For a second, guilt lanced into my gut. I was taking them to a land about to be torn apart by war. And I was happy about that, because a legion of dragons and the extra warriors would mean we had a better chance of winning. I batted the guilt away. That was immaterial to what was happening here. Without the opportunity to fight for existence in another land they would all be lost anyway.
I turned a corner and sprinted up a winding staircase. Fewer and fewer people appeared in the halls and they were practically deserted by the time I got to my and Isla’s rooms. I pushed open the door, expecting to find my little familiar right there.
‘Scruffy,’ I raced to my room. Where was he? It wasn’t possible he had slept through those bells. ‘Scruffy.’
‘Don’t move witch.’ The voice was clipped.
I turned towards it. A warrior sat in one of the chairs in the corner of my bedroom. He held Scruffy, wrapped in a towel so that only his nose protruded. Scruffy’s lips were curled back, his canines exposed as he let out a low, rasping growl.
‘What do you want?’
Where are you? Emerald’s thoughts were tense.
The man pulled a face as a foul smell washed over us. ‘I’ve spent the last half hour smelling that. I’ve a mind to kill him just to make it stop.’
I have a little problem. I won’t be long.
‘He gets gassy when he’s scared. Please don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you want.’
He blew out a big breath of air. ‘That’s right witch. You will at that.’
Emerald let out a huff. Hurry. The first group of invaders has landed.
I’ll be there as soon as I deal with the man holding Scruffy hostage in my room.
I felt her alarm flow into me. Traitor.
Obviously. Now, if you don’t mind. I’m a little busy.
I held a hand out towards the man. ‘What do you want?’
He growled and pushed the tip of a knife to Scruffy’s neck. ‘I want you to put your hands behind your back. And then I want you to die.’
‘Really?’ I placed my hands behind my back. ‘You think I’m just going to let you kill me?’
‘If it’s you or your smelly dog, I’m thinking you’ll let me.’
The twitch of his wrist alerted me to what he was planning. Before he could throw the knife, I sent out a surge of will towards him, willing him to be frozen in place. I could tell by the way his eyes widened that it had worked.
I stalked towards him, balling up my fist as I did. ‘Nobody, messes with my dog.’
I put all my speed into the blow I delivered. His eyes rolled back as his head rocked to the side. I plucked Scruffy from him, pulling off the towel and holding him to my chest. He wriggled in my arms till he could reach my face with his tongue.
The door flew open as Turos rushed into the room. ‘You’re safe?’ He stared at the unconscious warrior, sitting stiffly in the chair.
I released my spell and he sagged to the side, his knife sliding from his hand to the floor.
Turos stared at him for a second. ‘Kalvin,’ he finally said. ‘His brother was the man…’ His voice trailed off.
‘The man I fried in the hall that day?’
He nodded his head. ‘Kalvin was a friend. Or so I thought.’
‘What should we do with him?’
‘We leave him. You ready?’
I nodded and followed him to the window. He pushed it further open and stepped out onto Lance’s head, turning nimbly and jumping backwards so that his legs laid down on either side of the huge dragon’s neck. I tucked Scruffy under one arm and stepped up to crouch on the ledge. I took Turos’s outstretched hand with my free one, waiting for the next downward sweep of Lance’s wings before stepping onto his head. Turos took Scruffy from me as I slid down to sit in front of him. He wedged my little familiar between us, wrapping his arms around me to hold him securely in place.
I told myself that I wasn’t so much enjoying the feel of his broad chest pressed up against my back and his strong arms holding me against him, as I was the knowledge that Scruffy was safe. But my shiver gave lie to that thought, and instead, I found myself remembering the feel of him pressing me down into the mattress, and the sensations he had brought to life with his caresses.
He leant in even further and I felt his lips graze my neck, and then Lance was backing away from my window and we were flying down to the launching platform.
As we approached, three dragons took to the air. I counted ten people on each of their backs. They were held in place by a web of leather straps and harnesses that criss-crossed its way down the dragon’s body. Of those ten, at least two were warriors, bows in their hands and full quivers on their backs.
Another couple of dragons crouched low while people clambered up their legs, pulling themselves up into the harnesses and strapping themselves in. Teams of riders worked together, fitting the harnesses.
‘For a nation that has never known war, you certainly are prepared.’ I looked over my shoulder at Turos.
‘We’ve been practising for this day for a very long time.’
‘But….’ I stopped my question. Gladaline. His mother had warned them and they had listened and prepared.
Lance tucked his wings and dropped the last ten metres, landing on the only free piece of platform. I braced for the impact, but his legs took most of the force.
Emerald shook her head and did a dragon impression of an eye roll. So nice of you to join us.
Arthur squatted in front of her, Isla by his side.
I looked out over the valley. Dragons circled like birds of prey while others sat perched on rocky outcrops. I saw a couple of females, their offspring clasped in their front feet. They didn’t have any extra riders on their backs. People queued in the entry to the platform, their bodies tense as they awaited their turn to mount a dragon. Children cried and others shrieked in excitement. Mothers shushed and harried their brood, drying eyes and runny noses.
‘We should work out the best route.’ I turned and walked to Emerald.
Turos stopped me with a touch on my arm. ‘You’re riding with me.’
‘But…’
He shook his head. ‘No buts. She has to carry Arthur and Isla. We don’t know how far we are going to have to fly. And you have to concentrate on what you are doing. You need me to protect you.’
‘I can protect myself, thank you very much.’
‘Don’t be stubborn.’ He shook my shoulder gently. ‘Isla told me you might collapse if it requires too much power.’
‘That only happened once.’
He quirked an eyebrow but said nothing.
‘Fine.’ I turned and stalked back towards Lance, watching as his harness was fitted.
As soon as he was ready, eight black-garbed warriors scrambled onto his back. I knew Markus, Chanda and Yadler from my training sessions, but the rest were new to me.
Turos leapt up and held his arms out for Scruffy. I passed him up so he could strap him into a woven basket. He reached back down and hauled me up in front of him, settling an arm on either side of me.
‘Don’t go getting any ideas,’ I said.
His laugh warmed the back of my neck and I tried to pretend it was that, and not anything else, that made me blush.
Emerald walked to the edge of the platform with Isla perched on her neck. Arthur leapt off in front of her and she followed, snatching him out of the air with her front legs. He wiggled around as if trying to get comfortable and I could see Isla smiling. I could imagine the whining that was going on in her head.
I braced as Lance leapt off, sweeping past other dragons as he circled up. The air vibrated with the beating of dragon wings as we dodged and swerved, finally breaking free of the maelstrom of bodies to burst up and over the line of mountains.
At least ten ships had docked and the intruders were flooding out of them and onto the beaches. The rest of the ships stood sentinel, dotted around the island as far out into the ocean as I could see.
It would
n’t be long before those pirates made their way up to the city. Half an hour at the most.
I looked out over the ocean, searching for a weak point in the layout of the ships. There was none. They were dotted with military precision. We were going to have to circle as high as we could as fast as we could, but even then, as soon as we rose above the height of the mountains they would have us in their line of fire.
As if to prove my words, there was a booming noise. A flash of light highlighted which ship had fired at us. Lance tucked his wings and dived to the right. I saw a large ball of metal flash by on our left. Another boom sounded, and was quickly followed by a third. I let Lance dodge them rather than throw a shield up against them. I was going to need all the strength I had.
I gestured to Turos to head back to the castle. He nodded once and tightened his arms around me as Lance turned a half loop and headed back over the mountains. The pirates were already high up the side of the rocky landscape. Once they got to the top, they’d start heading down into the valley. I could feel sweat starting to prickle at the base of my neck. We were cutting our departure rather fine.
Three more dragons sprung from the platform as we soared down towards it. They swept out over the valley with their civilians clinging to their harnesses. Five more adults, each holding the hand of a child, rushed to the next waiting dragon. They climbed up into the harnesses, taking the children from the outstretched arms of the warriors and securing them in front of them.
Faster. We needed to move faster.
Lance landed on a rocky outcrop off to the side of the platform. Emerald was already waiting there, Isla sitting calmly on her neck while Arthur played with a boulder. He rolled it to the edge with his front legs and then used his snout to push it over. It bounced and crashed its way through the low shrubs that grew on that part of the mountain.
Emerald let out a huff and, reaching out, seized the scruff of Arthur’s neck with her teeth. She lifted him into the air and shook him gently before placing him back on the ground.
Trouble maker. She tried to sound mad, but unmistakeable pride shone through the cracks in her words.
He looked up at her and batted his ginormous golden eyes, an innocent expression on his face as he dragged a toe back and forth through the dirt.
I squashed a smile and looked back at the platform, watching as dragon-after-dragon leapt over the edge and winged their way across the sky.
I looked up the mountain’s side to where I estimated the pirates would come. It was still clear, but it wouldn’t be long before they started cascading down from the crest.
Dragons perched like gargoyles along the sides of the range as it curved around the valley. I could see glassy scales gleaming where the rising sun met the earth. Dragons huffed and snorted, shaking their magnificent heads as smoke coiled out of their nostrils.
The handlers’ fingers flew as they buckled the harnesses. The people moved with speed and efficiency borne of long practice as they climbed onto the dragons. But even knowing they had practised this before, even knowing they were carrying out a drill, I couldn’t still the fear that was creeping up my spine. We weren’t going to make it in time.
I jammed my teeth together to stop myself from screaming at them to hurry, and then looked back up the mountain.
The first of the pirates crested the top, standing silhouetted in place for a moment before scrambling down towards us. My breath caught in my throat as a dozen more followed, and then a dozen more. I lifted a shaking hand and pointed towards them.
Lance growled and Turos let out a groan. A hundred dragon heads swivelled to stare, their large cat eyes fixed on their prey.
More and more of the strangers flowed over the top, until it seemed a black shadow moved over the ground.
Lance threw his head back into the air, let out a challenging roar, and pushed himself forwards, rocketing off the side of the mountain. Emerald shot out a leg and pinned Arthur to the ground, he looked like a swatted fly with his little wings stretched out to either side as he shook his head and huffed out a little growl. Isla sat forwards in her seat, her arm stretched towards me.
Kill them. Kill them all. Emerald’s orders bounced around inside my head as we sped towards our enemy.
All fear left me. All thoughts of strange weapons and the knowledge that tens of thousands more were waiting where these had come from. All I could see was the tide of the enemy flowing down to harm my charges.
Turos slithered backwards away from me, and I heard the sound of arrows being fitted to bows. The warriors behind me were ready and waiting. But I didn’t need an arrow, and I certainly didn’t need a bow.
The pirates paused as we sped towards them, raising strange metallic objects into the air. I heard a roar as they bucked in their hands and I formed a shield in front of us. But this shield was different to any I had formed before. This one wasn’t solid. And it flexed as the metal hit it, pulling back towards us, before springing back out. The small shards of metal reversed their flight and whipped back towards their makers.
Several of the men shrieked in pain, and fell to the ground, others clasped at limbs with their free hands while they aimed their weapons at us.
I heard the twang of arrows being released and dropped my shield. The Border Guard had trained me, and to me they were the elite, but if we had gone up against Turos and his warriors with our bows, we all would have been dead before we’d loaded a second time.
The arrows swept past me in a nearly continuous stream as they calmed their minds and put all else aside. Pirates collapsed with the feathered end of arrows standing out from their chests. But with the arrows firing, we had no shield.
Lance let out a roar as the little metal pellets peppered into him. I could feel Emerald, twisting with frustration, her desire to join her mate warring with her need to protect her child. Her agonised bellow sounded from behind us.
I’ve got this, I said.
I calmed my mind, removing all thoughts, all worries, all fears, and then I swept my hands out and unleashed my fury on the enemy.
Lance’s fire raked them moments before my power exploded the ground out from beneath their feet. Flaming bodies flew into the air, arcing out into the valley with rock and dirt and foliage. Men screamed and batted at themselves with frantic hands and others stood and stared at the gaping hole where their friends had been.
I unleashed my will again as we whipped past them, a spray of dust and dirt heralding where I ripped at the ground with my mind. More bodies tumbled through the air, while still others landed thirty metres away from where they had started, smacking into their brethren as if they had been the weapons I had unleashed.
Arrows flickered past, and more fire roared across them, and then we were past them. I threw up a shield to our rear and swivelled to observe the chaos we had reeked.
Lance banked as quickly as he could, fire belching out in front of him as he roared. His whole body shook with rage. I clutched at my harness with both hands and looked down toward the landing platform. People scurried desperately towards waiting dragons. Fear radiated from every movement, every glance over their shoulders.
I turned to look back up the mountain. A sea of black moved towards us. I heard the bellow of more dragons and two more lifted from the side of the mountain and flapped towards us. A score more warriors with calm faces placed arrows onto bow strings.
I drew air in through my nose and let it out through my mouth. A slow, measured breath. These men, they were nothing to me. Ants to be destroyed. I lifted a palm as we approached again, and fired a bolt of lightning into them. Arrows lanced down on them while more lightning followed. I peppered the ground with mini-explosions, watching impassively as bodies flew and men screamed. It meant nothing to me. The only thing that mattered, was stopping their flow down towards the innocent people waiting to escape.
Some managed, through the panic of our attack, to fire their weapons at us. It was impossible to shield while we were attacking, and I felt Lance shudd
er beneath us as he took the brunt of their attack.
Emerald roared in my head as she shared her mate’s pain. I launched two more lightning bolts and three more explosions, and then we were past them again. We flew wide to allow the next dragons their turn at attack.
Is he okay? I sent the message to Emerald rather than risk breaking Turos’s concentration.
It is the equivalent of you being stung by a bee. Many, many times. Anger and guilt danced through her thoughts.
You belong there. With Arthur.
I could feel her grinding her massive teeth.
Dragons roared and raced toward the enemy and we were forced to fly a larger loop this time. More and more dragons joined us, until there was a continual stream of attack. It meant poor Lance was not wearing the entire brunt of their attack, but it also meant more of our dragons were being weakened before our escape.
On our next pass, I perfected my ground explosions so that there was a continual detonation of the earth, exploding in perfect rhythm as we swept by. Fire covered the hill, clinging to the low-lying shrubs, and licking over many of the prone bodies of the fallen enemy. I released one perfect, three-pronged lightning bolt over my shoulder and then slammed a shield into place.
‘It’s done.’ Turos gestured past me to the landing platform, and I saw the last few dragons lift into the air.
Emerald let out a shriek of rage and lifted into the air. She snatched Arthur up and flapped towards us, her eyes burning as she searched Lance’s flanks for signs of damage. I leant sideways and looked backwards. Blood flecked his sides, and dark holes bloomed in the smoothness of his shiny, black scales.
She spat fire and turned toward the enemy, then shook her head and glanced down at Arthur. Her desire for revenge battled with her maternal instinct. She threw back her head and let out a shriek that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Then she fell into formation beside us as we winged our way higher and higher.
Faery Revenge Page 18