I couldn’t shake off the horror of what I’d done so easily.
You have to.
We landed in a swirl of flame. I was high enough on his back to be shielded from the worst of it, but here on the ground of the ruined city things were so much worse than in the air. People ran, screaming, from the fire, children, and belongings in their arms. Magikas on horses sped through the streets, not caring who they trampled in a flurry of flame and choking smoke. Soldiers barrelled through in knots of five or more, ignoring cries for help.
Tor ran out of a building nearby, a pair of grimy children in his arms. He rushed to me and shoved them at me.
“Hubric is setting them down outside the city. Dax has a fire. Look for it.”
He was gone, rushing back to the building before I had time to question him. I barely managed to grip the too-silent little ones before Raolcan leapt into the air. He sped over the city toward a mark only he could see. The tiny bundles in my arms were so fragile, so small. I clung to them, tears flowing down my face. I’d destroyed their world.
So that’s what that fire is!
Where were their parents? Who would look after them when all this was done?
Keep your mind on what you can do. Big chasms can only be crossed one step at a time. Take the step right in front of you first. The next one after that and the next after that. Eventually, you’ll find you’ve crossed the chasm without realizing it.
The children were coughing by the time we set down at the campfire, their huge eyes glassy with tears. I gathered them in a hug, cooing gentle words until Ephretti came running out to take them from my arms. Behind her, Dax worked over a burnt man, speaking quietly. Someone had found the time to throw up a canvas over him like a makeshift tent. I squinted at it.
“Once a White, always a White,” Ephretti said as she took the children. She waited until I met her eyes. “Your plan is a terrible failure.”
Like I needed to be reminded. My arms felt empty with the children gone. Just like my mind was empty of everything but fear and shame.
I watched her bring them to a group of people huddled under another canvas and settle them in with a few other children under a single blanket – Ephretti’s own blanket, I realized.
We leapt again into the air. My heart was breaking, my eyes stinging. I barely noticed when we flew over a group of archers fleeing the city on horseback. Their arrows swooshed around me, deflecting off of Raolcan’s belly armor. But I felt heavy and dead inside. So what if one of them hit me? I’d been hit before. I could be hit again. All this was my fault.
Beating yourself up and being the sorriest of sorries isn’t going to fix this, Amel. It might make you feel better to punish yourself, but it won’t help right now. Focus! Shake yourself out of this! You’re no help to anyone when you’re focused on yourself!
I focused.
The dragons were still circling, battling the expanding line of flames. They were keeping it from engulfing the entire city, but the flames continued to march slowly forward. At least half the city was aflame now and the dragons were forced to weave in and out of the billowing black towers of smoke. Despite the darkness around us, the countryside looked orange in the light of the fires.
That dark mass down the road continued to creep toward us, and if it were Ifrits, we were dead already. Between the fires and the clumps of Magikas and warriors still fighting, we didn’t have enough people and dragons. I glanced at the newly built tower in the center of the city – still untouched, it bristled with archers and Magikas ready to fight. But, along the walls and further out, every able-bodied person who could flee, was fleeing. Tiny figures and their long shadows ran from the city in every direction like ants from a kicked anthill.
I gritted my teeth as we descended again into the blazing hell below, dodging dragons with water-filled mouths and whizzing magenta fireballs from the Magikas still too loyal to turn coat and flee. We met Kyrowat flying up as we swooped down. He was heavy in the air with eight people clinging to him like barnacles. Shockingly, Tor was holding four people, one of his straps on each of them, calling out sharp instructions.
“Hold on to your strap! Eyes on the dragon, not the sky or the ground! It’s not far, just be brave! I’ve got you!”
Hubric’s teeth were gritted, ash and soot streaked across his face and through his wild white braids. He held the people around him expertly, not even pretending to steer his old dragon. Kyrowat flew like rescuing panicked people was his daily profession. He was as competent and steady as Raolcan, but as I looked into the burning city I knew it wouldn’t be enough.
The wind was picking up and as it did, the flames burst forward like a dam opening. A gust of hot air shoved us back, spinning Raolcan off course. I hung on tight, watching as the central tower spun closer and closer.
Chapter Fourteen
We smacked against the tower, tumbling away as arrows and fireballs arched through the air around us. The gust of fire pushed the line of the blaze forward, gobbling up a new line of tumble-down shanties. I gasped, clinging to Raolcan’s neck as he righted himself. Heat flashed against my skin and I hissed at the pain and intensity.
The fires were almost to the tower, but the Magikas seemed more intent than ever on fighting us instead of the flames. I felt tight and edgy as I watched them. If the fires made me feel like my skin was curling in on itself, what must it feel like in that tower?
Fools.
I tried to focus instead of being distracted by them. Raolcan was fighting them flame for flame, fire for fire. A magenta ball of fire came so close that my face felt suddenly hot, the smell of burning hair filled the air.
Oops. It’s okay. You’ll look fine without eyebrows.
Somewhere in that panicked darkness, innocents were fleeing the conflict. How would I get them all out? There weren’t enough Dragon Riders and the wild dragons wouldn’t allow people on their backs. There had to be some way...
What if the dragons cleared a path for them out of the city and toward Dax’s encampment?
It might work. A lot of the problems down there come from confusion. They don’t know how the fires are moving, but we can see them from the air.
He spun, and I heard arrows clatter behind us. Why were we so close to the tower?
I’m keeping them occupied while the others work. The fools don’t know they’ve been beaten.
So, if the dragons cleared a safe lane out of the city and kept it clear and wet, that would be a start. Then, if we could just get people to touch down and tell the people which way to go...
Kyrowat thinks it will work. I’m changing the orders for the dragons.
I felt tense as we circled the tower again drawing the fire of the Magikas to us. Fireballs landed uselessly behind us in the flaming parts of the city instead of arching towards the areas untouched by flames. Raolcan was keeping their fire away from the tinder-pile city one swoop at a time.
Little steps. One after another.
A pair of black dragons landed in the smoky city, and as if by magic, began to clear a path, pulling rubble out from a road and widening it. Behind them, the dragons bearing water began to drop their mouthfuls on the cleared path. Kyrowat dropped down nearby and moments later tiny figures pushed their way through the rubble to the path, rushing down it almost as quickly as the Blacks could clear the path.
Tyalmae flew past, Ephretti signing like she thought I could even keep up with what she was saying.
Hubric told her to fly to the other side of the line and start herding people to the clear path.
We just had to hold on. We just had to get as many people clear as we could.
Something changed.
My brow wrinkled as I tried to think of what it was.
They’ve stopped firing at us. They’re leaving the tower.
A gust of steam puffed up from the base of the tower and my eyes widened as I realized the Magikas could throw orbs of water as easily as they’d thrown balls of fire. Where had that been during the fire?
Why hadn’t they helped the people?
Selfish. They care only for themselves. Wrap your scarf around your mouth and come on.
We dove down past the flames to the thick fog of smoke. I poured water from my waterskin over the scarf covering my mouth. Raolcan set down in a crossroads between heaps of stone rubble from when this had been a skycity and makeshift vendor booths made of wood planking and salvaged rock. People huddled in the rock openings.
“Hurry!” I called to them through the scarf. “There’s a clear way out of the city that way!”
“It’s safer to stay here,” someone shouted from an alcove. “We’re under attack and we need to be where the Magikas can defend us.”
“The whole city is on fire. You need-”
A dark figure leapt off the top of a heap of rubble, crashing into me. Raolcan reared up, but my attacker grabbed my shoulders.
“Die, Lightbringer!”
I tried to dodge his grasping hands, but I was tied in the saddle and he was too quick for me. Raolcan writhed beneath me, but there was nothing he could do to the man attacking me that wouldn’t hurt me, too. The man’s rugged face was inches from mine when his hands grabbed my neck. He held on tight as I wriggled, trying to escape his grasp. His grip was too tight! Every movement only made it worse.
“The Dusk Covenant will never surrender. We are fuelled by the dust of the earth, the blood of the fallen, and the power of the One. The brothers of Ko’Torenth have prophesied our victory.”
Ko’Torenth? The thought fell from my mind before I even had it fully in place.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t think.
It hurt so much.
My neck felt weak and fragile as his fingers dug deep into flesh and muscle, cutting off my breath, pinning me in place, forcing me to plunge toward death... darkness flashed across my vision.
I saw Savette for a moment, battling in a rain-slicked field, her troops forced forward through the storm and knee-deep mud to fight against raging foes. She reached out both her hands, shouting as her light hit the darkness of Starie Atrelan. Starie’s eyes were wild, the mark on her arm emanating black light as her dark, cloying mists wrapped around the dragons fighting for Savette, pulling them down from the sky and into the muck. Savette’s light severed the bands of darkness at the last moment and the scene went dark.
But now, everything was dark.
Dark. Painful. Desperate.
“This isn’t over, Lightbringer. The One will avenge us.” I could barely hear him through the hissing in my ears.
So, this was death. Being shaken and squeezed to pulp in the hands of a madman spouting vitriol.
Not yet. Not yet, spider. Hold on.
But life was slipping from me and as my hands went limp and then my body, I was glad my last thoughts would be of Raolcan.
Chapter Fifteen
A flash of pain seared through my throat as the air finally escaped. I gasped, sucking in air and choking violently on the smoke that came in with it.
“Take off! We need to get her to fresh air. Now!”
My vision crackled with black and white spots, swirling so badly that I shut my eyes against the nauseating whir. I felt Raolcan lift into the air, felt a cool breeze on my face. Through my aching throat, the air felt fresher. I sucked in painful breath after painful breath. Strong hands held me.
“There you go. Breathe. You’re okay.”
“Tor?” I cracked an eyelid to try to get a look at him.
See? I told you he wasn’t a bad guy. Hubric and Kyrowat landed nearby to help with the city and when he saw you he leapt into the fight.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I have a soft spot for cranky girls who ride dragons.”
“Cranky-?” my voice cut off into a fit of coughing. It felt like my throat was being shredded.
“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t talk. Even blowing that whistle is going to hurt for a while. I think I’d better ride with you for now – unless you want to go to the infirmary.”
I shook my head, not trusting my voice. Each breath was like a gift, clean, pure and full of gratitude. I leaned into that feeling, focused on one breath after another. I’d have to let Raolcan take charge while I recovered.
I’m glad you’re okay, spider. You had me worried.
Affection poured through our bond, but we were already descending.
“I wonder who those guys are,” Tor muttered, watching the black mass as it approached the city, but a moment later we’d landed and as I slumped forward in the saddle, he leapt off and started shouting to the people surrounding us.
The mass of people on the road grows closer as the hours pass.
How long had we battled this fire?
It’s past midnight. A strange time for an army to march.
Army?
“Come on, dragon!” Tor yelled, vaulting back onto Raolcan. “Let’s fly!”
Raolcan hissed.
“Get over yourself,” Tor muttered as Raolcan launched suddenly, knocking Tor backward so he had to cling to my saddle.
Maybe I don’t like him after all. How are your lungs?
They felt like they were on fire and I was barely keeping my seat – but I was alive. Sweat ran down my forehead, stinging my eyes and making trails through the soot. I glanced at Tor and found he looked the same way.
We were all marked by this night.
Raolcan gained height and as he did, I saw a burst of magenta light a little way northeast of the city. I was too tired to even think of what question I should be asking.
You want to know why the Magikas are flinging fireballs outside the city. Our dragons are not there. They’re busy fighting the fires and rescuing people.
Yes.
It’s hard to tell, but I think they just washed up on the shore of that massive army.
Those were morning problems. Right now, we still had night problems.
Isn’t that the truth.
I looked down over the city, my head aching and my mind reeling. The line of the fire had crept over three-quarters of the city, but it seemed to be holding there. Our weariness was proof that it could be fought. Proof we could still snatch souls from the gaping maw of the fire.
If we don’t stop it completely, then we’ll need a miracle. The fire will spread beyond the city to the forest surrounding it and if that happens, all the people we’ve saved will die anyway.
What a cheerful outlook. I felt too tired to even know what to do. The Pipe wouldn’t help now. We had no miracles to stop fires. It suddenly occurred to me that we hadn’t seen any Ifrits yet. Where were they hiding?
I don’t want to know. Don’t wish them on us now.
We needed a miracle.
The wind picked up, and fire kicked up with it, surging across the city so suddenly that my breath caught in my throat. Out of a spurt of flame, Kyrowat shot into the air, loaded with people clinging to him. Tyalmae was right behind him with Ephretti.
Ephretti was signing – of course.
She thinks they’ve cleared all the people they can. Anyone left will be taken by the fire.
But that wasn’t acceptable. It was my responsibility to stop this. There had to be something, anything to stop this fire! I turned my head upward, looking at the swirling clouds above. The light came from the heavens and bathed the earth. It streamed from between clouds and filled up dark places. It crept across the ground and revealed hidden things.
You sound delusional.
But I wasn’t. Wherever that light came from, somehow, Savette could tap it, and bring that strength to bear. It had even come through me once. But this time, I didn’t have a prophecy on the tip of my tongue and I didn’t have light to read the book by – except for by the light of the raging fires.
“We need to do something. We can’t just circle here,” Tor said from behind me. “Wait! Ephretti must have seen something!”
I followed his line of vision to see her diving down into the flames. What was she doing? That was too clos
e! She wasn’t just on the edge, like we’d been. She was deep in the heart of the burning shanty-city, flames licking around her and Tyalmae. She disappeared from sight and I gasped. She was going to die down there.
Chapter Sixteen
“Come on, dragon! Go after her!” Tor said, kicking his heels into Raolcan.
Raolcan circled the area around where she disappeared, the heat – even from so high up – searing the soles of our feet and legs as he tried to find her in the flames.
Please light, please. We just needed a miracle. Something to break the raging fires. Something to help!
“Well? What are you waiting for? Get in there!” Tor’s feet were flapping like he thought he could do the flying as he tried to spur Raolcan into the flames. Fool. Raolcan knew what he was doing. “I know what it’s like to live down there, okay? I know what it’s like to forage for food and never feel safe. Whoever she’s saving needs that help.” He sounded desperate. “Come on, dragon, please!”
“She can’t have survived that,” I said through my raw throat. It was like Ephretti was dead all over again – first when her dragon was slain, and now again in the flames. Wait. What was that prophecy I’d read yesterday afternoon? The one that stuck in my head, so I couldn’t move on.
Twice dead, she rises.
I didn’t see her rising.
I can’t hear her mind, Raolcan said. His mental voice sounded sad and mine was, too.
What was the rest of that prophecy? It was only the first line that kept ringing in my mind. Twice dead, she rises. Twice dead, she rises.
I said it aloud.
“What does that mean?” Tor asked.
“It’s one of the Ibrenicus prophecies.” I couldn’t stop the tears that filled my eyes. Ephretti hadn’t deserved one death, never mind two. She was just so keen on doing what was good and right. She just cared so much. Enough to fly into the flames for what seemed to be no reason. We needed to go down there and look.
It’s too hot. You and Tor will die if I go in there.
“The what?” Tor asked.
Dragon School: Dragon Piper Page 6