the most exciting of activities.
Roseate pulled herself to her feet, flicked her staff, and erected a silencing bubble. “Are you with Phoenix, now?”
I pushed myself up to my elbows and groaned. “What’s this got to do with our mission?”
A flush covered Evolene’s cheeks. “O-of course not.”
Roseate smirked. “It’s just that being bonded to a dragon is like being married, isn’t it?”
Evolene shook her head. “We’re just friends.”
“Stop making trouble,” I snapped. “Fyrian and I are bonded, and it’s nothing like marriage.”
Roseate’s smirk widened. “But Fyrian is a dragon, and Phoenix—”
“Is a dragon, too!” snapped Stafford.
“Who turns into one of the most handsome men in Mount Fornax.”
“Will you be quiet?” I hissed. “We’re trying to concentrate.”
Moments later, red footsteps appeared on the terrace. They stopped mere feet to the left of the grooms.
“He’s here!” I hissed.
Stafford leaped off our terrace and landed eight feet above the footsteps. A roar of outrage sounded from beneath him, and an invisible force flung him from side to side. He held on for dear life, clenching his teeth.
A quartet of witches sprinted out from the dragonet enclosure. Their leader’s staff glowed with brilliant, white light. “What’s going on here?”
“It’s Asproceros,” said Stafford, voice strained. “He’s under an invisibility cloak.”
See if you can knock him out with your magic,” I said to Evolene.
Roseate shot at Stafford’s shoulder, tearing off the collar of his flying jacket.
Evolene shoved her aside, aimed the crystal tip of her staff at a point just above Stafford’s head, and shouted, “Somnus!”
Red magic flashed, and Stafford fell forward, landing atop the invisible ogre, four feet above the ground. He raised his head. “I caught him!”
I jumped down and groped around. Rough fabric grazed my fingertips, and I yanked hard. With an almighty tear, the invisibility cloak came apart, revealing the horned, slumbering face of Asproceros.
Witches and grooms crowded around us. “Well done, Cadet,” said the oldest witch. “What’s your name?”
I gave a beaming Stafford a hearty clap on the shoulder. “He’s Perrault. Stafford Perrault.”
One of the guards raised his head and grinned at Evolene. “The three of you grouped up to catch him? I’ll be commending you to—”
“GWOOOOAAAR!” Asproceros leaped to his feet, knocking us all aside.
I fell onto my back, staring up at eight-and-a-half feet of muscled brute.
“Did you think you could catch Asproceros, the great Simum Simum, so easily?” He pulled out a curved sword that glinted in the moonlight. “I am immune to witch magic, impervious to dragon fire. And after I kill you all, I will take your dragonets!”
I rolled onto my back, unsheathed my Parched Sword, pushed all
my power through its hit. A stream of fire shot from its tip and lanced through his leg. The scent of burned cloth and seared flesh filled the air, making me gag. Asproceros growled and kicked, but that only increased the number of my flames burning through his leg.
Phoenix bellowed from the other side of the terrace.
“Oh!” The ogre doubled over, clutching his ears.
The witches and grooms around us shrieked.
Yellow magic shot over our heads and engulfed Asproceros in a penitentiary bubble. His face twisted with rage, and he pounded his mighty fists on the barrier, making it bulge with every strike. I scrambled back, glancing up at the terrace, where Evolene stood with her staff held high, her face a mask of grim determination.
“Roseate,” I yelled. “Help her!”
The pink-haired witch trembled at the edge of the terrace, pointing her staff at Evolene’s stream of yellow magic, making it thicken.
Asproceros jumped, and the bubble rose six inches off the ground. My stomach twisted. If only the other witches were well enough to lend Evolene her power. An ogre like that was no match for Evolene and Roseate. He jumped again, off the side of the terrace. The bubble bounced down to the next terrace down and the one after that.
I scrambled after him, stamping my foot on a pale stair-stone and descending at a sprint. Asproceros dropped another four levels before he broke the bubble with a dagger made of gravestone.
Roseate flew overhead, patchwork cloak billowing over her shoulders like a flying carpet. She held Evolene around the waist, who shot spells at the retreating ogre.
“Where are you?” I shouted into the bond.
“Overhead,” she replied. “There’s nowhere to land.”
I jumped down on the next terrace, ran to its edge and leaped down to the next. “Four terraces down might be wide enough.”
“Asproceros is down there. Should I flame him?”
“Just enough to slow him. Nothing more.”
“Right.”
I followed after the ogre, who dodged spell after spell, using a huge, blue eye in the back of his skull. It was probably some kind of dark magic he had borrowed to be able to escape his enemies.
Muti’s team, who had been watching out for the red dragonets, flew down on rapier reds, who spat streams of fire at the ogre. Asproceros reached into his baggy breeches and raised a shield, which expanded and deflected their flames.
I growled. “How many magical artifacts does he have?”
“They won’t stand up to my venom.” Fyrian landed in front of me with a thud.
I scrambled onto her, and she launched herself off the terrace and flew close to Asproceros.
He glared at me through the eye in the back of his head. “Your green dragon’s fire will not stand up to my Supreme Shield of Shelter!”
“Go on.” I patted Fyrian on the neck. “Give him a taste of your venom.”
She spat a stream of thick, green fluid, which splashed onto his shield.
“What is this?” he bellowed.
I pointed the Parched Sword at the venom-splattered shield and shot my power into its hilt. Fire spread across its surface and down his arm, which had probably caught a few drops of venom.
The ogre roared and threw the flaming shield at my head. “Swine!”
Fyrian dipped to the side, and the shield fell onto her wing. The rider cadets on rapier reds spat rapid balls of fire at the escaping ogre.
By the time Fyrian righted herself, Asproceros reached into his breeches and pulled out a double-ended halberd.
My nostrils flared. He was going to throw it like a javelin and hurt someone. “Everybody, fall back!”
The rapier reds scattered, and Fyrian surged into the sky. There was no telling how far an ogre could throw a weapon, and I supposed nobody wanted to be close enough to find out.
I glared down at Asproceros, ready to direct Fyrian to spin out of the way if the halberd flew toward us. But instead of aiming it into the skies, he placed it between his legs and launched himself off the side of the mountain.
“My helm-bird is enchanted to be faster than any dragon in the Known World, including those little red ones!” he sped off at an alarming speed. “You cannot keep the wards closed forever, but I can stay hidden until I take every dragonet in this accursed mountain!”
Chapter 19
Asporceros sped around the mountain, with the rapier reds on his tail, and moonlight making the blades on both ends of his helm-bird glint in the dark. He leaned forward, keeping close to the terrace, giving the dragons little space to flank him on both sides.
Fyrian and I flew above a crowd of rapier reds that lit up the sky with their streams of fire. Black scorch marks appeared on the bare limestones, where they had missed their target.
I rested my clenched fists on Fyrian’s neck. If Asproceros continued at this speed, we would leave the dry side of the mountain, where dragon fire would damage the orchards and crops.
“We’ll have to fly ahead and cut him off,” said Fyrian.
“Do you need my power?”
“It’s already flowing to me through the bond,” she replied. “Can’t you feel it?”
Below us, Asproceros threw an explosive that shot green power at the crowd of rapier reds, causing them to scatter. Some of the powder landed on a group of dragon moths gathered around a cave’s entrance. A frustrated breath surged out of my lungs. “I’ve been too preoccupied to feel anything.”
Fyrian sucked in a deep breath and lurched forward, overtaking the flying ogre. “He’s about to get the flaming of his life.”
“Do it.”
She dipped into a downward loop and blew out a stream of fire, aiming at the tip of the halberd. Asproceros’ black eyes widened, and his mouth fell open, revealing a row of uneven teeth.
Seconds before the fire hit, the halberd lurched backward.
“Ha! You will never catch me!” The ogre shook his fist.
Muti swooped down from behind, his rapier red spitting rapid bursts of fire. The halberd tumbled out of the sky in a downward spiral toward the bare sandstone grounds.
“You did it!” I shouted.
“Yes!” Muti raised a fist into the air.
Fyrian swooped down, ready to land where he fell, but the ogre and his helm-bird reversed, accelerated upward, its sharp, metal tip aiming for her eyes. She spun left, out of its way.
I snarled. “We have to do something about that stupid halberd.”
Asproceros leveled out and flew close to the widening terraces where thin patches of desert sage grew from the stone. My heart pounded as hard as a war drum and twice as fast. Trees came into sight up ahead on the mountains, and in moments, we would have to be careful not to set them on fire.
Phoenix appeared in front of Asproceros and blew a stream of flames into his face. As predicted, the halberd flew backward. In the blink of an eye, Phoenix disappeared and reappeared behind the ogre.
“W-what are you doing?” he bellowed.
“Yes!” I shouted.
Phoenix continued the pattern, blocking the ogre at every move and making the halberd lurch up and down, forward and backward, and from side to side. The riders flew in a loose circle overhead and rained down pellets of fire, setting the remnants of Asproceros’ invisibility cloak alight.
“S-stop,” he cried. “If you continue tormenting me, I will fall out of the sky!”
“Fyri?” I asked. “Can you see anything happening to his halberd?”
“There’s a split in the wood,” she replied. “It’s getting longer with every second.”
“Keep going!” I shouted to Phoenix. “You’ve nearly got him.”
The ogre’s flying halberd lost altitude, dropping several feet, but Phoenix kept up with his attacks. Fyrian and I flew after them, ready to give chase in case the fall was a trick to get out of the dragons’ range.
Clouds covered the moon, and his cloak had burned to embers, leaving the only thing visible on Asproceros the whites of his eyes.
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“AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!”
His halberd plummeted, spinning out of control. Asproceros clutched its wooden shaft and rocked back and forth as though the movement might reignite its magic.
The clouds thinned, and I locked eyes with the ogre. The features around his horn twisted into a rictus of terror. My throat dried. This was no bluff. I was about to see his end.
With an almighty thud and a huge cloud of dry air, he hit the ground. The dust still hadn’t settled, so I couldn’t see if he had survived.
Gulping, I asked, “Is he dead?”
“He isn’t moving.”
Fyrian landed several feet away from the fallen ogre by a featureless patch of mountain consisting of bare sandstone. I swung my legs to one side and slid down her foreleg. Dust particles filled the air, obscuring my vision. The sound of four large feet hit the ground on the opposite side of the ogre, and purple scales became visible through the dust. They disappeared, indicating that Phoenix had turned back into a man.
“It looks like the plan worked,” he said.
“Y-yes.” I stepped forward, pulse thudding in my throat. Would we find him lying in a pool of blood, his body mangled from the fall? I shook my head. What full ogres lacked in magical power, they made up for in resilience. Asproceros was probably unconscious. Hopefully with a fractured skull.
“YAAAH!” A massive figure galloped toward me through the dust, broadsword raised above his head.
“Run!” shouted Fyrian.
Stepping back, I widened my stance and raised my sword. “It’s too late. He’ll catch me in seconds. I have to fight.”
Phoenix rushed behind him and bellowed. The ogre stumbled to his feet, clapping a hand over his ear. I pushed my magic into the Parched Sword and sliced a lance of fire at the wrist of his sword arm.
Asproceros cried out, a gut-wrenching sound accompanied by the clang of his sword hitting the ground.
“Out of the way,” said Fyrian.
I jumped aside. Fyrian spat venom into the ogre’s face, coloring his nose-horn green.
He clapped his hands over his eyes. “What is this?”
“The most flammable liquid in the Known World,” I said. “If so much as an ember comes close to you, you’ll go up in flames.”
Pariah of Dragons Page 18