by Mark Robson
‘Yes, that’s him,’ Murvan confirmed.
‘It’s hard to imagine what Lord Segun wants him for,’ Kira sneered. ‘He looks pathetic to me.’
A fresh spark of anger flared inside Pell’s gut. If he got out of here, she would pay for that comment.
‘Don’t underestimate him,’ one of the guards said immediately. ‘He tried to break out earlier. He’s quite fast and strong.’
Despite his anger, Pell had enough self-control to stay silent. The Racafian girl had them wrapped around her little finger.
‘Well if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t do anything else that stupid,’ Kira replied pointedly. She turned and Pell met her gaze. To his surprise he could not look into her eyes for more than a second or two before looking away. ‘Lord Segun wants you to follow him to the Valley of the Griffins. Will you come willingly, or should we tie you?’
‘I’ll come,’ Pell replied, his voice gruff even to his own ears. He lowered his eyes to the ground as if in defeat.
‘Good,’ Kira continued. ‘I never did like unpleasantness. Where’s his flying jacket? He’ll need it. It’s going to be colder than an ice dragon’s heart where we’re going.’
‘It’s over there.’ One of the guards pointed to a bundle in the corner.
‘Good. Come. We don’t have all night. I don’t want to keep Lord Segun waiting.’
Kira motioned to Elian and Nolita, who moved past her and helped Pell to his feet. He groaned as he straightened.
‘Are you fit to ride?’ she asked, giving him a raking look up and down.
She was mocking him again. He was sure of it. Damn you, Kira! You’ve had your fun. Don’t push it! he thought, furious. ‘I’ll manage,’ he growled, his anger and stubbornness warring for dominance.
‘He’s likely to give you trouble, Ebony,’ Murvan observed. ‘He’s not exactly been a model prisoner. Would you like me to assign a few more riders to accompany you?’
‘There’s no need,’ Kira said with a curt shake of her head. Pell winced as she flashed him a vicious glance. ‘I think he’s learned his lesson. Trust me. I promise you the three of us will keep him focused on following Lord Segun as fast as possible.’
Pell held his breath and did his best to look contrite as Murvan considered her response. It was hard to control his anger when Kira was being so deliberately provocative, but he realised he would have to save his response until a more opportune moment. Once they were out of the enclave, he would have plenty of time to teach her some respect.
Murvan did not look happy, but Kira continued to project confidence and authority. After a moment or two he caved in.
‘Very well, Ebony. On your head be it. Just remember that I offered. If it all goes wrong, I don’t want it said that I did not do everything in my power to help you.’
‘Don’t worry, Murvan,’ Kira replied, giving him a warm smile. ‘I’ll make sure Lord Segun hears how helpful you’ve been.’
Oh, you’re a bad girl, Kira! Pell thought, inwardly forced to admire her bravado.
‘Would you mind leading us back?’ she continued. ‘I’m fairly certain I can remember all the turns, but it would be inconvenient to get lost -particularly as we’re in such a hurry.’
‘Of course,’ Murvan replied. He turned to the two guards. ‘You’re relieved of duty, men. Report to the shift master at sunrise.’
‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,’ they replied together. The men took no chances on Murvan reconsidering his decision, but disappeared quickly out through the door and off along the passageway at speed. It was a well-honed response that brought a twitch of a smile to the corners of Pell’s mouth. Even more amusing, though, was the irony of Murvan leading the rest of them out through the cell door and along the corridors towards the outside world.
Chapter Thirteen
The Sound of Silence
‘Shadow?’
Nothing. Pell had called every few seconds since they left the cell. His memory of where the cell was in relation to the cave where Shadow had dropped him was vague, but he knew it would not take them long to reach it – a few minutes at most.
‘Shadow?’
Murvan was leading them out through the maze of passageways with the confidence of one who was intimately acquainted with his surroundings. If they were going by the most direct route, then they must surely reach it soon, he thought.
‘Shadow?’
‘Pell?’
The reply was faint, but it was there. Shadow could hear him at last.
‘Shadow, I’m coming,’ he thought, concentrating as hard as he could on forming the words clearly in his mind and projecting them with all his might.
‘I’ll be waiting,’ she replied. ‘Are the others with you?’
‘Yes, they’re here. Did you bring them?’ he asked.
‘No, Pell. They came of their own accord. They knew you were in trouble. Fang got them into the enclave, but he had to leave to avoid being detected. I will be carrying you all out. We’ll meet up with Fang, Fire and Aurora once we’re well away from here.’
So we’re all reliant on Shadow to get us out, he realised. That put him straight into a position of strength. If the three riders had not taken such risks to come to his aid, he would have enjoyed this. It would be particularly sweet to pay Kira back for her recent comments. Unfortunately, he could not escape the fact that he was deep in their debt.
He glanced across at Nolita. She seemed remarkably calm. There was no sign of fear in her eyes. That surprised him. They were, after all, in the heart of the night dragon enclave. As the rider of a day dragon there were not many places in the world that offered her more danger. Where was the fearful wretch he had left in Orupee a week ago? There was something different about her. She had changed – grown. What had they been doing without him?
‘How did the others catch up with us, Shadow?’ he asked. ‘Did they give up on their quest for the day orb and decide to follow us after all?’
‘I don’t know,’ Shadow responded. ‘Speaking with Fang was risky. We did not want to alert other dragons to his presence, so we kept our exchanges to a minimum. I am as intrigued as you are. I thought they were set on going to the day dragon enclave. They must have changed their minds.’
Shadow’s voice was getting stronger and clearer. They must be getting nearer to the cave where he and Shadow had landed. Kira confirmed this thought moments later when she placed a hand on Murvan’s shoulder and stopped him in his tracks.
‘That’s great, thanks, Murvan,’ she said. ‘I know where I am now. We’ve taken enough of your time.’
‘No, I insist,’ he replied firmly. ‘It’s only a little further. Come, I’ll see you off. I just want to make sure Pell doesn’t give you any trouble. Once you’ve left the enclave he’s all yours, but I feel a certain responsibility to ensure you get safely underway.’
Unless Kira came up with a way to divert Murvan from coming with them to the outer cave, things could get ugly in a minute, Pell realised. The four of them could overwhelm the older rider easily enough, but if Shadow could now hear Pell clearly, then it was a fair bet that Murvan’s dragon could hear his rider as well. With hindsight it might have been better to deal with the rider whilst they were still deep in the mountainside. That would have left them with the problem of finding their way out, but at least they would have had a chance to build a lead on any potential pursuers.
‘Very well,’ Kira said, dipping her head slightly in a semi-bow to acknowledge Murvan’s authority. ‘Lead on.’
The senior rider turned to lead the way, but before he had taken two steps Kira was in motion. Pell was impressed by the speed with which she whipped her heavy belt knife from its sheath, reversed it and smashed the metal handle hard into the base of Murvan’s skull. The man folded to the floor as if every bone in his body had melted. Pell expected her to make a run for the exit, but instead Kira sprang to the fallen rider’s side and felt his neck for a pulse.
‘He’ll live,’ she annou
nced, sounding relieved. ‘Come on! Let’s get out of here as fast as we can. There’s no way of knowing if his dragon felt him fall. If she did, then getting out of here could get interesting. Pell, call Shadow. We need a lift.’
‘Already done,’ he said, pleased to be a step ahead of her. ‘She’s waiting and expecting to carry us all.’
Kira did not waste further words. She was up and off along the corridor at a sprint towards the door at the far end. It was not until he tried to follow Kira that Pell realised he could not run. He tried, but after a few paces had to drop back to a walk. It was too painful. His ribs felt as if they were on fire and his vision blurred. Elian and Nolita were quick to support him as he gasped and stumbled.
‘Come on, Pell,’ Elian urged, his voice nauseatingly upbeat and encouraging. ‘It’s not far from here.’
Pell did not respond. Instead, he concentrated on keeping his breathing shallow and even, and lengthened his stride into a purposeful walk.
They reached the door at the end. Kira had already opened it and was waiting for them in the cave beyond. So was Shadow. Pell’s heart leaped with joy as he made out her outline against the very slightly lighter night sky beyond. As they passed through the doorway, he felt Nolita falter at his side.
Ah, he thought. So she hasn’t improved that much.
‘Get up on my back, Pell,’ Shadow told him with an edge of panic. ‘The dragons outside suspect that something’s wrong. We could be in for trouble.’
He repeated the message to the others, but despite the urgency he conveyed, Nolita did not move. She froze, rooted to the spot as he moved forwards to Shadow’s side. Much as it galled him to admit it, he needed the help Kira and Elian gave him, or he would have struggled to climb into the saddle.
Kira scrambled up Shadow’s side and settled behind him while Elian went back for Nolita.
‘Come on,’ he urged her, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the waiting dragon. ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’
‘She’s so big!’ Nolita breathed, her feet unresponsive and her hands shaking. ‘So big!’
‘Yes, she’s big,’ Elian repeated. ‘And that’s a good thing, Nolita. If she wasn’t that big, we wouldn’t get out of here. Now move, or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you.’
‘Oh, gods!’ she whispered. ‘Can’t you just leave me behind?’
‘Nobody’s leaving anyone behind,’ Elian growled through gritted teeth. ‘Now climb up, damn you! Now.’
Something in Elian’s voice finally got through to Nolita. She reluctantly followed as Elian pulled her by her arm until they reached Shadow’s foreleg. The slightest of hesitations signalled her last token resistance before climbing gingerly up Shadow’s side and settling behind Pell and Kira.
Pell held his breath as Elian swung into position behind Nolita. There was no time to wait for him to get comfortable.
‘Let’s go,’ he ordered Shadow silently.
In a heartbeat, she turned towards the mouth of the cave and the open night sky. Elian wobbled slightly before finding his balance. Pell looked over his shoulder to check that everyone was set. He saw Elian stretching around Nolita’s waist, trying to get a firm hold of the ridge in front of her, but the ridge was too big to offer him a solid grip.
‘You all right?’ he asked.
‘Tell Shadow to go,’ Elian replied quickly. ‘I’ll be fine.’
A wailing screech from outside the cave mouth sent shivers down Pell’s spine. It did not bode well. At least one night dragon was airborne. If the enclave was already roused against them, then they would not stand a chance.
‘What’s happening, Shadow?’ he asked.
‘Rumours are spreading of something amiss,’ she replied. ‘Hold on tight. This might get a little rough.’
There was no time to pass on the warning to the others. Shadow suddenly took several bounding steps and launched into the night sky. No sooner was she airborne than she began to beat her great wings with mighty strokes, powering upwards in an effort to gain the advantage of height over any dragon that might try to stop her. It proved a good tactic. A wave of spine-tingling screeches pierced the darkness below and the night air was suddenly full of the sound of whooshing dragons’ wings.
‘They will not pursue us far without their riders,’ Shadow said confidently. ‘But they know that to fetch the riders now will give us too much of a lead. If we can just get out of this canyon, we’ll have a good chance.’
‘Won’t having four of us on your back put us at a disadvantage, Shadow?’
‘It won’t make it easy,’ she admitted. ‘But let’s not look for problems. I am strong – far stronger than most.’
‘How many are after us?’ Pell asked, scanning the darkness for signs of movement.
‘I would rather not count,’ Shadow answered. ‘You concentrate on staying on my back. I will worry about the other dragons.’
Shadow continued to climb at a tremendous rate. Pell sensed that even with four riders on her back, she was climbing faster than he had ever experienced before. He could feel her effort through the bond. His underarms ached in sympathy with her straining wing muscles.
The pressure change in his ears was another clue. He had got into the habit of swallowing regularly when climbing and descending to even out the pressure on his eardrums. The pain could be quite intense if the pressure built too much. Tonight he could hardly swallow fast enough. The pressure was building so quickly that no sooner did he swallow than he could feel it starting to increase again.
There was no question of talking to the others. Silence was their greatest asset. He knew instinctively that Shadow was about to employ her most impressive ability. Not all night dragons could do it, but Shadow had long since mastered the art of silent flying. As with Longfang’s mastery of visual camouflage, Shadow’s skill was so complete that she made the whispering flight of a hunting owl seem noisy by comparison.
With her purple-black scales, Shadow could disappear into the darkness every bit as effectively as Fang, for not so much as a breath of air would speak of her passage. When she employed her ability, it was as if she extended a bubble of silence about her. The only time she could not use it effectively was whilst climbing, which required high-powered wingbeats.
A slight movement caused Pell to look around sharply to his left. There was something there. He was sure of it. Was it another dragon? He could not tell.
‘Hang on.’
It was not much of a warning, but it was more than the three riders behind him got. To Pell’s surprise, rather than turn away from danger, Shadow banked sharply towards it. There was a sudden jar of impact as she struck, followed by a fast fading screech of rage. Pell saw nothing of the dragon they had attacked. It was too dark. All he could tell was that Shadow had succeeded in forcing their pursuer to lose a lot of height after the collision, as the source of the screech fell away from them at a considerable rate.
‘What did you do?’ he asked, craning his neck and scanning the sky for signs of further danger.
‘I flipped him,’ Shadow replied. ‘I had to do it then or risk him gaining the advantage of height over me. It’s hard to gain height when you are upside down.’
‘Did he crash into the mountain?’
‘No, but he lost too much height to pose us any further threat,’ Shadow said, sounding smug. ‘The others will be more careful about how they approach us now, which is exactly as I had hoped. It’s time to see just how good the other night dragons are.’
Despite having experienced it many times before, the change in noise level was as astonishing to Pell as ever. His three companions gasped behind him and he grinned as he gave a whispered ‘Shhhh’ over his shoulder.
He remembered the first time that Shadow had demonstrated the ability to him. One moment the great whooshing of giant wingbeats filled his ears, the next . . . nothing. Total silence. It was eerie. Tonight, however, rather than sending chills running down his spine, it brought a warming sense of
comfort.
Shadow had long ago explained to him that whilst a night dragon’s ability to see in the dark was good, it was not her first source of reference when flying. Rather like a bat, hearing became her primary sense in the dark. Unlike a bat, however, night dragons did not screech in order to generate echoes. Instead they had a separate sense of proximity that worked similarly, but on a totally different frequency from that of sound. In concert, these two closely allied senses built an image in the dragon’s mind that when added to any visual cues created a three-dimensional picture of incredible completeness. Apparently Shadow’s stealth ability was unusual because it was able to confuse a fellow night dragon’s sense of proximity. Pell knew this made her ability special, but had never really seen its full effects until now.
No sooner had Shadow gone silent than she folded her wings and dropped suddenly. Pell’s stomach lurched and his heart began to pound. They felt as though they were falling, although there was no sound of wind-rush. The solid reality of Shadow’s back beneath the riders became an important source of reassurance as everything took on a strangely surreal feel.
Shadow did not drop far before she silently eased out her wings and arrowed in close to the right hand wall of the canyon, where the darkness was at its most intense. It was so dark here that although Pell knew Shadow was all but brushing her right wingtip against the rocky mountainside, he could see nothing of its dangerous proximity. He trusted Shadow completely. He could feel her confidence through the bond and he relaxed. She was in her element. It never crossed his mind to think how the others might be feeling.
The sounds of dragons in pursuit were obvious now that Shadow was flying so silently. There were some below and behind, at least two above and behind, and one that was flying almost alongside them in the middle of the canyon.