Age of Valor: Dragon Song

by D. E. Morris

  “I'm going to be sick.”

  Jaryn!

  He swallowed the vomit that had risen in his throat, making a concentrated effort to call out to Misuzu. “You have to stop the storm! We can't fly in it!” It seemed as though she hadn't heard him, or perhaps she'd simply ignored him all together. In the next second, however, the storm around them began to calm. Though the clouds did not entirely disperse or the wind disappear all together, the elements became much more manageable. Ahead, they could now see Cailin and Connor waiting for them in the air.

  I'm sorry, apologized Misuzu, descending to fly beside Jaryn and brush up against his leg. I wanted to provide us with cover to aid in our escape, but it seems my temper got the better of me. I didn't even know I was capable of all of this.

  “Let's just get back to Ibays and figure out what we have to do next, yeah?”

  No one had a chance to answer. An arrow came whistling past them, close enough to strike Misuzu's side with a clatter like a pebble on glass, then fall to the darkness below. Jaryn craned his neck to look behind them as she turned her body fully around, prepared to take on whoever had come after them. Through the clouds, they could make out at least eight full sized dragons coming their way, most of them with riders on their backs. With a sigh, Jaryn gripped Mairead's neck once more. “Alright. Let's do this.”

  She trumpeted into the sky and dove to turn herself around, following after Misuzu to meet the others in the air. Cailin and Connor shot forward as well, seeing the approaching danger. Three against eight were not terrible odds when one was on the ground and in possession of a weapon, but Jaryn was neither of those things, and he had never felt less confident going into a fight than he was now. Still, he was not about to give up hope of a victorious ending. Even as they sped toward what could be their end, he was determined not to go down without a fight. Several possible plans began to arrange themselves in his mind. He knew he needed a weapon, and he needed to somehow help throw some of the riders off their mounts. That would mean leaving Mairead, since he knew most of her fighting would be done with her feet and tail. Pulling his legs up behind him, he leaned forward across her back, ready to spring should the opportunity arise.

  As they drew closer and the clouds began to disappear, they could all suddenly see the wave of dragons coming at them from behind the initial eight. “Oh dear Giver...”

  Tell me what to do, Mairead cried suddenly, slowing. You are my high king and as such, I should fly back to Siness right now...but the others...

  “We stay and fight,” Jaryn growled decisively.

  She was silent for a moment, then she looked over her shoulder at him with one big eye. It has been a privilege to serve you.

  Jaryn tried to respond, to tell her not to assume the worst, but his thoughts directed toward her gave him a fuzzy, congested feeling as though his words were bouncing back to him off an invisible mental barrier; she was closed off. With little else to do, he nodded to her and turned his attention to their fast approaching enemies. Mairead lowered her head and pumped her wings before racing forward to join Misuzu.

  The air dragon reached the opponents before her friends and employed the same move Mairead had just used on her. She flew directly toward the leader of the riders, her maw opening in a fierce roar that she hoped would frighten the dragons or the the riders enough to make their course change, but still they flew straight toward her. Though she hated the idea of any of the dragons being injured or even killed, Misuzu knew there was little to no chance that any of them would get away unscathed.

  She looked into the eyes of the fire dragon racing toward her, whipping her body around at the very last second so that it and two other dragons with riders directly behind it impacted her side instead of meeting her head on. A man screamed as he fell from his dragon down to the sea below. The riderless dragon soared upward and was gone, but the other two held fast and righted themselves, their dragons snapping at her with no effect.

  Mairead and Jaryn shot past her, a war cry on Jaryn's lips as they dove into the heart of their pursuants. The smaller dragon collided nearly head on with another dragon similar in size. A woman on its back swung a sword at Jaryn, barely missing his shoulder. He held on as the two fighting dragons clawed and rolled, aware of the fact that the other dragon was much more controlled and calculated than Mairead was. It snapped at Mairead's neck and Jaryn yelped. Without thinking of the risks, he dove onto the other dragon's back and knocked the woman aside. The dragon, unhappy with the added weight, bellowed a complaint before trying to bite at Jaryn's dangling leg. Mairead seized the opportunity of distraction and whipped her tail around, slapping the dragon hard in the face. As it rolled, Jaryn scrambled to grab hold of the joint where one of the wings met the shoulders. The woman only missed sliding off the dragon by holding onto Jaryn's leg. When she swung up with her sword, still trying to kill him, he kicked her in the face with his free leg and grabbed her sword, blade first, when she was stunned. Another kick and she let go, screaming as she fell to the sea.

  The dragon worked on righting itself, shaking its head to try to clear its vision, but Mairead's tail had damaged its eye and there was blood under the scales directly below it. As Mairead came close again, Jaryn leaped back to her, sword in his wounded and bloody hand, and the pair flew deeper into the fray.

  Cailin was doing her best to fight the dragons and riders that were coming after her, though her main goal was to keep Connor safe and on her back. His grip around her was tight, and after she'd instructed him to stay as low and as close to her body as he could, he'd been out of danger for the most part. There were only a few she truly had to fight, and they had been tricky adversaries. The riders had been dislodged in the end, and she'd been forced to kill one of the dragons, while the others had flown away. Connor kept his eyes fixedly on Jaryn in the distance, watching with awe as a sort of hero worship fell over him. It didn't keep him from understanding what was going on, however, and he retched when he had to witness Cailin sinking her teeth into the jugular of one of his precious dragons.

  Hovering on the outside while watching Mairead, Jaryn, and Misuzu do most of the fighting was not sitting well with Cailin. It was her vantage point, however, that showed her the singular copper dragon high above, riderless and simply watching. She'd seen all kinds of dragons on Ironedge with any number of color patterns to their scales, but this was one she had not seen before at all. Connor, are you okay?

  “I want to go home,” he said weakly.

  I know. We'll get there. She wanted to promise him that he'd see Ibays again, but there was no guarantee that any of them would make it out of this alive. Connor, look up, high above all the dragons. Do you see that dark orange one?

  He shifted on her back and raised his face to the sky. “I see it.”

  Do you recognize it? You must have been in and out of every single cave in those mountains. Surely it looks familiar to you?

  He studied the beast for a long moment before shaking his head. “No, I've never seen that one. Is it a fire dragon? Why isn't it fighting?”

  It looks to be a fire dragon...but I don't know why it's just hovering there. She tore her gaze away from the odd dragon to watch the battle that they were sure to lose. Misuzu was more than holding her own against the attacks coming endlessly at her. Though her legs were short, her body was so long and sinuous that she could wrap herself around more than two dragons and squeeze the life out of them without any damage to herself at all. Even Mairead had been able to wound quite a few of the dragons, many of them now missing scales and oozing blood from deep gashes in their faces or underbellies. Yet somehow, she remained undamaged.

  “Why do you think they're fighting us like this?” Connor asked, breaking into her thoughts.

  What do you mean?

  “Look at them. There are so many dragons that I can't even count them all, but not all of them are attacking. It's like they're waiting their turn.”

  Cailin watched more closely, flying just a few feet clo
ser. She hadn't noticed before that, yes, there were a great deal of dragons, but most of them were simply spectators until one of their own who was fighting fell. For each one that was lost, another joined in, creating an endless stream of attacks. You're right. They're holding back for some reason.

  “Then we have to go,” Connor cried. “If they won't all attack us at once, and Misuzu and that other dragon on our side are holding their own, we have to try to make a run for it. Let's get the others and go!”

  She didn't answer, wondering how great their odds would be if they did just that. If they all stayed to try to escape by winning, it would never happen. By layering the attacks as they were, they would wear both Misuzu and Mairead down sooner rather than later. She glanced at the copper dragon again. Would it finally move if they tried to fly away? Would all of the dragons follow them? If they could get an early warning to Siness, it wouldn't matter if they were followed. Maybe she could convince Misuzu to use her fyre and beat them there to get everyone to prepare.

  I'm sorry I got you into this, Connor. I'm even sorrier that I might not get you out of it.

  Connor's arms tightened around her in a brief hug. “I have faith, Cai.”

  Well I hope it's enough faith for us all. Hold on. She took a deep breath, then flew away from her position of near safety to try to get the attention of the others.

  Jaryn was quickly becoming adept at jumping from Mairead's back to that of another dragon, throwing the rider off, and returning to her. He went for the unarmed ones to begin with, but as more riders joined the melee, he had to fight a few of them with swords and daggers, some who even fought with their bows or long pikes. One of the men Jaryn tried to tackle off of his yellow earth dragon swung a sharp spear at him as soon as he landed. Jaryn was prepared and threw himself at the man, landing on top of him in a heap. They wrestled with each other, the man eventually getting a good hold of Jaryn and shoving him back. He tumbled down between the wings, avoiding falling by grabbing onto a spinal ridge. Before he could try besting the man again, Jaryn watched him launch his spear into the air, sending it soaring through the chaos all around them and right into a soft spot under Mairead's right foreleg.

  The fire dragon roared in pain and peeled away, leaving Jaryn stranded with the rider. He was unarmed now, though, giving Jaryn a slight advantage. There was no time to try to see where Mairead had gone or even if she was all right. Jaryn charged at the man with a yell, slamming his shoulder into his stomach. The two stumbled back from the impact, but immediately went at each other again like mountain goats. A fist was driven into Jaryn's back, but he grabbed one of the man's legs and yanked, sending him backward. Using the momentum to his advantage, Jaryn pushed him even farther before he could get his feet, and finally sent him screaming off of his dragon.

  Now that there was no one to distract him, Jaryn rushed to the front of the dragon, standing in between its shoulders to look around for Mairead. She was nowhere to be seen, leaving Jaryn with only one option. He looked at the back of the yellow scaled head, wondering if this were a full blooded dragon or a Gael. He'd never tried initiating telepathic contact before, not when a conversation hadn't already been going. From everything he knew, he had to direct his thoughts to a specific recipient and just...think. Gripping his sword, he stared hard at the dragon's head, and thought, Uh...hello?

  The dragon roared loudly, bucking like a wild horse so violently that Jaryn threw himself down and wrapped his arms around its neck, his sword still in his hand. “I'm sorry!” he yelled, but the dragon was not to be calmed. It raised its head to try to reach back for him, snorting sulfurous sparks in frustration when it couldn't find him. Turning to the side, it snapped at thin air, seeing Jaryn's body but still unable to reach him. Irate now, the dragon rocked to one side then dropped like a stone, spiraling faster than Misuzu had when he was riding her. Jaryn clung with everything in him, but the cold was numbing his fingers and he couldn't hold on any longer. Before he knew what was happening, he was flying through the air, not knowing if he had been flung up or down, left or right.

  He expected to plunge into icy water at any moment, but all too quickly there were talons wrapping around his middle, yanking him from his fall so quickly that he thought his neck would snap. With sharp realization, he saw the stars at his feet and knew he was upside down, along with the dragon who'd caught him. He tried to twist in an effort to see who had him, but the dragon turned in a tight circle, righting itself in the sky and disorienting him. It was only the ferocious laugh from above that finally made Jaryn shake his head and look up.

  A burly woman leered down at him from the back of her blue and purple dragon. She spoke no words, but as the talons began to squeeze him tighter and tighter, her grin took on a wicked glint. The ribs that had been healing screamed at him and he fought, futile, to pry the massive talons apart. Nothing budged and he was sure every bone in his body would break before he was squeezed to death. There was a sudden jerk of motion in the dragon as Misuzu rammed into it, and the talons not only loosened, but let go of him all together. This time he knew where he was going. There wasn't enough cloud cover below him to hide the swells of the angry sea that were rushing up to meet him.

  Three dragons watched him fall and all of them raced to catch him. Cailin tucked her wings into her sides, making herself more streamlined, and dove down so quickly that Connor screamed. Mairead and the strange copper dragon sped toward him as well, coming from opposite directions and unaware of each other. With Cailin beating them to Jaryn, she caught him on her back and pumped her wings heavily, rising back up into the air with her tail slapping the surface of the ocean and leaving a spray of sea water in her wake. The other two dragons watched her ascent and tried to stop their own, but they were too close to one another and their momentum far too great. Both pulled their legs and their necks up, prepared for the impact that was sure to come, turning in opposite ways in a last ditch effort to minimize the damage from the collision.

  It could only have been the grace of the Giver that let them soar right by one another. As it was, they brushed stomachs as they sailed past each other, a shock passing between them as they did. The surprise of it made both of them unstable in the air. The copper dragon nearly let her wing drop into the water which would have caused her to be overtaken by the sea. Mairead, however wobbly, righted herself and doubled back to watch the dragon steady herself on her wings and turn around as well. Bobbing just a few meters above the ocean, they stared at each other in question and confusion, all but forgetting the chaos going on just above their heads.

  Mairead was not unfamiliar to the sensation she'd felt when touching this dragon. The day she let Elas into her room so he could speak to her, he'd touched her face where her scars were and something similar had happened. It was like a rush of power, but it was hot and searing into every nerve of her body. Then, in a mere second, the moment passed. Neither of them understood what it had been and there hadn't been much of an opportunity to speak to each other or anyone else about it since the wedding.

  The copper dragon snorted, whether in confusion or impatience, Mairead could hardly tell. Can you hear me? Her thoughts felt like they bounced off an invisible wall and came right back to her. She had tried getting through to some of the dragons through telepathy, but it only served in feeding into their frenzied rage. This dragon, however, had no reaction at all. It was the only confirmation she needed to come to the conclusion that it was also a Gael.

  Mairead!

  Her head snapped up. Misuzu was above her, circling around her enemies as she fought and trying to get her attention. We're making a run for it.

  She glanced at the other dragon, still waiting, still staring. We will never outrun them all.

  We have a better chance of outrunning then than we do outlasting them.

  Mairead turned her body so she could get a better look at the dragons and riders just waiting for their turn in the battle. She had no idea where they'd all come from, but she knew Misuzu was rig
ht. Jaryn and the young high king of Ibays were safe with Cailin. Even if the attack should follow them as she was sure it would, there was a chance that she and Misuzu could work together to slow the others down enough to give Cailin a chance to get the two rulers to safety.

  Resigned to her likely fate, she looked to the copper dragon once more only to find it had gone. A quick scan of the sky revealed no other with that same pattern of coloring. The mystery of what had passed between them would have to be another thing she added to her list of things to explore later. If there was a later.

  All right, she finally conceded. I will follow your lead.

  Depending on how far we get before they overtake us, we may be forced to land in Ibays and find shelter. Or reinforcements. Or meet our ends. The goal, however, is to get to Siness.

  Then let us pray it is the Giver's will that we should make it there.

  She stayed low above the water, flying in the direction from which she'd originally come. Though none of the riders came after her, she kept her eye on Misuzu above, all the while looking for the copper dragon amid the many others. They flew farther away, attackers peeling off as the distance between them and the island grew, until finally, it was just Mairead and Misuzu in the sky. The fire dragon rose to fly beside her companion, and together they looked back to the wall of opposition behind them.

  They're not even moving.

  Mairead was just as surprised as the pale dragon hovering beside her. As she looked over the masses, however, she found the elusive copper dragon directly in the center, at the forefront of all the others. Who is that copper dragon?

  I don't know. I never saw it when I was on the island. As they watched, the dragon slowly turned itself around and flew in amid its companions, all of them turning around as well to follow her back toward Ironedge. They're not going to follow us?

  Why not? Mairead had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Looking down, she questioned, Would their water dragons follow us?