Dragonia- Dragonia Empire series Box Set

by Craig A Price Jr

  Twelve men, including Paedyn, volunteered, and eight women. Twenty-one riders. Twenty full-sized wyverns. And Devarius and Ayla.

  Devarius nodded. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait,” Paedyn said.

  “We don’t have time,” Devarius pleaded. “They’re not going to make it if we delay.”

  “Neither will we if we don’t have any ideas. Like you said, they are stronger than us. We have to use our intelligence to survive.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Devarius asked.

  “Remember those large jars of wyvern oils you’ve collected?”

  “Yes,” Devarius responded hesitantly.

  “How many small vials do you have for us to fill with some of that liquid?”

  Devarius bit his lip. “What are you suggesting?”

  “Glass breaks when it hits something hard … say dragon scales?”

  Devarius raised an eyebrow.

  Paedyn grinned. “Let’s equip each wyvernrider with several vials of different oils. If any of them get close enough, perhaps they could drop the vial on the dragon or the rider.”

  Devarius’s lips pressed together, his chin wrinkling. “I believe we have just over a hundred vials. That would be around five vials per rider.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s a fantastic idea … and it may just be the tipping point we need to survive.”

  42

  Ayla’s speed made up for what she lacked in size. Devarius and Ayla led the other wyvernriders to Kaeldroga. They traveled north of their lumber yard. Devarius didn’t want them to appear like they were coming from the sea in case they failed.

  When they reached the camp, they found it in ruins. In the sky, the three silver wyverns were still alive. However, there were now eleven dragonriders.

  “Slow down, girl. Let me study the battle.”

  Ayla slowed to a glide as he took in the scene before him.

  The eleven dragons were all red. If their scale color determined their abilities like the wyverns, all they could do was breathe fire. Devarius shook his head. All they could do … as if it wasn’t enough. Fire burned. He watched the three wyverns … each of which had a rider on their back … all without saddles since they had been carrying lumber instead. Devarius didn’t see any survivors on the ground. He hoped they’d fled into the forest. Still, three men lived. He couldn’t be sure, but he assumed one of them was the captain. Devarius wondered how the fire from the dragons hadn’t killed the wyvernriders.

  The dragons were much larger, but as he watched, he noticed the wyverns were swift. With each flame projecting from a dragon’s mouth, the wyverns dipped and twisted to easily avoid it.

  Paedyn and his red wyvern approached from Devarius’s side. “What’s the plan?”

  “They’re all red. I don’t know if that means they can only use fire, or if they’re different. But I imagine our orange vials may be useless, except on the riders. Ride hard and attack. Ready your swords. Hopefully they’re strong enough to cut into dragonwings. Otherwise, get in positions to drop vials on their backs. Remember, they’re stronger. Don’t face them head-on. We’re going to have to maneuver to survive.”

  Paedyn nodded. “At your command.”

  Devarius studied the dragons one last time. He waited for an opening. They outnumbered the dragons … twenty-one plus the three silver wyverns made twenty-four versus eleven dragons. However, what could mere flies do to a horse? He took a deep breath and nodded.

  Paedyn grinned. He whispered to his wyvern, and it flew off at an incredible speed.

  Devarius clenched his eyes, opened them, then patted Ayla on her neck. Ayla began flapping her wings. They flew onward at an unbelievable speed, passing Paedyn and his wyvern. As they neared the first dragon, Ayla opened her mouth at the same time as the dragon. Fire met ice. Both elements dissipated, and rain began to fall. The fire dragon closed its mouth for a second, taking a breath, then opened it again, trying its fire once more. Before anything happened, a focused gust of wind tore into its underbelly, and the dragon spun out of control backward, higher into the sky. Devarius glanced down and waved at the purple wyvern. Its rider grinned back at him.

  Devarius directed Ayla to maneuver below the other dragons to get away from being their main focus. He searched the sky, searching for an opening. With the wyverns being two to one, even though they weren’t as strong, the dragons had a hard time splitting their attention.

  “Ayla, the red to your left. It’s having a hard time focusing on the two wyverns. Fly around its backside until you’re directly on top of it.”

  Ayla sped away. Devarius held onto the saddle tight as Ayla flew hard, turning from side to side, maneuvering through the air. She pulled upward hard, forcing Devarius to lean back, and the blood to rush to his head. When she straightened, his head was spinning. Everything looked blurry. Tingles shivered through his entire body. He looked down and saw three dragons where he knew there should only be one. His fists clenched. He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again. The three dragons turned into one. He grabbed a blue vial from his sash.

  “Tilt to your left,” he called.

  Ayla complied.

  Devarius had a clear target, one that wouldn’t compromise Ayla under him. He took a deep breath and let the vial go. It sped through the air, picking up speed with each second. The vial shattered when it struck the rider. Blue ice encased him in seconds, and he slid off of the dragon, tumbling to the ground. The dragon’s neck spun to look for its rider as blue ice began to encase it as well. Its wings slowed, ice traveling from its back toward its legs. The dragon looked at Devarius, and its eyes glowed crimson. It tried to spin toward Devarius, but before it could, the rest of its body was wrapped in ice.

  Devarius watched as the dragon spiraled toward the ground and shattered into thousands of pieces. His jaw dropped; his aim had been perfect. He knew if the vial would have struck a little to either side, he would have only hit the rider, or the dragon. Devarius prayed the others had such luck.

  43

  Paedyn laughed as his wyvern twisted and turned in the sky, spinning the two of them in circles. They wedged between two dragons, circled around, and blew fire on their flanks.

  “And to think, I always asked my parents for a boat.”

  The wyvern dove downward, avoiding dragonsfire that rained down upon them. Paedyn held on tight as the wyvern leaned to the right. They circled back around, hiding behind the dragons’ rear once more.

  “Peek-a-boo!” Paedyn yelled. “Hit them with fire again.”

  His wyvern complied; its mouth opened wide, and a flame of deep red spiraled toward the back of each dragon’s head in turn.

  The dragons snarled and attempted to turn themselves to face their foe, but Paedyn patted the neck of his wyvern, and they flew upward to fly back around to the dragons’ other side.

  “Fire!” Paedyn yelled

  The wyvern grumbled, but complied. They’d repeated the same steps a few dozen times. It didn’t seem to faze Paedyn. His grin never faltered.

  “You know,” Paedyn said, “my mother told me that I got distracted too easily … can you believe that? My friends’ mothers told me I was a distraction for their sons. My whole life … I have been told I’m nothing but a distraction.” Paedyn frowned for only an instant, then his smile returned in full force.

  He shrugged. “As it turns out … it’s what I’m good at.”

  The wyvern blew fire again as they prepared to make another pass. Once they were clear of the dragons, it twisted its neck to look back at Paedyn, a touch of sadness leaking through their bond.

  “Do not be sad for me, dear Pyro. Look at the advantage our distraction is giving the others.”

  The two of them circled around the dragons and looped a few times until they were gliding above the battle scene. Both caught their breath for a moment as they watched the battle. The dragons they had been tormenting were all out of sorts, constantly checking behind them
as wyvernriders fought against them. While the dragons were distracted, one of the green wyverns blew acid at one of the beasts. It burned the rider, and he appeared in so much pain that he leapt from the back of the dragon. The dragon escaped most of the acid, but its wing had been damaged and it began spiraling toward the ground, flapping its one good wing to try and cushion its abrupt landing.

  Pyro snorted. Paedyn grinned.

  “See … I told you. Just because we’re not hurting the dragons doesn’t mean we aren’t being useful.”

  Pyro’s head dipped in acknowledgment.

  Paedyn’s eyes bulged as he saw dragonsfire consume a blue wyvern and its rider. Both fell to the ground, lifeless. Paedyn clenched his teeth.

  He withdrew a green vial from his sash and tossed it up in the air an inch before catching it. “I found our next target, Pyro. Let’s get your flame on.”

  Pyro roared before diving toward the dragon.

  44

  Ayla circled around a dragon as its flame swirled behind her. Once away from the danger zone, they turned back around. Devarius’s heart dropped. One of his men and his wyvern had been burned. Devarius watched helplessly as both man and wyvern plunged to the ground. He clenched his teeth as they circled back around. Ayla blew ice at the dragon’s backside, but it turned just enough that the ice only hit its tail. It began to freeze, but the dragon blew fire once more and coiled its tail into the flames, successfully dispelling the ice.

  They circled around for another pass, and Devarius saw another wyvernrider speeding toward them. It was a red wyvern, and from the arrogant approach, Devarius could only assume it was Paedyn. Devarius didn’t like the swift approach, especially if it was Paedyn … it meant he had something foolish in mind.

  “Fly, Ayla! Whatever Paedyn has in mind, I don’t believe we should be caught in the middle of it.”

  Ayla glanced up and saw Paedyn’s wyvern approaching fast toward the dragon’s upper flank. She recognized the danger Paedyn might start, and curved her flight. Another wyvernrider near them had the same suspicion, and sped along with her. The wyverns flew side by side as they fled the dragon.

  Devarius glanced behind him. He saw the dragon open its mouth. “Evade!” he called. “Dragonsfire!”

  Ayla and the wyvern separated briefly, Ayla dipping to the left, the other to the right. They held positions for a brief moment, trying to convince the dragon to breathe his fire between the two for the most effective attack. As the dragonsfire escaped the creature’s mouth, Ayla and the other wyvern crossed flight patterns and angled straight up. The fire missed each of them by inches, instead blazing through the air to strike another dragonrider, who was fending against two wyverns. The wyvernriders saw the flames in time and sped away, but the dragon couldn’t maneuver as fast, and its entire body was encased in flame. Its rider screamed and fell off the beast, but the dragon, besides being mildly irritated, was mostly unharmed.

  The riderless dragon turned on Ayla, its eyes blazing red with rage. Before it could move to attack, two gold wyverns sped in from behind, a bolt of lightning coming from both wyverns into each of the dragon’s wings. The dragon lit up as electricity filled its body. Its wings were charred black, then it fell out of the sky.

  Devarius exhaled, relief overcoming him at the chance to catch his breath and re-evaluate the battle. He glanced over just in time to see Paedyn over the dragon they had just fled from. He dropped a vial, then the wyvern readjusted and blew flame toward the vial just before it hit the dragon. The vial exploded in flames, sending the dragonrider flying and screaming. The dragon was knocked off course and dropped a hundred feet, charred, injured, and angry. Paedyn and his wyvern, Pyro, dipped down to follow the dragon. Once they were close to the top of it, Paedyn dropped another vial. When it shattered, the dragon convulsed like being electrocuted, then a bolt of lightning came from the clouds to zap the dragon out of the sky. It was finished. The creature had no more energy, and spiraled toward the earth.

  Devarius watched as his wyvernriders defeated three more dragonriders. He made a quick count and realized only three dragonriders remained. His face split in a grin, but then he paused as he counted again. He had lost eight wyvernriders.

  “We need to finish them,” Devarius growled. “Before they kill any more wyvernriders.”

  45

  Ayla sped toward the dragon in the middle. Devarius clutched two vials in his hand: one red, one green. From the appearance of the three dragonriders, it looked as if the one in the center was the leader. At a distance, it was hard to tell too many features, but his armor had a bit more color to it, which usually distinguished an officer. Devarius hoped to take out their leader. He prayed it would spread them into chaos or defeat.

  The two dragons on the leader’s sides turned to him, both of their mouths opened, and two massive spirals of fire collided together to become one enormous flame spiraling straight for Ayla and Devarius.

  “Ayla, dive!” Devarius screamed.

  Devarius felt the heat on his back, but the flames didn’t touch him. Ayla nose-dived straight down as soon as he told her, and they escaped the massive flames. They descended nearly to the ground before Ayla leveled out. Devarius stared wide-eyed at the trees in front of them as they approached. He closed his eyes. Ayla angled back up. As he opened his eyes, he flinched when he saw Ayla’s feet scrape against the tips of the pine trees. Ayla circled around the dragons as she was ascending, approaching them from behind.

  Devarius saw two more wyvernriders fall. A lump formed in his throat. Those were his comrades, people he’d spent time training with for months. His jaw clenched.

  “Get me above him, Ayla.”

  Ayla continued her climb, much higher than he would have liked. The abruptness of it made his head spin and his ears clog. He closed his eyes as he held onto the saddle tightly, grateful his feet were tied to the saddle.

  When Ayla leveled out, he opened his eyes and realized they were hundreds of feet above the dragons.

  “Too far, Ayla. Descend.” He clutched the two vials in his hands.

  Ayla nose-dived. Between her speed, and the gravity, there was little the dragonrider could do to escape. When Ayla neared the dragon, she flapped her wings, slowing down her flight, until she was only twenty feet above, where she glided.

  Devarius glanced down and saw the dragonrider, the leader, looking up at him. The suns’ light bounced off the scales of the large dragon, glimmering a violet-red. Devarius gasped. The creature looked to be a mix of a red and a purple dragon. Perhaps there were more than just red dragons. He wondered if they had the same powers as the wyverns—he wondered if the empire knew.

  He dropped the vials. The rider leapt from the back of the dragon seconds before the vials struck. Devarius watched as he fell toward the ground. One of the other dragonriders saw him and dove down to catch the rider.

  The two vials shattered on the back of the dragon below him. The acid ate through the saddle and burned the dragon, and the other vial shattered on its bare back. Oil trickled from the dragon’s back to its wings.

  “Now, Ayla!”

  Ayla dove down, opened her mouth, and blew cold icy air at the dragon. When the ice breath met the blue oil covering the dragon’s body, the entire creature began to freeze into a block of ice. It plunged toward the ground. As the violet-red dragon fell, it turned toward Devarius. Its large mouth opened wide and a flame pushed by a gust of wind flew at them an instant before its head became trapped by ice. Ayla moved, but not fast enough; part of the flame struck her side, spiraling Ayla and Devarius away from the last two dragons.

  When they stopped spinning, Devarius searched for the leader. He saw him atop one of the other dragons, holding onto its rider from behind. The leader turned to look at Devarius once before the dragon turned and began flying north, away from the battle. Devarius gritted his teeth. The man couldn’t escape … he would warn the empire about the wyverns.

  “Ayla!” Devarius screamed. “After that dragon!”


  Ayla tried to fly forward, but the last dragonrider moved in the way, flame extruding from its mouth. Ayla dipped down, avoiding the blast, but before she made it too far, another burst of fire filled the air below them. She had to maneuver to the side to avoid it.

  Devarius gritted his teeth. He looked around, but realized there were only three wyvernriders left. His head shifted from side to side, frantically looking for the other wyvernriders. When he looked down, he gasped. They weren’t all dead … but many were on the ground, injured, and out of the fight.

  The three wyvernriders flew side by side, watching the dragon blocking them. Devarius turned to his side and noticed Paedyn and Tynaer with him. He eyed the two of them, then an idea popped in his head. His gaze shifted to the dragon, and his head tilted.

  “Paedyn, remember when I went hog hunting?” Devarius yelled.

  Paedyn glanced over to Devarius. “Yeah … what about it?”

  “That hog was so much larger than our three dogs.”

  Paedyn’s head tilted. “Who finishes the creature off?”

  “I will. You two just—”

  “Distract. Got it.” Paedyn grinned.

  Paedyn and his wyvern moved closer to Tynaer and his silver wyvern. The two of them spoke for a short while before they both flew toward the dragon on opposite sides.

  The massive dragon turned its head from one side to the other, trying to decide which wyvern to attack. It blew fire one way, and then the other. Both Tynaer and Paedyn dodged the flames and circled around to the backside of the dragon. The dragon turned away from Ayla and Devarius. They closed in on the creature, searching for an opening.