It was impossible. It was all I could think of as Raolcan finally pulled himself through the arches and took a place next to Enkenay within. At least we’d die together.
Worth it. You’ve been worth everything.
So had he.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Savette flared like a candle lit in a dark room. Her light increased suddenly and powerfully and the mandala around her began to spin as it spread. She rose in the air, her hands thrown outward to either side and her blank face lifted upward, hovering above the ground. She was a vision of purity and light, but tears tracked down her face, flowing constantly. Was she hurt, too?
It hurts her.
I thought it was supposed to heal her. What was it doing to her?
Exposing the truth. Truth is very painful and goodness flares violently in the presence of evil.
Was she reacting to the coming Ifrit? Was she trembling?
“Can your dragon fly?” Rakturan yelled to me as I hobbled under the arches and took a place between Savette and Raolcan. I was worried about them both.
“No. Can Enkenay?”
“I don’t think so. He tried to fly when you were fighting, but he couldn’t get into the air.”
The Ifrit outside roared and Rakturan cursed. “If Hubric would just come back, we could flee aboard his dragon. Do you think he can carry four people?”
I didn’t bother answering. I wouldn’t leave Raolcan. Hubric wouldn’t ask me to. I knew that without having to ask. I had a feeling that Hubric wouldn’t leave me, either. He’d sworn protection over me.
The Ifrit hit Kyrowat with the same shadowy ball he’d flung at Raolcan. Kyrowat was flung across the valley, encased in a sphere of darkness. The first wave of our enemies hit the arches at the same time, rushing up the steps toward us. I braced with my crutch quarterstaff and beside me, Rakturan leapt forward, sword slashing across the chest of the first man to dart through an arch.
Savette screamed as a wave of white burst from her, growing wider as it raced outward. Everyone in its path disappeared as the wave hit – but not the Ifrit. He roared, his huge hand grabbing the arch in front of us and pulling it up from the ground. Soil and rock fell from its base as he flung it aside. Savette hit him with blast after blast, keening in pain as she fought.
I flinched at the sound, but I had my own work to do. A few members of the Dusk Covenant snuck around the sides of the Ifrit, coming at us from either side. Raolcan blasted the ones that came his way with scorching fire, but his head was leaning on the ground now. His strength fading. He seemed too dazed to even think clearly.
Amel?
I’m here, Raolcan. I’m here. I moved to shelter him, fighting off a stray attacker until he walked into the path of Raolcan’s fire. Raolcan blasted him away.
On the other side, Rakturan fought, sword carving through his enemies.
The Ifrit leaned forward and took a step into the healing arches. Savette screamed, “Rakturan!”
And Rakturan darted away from his still living opponents, rushing to put himself between her and the Ifrit.
The Ifrit lunged for him and he dodged, tripping and falling backward, his sword falling out of his grasp. Savette caught him, clinging to him from behind and above him. She was rising further off the ground, tears pouring from her eyes and the light so bright that her skin was translucent, her hair a mass of silvery wisps lit with blue-white light. She wrapped her arms around Rakturan’s dark chest, leaned her head on his shoulder, and closed her bright eyes. Rakturan’s shut, too, as if he were drinking her embrace in, one last time.
I held my breath. If only hopes could save. If only wanting something could hold back evil. I hoped with all my heart, but even as I hoped I was certain I was watching her last living moment.
The Ifrit leaned down so that his wild face was inches from theirs. His mouth opened, roiling lava moving within. On his head were ten horns, made of dancing smoke and his eyes were pits of fire. His lips moved as if he were forming a word.
And then, as if they were one person, Savette and Rakturan opened their eyes.
White light flared so brightly that I couldn’t see. I was thrown off my feet, landing hard on the ground and smacking my head. Everything was gone in a moment of pain and light. I coughed and gasped, my fingers reaching out but finding nothing but the cold forest floor. Blinding pain filled my head and purple after-images clouded my vision. I pulled myself up on hands and knees, shaking my head to try to clear it.
Thank you, Hubric, for a crutch that stays attached. By the time I pulled myself to my feet, my vision had cleared enough to see. The Ifrit was gone. The attackers before us were gone. I’d been thrown out of the arches. I hobbled, stiffly, back to them.
Savette and Rakturan were on their knees, holding each other in a tight embrace. Savette’s glow had reduced again, but her eyes were still white as the center of the sun.
“Raolcan?” I looked, to where I’d seen him last. He lifted his head, stood, and shook out his wings. “Your wing!”
The look he gave me was the closest thing I’d ever seen to a dragon smile. He leaned forward and rubbed his cheek against me.
You’re alive!
Me? He was the one I’d been worried about!
We’re all alive.
Beside him, Enkenay stood and shook like a dog, his wings unfurling. Far from the patchy, broken thing he’d been just moments before, he was completely whole, his white scales shining in the moonlight.
“They really are healing arches,” I said in wonder.
A tiny prick of pain filled me as I realized I’d been thrown from the arches at just the wrong time. If I’d been in there, like the dragons had, when the flare of Savette’s power peaked, would I be able to walk on two legs now? I pushed the thought aside. This wasn’t the time. Raolcan and Enkenay were healed. Savette and Rakturan were still alive, murmuring to one another. What about Hubric? Where was he?
Let’s look. Come on.
I hobbled to Raolcan, climbed onto his back and held on tight as he leapt into the air. The cool air of night seemed so fresh and calm for a place filled with such violence. Where was Hubric?
There! Kyrowat emerged from the night, Hubric on his back with a grim expression on his face. He was dirty and tired looking, but whole. He motioned for me to follow and we landed outside the arches.
“Can everyone still fly?” he asked, but it wasn’t to me. I could tell because Kyrowat cocked his head as if he were answering mentally.
Hubric turned to me, “We need to go. Now.” I opened my mouth but he silenced me with a single motion. “The ones who live fled. They had a second Ifrit with them. Tired as we are, we don’t dare stay here. We can talk all about this later. Tonight, we flee.”
“Of course.”
“Rakturan,” Hubric called. “Bring Savette. We must flee! Not a moment to spare!”
Rakturan and Savette emerged from the arches, but it was not Rakturan leading Savette. She led him.
Rakturan’s eyes were blazing with white fire - just like hers.
Read more of Amel’s story in Dragon School: First Message.
Dragon School_Dusk Covenant Page 7