Namir roared in pain and swung his head to grab the black dragon. Another black struck and dug its claws through the golden scales. The combined weight drove them toward the ground. Vaddoc released a hail of weaves, sending glowing lances into the black bodies. Screeches ripped through the air, but still they held on. The wind whipped past Vaddoc’s ears. The ground rushed up at them. One of the shadows jerked loose, hit by something invisible. Golden scales, torn free, flew through the air. Vaddoc sensed the deep gashes in Namir’s side.
With the other black gone, the gold was able to twist around and sink his claws and teeth deep into the muscles beneath the foul scales of the one that still held on. Using powerful thrusts of his wings, Namir flipped their positions just before they hit the ground.
The black smashed into the blood-soaked earth, softening the impact for Namir and crushing its dark rider beneath it.
Namir launched himself back into the air. The other black still fought with an invisible opponent, and Vaddoc knew Loki and Merru had rejoined the battle. He hoped the pair weren’t too exhausted from the healing.
Keta streaked by like a bolt of lightning. Syrakynn shredded a Shadow Dragon in mid-air. Even with Paki, Miya, Tellnox, Shryden, and Nydara joining the battle it wasn’t enough. On the ground, the line fell back until there was nowhere left to go. The two Nagas helped hold the line as much as anyone. Their long, sinuous forms moved at blurring speeds along the bank, fighting where the line was weakest.
Vaddoc reached for Namir, “We have to get them out of here. Between me, Loki, and Brock, we should be able to shield the others so they can open Slides and get the survivors out. There is going to be tremendous pressure on the shield, though. We will not be able to maintain it long.”
“I will spread the word through the dragons,” Namir returned.
Olen and Merru appeared out of the smoke-laden sky. Vaddoc wove the strongest shield possible and raised it at the same time Loki and Brock raised theirs until the weaves overlapped. An onslaught of weaves from the dark mages and Shadow Riders bombarded the translucent barrier. Kojen pounded against it, and shadow fire blasted it. It took every shred of concentration for Vaddoc to maintain the weave.
Focused on the task, Vaddoc barely registered the Slides opening below. All three shields wavered. The exhaustion of the day, combined with the heavy use of magic, was taking its toll. How much longer could they hold it? His strength waned. The shield flickered.
“They are all through,” came Namir’s sending before the gold opened a Slide between them and the diminishing barrier.
They flew over the grasslands near Spirit Lake. The sun hung low on the horizon, staining the sky in brilliant hues of pink and purple. The beauty of the sunset was completely at odds with the bloodshed and carnage endured that day. Beneath him, Namir faltered for a moment. The fatigue dragging at Vaddoc was mirrored back at him in the dragon.
Syrakynn burst through a Slide a few wing lengths away, her panicked alarm spilling over to all of the riders. Kirynn no longer responded to Syrakynn’s calls.
“Namir, try to calm her down. We cannot go back to the river yet; the shadow army will still be on the eastern bank.”
“I have already explained this. She is not pleased at the prospect of leaving Kirynn wherever she is.”
Vaddoc sighed. “None of us are.” Worry for her filled him but they didn’t have any choice.
A moment passed before the return came, “Loki and Merru are willing to make a pass down the river.”
“No. Loki’s shield weakened as much as mine did. He will not be able to maintain a light- bending weave long enough to keep them safe. Either it will fail and they will be attacked, or he will kill himself.”
“Mckale and Maleena have said the same thing,” Namir returned. “Miya says Serena has threatened to knock Loki upside the head if he tries it. I will not repeat the words Kellinar used in his message through Shryden. Merru has agreed that waiting is the best course of action for now.”
Vaddoc ran a hand through his sweaty hair, and it came away red. He wasn’t surprised, although he didn’t recall the blow that caused it. Namir was in even worse shape. The desire to find Kirynn warred with seeing Namir healed and rested. Leaving any of their friends behind enemy lines rankled; however, his duty to his dragon and to see the rest of them safe won out. Kirynn would agree with him.
Namir huffed a weary breath and opened another Slide. Around them the others did the same—even the frustrated Syrakynn. They came out the other side over the crowded, sweeping field west of Markene’s capitol.
Surrounded by her Galdrilene Defenders, Kalila marched through the refugees directing a large group of Markeni and able-bodied Calladaran and Shaderian hauling wood into the field. Others cleared places to start fires. Kalila gestured to the group with one arm while the other held a bundle of smaller sticks for kindling though the multitude of voices drowned out her words from this distance.
She wasn’t the only high-ranking lady willing to get her hands dirty. Arlenyi, Lord Mannoc’s widow and Raylah, Lord Arandrall’s wife, both had their hands full of blankets as they directed a crowd of servants carrying towels, clothing, and buckets of water.
Anything that could be used as a tent was being put up by a mix of Ke’han warriors and Boromari soldiers to shelter women, children, and those still recovering from injuries and healing from the coming of night.
Namir and the other dragons landed far enough away so the wind from their wings wouldn’t ruin the efforts of the tent builders. Vaddoc jerked in the saddle from the exhausted dragon’s heavy landing. Namir stood with his wings hanging at his sides as Vaddoc removed the safety straps and slid to the ground. With weary movements, he loosened the saddle and dragged it off the dragon. Too tired to do more than walk a few paces, he flopped down in the grass with the rest of the riders and used the saddle to lean against.
Mages from the Tower of Healing converged on the dragons. Once they were finished, they turned their attention to Vaddoc and the other riders.
With slow beats of their wings, the dragons took off again, flying low toward the river to bathe and drink. Vaddoc raised his eyes to take in his companions. Mckale and Maleena, both covered in ash, sat leaning against each other. Darker spots in the gray showed where they had taken wounds. Kellinar and Taela, also a shade of gray, sat nearly the same with Serena nearby. The other riders all sat or sprawled in various states of exhaustion.
Vaddoc could only imagine what he looked like. Or not. He chuckled wryly when Namir supplied an image of his dirty and bloodied form. They all desperately needed food and bathing. He turned his head and looked east. Food was a definite yes, but he couldn’t bring himself to worry much about the grime. Not with one of their own missing.
“We will find her,” Maleena said. He turned, and she offered him a sad smile. “Your thoughts were quite loud.”
Taela nodded silently.
After a brief rest, they managed to drag themselves to their feet and moved toward the refugees in search of food. Vaddoc glanced east again. A meal, maybe a few short hours of sleep for them and their dragons, and then they could begin the search for Kirynn. Hopefully the Shadow Riders weren’t searching the riverbanks for survivors or camping down next to the river.
“The dawn will bring a new day, my rider,” Namir sent.
“It usually does.”
“With it, new possibilities come. Eat, sleep, and try not to worry too much. Kirynn is strong.”
Vaddoc sighed before returning, “I know.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “You need to eat as well.”
“We will hunt now though we will not be far…”
As the dragon broke contact, Vaddoc’s sisters slammed into him. Tears of joy ran down their faces, and he returned their hugs, grateful to see them alive. Shadereen may be gone, but at least this time he had protected those he loved.
Plaintive whining cut through the darkness surrounding her. It slowly pulled her to the surface. A groan escaped Kirynn�
��s lips as her eyes opened. A dark blue blanket covered the sky held back in the west by only a faint brush of light. The night wind flowed over her in icy waves, though it did nothing to cool the fire in her side or the pain in her leg that throbbed in time with her aching head.
“Kirynn! Where are you?” came Syrakynn’s sending.
“I have no idea. Somewhere on the west riverbank. There’s some bushes and trees. How did the battle end?”
“We lost. I’m coming for you.”
“You’ll remain where you are until it’s safe. It hasn’t been that long. I doubt the Shadow Riders and forces have pulled that far back from the river.”
“You’re injured, and you need healing.”
“Give me a moment to assess the damage,” Kirynn sent.
She rolled to her relatively uninjured side and slowly pushed herself up until she sat on the damp ground and waited for the trees to stop their slow spin. With shaking hands, Kirynn examined her right side for the source of pain and found a piece of broken off branch as thick as her thumb sticking a few inches out of her flesh just below her ribs. She couldn’t tell how deep it was. It would be better to leave it, less blood loss that way.
Her leg was swollen well beyond normal proportions. From the way it felt, the restriction of her clothing was cutting off the circulation. She slid her knife from its sheath at her waist. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she bent forward and cut through her boot from the top to the ankle, then slit her pant leg all the way up. A rush of stinging ran through her leg like a swarm of angry wasps adding to her misery.
Lenya! Kirynn turned her head to look for the child. She sat a few paces away, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around them. Like Kirynn, she was covered in mud, her hair plastered down in a tangled, dirty mess. Several cuts had bled through the mud on her arms. Her dry eyes stared straight ahead.
A sudden fear she couldn’t define made her heart pound. “Lenya?”
The little girl didn’t move or acknowledge her.
“Lenya, are you hurt?”
Nothing. Had she been so injured she wasn’t understanding? No, other than some cuts she looked fine. The fear subsided, and Kirynn hung her head in relief. Lenya at least seemed to have escaped too much damage.
The whining began again, miserable and helpless. Kirynn squinted through blurry eyes in the direction of the sound. A few paces away at the edge of the water where the eroded bank jutted out, a mud-covered dog clung to the bank with its front paws. It whined again as it scrabbled at the steep, slippery soil. She couldn’t just sit there and watch until it lost its grip and was swept away by the river.
Groaning and panting with every movement, Kirynn crawled toward the dog, dragging her broken leg behind her while full night claimed the sky. Twice while covering the short distance, she collapsed and lay shaking for several moments until she found the strength to continue. When she finally reached the animal, only her bond-enhanced sight allowed her to see the dog clinging to the water’s edge in the shadows. No moon graced the sky and only the stars bathed the world in their dim light.
Kirynn inched toward the animal and reached down, grabbing a handful of muddy scruff. She took a few quick breaths to prepare herself. Holding the last one, she gritted her teeth and pulled hard. Ignoring the yelps of the dog she hauled it up beside her; it was the only way to save it. Agony shot through her side and body. A deeper black than the night eclipsed the edges of her vision.
A warm tongue licked her face bringing her back from the brink of unconsciousness. Kirynn buried her fingers into the wet fur and sprawled on her back, staring up through the branches with the dog cuddled against her uninjured side as she struggled to hold onto awareness. After several, eternal moments of pain, she gathered herself and slowly dragged her way back to Lenya with the dog inching along next to her.
Kirynn watched the child wondering what she should be doing to help her. Her mind grew hazy, and she closed her eyes. Warmth pressed up against her uninjured side as the dog curled up close. The mental dusk came for her again. It reached through the pain and Syrakynn’s constant sendings, and dragged her under.
The sun hung well above the horizon, its bright light illuminating the burned and bloodied battlefield with far more clarity than Vaddoc wanted as Namir flew low and slow over the Blood River. Though still swollen, its receding waters left behind a devastated landscape wiped clean of everything except a slick of mud mixed with ash and debris. In the distance the faint forms of Shryden, Tellnox, and Merru, searching their lengths of riverbanks, were barely visible.
At least the shadow army appeared to have pulled back to the ruin that used to be the city of Marden. Loki and Merru, hidden in their light-bending weave, had scouted the area before the rest of them joined in the search.
Kirynn’s description of where she was hadn’t been much help. Numerous trees clung to the riverbanks and they’d been unable to reach her again despite Syrakynn’s efforts. Vaddoc watched the west side of the bank carefully for any sign, trying to ignore the stench of the battlefield and the reek of bloated animal carcasses that had washed down in the flood and then left behind by the receding water. The rising heat of the day only compounded the odors.
They passed over an eroded bank protruding into the river when a long, high-pitched howl drew their attention. Namir pivoted to face the bank as a mud-colored dog limped heavily into view, its tail wagging. The dog barked louder, wagging its tail faster.
“As much as I hate to leave a dog, Namir, we are here to find Kirynn. Besides, I do not think Cat would appreciate sharing you.”
“The dog showed herself for a reason. Most canines are afraid of dragons at first or threatened. This one is neither. She has had contact with dragons before.”
“Now it’s a ‘she?’”
“I can smell her from here, even covered in mud. We will land and investigate.”
Vaddoc glanced down at the river, sighing in resignation. “Of course we will.”
The gold lowered himself to the ground just beyond the reaching branches of the trees. A hot wind rippled the grass of the prairie behind them, doing little to cool the sweat running down Vaddoc’s face. He wiped it away and unfastened the safety straps. The dog limped a few more steps before lying down with a whimper, though her tail never stopped its happy wag.
Vaddoc jumped down from the saddle, loosened the catcher strap, and then walked toward the dog. Her tail picked up its pace the closer he got. He knelt and offered a hand to her. She eagerly licked it, joyful whines mingling with her whimpers.
Bloody smears and dried mud mixed with the fur. Vaddoc stroked her head, working his fingers into the crusty fur to rub behind her ears while he looked her over. One swollen back leg appeared broken and there was a large gash on her chest, but no injuries to account for the blood on her head and scruff. The dog stood and limped into the trees. Vaddoc glanced back at Namir.
“You should probably go with her,” Namir sent.
Vaddoc barely stepped beneath the sparse, waving canopy when he saw them. Lenya was curled on her side. Kirynn, less than an arm’s length away from the child, laid on her back. Both were coated in the dried mud of the river blending them perfectly into the ground.
“Namir, call off the search. We found her.”
“I told you the dog got our attention for a reason,” came the dragon’s smug return.
A few long strides brought Vaddoc to Kirynn’s side, a mixture of relief and worry flashing through him. After taking a deep breath, he did his best to shut down the emotions that welled up and tried to think only as a soldier as he assessed her injuries.
Fresh, bright-red blood oozed through the crust of mud around a stick driven into Kirynn’s side. A smear of muddy red in her hair drew his attention. With gentle fingers, he found a deep cut with a large swelling under it. Her lower left leg was swollen twice its normal size and bent at an odd angle. He dropped to one knee next to her. “Kirynn?”
She didn’t wake or
move. Turning, he checked Lenya for a pulse and found it beating strong. The child didn’t appear injured, and he gently shook her. Rich dark eyes opened slowly and stared at him before she sat up. Her expressionless face gazed toward the river. “Lenya, are you hurt?”
She didn’t answer him. Her eyes, devoid of emotion, remained fixed on the moving water. He turned back to Kirynn as the wind from the wings of several dragons sent the canopy overhead into a frenzy of slapping branches and rustling leaves. Nira and Serena appeared under the trees and knelt to either side of Kirynn, their faces etched with concern, both wearing the same no-nonsense expression.
Vaddoc stood and backed out of their way. Serena knelt next to the swollen leg, muttering about multiple breaks and shattered bones. Nira laid a hand near the protruding stick and closed her eyes. Her other hand began easing the stick out.
Nira managed to pull three inches of thin branch from Kirynn when she jerked up with a roar and slammed her left fist into Nira’s face. The healer tumbled back into the dirt with blood flowing from her nose.
“Hold her,” Nira ordered sharply and climbed to her feet. The blood smeared across the black skin of her cheek when she attempted to wipe it away.
Vaddoc shoved Kirynn back down by her shoulders. Her fist connected with his cheek as she spit curses at him. Maneuvering around, until he knelt above her head, he caught her flailing arms and pinned them down under his legs while pressing his hands against her shoulders and using the full weight of his upper body to hold her. Even with his greater strength, she was hard to hold.
“Make your repairs quick, Nira,” he said.
Nira resumed her position next to Kirynn and began working the stick out. Vaddoc strained to hold Kirynn as she thrashed and screamed. She glared at him, and he could see by her uneven pupils that the blow to her head was causing her violent reactions.
Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) Page 26