That was a terrifying thought if they were that cunning. Based on the trap they appeared to be setting, it was probably true. Amelia glanced from him to the dragons. "So obviously if we stay, we get crushed and risk being in the path of a rock slide or a cave collapse. And if we run, we catch their attention. Does this mean we just keep backing away slowly?"
"Back away slowly, stay close." AaQar gestured toward the grassy plain beyond them and the dark forest that jutted up like a fortress past the copse of lighter wirier trees. "Then we get to the banlo trees. We break for that when these dragons make their move. Keep an eye on the skies though. "
"You all turning into bigger meaner dragons isn't an option then?"
"Not when we don't know what sort of dragon we're dealing with aside from stealthy pack hunters." Naatos pulled her back in front of him. "In a case like this, we'd need a distraction if we wanted to just make a run."
"I can—" QueQoa started.
Naatos cut him off at once. "These are brawlers at a minimum. Look at the natural armor. It'd be like getting hit by a flying battering ram. Any form large enough to cause a distraction would be a form large enough to trigger a hunt. We have other options. It's not that dire."
"Yet," QueQoa added darkly.
The large dragon on the ledge moved his gaze back to the oncoming stampede with a bored turn of his head. His long blade-scaled tail swished up and then back like a cat's.
They had nearly reached the edge of the pines. There the ground became even more open. Now that they were outside the rels, the aerial predators had become a threat as well. Their attention was thankfully focused on the incoming feast.
"What makes that set of trees safer than this?" Amelia asked.
"Balnos have the deepest roots of any tree and trunks stronger than steel once they're past a certain age. Not even a stampede will take them down, and it will slow the herd." AaQar's attention flicked from one dragon to the next.
"Best thing to fight a dragon or a drake is a dragon," WroOth said. "But it gets them all territorial. Especially pack hunters."
"They're not firebreathers," AaQar continued. "Probably not acid. Obviously not water."
"Grass is too wet to burn anyway," WroOth noted.
"They're brawlers," Naatos said again. "All they need is that strength and that armor."
Another one landed in the strip of tall yellow grass near them with startling quiet. She pressed her large hooked claws deep into the damp soil, her shoulders working like a cat. The thick plate that ran from nose tip to tail tip narrowed her eyes at them. The guttural growl that rumbled through her warned that she might not remain entirely uninterested in their presence. She could close that gap fast, but she sank deeper in, letting the grass obscure her. Even so, traces of her grey and burgundy hide remained visible as well as the tips of her wings which jutted up.
Not that any of the stampeding animals were likely to notice until it was too late.
Amelia found herself holding her breath. These steps were too small. If the jogging to escape the aura storm had bordered on too fast for her, this was too slow. They were practically crawling.
The ground shook as the creatures pounded closer and closer. From this angle already, she recognized several different types. A few mantises racing in terror with their forelegs held high, dozens of besreds jostling and thrusting their shoulders against one another, camels bellowing and snarling, centipedes with their antennas swishing this way and that. But biggest of all and most terrifying of all were—she blinked. Paraceratheriums and deinotheriums? The massive mammals bore striking resemblances to the prehistoric ancestors of the rhinoceros and elephant, the smallest eighteen feet in height at the shoulder. Long-necked, spike-mouthed, big-footed, and almost assuredly carnivorous regardless of what their corollaries on Eiram were like!
Her heart raced faster as sweat trickled down her neck. This whole creeping backwards thing while tons and tons of muscle and teeth charged their way. The vibrations jarred through her as the wind blew against her back and tugged at her braid.
They were well past the dragon hiding in the grass now, but she kept looking to the other swathes of tall grass. Was something else hiding in there? How many were here for this ambush?
The dragon atop the wiry copse of trees flared its wings as it stretched its long neck out. It didn't seem to notice them.
The front of the stampede had disappeared into the dip of the gully. Amelia glanced from the highest point to the nearest dragon. If those dragons didn't attack soon, the stampede would reach them. The banlo trees with their dark trunks and high branches were still a fair distance away. Easily a ten-minute jog for the brothers. Possibly more.
The thundering of hooves and paws was so loud now that they had to shout to hear one another.
Shadows swooped overhead. Three winged serpents swept in close, but Naatos slashed through two with the broad blade of his spear.
"If this cuts too close," he shouted. "I'm carrying you."
"If is really optimistic. And fine. Also I have my gun. What if I shoot at them and see if I can scare them into turning back or slowing down?"
"Shooting at them won't hurt them seriously, but it could be enough to startle them," AaQar said. "Shouldn't be so much that it attracts the dragons' attention to us for more than a moment."
"We'll have to run soon anyway," WroOth added.
She clenched her jaw as she adjusted her grip on the gun. Naatos's arm remained around her waist. At least her gun still had a use.
The heads of the towering creatures appeared over the edge of the gully. The dragon in the trees growled, the scales along its sides raising like hackles as the outer armor flushed a deeper grey. But it remained crouched. Rotten predator was going to wait until they were practically there! Lions at least made a running start in an ambush. Most of the time. These dragons were more like crocodiles lurking in the murky waters.
The nearest of the creatures crested the top of the hill, mouths open as they bellowed and snarled.
She shot at the knees of a massive paraceratherium. The bullet cut into its knee, and a bright bolt of blood streaked over the grey-white fur. With a startled bellow, the paraceratherium pulled up. The others at the front swept around and staggered and crashed against one another in a panic.
The dragon atop the trees roared and lunged.
"Go!" Naatos shouted. He swept her up over his shoulder and then charged toward the forest. Everyone else bolted as well, tearing over the uneven grass.
The dragon in the grass leaped out as well. Both tackled the same paraceratherium, dragging it to the ground and tearing it to pieces. The other dragons swooped in as well. Dozens of winged serpents darted down to grab their own bites. A massive quetzie lunged down from the sky, seizing a mantis in its talons.
The stampede had nearly reached them as the remaining dragons swooped in.
"Now!" AaQar commanded.
The transformations were nearly effortless. AaQar became a long silver-blue salamander, low to the ground with thick knobs along his spine. QueQoa took the form of a great brown eagle, only a little larger than his state of rest with broad spikes along his crown. WroOth shifted into a gold and red phoenix though no fire ran the length of his body nor flamed from his beak. Lifting her up, Naatos flung Amelia over AaQar's back and jumped on as well.
One of the dragons swooped toward them, claws extended.
QueQoa leaped into the sky and tore at the dragon's eyes with a loud screech. He wheeled about but had barely gained ten feet before one of the dragons struck him in the side and another cut down from above. They caught his side and his bad shoulder in a slicing chop that sent him crashing.
The larger of the two seized him by the feathered throat.
Bracing herself, Amelia aimed at its red-gold eye and squeezed the trigger. The bullet sliced through the air and pierced it.
The dragon bolted back, shrieking as it released QueQoa's throat. WroOth swooped in, grabbed him in his talons, and dragged
him toward the woods.
Another dragon screeched down, bellowing.
AaQar caught it in the side with the spikes on his snout.
Leaping off AaQar's back, Naatos drove the spear through the back of the dragon's skull. It collapsed with a prolonged snarl as the creatures swerved to avoid it. As the second dragon bared its teeth and lunged, he leaped into the mass of stampeding creatures.
Twisting around, QueQoa healed and increased his size. WroOth released him and shot up, then swept to the side as two more tore through the air.
Amelia slid back as AaQar lunged forward, realizing too late that his scales were too slick for her to hold on. Though she grabbed the knobs along his spine, she skidded back as he snaked his way through the legs of a paraceratherium and dodged a lunging dragon.
The thunder of the stampede filled her ears, louder than the adrenaline raging inside of her. She lost sight of Naatos, QueQoa, and WroOth, and she was about to lose her grip on AaQar. Hooking herself in place with her elbow, she shot one of the creatures in the knee.
It veered to the left and stumbled, the others following and bellowing.
Up above, the dragons roared. More and more were coming, furious with the encroaching predators. One slammed down on a besred and shrieked, then pounced again.
AaQar dodged the bite and spun to one of the few boulders. Scrambling to the side, he peered up in the sky. "WroOth," he shouted. "Get her out of here." He glanced back at her. "Amelia, my apologies."
She barely realized what he meant until he snapped his entire body and flung her into the air.
WroOth, still a flameless phoenix, tore toward her. Everything he had told her about falling, observing, and landing fled her mind in that moment. She barely kept her muscles relaxed as she watched those gleaming silver claws shoot at her face.
He snatched her up and then dove down, avoiding another attack narrowly. He shot straight into the forest and then into a tree. He dropped her into the branch, swiped through the upper and lower branches swiftly for predators, and then lunged back out to help his brothers. "Stay here."
Blood racing and adrenaline pounding, Amelia checked her gun. As long as—
Something hissed above her.
She cut her eyes up.
A tree mantis's triangular grey-brown head had come through the barrier of leaves. Its grey-yellow teeth worked together as its prismatic eyes considered her.
Great.
It hissed again.
She dropped back just as its broad spear-like forelegs shot through the air and stabbed into the bark. Flakes struck her face.
Rolling to the side, she seized another branch.
The mantis dropped down.
She dragged the branch down in front of herself. It struck again. Branches and leaves rained down. She swung around, bent another branch, and let it go.
It thwapped the mantis in the face, stunning it. Lunging forward again, Amelia struck it in the knees just as QueQoa had shown her.
The mantis toppled to the side and crashed down. A paraceratherium snatched it up in its massive mouth.
Her elmis twinged again.
Damn it!
Her instincts commanded her to roll. A bladed foreleg struck the branch directly next to her.
She dodged back, seized a branch, and dropped down, preparing the same trap. The mantis's foreleg sliced in front of her, grazing her arm. She recoiled, then slipped, grabbed at another branch as the mantis lifted its forelegs to strike.
All at once though, it lurched to the side, its head dropping at an unnatural angle as a spearhead shot through it.
Naatos jumped up on the branch and ripped his spear free. The mantis fell over the edge and disappeared into the milling mass of creatures below. Grunting, he shook the spear and let the slick green substance slide off. "You killed one on your own."
"Training." She smoothed her hands against her skirt to avoid scratching her elmis again.
The branches shook as WroOth and QueQoa landed a little to the left, leaving their fire and iron dragon forms before their feet touched down. AaQar remained in the blue salamander form a little longer as he situated himself in the crook of a broad grey-black branch. "It's a full feeding frenzy out there now; those dragons kill for sport as well as food," he said as he returned to his state of rest. "Everyone should settle in. We're going to be here for a while."
"Is everyone all right?" Amelia asked. "QueQoa?"
He gave a slight wave and wriggled his fingers. "Just a bad wound in the moment. Nothing like the cabiza."
"Everyone is fine," AaQar said with a sigh of relief. "But I do apologize for having to throw you with so little warning."
"I wasn't sure how we were going to get out," Amelia admitted. "As far as I'm concerned, in a situation like that, you do what you need to do."
"You at least remembered not to flail. Otherwise, I might have sliced you up. That happens far too often. And thank whatever goodness is watching over us that they weren't venomous," WroOth said, nudging QueQoa. "Otherwise we might be repeating the cabiza."
"Those teeth were impressive." QueQoa pressed his hand to the location of his former wound. "Almost as if they had been developed. There were at least four different sets of teeth in those jaws."
"I noticed," AaQar said.
"We survived it though and that's what counts," WroOth responded. He stretched out on the branch and folded his arms behind his head. "I could do without so many surprises of this nature though."
"Agreed," Naatos said. He remained on the edge of the branch, spear in hand as he watched through the gaps.
Sitting, Amelia pressed her spine against the trunk and hooked her arm around a branch for good measure. The ground shook, and the creatures poured around the trees. But the roots held fast. And for now, they were safe. Presuming nothing else horrid arrived.
61
Trust
The stampede ended what felt like an eternity later, the sun sliding toward the horizon and bathing the sky in all shades of red, orange, and yellow. A combination which before she had found stunning, now a little unnerving.
The opi bags AaQar and Naatos grabbed fortunately had filled canteens as well as rels and some dried meat. While the rels weren't enough to prevent stampeding animals from lurching too close, it did protect them from whatever else might choose to shelter in the trees.
Naatos moved farther out onto the branch to peer through the leaves. "They're exhausted and going to sleep."
"What about the dragons? Are they still hunting?" Amelia massaged her forearm, tension moving through her like blades. No one had said much while they were here. Partially because the din of the stampede had remained almost deafening at points. Partially because everyone was tired.
"They're feasting at the moment. Them and every other hungry predator and scavenger that dares to risk them." He returned to the thick branch with a frustrated sigh. "We're probably spending the night out here."
"Looks to be at least a dozen in their pack who yet live," AaQar said. "Possibly more. If this is their hunting ground, then they will make matters challenging for us."
"Precisely what we needed," Naatos muttered.
"If there are any corpses left, we need to examine them," AaQar continued.
"And hopefully determine what they are," WroOth added. He snapped a twig in half and then in half again. "They're exceptionally tough. Except at the back of the skull."
Naatos did not even acknowledge the recognition of his prowess. The tightness about him hadn't wavered since they'd gotten into the tree. He caught AaQar's eye and then gave a jerk of his head to the left.
Amelia kept her arms folded over her chest, her back braced against the thick trunk. What was he doing?
AaQar had already stood and disappeared higher in the branches. QueQoa had vanished. And WroOth was climbing up without comment. She stiffened, then started to stand as well.
"Stay." Naatos's voice was a low rumble, a weariness beneath the word. "We need to talk."
<
br /> She released a long breath. Not shocking, but not what she wanted to do at the moment. If he wanted to fight again, she'd bring her best. It wasn't as if they had finished on a good note. But all she really wanted was—
"I was wrong not to give you the vestov vow. After everything that has happened between us, I understand you're afraid of what happened in Libysha happening again. Even though I don't think you should be because—" He stopped himself, shaking his head. "I've explained it all to you enough. If it didn't satisfy you then, it won't now. I will give you the vestov vow if you still want it."
"Are you going to modify it?" She stared at him, hardly daring to move.
"No. It is reasonable. If I am to conquer the Tue-Rahs, I will do so with your blessing. The same will be true of any war or battle that we engage in in which we have the opportunity to know in advance. And all of this assumes of course that it happens. The fact that you believe in me is almost encouraging."
She hadn't thought about it that way. She twitched her shoulder. "If anyone can make something impossible happen, it's probably you. I didn't necessarily mean that as a compliment. I suppose it is though."
That crooked smile returned. Her stomach tensed and fluttered.
"Traditionally, you may choose what the penalty will be if the vow is violated as well as what can be done to mend the path should this be violated. It is understood nothing ever fully makes it right. The minimum standard is that if I break this vow, you may go and take any lover you choose though we would remain bound."
She laughed. "You already told me I could take as many lovers as I chose. But you get to kill them."
He offered a conceding nod. "If I break this vow, you may choose any lover you like, and I will recognize that person and give them the full protection of this family."
No. That was not what she wanted. She wanted it to be safe to love him. Safe to trust him. A surge of anger burst up inside her. "I don't want someone else! I never want to fall in love again. But if you break this vow, I will find a thousand ways to make you regret it. I will make you regret it more than you ever wanted me. I will—I will take your eye."
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