With a growl the black dragon flew above them and said, Turn him face down.
Anders used his magic to rotate the dragon to a natural flying position. Zahara continued to strain against the overwhelming weight. When the tan dragon was belly down, the black dragon carefully curled its claws around her wings, close to where they met her shoulders. When he took hold, Zahara managed to slow their rapid descent. Zahara and the black dragon worked to fly at an angle, still pitching down toward the mountains. Anders worked to spread the dragon’s weight out evenly, but the limp dragon’s back half kept dropping, causing more strain on Zahara.
Anders! Maija called, finally catching up with them. Raffa and I can lift the back end.
Then we’ll need to bring him down, gently. We can’t continue to fly like this, Anders responded. He felt a great amount of weight lifted again when Maija and Raffa came under the tan dragon’s back end.
I see a flat spot on that mountain, the black dragon said.
Not wanting to risk aggravating the situation, Anders decided not to scold the black dragon for attacking in the first place. He remained silent while they guided the unconscious dragon onto the low-angled slope.
The moment the dark-scaled dragon released his grip, he snarled at them, Why did you help us?
We didn’t come to fight, Zahara replied. We only came to see why so many of you were flying.
You should know above all others why we were forced to leave our homes, the dragon growled.
We mean you no harm, Anders said.
You should know better than to sneak up on us after what’s happened.
We tried to make contact, but you shut us out, and what do you mean ‘after what’s happened’? Zahara asked.
The dragonrider has entered the elven capital. It was the last sanctuary for dragons like us who have felt his sting before.
What dragonrider? Anders asked, fearing he knew the answer.
The black dragon growled, The one you escorted into the city.
We fought him and defeated him, Maija jumped in, defending Anders. He was captured and sent to prison.
That’s not what happened, the black dragon snarled.
She is telling the truth. We defeated the dragon known as Killdoor and his bonded rider, Zahara stated. He was restrained by the Norfolk rider Zorna and escorted to the elven prison with their king. We set out to stop the false rider controlled by Merglan’s magic from destroying other loved ones.
You may have thought you had defeated him, but it was a ploy, the black dragon said. Once he was inside the city walls, the dark rider you call Merglan released all of the evils locked away in the prisons. We dragons living in the outer edges away from the urban trees saw the chaos before it hit us. We fled en masse, watching our last protected sanctuary be destroyed in a matter of hours.
Then join us and fight, Anders pled. Together the dragons and our human army could rid the world of Merglan and his malice forever.
You don’t understand, young rider, Cedarbridge’s magic has turned against us. Even if you could convince dragons who’ve lost their riders and bore witness to the almighty strength of the madman, the city is now impenetrable to all outsiders. The last hope you had was to kill him when you had the chance. Now that you haven’t, Kartania is lost.
Where will you go? Zahara asked before Anders could respond with a hot-headed remark.
We flock to the north. Northland is the only place we know the rider has not expressed an interest in conquering. We will live out our lives in hiding there, though nowhere is truly safe from his wrath. The north is the last place he will go. We have time there. Time to live before we die.
He will come after you, eventually. You can’t run forever, Anders said.
Do not try to wrangle us into your futile cause. We have seen firsthand what this sorcerer can do. Many of us lost our bonded and are too weak to do battle with a bonded rider. Others are doing everything they can to avoid the conflict he seeks to bring into our world. The only dragons who wish to fight are joining the cause to destroy all bonded riders, including you two. For us to flee north is the best way we can live out our lives in peace.
Until he comes for you, Anders said.
The tan dragon stirred, his large head lifting slowly from the snowy mountainside.
We will see, young rider. For now, you should go. You’re going to need to prepare for the onslaught that’s coming. An unspoken message passed between the black dragon and the tan because the latter did not attack upon awaking. The two merely turned away from Anders and Maija and flew out away from the mountain peak to join their companions.
“It was all just a trick?” Maija asked, her tone registering in disbelief.
“He used us, Maija,” Anders replied. “He used us to get inside the elf capital and access its magic.”
“I can’t believe it,” she said.
“And what was Ivan to him in all this? What was my father to him in this little game he’s playing, just a pawn to be tortured and tossed aside?” Anders growled.
What are we going to do? Raffa asked.
“What can we do?” Anders asked. “You heard the dragon; we can’t go into the elf capital anymore. He’s altered the magic to keep us out. I doubt we’d even be able to find it anymore.”
What of the elves? Zahara asked in concern.
“The dragon said the city was destroyed. Does that mean they’re all dead or captured?” Maija asked.
“I don’t know. There is no way of knowing,” Anders said.
Unless we find Natalia, Zahara said.
“Why would she know?” Maija asked.
“Zahara’s right. Natalia has Nadir’s two-way mirror. If he survived, he would be able to contact her,” Anders said.
