Lilianya found a few more prints, but many were barely pressed into the earth, and others the wind had blown dust over, making them untraceable. With renewed hope and vigor, she pressed herself harder than before. She was determined to catch up. And unlike her party, she could move much faster by herself. Lilianya had to be careful not to overexert herself. She had limited rations, and was nearly out of food. But by midday, she saw them in the distance. Her face relaxed, and she smiled. She called out to them, but her voice could not carry, and her strength was weakening. Instead, she continued on, pushing farther and faster, trying to catch up.
She ran with all that was in her. And she reached them just as one of the men turned around to see her approach. His weapon had drawn, but when he saw it was her, he sheathed it quickly, and caught her as Lilianya crumbled into his arms.
“Lilianya, is that you?” he asked.
She looked up at him, panting, trying and fighting for breath, but she couldn’t. She simply nodded.
The party stopped their travel and made a makeshift camp, including putting up a small tent cover, which they lay Lilianya under, blocking the sun from her weary eyes. They gave her water and stale bread, which she accepted gratefully. When her strength returned just enough, she sat up.
“I found them,” Lilianya siad.
The others around her looked at her with furrowed brows.
“Found who?” they asked.
“Not who.” Lilianya beamed, her pearly white teeth shimmering, making white glimmers in the shadows. “What.”
Reaching her hand into her sash, she withdrew a handful of wyvern scales. As she dropped them on the ground, everyone gasped, eyebrows raised, and eyes widened. Shock clear on their faces. They had all set out on this quest together with Lilianya as the lead, but none of them, not even her, suspected they would find the wyvern scales. Several of the people approached tentatively, reaching hands down to look at the scales. They were stunned.
“Where?” someone asked.
Lilianya pointed behind her. “Half a day north, between the second mountain pass. There is a cave on the side. You cannot see it very well traveling north, but I spotted it as I was traveling back south. I know where it is now, as I had to take cover inside during the bad storm last night. Inside, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of wyvern scales.”
Her companions all around her looked at each other with piqued interest, but several still had furrowed brows and pinched lips, contemplating their choice.
“I am leading this expedition. We need to go back. We need to gather as many of these scales as we can. This could be the difference between defeat and victory against the empire.”
A few of the men around her nodded their heads, knowing she was right. Still, she could see on their burdened faces that everyone was ready to return home. Lilianya could not blame them. She was more than ready as well. But she knew she was right. They would need the wyvern scales if there were to be any hope to defeat the empire. They took a break for a little while longer, but then they all packed camp, turned around, and headed north.
It took several hours before they reached the cavern. They were slower as a group than Lilianya was by herself. Dusk arrived when she pointed to the cave. And no wonder they hadn’t seen it traveling north: several shrubberies blocked the entrance form the south side. And without Lilianya present, they would have walked past it once again.
As they approached, two of the wingless dragons appeared in the small valley. Dust from the dry dirt scattered in the air as the two wingless dragons rushed toward them. Lilianya was too close. She would not give up; she would not let the wingless dragons keep them from their prize. She unsheathed her sword, held it up in the air, and yelled,
“Charge!”
At first her companions didn’t know what to do. They were outright terrified of the beasts who had defeated them before. But this time there were only two instead of a dozen, and Lilianya wasn’t about to let two wingless dragons keep them from their treasure. One of the creatures was red, and the other was blue, and Lilianya raised her brow quizzically, curious to know if they were similar to wyverns, as far as elemental abilities went. She hoped not to find out, at least not in a way that was affect the battle negatively.
Lilianya brought her sword out, slashing upward, striking the jaw of the creature. It growled in response. The wingless dragon in front of her was blue, and as she went for another strike, its mouth opened, and blue mist encircled her blade. The hilt turned ice to her touch, burning her hands in cold. As she relinquished her weapon swiftly, letting it clatter to the ground. It shattered into hundreds of pieces of metal.
Her eyes widened as she spun around, dodging the next breath of the creature. She jumped onto its back, and the creature reared back, trying to force her off of it. She held tight, waiting for it to come back down. Lilianya grabbed a dagger from her belt, and slammed it as hard as she could against its eyes. It continued to move, but after a while, a long while, the creature ceased.
Panting, Lilianya got to her feet. She looked to her hands, and they were blue. And they stung more than anything she’d ever felt. She hoped they would heal. She momentarily forgot about the other wingless dragon, until a chorus of cheers ring throughout her party. She turned around to notice the other creature too, had fallen. It too had been stabbed between the eyes, where a small, but effective soft spot was on the beast. She noticed the charred ground near it, and knew it had breathed flame on her companions. Lilianya saw two of her companions injured with burnt flesh. After checking to make sure everyone was all right, she led them to the mouth of the cave. It was one question she didn’t want answered: the wingless dragons were just like wyverns, their abilities were just as deadly. The problem was, these creatures weren’t their allies.
At least they had reached the wyvern scales. Now they just needed to grab as many as they could and return home before more wingless dragons appeared.
Chapter 29
Dusk settled over the western side of the mountain. Devarius leaned his back against the dirt, relieved that darkness was arriving. He didn’t know how much longer they could keep hidden from empire. They’d barely made it to the mountain unnoticed, though, Devarius wasn’t entirely sure they had gone unnoticed.
A small company of soldiers had been trailing them, and Devarius wasn’t sure if they’d lost them.
“Can you reach Ayla?” Derkas asked.
Devarius shook his head. “She’s been unresponsive. I hope it’s because she’s too busy traveling, or hiding … and not—”
“Don’t worry,” Zaviana reassured him. “I’m sure Alya and Chalce are just fine.”
Devarius nodded, wanting to believe his sister, but not knowing if he could. No one actually knew what had happened to Ayla and Chalce. Devarius had told the wyvern and in doing so, the dragon, to meet them in the mountains instead of the forest south of Melonia. Nothing had quite went to plan, and now they were running for their lives against the Dragonia Empire.
Sweat beaded down Devarius’ face as he panted.
“Around this corner. I swear I saw them,” a voice called from the distance.
Devarius’ eyes widened. Derkas and Zaviana were already standing and making their way farther north of the mountain. Devarius leapt to his feet and followed them. It felt like they’d never rest. It’d been more than a full cycle since they slept. They’d got no sleep the night before as they traveled nonstop from when they took the dragon stone. First they traveled north west of Melonia, then they changed directions and traveled all day up to the mountains. Over forty-five hours with no sleep was draining Devarius. He fought to keep his eyes open, let alone keep a steady, fast pace forward.
“It’s him!” someone yelled from behind.
Devarius turned and saw Dasyra with a company of soldiers. His eyes widened at the sight of her. It was as he feared. She had recognized him.
“Devarius! Stop running! If you would just turn yourselves in, everything would be all right.”
Devarius rolled his eyes as he caught up with Derkas and his sister.
“Who is this woman again?” Derkas asked.
“Someone who is foolish enough to believe that if the resistance turns themselves in, they’ll be forgiven and allowed to live,” Devarius grumbled.
“She can’t be that ignorant, can’t she?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius raised his eyebrows. “She is. She turned us in to the dragon riders in Trevium.”
“But she was with you at one point?” Derkas asked.
Devarius nodded. “She was with Paedyn and me when our village was massacred by the Dragonia Empire. She saw the carnage they possessed when they destroyed everything and everyone.”
“Yet, she believed they would spare all of you if you just turned yourselves in?” Derkas asked.
Devarius shrugged. “Apparently they spared her.”
“They only spared her because she can recognize you and the others.”
Devarius nodded. “I know. And it looks like it’s paying off for them.”
An arrow soared by Devarius’ head.
“Blazes,” he cursed.
“Can you still not reach Ayla?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius shook his head. “Nope.”
“This isn’t good,” Derkas said.
“Tell me about it.” Devarius rubbed his hand over his short cropped hair.
“Do we fight?” Derkas asked.
“I don’t see that we have much of a choice.”
“How many are there?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius spun around to look. “No dragons. One Dasyra, and six soldiers.”
“So, seven?” Derkas asked.
Devarius shrugged. “Six and a half.”
Derkas chuckled. “What do you say?”
Devarius bit his lip. “I hope they don’t have more soldiers behind them, but otherwise, I believe we may be able to take them.”
Derkas unsheathed his sword.
Devarius unsheathed his.
Zaviana nocked her bow.
Dasyra paused as she saw them equip themselves. She stopped running, but pointed to them, as if commanding the soldiers to attack.
Devarius frowned. He wondered just how much power the frustrating woman possessed. He was glad that they’d left her behind, but a part of him, a dark part of him, wondered if it would have been better to just kill her. She’d caused him so much trouble over the last year. Devarius shook his head of such thoughts. He didn’t want to kill anyone if he could help it, but, this was war. People had to die. The empire had to fall. And the resistance had to take its place.
“Now or never,” Devarius said.
They charged.
Arrows flew. Of the six soldiers, there was only one archer, and Devarius was thankful he wasn’t as skilled as his sister. One of the arrows embedded itself in Devarius’ shoulder as he swung his sword at the first approaching soldier. The arrow stung, but otherwise was a minor inconvenience. Adrenaline pumped through Devarius’ veins, and a single arrow wasn’t going to stop him from defeating his opponent.
An arrow struck his opponent, sending him backward a pace. Devarius took the opportunity to leap forward, and slash his sword down, splitting the man’s platemail in two. Grinning, Devarius spun around, roundhouse kicking the man in the jaw. He collapsed to the ground.
Devarius stepped to the next opponent. An arrow sank into his opponents neck, and he gagged. Devarius frowned as he slashed his blade against the man’s neck, killing him instantly. He would have died in moments anyway. Zaviana’s aim was true.
His third opponent was more fierce, and as he turned to see Derkas’ progress, he noticed the mercenary still faced two opponents. There wasn’t anything Devarius could do to aid the man, but he realized his sister was loosing arrows at the two opponents while leaving Devarius’ third opponent alone. It was up to him to defeat the man.
Devarius moved from offense to defense, parrying the man’s skilled strikes. He tried moving to the sword form Catch the Butterfly, but his opponent seemed skilled in fighting against it. Growing frustrated, Devarius moved into a form similar to Early Bird Catches the Worm. Devarius had to readjust his strikes, and moved into Swat the Bee, his strikes coming in rapid and fast, like trying to swat a furious bee with a stick, but even the chaotic moves of the sword form wasn’t good enough to surprise his opponent.
The man moved faster, and struck harder than anyone Devarius had ever faced. His attacks could not penetrate the man’s defenses. No matter how many forms Devarius switched to, his opponent could change his form just as fast, with one just as effective, especially at defending against Devarius.
Devarius’ foot caught a loose piece of dirt, and his ankle twisted. His opponent saw the opportunity and jumped. Pain surged through Devarius’ stomach as the man’s sword pierced through it. Devarius gasped and fell to his knees.
Zaviana screamed.
Arrows flew through the sky, faster than Devarius had ever seen them. Yet, each arrow was deflected by his opponent. Purple magic soared through the sky, in different forms, from fire to ice and everything in-between. The man deflected them with his sword. Devarius had never seen magic deflected by a sword before.
Zaviana’s energy ran out, and the man standing before Devarius grinned. Devarius was on his knees, but he continued to fight, bringing his sword forward and attempting to strike the man. His blows were deflected, and the man twisted his blade to cause Devarius’ own to slip.
Devarius prepared himself. He’d come a long way, and he helped get the resistance far. Even if he wouldn’t survive, at least he knew he’d tried. Perhaps the next man could do it. Perhaps Paedyn would step up and save the resistance.
The man slid his sword in his scabbard, and instead reached out to Devarius with his bare hand, clutching Devarius’ neck. Unbelievable cold traveled through Devarius’ body. The man had power. He was like Zaviana. No wonder he could deflect her arrows, and no wonder he could deflect her magical attacks. The man himself was magic. And now Devarius knew his fate was sealed.
A cold mist tickled the back of Devarius’ neck. The man’s hand around Devarius’ throat loosened slightly, then it turned from tan to blue, and the color continued up the man’s body until he stopped moving completely.
A dragon flew over the man’s head. Devarius looked up after it. It was Derkas’ dragon.
“Chalce,” Devarius croaked, trying to cheer, but his throat burned, and barely a sound escaped his lips.
He heard something on the ground next to him, and he turned to see Ayla landing by his side. Grinning, Devarius rushed to his wyvern, wrapping his arms around her.
“Ayla,” he choked.
Little one. I’m sorry we’re late. We had a battle of our own.
“I’m just glad you’re here.”
Let’s get out of here.
“Agreed.”
Chapter 30
Naveen watched the field of magic users. More and more came every day, but very few in the resistance could actually use magic. After the recent incarcerations of the dragomen, more and more people wanted to see if they could help in any way. Naveen hated to turn people away, but not everyone could use magic. Out of the now three thousand members of the resistance, only a hundred and forty of them could use magic.
They’d had a hard time figuring out why magic worked for some and not for others, but Naveen didn’t want to dwell on it. All that mattered was that it did work for some people. And now, they were the ones the resistance was counting on to help defeat the empire. The wyvernriders were important as well, but having magic, having an extra edge in battle could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Naveen wanted to hold onto that hope, especially with the dragomen imprisoned.
Fraeyn walked over to her, running his hands through his hair. “Is everything all right, Naveen?”
Naveen bit her lip. Everything wasn’t all right. The dragomen were imprisoned, and all the magic fell upon her. Zaviana was gone, attempting to f
ind the dragon stone. Naveen could only hope the dragon stone could amplify all of her students, or even better, enable others to use magic as well. And to make matters even more frustrating, Cederic was imprisoned. Naveen wasn’t romantically involved with Cederic, though, she knew he held feelings for her. Naveen didn’t quite know what she wanted, but whatever would happen, needed to happen in the future. She was too busy to be tied down to anything right now. The resistance needed her. But, she needed Cederic. The shoemaker had been there with her through most of her journey to find the resistance. He had calmed her when she felt like the whole world was coming down around her.
“Do you ever feel like you have the whole world on your shoulders?” Naveen asked.
“Sometimes, but then I remember I’m only one man, and I’m sure everyone here in the resistance feels like that,” Fraeyn said.
Naveen smiled. Fraeyn was young, and in some ways, still very innocent. He’d just seen his fifteenth birthday.
“I’m sure it would feel that way to you, Fraeyn. Whenever something isn’t your responsibility, it’s someone else’s. But for me, everyone here is looking to me to help them, to train them. And what do I know? I only recently learned of my abilities. You were there as we learned them together. Sure, I knew a few things before that, but my knowledge hadn’t really sparked until we began training together.”
“I know. But you’re a good teacher.”
“You could be too. You know as much as I do,” Naveen said.
“No. I don’t think so. I’m just a kid.”
“Fifteen is no longer a child, Fraeyn. You are a man now. And I’m going to need you to step up as a man. I can’t do this alone.”
“Zaviana will be back,” Fraeyn said.
“Will she?” Naveen asked. “Look, as much as I want her to return, it’s been almost a month. She could have been captured, or she could be dead. We don’t know for certain.”
Dragonia: Dragon Stone (Dragonia Empire Book 3) Page 12