“First we must join in mind and battle,” said Qarim. “Behold our true forms and stand strong.”
Tetula and her sword vanished, as did the other avatars of the choir. They dissolved in a flare of light, extinguishing the illusion from Elrin’s mind. Before them were four dragons, their serpentine necks arcing around the column, their intelligent eyes regarding them in cool omnipotence. This was no flash of truth, it was an awful reality; the dragons’ power set their fragile mortality into stark relief. Elrin and the others fought against every impulse to crumble before their might.
Elrin was snatched up in a cage of claws and dropped astride the great silver shoulders of Tetula. Her frosted honey voice entered his mind. “Hold tight.”
Tetula’s muscular body was plated with smooth metallic scales, each as big as a warrior’s shield. Thick tufts of hair sprouted down her spine from head to tail. Elrin grasped a handful of her blonde mane and shifted into the dip between two vertebrae. “I’m ready.”
Tetula leapt into the air, her powerful wings beat twice, flying them up to the cavern ceiling. Elrin thought he would be impaled by the shafts of rock that jutted out like an army of upside-down pikes, but instead Tetula tucked in her wings and they slipped into a dark tunnel hidden in the side of the cavern. Elrin hugged close to the dragon’s back. Her claws scraped along the stone while her body half crawled and half slithered, gaining speed as they careened down the black tunnel. They shot out from the top of the caldera wall into bright daylight. The silver dragon spread her wings and lifted them over the sea.
Elrin screamed into the wind. The thrill of the speed and the height ignited his insides with an ecstatic joy that buzzed through his body; the ultimate wish to fly coupled with the ultimate test of courage, both exposed to the whim of the most formidable being under the gods. He was living the fantasy every child dreamed of and every adult grew to fear.
With several beats, her wings caught a thermal current, circling them up in a grand lazy spiral, borne of the rising warm air. Clutching Tetula’s mane and gripping her neck with his thighs, Elrin dared himself to lean over and look straight down.
***
Qarim emerged from the sanctuary like a bolt from a crossbow. Delik clung to the spines protruding like giant needles from the dragon’s long slim body. As he wedged his ankles and hooked his feet under the spines, his only thought was for the long fall down if Qarim decided to flip over in some daft manoeuvre. Tetula circled in a thermal above with Elrin leaning over her neck, gawking down at them. The shankakin’s stomach sank to think of doing the same. Bloody fool, grinning like an idiot. Delik had a fine enough view without hanging out into the empty sky. Qarim beat his mottled purple and gold wings hard, lifting them to catch up and join the same air current. The late morning sun reflected on Qarim’s golden scales and the islands of treasure far below.
The armada was a plague of white sails on the blue-green ocean, swarming the advance pirate fleet. Kobb’s feint retreat had lured the armada amongst the islands as planned, fanning out in a fragmented chase through the passages, but there was a problem. The sheer number of ships deployed against them was far larger than anything Delik had estimated. His father couldn’t have received accurate intelligence on the true size of the Jandan fleet. Or had he known and bet everything on the choir? How else could they win?
The armada pushed along the east and west flank of the archipelago, sealing each passage to open water as they went. They were leaving no chance of escape, confident that they had the numbers and positioning sentries to guard from a surprise attack. The bulk of Kobb’s ragtag pirate fleet sailed to the west of the sanctuary, amounting to no more than the Jandan contingent flanking the islands from the same direction.
Treasure glimmered through the patches of dense green forest scattered across the islands. Even from high above the rebels were invisible. What good was he up in the air, riding this beast? He should be down there with his comrades, ready to stitch up the ships in the channels.
Qarim stretched his long neck around and eyeballed Delik, prodding him with his thoughts. “This ‘beast’ can hear your little mind tripping over itself. Think with some decency, please.”
Delik directed his thoughts to Qarim. “Sorry, I didn’t think a tough old stick would be so sensitive. What keeps us from the battle?”
“You are brave to goad a dragon, perhaps stupid. I find there is small difference amongst the shortlives.”
“Then, we have that in common.”
***
Minni pulled Amber to the deck as another shot from the Jandan bow chaser blasted into Bone Dancer, tearing through her mizzen rigging.
Kobb yelled up at them from the quarterdeck. “Cough it ladies! Give us more puff!”
Minni helped Amber to her feet, glaring at Kobb. “Make up your mind. You just told her to slow down.”
Kobb ignored her, shouting at his bosun. “Get another lateen up!”
Amber was enjoying herself. Even under fire her magic flowed, directing the wind and water to speed Bone Dancer ahead of her pursuers. It was a fine game. She was a child playing with a new toy at season’s end. She sung and giggled, weaving the elements to her whim. Ample gusts of wind filled their sails and tiny water creations leapt out of her buckets and into the sea. Once overboard they swam toward the pursuing Jandan ships, growing as they went, magnified in the open water. Dolphins and sharks, monstrous fish and sea serpents made from water and magic harried the Jandans. They leapt onto the ships causing havoc, their life only as long as Amber’s own entertainment saw fit. She laughed and played, experimenting with strange and ridiculous shapes. Amber favoured the comic relief of cows leaping onto their decks, though they didn’t last very long before she disintegrated into fits of mirth.
The redeemer on board the leading ship showed himself on the forecastle. His white robes billowed around him like angry clouds. His acolyte set down a cage of unsettled doves and the redeemer cast a spell, waving his arms in strange patterns. The cage shimmered and the birds churned in a craze of feathers, their energy funnelling to the redeemer.
Minni nocked an arrow. “Amber! Get down!” The arrow loosed, falling short of the redeemer. Out of range.
A bolt of energy shot from the redeemer’s palm. It seared through the air, white and blue lightning twisting around itself in a lance of destruction. Amber dove flat on the deck and the bolt crackled past where she had been standing, tearing through the new lateen sail, setting it aflame and blasting splinters off the mizzenmast.
Kobb yelled orders, a man screamed in pain. Minni sharpened her attention on the redeemer. She knocked another arrow, knowing it would likely miss. It was all she could do. She drew back and aimed high, praying for the Welcome Stranger to bring her luck.
Amber cupped her hand in one of her water pails and ran to Minni. She dripped the water over the broadhead and it hugged the steel like a bubble of glue. Amber pointed to the sea, then at the redeemer, her mouth set firm, an eerie tune curling from the back of her throat. Minni released just as a second bolt of lightning sizzled from the redeemer’s hands, careening towards them. The arrow plunged into the water then Amber raised her fist and the enchanted missile emerged faster than when it was shot, surrounded by a vortex of water. She thrust her palm forward and the water arrow streaked into the bolt of lightning absorbing its energy. With a shout the young elementalist cast the deadly missile into the redeemer’s chest, blasting him open and knocking him off the forecastle.
***
Far beneath Elrin, Obst and Wyggen emerged from the tunnel in the caldera cliff face. Wyggen’s enormous wings fanned out, lifting in a thermal without a single beat. His lazy circles above the caldera darkened Kobbton in shadow. Obst had no wings and yet she flew through the air, weaving in and out of the sea. Her long serpent body was an aquamarine ribbon, flowing along the junction of water and air. Her sturdy limbs were needles stitching the elements together. She patrolled the sea around the caldera then retired to the caldera wall, draping herself acro
ss the mountainside, guarding the entrance.
Tetula and Qarim banked out of their thermal at a dizzying height and flew toward Kobb’s ships fleeing through the channels. White smoke drifted in the wake of the chase. The crash of cannon fire split into the sky, distant and violent, spoiling the peace of the altitude like a smith in a temple.
Elrin shouted into the wind. “We have to protect the last of the fleeing ships!” His words were consumed by the wind and the dragon’s wings carving through the air.
Tetula’s voice resonated in his head. “Use your thoughts, young one. I am listening, but keep it clear.”
Elrin closed his eyes and pronounced his mind, imagining the words radiating through the air. “We have to help those fleeing ships.”
“Why help them? They are pirates. I can destroy both.”
“No! My friends might be on those ships.” Elrin thought of Amber and hoped Minni and Tikis were there to protect her. They were seasoned in battle, but Amber was just a child trapped in this mess. She had to be rescued.
“An innocent?”
“How did you know?”
“Your thoughts are clear, if not concise.”
Tetula stretched her long neck to Qarim, flying at her side. They exchanged a euphonious song of high-pitched whistles and clicks. Qarim lifted his long spiny neck and Tetula returned the gesture. A mental flash of Tetula attacking the ships below accompanied her words.
“Ready yourself.”
Qarim dipped his graceful neck and tucked in his wings like a falcon. Delik screamed as they dropped from the sky, shooting down like a falling star toward the armada advancing up the western flank. Tetula dove a moment later, her angle so steep, Elrin clutched her body close for fear the wind streaking by would tear him off her back. The wind sang chaos in his ears and whipped at his skin. Elrin held on with white knuckles, sure they would crash into the sea. A rumble grew deep in Tetula’s chest as she extended her wings, pulling from the dive at the last moment. Her body dipped, skimming her claws into the sea before rising again and spewing flames over the Jandan ships.
Searing hot air coursed by. The silver dragon beat her wings to gain some altitude then circled back to survey the damage. Two leading ships were floating pyres, those behind wheeled hard, confronted with either running aground in the narrow channel, or colliding with the flaming ships.
A bolt of lightning shot towards Tetula from a frigate sailing up the other side of the island. She banked hard and it sizzled past them. Another bolt followed from a different vessel below and the dragon dove toward the closer enemy, twisting away at the last moment and setting it afire. A volley of arrows arced across from the ship behind and a swivel-mounted cannon blasted. Shot thudded into Tetula’s chest. She reared up and roared, buffeting the vessel with a gale that knocked the crew off their feet.
***
Qarim and Delik streamed over the western fleet. The dragon hung his head low and breathed noxious gas over them then pulled up and around, avoiding the volleys of bolts and arrows. Delik’s amulet glowed as Qarim cast chaos upon the Jandans. Illusory kraken emerged from the ocean, wrapping their tentacles about the vessels and sending men overboard, fighting each other to get away. Cannons opened fire in a wild effort to blast the sea monsters back into the depths, but the shots went straight through the illusions and into the neighbouring ships, inflicting extensive damage to the fleet.
Qarim circled, bending the magic of the weave to his will. Water beaded on Delik’s skin and thick storm clouds built around them. It was cold inside the clouds. The glow from his amulet pulsed and his hair stood on end. A crack of lightning struck down, splitting through a mast and setting the sails aflame. Strike after strike carved through the western fleet. Damaged ships limped south in retreat while others advanced north, trying to escape Qarim’s storm. The remainder fought on, battling the monstrous illusions and themselves.
The pirate fleet laying in wait saw its chance and pounced, speeding down from the north to take advantage of the divided Jandan fleet. The Jandans formed up, broadsiding the pirates’ advance. Shot tore across the pirate fleet and white smoke swirled from the spitting cannons. The pirates pushed forward even faster, aided by weather witches in a race to beat the second volley. Juniper led the charge, beating the guns and boarding the closest galleon.
Qarim blasted lightning into a pirate galley, knocking its mast into the sea. Their mission was to eliminate both pirates and the armada, but guilt gnawed at Delik’s bones. He remembered Elrin staying his hand back in Rum Hill, sparing the Jandan marines from the ungodly black powder and shot. How was this any different?
Qarim penetrated his mind. “I feel your doubts condense.”
“It doesn’t seem fair. You could obliterate them all.”
“Yes.”
“They have families waiting in the Caldera.”
“And the others, do they not have families too? What difference is there?”
“They come to kill ... They would have us all dead or enslaved, the rebels, the pirates, you. The pirates are thieves and opportunists. They’re a mixed bag, but they don’t want us dead, they don’t want you dead. They’re defending their home.”
“What would you have us do?”
“Help the pirates, they have shown you no harm and left your hoard untouched. I cannot condemn them for a promise Kobb has not yet broken.”
“I am glad you have come to that conclusion. Yet again we find something in common.”
Down in the island channels Tetula sent a thunderous roar bleeding into the sky.
***
Bone Dancer’s crew whooped and whistled, watching the silver dragon breathe death upon their pursuers. Minni watched on in awe. It had to be the biggest silver ever spotted, swooping and diving with a grace and power unbelievable for its size. As the ancient wyrm dodged a redeemer’s lightning bolt, it twisted around revealing a human rider.
Minni gasped and the pit of her stomach sank in a tumble of elation and fear.
Amber grabbed Minni’s arm and pointed, eyes wide with excitement.
“I saw too! It’s Elrin. He did it!”
Kobb seized the crew’s boost in morale to press ahead. “Right boys! Let’s see the Dancer clear. It’s time for the rebels to take some heat.”
Amber summoned a steady wind with her magical song and the crew set to work, making the most of it. The Jandan ships kept coming, faster than before, motivated more by fear of the dragon than the thrill of the chase.
Menacing storm clouds gathered to the west and the silhouette of another dragon appeared in the clouds while lightning struck out with unnatural abandon. Elrin and his dragon swooped through a barrage of arrows and vehement bursts of magic, flying over the islands to engage the ships sailing the other channels.
Minni lost sight of them for a moment. A cannon fired, followed by a roar loud enough to curdle the clouds. Silver wings appeared over the island and a second cannon blasted. The dragon ripped the air with a terrible scream. A bright flash scalded the daylight white. The dragon lifted above the island and swooped away beating hard through the sky.
Minni ran to the rail squinting through the sun, trying to see if Elrin was still safe atop the dragon. She couldn’t spot him through the glare of the silver scales. The dragon flew in a wide circle and came straight at them.
The Jandan ships that followed Bone Dancer shot arrows up at the dragon as it passed overhead. Several green bolts of energy shot out and hit. The dragon ignored them, staying on course. Minni grabbed Amber and pulled her to the side. The dragon landed on the stern, its enormous claws digging into the aft castle, its tail dragging in the water. The impact lifted the bow high, knocking the pirates off their feet. The dragon brought its violently regal head level with Minni, inspecting her with eyes as silver as her scales. Amber clung to Minni’s side.
Elrin extended his hand. “Climb up. She won’t hurt you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quick, take my hand.”
&nb
sp; Minni helped Amber up behind Elrin before climbing on herself. The dragon leapt into the air, rocking Bone Dancer with a violent heave. The ship’s mangled stern was left like a giant dog had gnawed on it.
“Where’s Tikis?” called Elrin.
“On the big island just to the north,” she shouted back. “Did the others make it?”
“Jaspa and Hurn are guarding the sanctuary.” Elrin pointed to the storm. “Delik’s in there.”
“Daft bastard!”
They were supposed to summon them not ride them. Give her a horse any day. Something you could control. Not something that would eat the rider if it got hungry. At least she had a nice view; there were worse places to be killed. Minni resigned herself to the short flight, making the most of her vantage point to survey the battle below.
With no opposition, the armada’s eastern flank had sped through the open sea, advancing ahead of the pirate ships in the channels. The fleet escorted four barges, each armed with ballista. The armada was set to rout Kobb’s retreat; those barges would barricade them in. Bone Dancer wouldn’t make it out without Amber. Minni had a soft spot for the long shot and harboured a secret hope the pirates might have destroyed the armada on their own. She knew the pirates had to be restrained though. Kobb couldn’t be trusted to govern the sea. Even if he could, his power over the other pirate captains was limited. They’d be trading slaves again and preying on merchant traders unchecked.
The dragon landed on a mountain of treasure, her chest heaving.
Minni swung down and helped Amber off.
“Get her to safety,” said Elrin.
“What? You’re not coming?”
“We battle together.”
Could he hear himself? “Don’t be a hero, Elrin. You’re no warrior.”
Elrin flinched, stung by her thoughtless words. “What am I then?”
My key, my heart alight. “I don’t know.” I don’t want you to die.
“I don’t know either. I won’t know until I find my father.”
“You’re not going to find him up there.”
“They know him. They’re going to help me. So I will help them.”
Dragon Choir Page 27