I’ll be like a bee in their ears. Finally, a chance to annoy Reds without any chance of fall-out. You have no idea how they set themselves up for it.
They did?
Trust me, those gnarled Red giants take themselves way too seriously.
At that moment, we crested the top of the hill and flew up over it and for the first time, I saw exactly what we were dealing with all in one wide dragon-view.
Chapter Seventeen
Our first target was to our right, the tall hill crawling with ant-like creatures – Magikas and Purples- as Hubric and Cynos had seen in the glass. There were many of them. Enough that I felt a hard lump forming in my belly at the thought of sweeping into all those Magikas bent on taking back my friend.
“Fly to the hill. Free the Purples.” I chanted.
Down. Closer to the water I could see the other camps, and out in the bay were the ships they’d seen. It might be a small group - as far as invading armies were concerned – but it was large enough that my head felt light and I thought I might lose my lunch.
Standing on a rocky outcrop over the river, stood Rakturan and Savette with Enkenay behind them. Their blindfolds were off, and light flooded the area all around them. Rakturan stood straight and something – magic? – amplified his voice so that I could hear it even this far away.
“Men of Baojang,” he said. “I am your prince - Rakturan. Come to me. Rejoin your prince.”
There was a stir in the ranks of Baojang and a matching stir in the ranks of the Rock Eaters. What had Savette and Rakturan gotten themselves into? They were powerful, but powerful enough to take on an army? I didn’t think so.
One thing at a time. Focusing on everything will make it seem too large and you will crumble. Pick one thing and focus on that first. Until the ward keeping us away is down we can’t help, and neither can anyone else.
“Fly to the hill. Free the Purples,” I said aloud.
In front of Savette and Rakturan, the waters of the river parted suddenly and an Ifrit rose up out of the water. Behind him, a second one began to emerge. That was too many! They couldn’t handle more than one. We’d seen what one could do alone. There was just no way that they could fight two at once.
A third Ifrit emerged from the depths as the Rock Eaters began to form ranks behind them. The men of Baojang moved purposefully toward Rakturan. Were they going to join him as he’d asked, or were they also bent on his death?
Confusion hit me like a wall. Why was I here? I suddenly didn’t know. Were we going the wrong way? Weren’t we supposed to be heading west? There had been something about a ward? No, that wasn’t right. I was flying a message to the Dominar. I should be doing that right now.
“Fly to the hill. Free the Purples,” I said. It sounded ridiculous. What hill? What purples?
Ahead of me, I noticed the Red formation growing ragged as dragons swooped in loops to turn instead of flying forward. Raolcan? Were we supposed to do something about that? For some reason, it felt like I was supposed to...
Hold fast. Keep saying the words. I’m ordering the Reds back around.
His mind felt focused. He knew what we were supposed to do.
“Fly to the hill. Free the Purples.”
At the front of the formation, Cynos began to sign an order to wheel the formation. Raolcan! Could he stop Cynos’ dragon?
Mionshc. He’s a stubborn one, but I am under his skin. He won’t wheel.
Two dragons at the far left of the line fell out of formation but quickly settled and returned.
Seiddet and Lekwbeh. They have weak minds. I must keep an eye on them.
We were close enough now that I could see the Magikas scrambling into formation on the hill. There were two lines of them, encircling their prisoners, arms in the air and ready to attack us. The frantic feel to their movements was a welcome sight – at least they hadn’t planned for this. But what could our dragons do with the captives at the center? If we attacked the Magikas we would flame the prisoners for sure.
No wonder Hubric had found it difficult to pick out Leng. I couldn’t see faces clearly even now. The prisoners were arranged in what looked like stocks. Their heads and hands locked into a series of long boards that formed a ring on the top of the hill. From there, they could see every direction. How terrible! And were stocks really necessary? I felt any shred of compassion I had for the Magikas below leave me. On the boards above the heads of the prisoners, the brand of the Dusk Covenant was burnt deep in the wood.
My heart was racing now as I chanted the words, “Fly to the hill. Free the Purples.”
Our formation tightened, so that now I could see my fellow riders chanting the same thing as we dove toward the hill together. We’d passed the confusion. We were going to make it!
I swear, it’s been like herding cats. Did I say dragons were intelligent? You can scratch that. These fools couldn’t find their way out of an egg.
Who could do that in the first place?
Dragons. Or at least the ones who leave the egg and make their way in the world.
One Magika in red robes waved a staff over his head and together they launched fireballs at our formation. All joking died as we rolled and dodged to escape the flames. Two of our dragons flamed back, but their flames came dangerously close to the prisoner formation at the center of the Magikas and the Magikas dodged aside from the flames.
Cynos was signaling vigorously and I could tell from the feeling of Raolcan’s thoughts that he was concentrated on keeping the Reds focused. I needed to think of a way to get to the prisoners past those ranks of Magikas.
Two Reds dropped back and Raolcan snapped at one as it passed, flaming at the tail of the second. They spun back into line and we swept upward with the rest of the formation, following Cynos. He was signaling to swoop up, regroup, and then dive together toward the hill, all flaming at once.
It would be effective. Together, with our dragon’s bellies shielding us from their fireballs as we flew in a tight formation, we could set the entire hill ablaze. But what about the prisoners? We needed to keep them safe and then we needed to get them out of those stocks! Was it a key that unlatched them? We’d need to find the key.
Not a key.
Oh, look! I saw it now, too. There was a lever that could be pulled to open up the entire mechanism and let a prisoner out. Simpler and more heavy-duty than a lock and key system. I supposed they never expected anyone but the Dusk Covenant to make it up that hill in the first place.
It was in that moment that I saw him. Leng! His head was twisted slightly upward, like he was struggling to look up at the sky.
He was there! He was really there! I needed to get down and get him out of those stocks. My hands itched to do it and my heart raced with excitement. If we could just fly close enough, we could swoop in while the others were fighting. We could-
Stop distracting me! We can’t free him until the fight here is done. Focus!
Fire tore through our ranks and around me yells and grunts filled the air. Raolcan hissed as a fireball hit his tail and I gritted my teeth hard, apology filling my thoughts. I shouldn’t have distracted him. The dragons on either end of our formation flamed and then each one in turn flamed in pairs at Cynos’ sign. Even those with riders clearly burned by the Magika’s flames kept in formation as we dove toward the hill.
Fire wreathed the top of the hill like a blazing orange crown. Three Magikas, lit like candles, stumbled out across the hillside and fell down the steep sides, rolling through the grass and trees, spreading fire as they went. Distracted by the fires around them, even those untouched by our flames could not focus to launch another attack.
I should have felt relief that we’d quelled their attack, or sadness for the Red Dragon Rider I saw fall from his saddle, his body a charred mass. Instead, I was filled with terror as I watched the flames rolling toward the prisoners at the center of the hill.
Chapter Eighteen
We had to get down there before the flames got to the prison
ers. They were roaring across the grass, slowly eating up everything in their path, whether tents or flags or the clothing of the Magikas they touched.
Hold on.
I gripped the reins as our formation wheeled in a large loop together around the crown of the hill, but my eyes were on one small figure in the distance, held in place by cruel stocks. As we dove again, our formation burst apart, each individual dragon breaking off to chase the scattered Magikas. Raolcan dove straight toward the stocks. Would we make it in time? The flames were licking the base of them as three Magikas fought the blaze. If we dropped into that mess it would be one against three, but they would have the fire to distract them.
I’ll drop you right onto the lever. Unstrap now so you are ready to leap off and throw it clear.
Leap off? Throw the lever in the middle of roaring flames? My heart hammered in my chest, but my clumsy fingers scrambled to obey, fighting against the leather straps to loosen them and work them off. We were already diving in closer, the air rushing around me. And we must have been getting close because it was feeling hot on my face. I was jolted as we landed hard on the ground.
Now.
I grabbed my crutch from its place and leapt down, stumbling over the uneven terrain. My lungs and heart raced with the intensity of the moment, but the hot air seared my lungs and I clutched my chest, coughing as I stumbled to the lever. Behind me, I heard Raolcan blast a gout of flame off. I glanced over my shoulder to see him dodge out of the way of one of the Magikas, searing another with his flames.
I grabbed the lever with both hands, but it wouldn’t budge. Down the line, a scream erupted as the flames reached the prisoners in the stocks. No! This couldn’t happen. I was here. All I needed to do was pull this lever - and it was stuck. I grabbed the top of it again, pulling down with all my weight. Nothing.
Help comes.
Maybe one of the other dragon riders was on their way? I spun around to see Raolcan battling three Magikas as they leapt and spun through the flames, firing balls of flame at him. Were they somehow immune to the fire? He worked hard to keep them all at bay so that their flames missed both him and me.
I scanned the sky for help, but the Reds were out of my line of vision. Had another enemy appeared, or were they still in battle against Magikas scattered across the hill? Where was this help coming from?
And then I saw it – a dark figure growing closer by the second, swooping toward the hill. Good. Hopefully whoever was riding him was faster than I was. I worked at the lever. Were the coughs I heard my own or someone else’s? Would there be any Purples still alive by the time we freed them?
Stand aside. That wasn’t Raolcan’s voice! I’d heard that voice in my head before.
I leapt out of the way the second before Ahlskibi landed beside me, grabbed the tiny lever in his massive jaw and pulled it down. The gears creaked and squealed and then the locking mechanism freed. I rushed down the line to the first Dragon Rider. Not Leng. I hurried to help him out of the stocks and left him coughing and leaning against the wood as I moved to the next prisoner.
Almost done here. Something is happening in the river valley. Cynos rushed that way.
The next rider down the line was dead. A fireball must have hit her before we even reached the lever. I tried not to look as I skirted past her toward the next one. I couldn’t see who it was around the curve of the strange structure. When I finally turned around the bend, I saw the Dragon Rider slumped in the stocks. A gleam from the fires around us reflected from his nearly-bald head. Leng!
I scrambled to his side, tugging at the stocks and freeing him. His head hung low and I shook him. Had he breathed in too much smoke?
He shook his head and then looked up at me.
“Dreaming,” he muttered.
“You’re not dreaming. It’s me.”
“Ahlskibi.”
I looked behind me and nearly leapt at the huge head right behind my shoulder.
That’s the last of the Magikas. They fought hard. I’ve rarely had a human put up such a fight, Raolcan said.
Ahlskibi leaned past me, nuzzling Leng with his huge head. Leng tried to straighten, but stumbled forward, and I quickly got an arm under him to help him stand. His body must be seized up from being stuck in place for so long. What would his mind be like after such suffering? I couldn’t think about that now. I had to concentrate. There were other riders to save.
I flew around the others. They do not live. I’ll get the one you saved. Get Leng ready to ride. I’ll be there in a moment. We need to get back to the valley. I’ve lost track of what is happening there, but Cynos flew that way as soon as we removed this barrier. It must be serious. Cynos isn’t the type to leave a job unfinished.
Ahlskibi would want to carry Leng.
Ahlskibi is in no condition to carry anyone right now.
Leng shook himself, caressed Ahlskibi with one hand and then pulled himself slowly straight, seeming to see me for the first time.
“Amel? Can it really be you?” His dark eyes were full of so much hope that I just wanted to reassure him.
“It’s me, Leng.”
I have him. Okay, get ready.
Leng reached up a shaking hand and caressed the side of my face. I winced – not from his touch but from the look of his raw, bleeding wrist. He needed help and care.
No time.
“It’s really you.” He gathered me in his arms, so tenderly, so gently that I could barely breathe from the affection that welled up in me. He was safe and living. He felt warm and strong against me, despite his injuries and suffering. I hugged him back, pulling him gently closer, reveling in the safe feeling of being in his arms.
“I was so worried,” I said. How did you tell someone that they were slowly becoming a part of you? How did you keep from scaring them with how real it felt? Laying my cheek against his chest felt like coming home. I didn’t want to move from this spot. What if I let him go and he was gone again? What if I lost my grip for a second and he was hanging by a thread over death one more time? He lived too dangerously. He loved things that were too dangerous.
The same things you love – adventure, truth, and doing good in an evil world. Can you hurry it up? We have a valley full of Ifrits to deal with.
Raolcan landed behind us, the flames licking at his feet.
Climb on.
“Wait,” Leng said, before I could pull away from our embrace.
Gently, so gently, in the middle of flames, swooping dragons and the remains of a hard-fought battle, he took my face in his battered hands and gently kissed my lips. I leaned into his kiss, savoring his love and loyalty. I didn’t want to ever stop kissing him.
You’re going to have to. I can’t keep these flames back anymore and we have big problems below. How many Ifrits do you think kisses kill? My guess is zero. Shall we place wagers on it?
Leng broke away, caressing my hair one last time, his eyes filled with love and pain. “I can hardly bear to part with you again so soon. You’re all I’ve thought about these past days. You and Ahlskibi.”
“Ride Raolcan with me?”
“I can’t. Ahlskibi needs me, too. He’s been through a lot.”
Where had he been all this time?
It’s an interesting story, but not one for right now.
Raolcan was practically hopping from foot to foot as we broke apart and walked in opposite directions to our two dragons.
“I have so much to tell you,” I called to Leng as I mounted Raolcan. The other Dragon Rider we had saved made room for me. He sat crooked in the saddle, like he was struggling to straighten. “Stay safe until I can.”
Leng smiled at me as he mounted Ahlskibi without a saddle or reins. “I’ve made it this far.”
Barely. He’d barely made it this far. No wonder Dragon Riders had short lives. And I’d fallen head over heels for one of them. I didn’t want to stop loving him, either. I’d take the risk and the potential pain just to be close to him in the moments that we could be.
Are you about done?
Yes, but only for now. No promises for later.
Chapter Nineteen
Raolcan launched into the air, kicking up high so we could see the whole valley laid out below. The rushing river threaded through the Feet of the River, but below us, a battle raged. Savette and Rakturan stood at the center of it on their rocky outcrop. Some of the men of Baojang must have joined Rakturn, because the Rock Eaters and Baojang fought, but between them, Ifrists fought, too. I watched Savette raise a hand as light shot out and took one of the Ifrits in the chest, evaporating him in an instant. Was she growing more powerful?
Cynos and the Red Dragons swooped among the earth-demons, flames, and weapons their only defense against the power of the earth. How many of those horrifying creatures lay beneath the water before they were summoned up? How many more lay there even now?
I clutched the saddle as Raolcan dove toward the battle, but I wasn’t thinking about a strategy of any kind. I’d already seen the battle and what we were up against. Twenty-three dragons – if we were that many now that some of the Reds had been killed in the attack against the hill top – and a few men from Baojang - were not enough to win against an army of Ifrits. Not even with the Chosen One on our side. If Hubric was here, he would have had some prophecy to quote.
One like this?
Surrounded on every side, not overcome,
Light battles the depths, commands armies come,
Her battle not with mortal man, but earth and fire
Ancient ally returns in battle dire.
Did Raolcan know the prophecies, too?
Did I forget to mention it?
Yes. He definitely forgot to mention that.
I grew up with them.
Like a Castelan. Dragons taught their little ones a lot better than poor farmers did. I had no idea prophecies even existed before I met Hubric.
Below us, a wall of men in Baojang saffron crashed into the red-faced Rock Eaters. I cringed at the screams below as steel met flesh. This was so wrong. People shouldn’t wreck each other’s bodies like stomping through Fall leaves. Weren’t we too precious for that? Wasn’t life too precious to be poured out all over the river rock?
Dragon School Page 6