His magic was going to hit us! What was I supposed to do? he thought while clinging to Zahara as she corkscrewed into a dive, flying out farther away from the city.  

Your shield is strong enough. It would have deflected.  

What do you mean my shield? Ander asked in confusion. He’d summoned the shield. 

The one I created for you. Now will you let me use you to win this fight? Tarron said in frustration. 

Cursing at himself, Anders looked around for the silver-backed dragon. Zahara was flying close to the ground at an alarming speed. With the dragon nowhere in sight, Anders glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see the dragon on their tail. To his surprise, the enemy rider had continued past them and was flying toward the city.  

Maija’s back there, he thought. We need to stop them before they see her. As he spoke to Tarron and Zahara, Anders saw Raffa just outside the easternmost smoke column, almost hovering just above the houses.  

The rider has seen them for sure, Zahara said in a panic.  

Anders felt Zahara increase her speed, faster than she’d ever flown before. For a moment he wondered if she was tapping into the energy from the crystals in her saddlebag, but when he checked on their reserves, he found she was not. Closing in on the silver-backed dragon, Anders could see the rider continually turning around to look at them. He knows we’re going to catch him, he thought.   

In the distance, Raffa and Maija had moved out of sight again. Coming up on the dragon with increased speed, Anders lashed, hoping to draw their attention away from the city. The rider blocked it easily and did not stray from his path toward the city. Anders tried three more attempts to knock the rider off his course, but each time the enemy blocked the energy and continued on course.  

As Zahara finally caught up to the rider, Anders slashed out with his energy-enhanced blade. The rider blocked the move, but he was driven off course. The sudden change in direction created a gap between them, enough space so Anders could see the rider remained intent on moving past them toward the city. 

What are we doing differently? he thought to Zahara and Tarron. 

Anders, what do you mean? Tarron asked. 

Zahara turned left, trying to cut off the silver-backed dragon’s angle toward the city. Anders pulsed a wide wave of energy, causing the rider to veer away.

When we first showed ourselves, getting his attention wasn’t a problem. Why won’t he come after us? Anders asked.  

Maybe it’s the fairnheir? Now that Maija and Raffa are after them, protecting them could be more important than defeating us, Tarron suggested.  

But why would Merglan send a dragonrider to protect fairnheir? Zahara asked, working to keep herself between the dragonrider and Aquina.  

It can’t be for protection, Anders said. They’re trying to destroy the city, so we don’t have anywhere to fall back on. Without it, we’re going to have to rely on the riverbed, which isn’t much. 

The enemy rider tried to make a break past them but Zahara turned to intercept the pair. This time they flew low, so Zahara dropped to match their elevation. Anders pushed magic into his sword and Zahara extended her claws. Speeding in close to the silver-back’s flank, Anders swung at them. The enemy dragonrider blocked with an energy blade of his own, then countered. Anders parried and the blade glanced down just past Zahara’s side.  

You have his attention, Tarron said as he felt the rider attack mentally. 

 Wondering what had changed, Anders saw a glow behind him. Zahara pulled away sensing Anders’ fear. While they climbed, he looked back and saw the light shining through a small rip in the top of the saddlebag. They must’ve seen the glow and figured out where our power source is coming from, Anders thought, wondering how long the saddlebag had been torn.  

The silver-backed dragon and rider were on their tail. Anders didn’t have time to mend the tear on top of the rectangular carrier behind Zahara’s wing. Try not to fly inverted, Anders told her, sending her a mental image of the saddlebag. The crystals in the bag are large so I don’t think they’ll fall out, but the tear could rip more if it’s weighted. We can’t afford to drop any and risk the rider getting them.  

Get ready, Tarron said, his mind pressured from the rider’s attack.  

Zahara continued her climb with the silver-back on their tail. Anders knew they could outrun them, but if they lost interest in the chase as they had before, they could choose to go for Maija and Raffa. This needs to end, he thought.  

He’s going to attack, Tarron said into both their minds.  

Anders sensed Zahara’s instincts and within a split second had formed a plan. Zahara stopped her climb, leaning forward and dropping straight down. She turned halfway through a cork spin to give Anders a clean view of the oncoming dragonrider. Sending a surge of magical energy into Lazuran, he swiped hard. The energy blade cracked against the sorcerer’s barrier shield, breaking both the energy stream extending from his sword and the walls surrounding the rider. The dragon banked away from them, but Zahara carried her momentum directly into them. Anders held on tight and thought the impact would be enough to send the dragonrider falling off his dragon. To his surprise, the rider held on. Seeing his opportunity, Anders launched his magically fueled mind at the elven rider’s mental defenses. As he suspected, he caught the sorcerer off guard and broke through into his thoughts.  

Anders paused, stunned at his success. Within that second of hesitation he could feel the sorcerer attempting to force him back out. With the crystal’s power feeding his strength, Anders took a firm hold in the rider’s mind. 

Glimpses of the rider’s history flooded into his mind’s eye. Anders saw the elf’s training and desire for more power than he was given, then flash forward to the prison sentence and being locked away from his dragon. The history continued quickly to images of Merglan freeing him and two other dragonriders from their cells. Next Anders saw him forging an unbreakable bond with Merglan in exchange for his dragon’s life and the return of his full magical abilities. A recent memory of Merglan forcing his hand into the true source of magic flowing through Cedarbridge flashed into Anders’ mind. He could sense the massive amount of energy pulsing from Merglan as he held onto the true source of magic streaming through the ancient city. The evil sorcerer’s body glowed with light as he released a fiendish cackle. Suddenly Merglan snapped his head up to look directly at Anders.  

Anders retreated from the rider’s mind as if running from Merglan himself. Shocked at what he’d seen Merglan doing and fearing Merglan had seen him, Anders was left with his guard down. He could faintly hear Tarron and Zahara shouting for him to come back. When he realized he was still astride Zahara as she grappled through the air with the silver-backed dragon, Anders felt the whiplash of the enemy rider attacking him. With no time to react, the rider broke through to his mind. He tried forcing him out, but it was too late. Anders had failed to close the connection between their thoughts. The only thing he could do was retreat into himself and plant his consciousness deep in the wells of his mind.  

The training he’d practiced with Ivan for this moment didn’t prepare him for the vice-like pressure on his brain. All he wanted to do was give in to the pain, but he knew he had to dig deep and protect his innermost thoughts. Drawing deep within himself, he focused on creating a vault. The physical battle instantly became lost to him the moment he fled into his mind. Darkness consumed him. 

Anders felt as if he were trapped in a bottle and stuffed down to the deepest depths of the ocean. In that dark depth a great beast hunted him, pounding on the bottle to get inside. As Anders cowered in the cold darkness of his mind’s vault, he heard a voice. The whisper felt familiar, but it wasn’t Tarron or Zahara. Anders tried to ignore it, looking for somewhere else to hide. The dragonrider might be manipulating him into giving away information. Digging deeper than he thought possible and farther away from the pounding pressure of the attacking rider, Anders heard the voice get louder. Feeling the pressure fade somewhat, he followed the voice toward a dim light. As he neared, the light grew brighter and the voice clearer. Suddenly he recognized who it was. Ivan’s voice was sounding from the light. 

“Father!” he called to the light.  

Ivan’s voice started to fade and the light grew dim. Anders started running, he wasn’t going to lose him again. As he chased after it, he grew closer again and the voice louder.  

Ivan’s murmuring sounded unclear to him. The only word he recognized was part of a question he couldn’t hear, “Understand?” 

“Understand what? What are you saying?” 

“Anders, you must understand,” Ivan repeated. 

“I don’t know what you mean. Why are you saying that?” he asked. 

“The flow of magic, it’s…” Ivan said, but before he could finish, the light was extinguished and Ivan was gone. 

 Anders felt something take hold of him and pull him out from the depths of his mind. He screamed internally, feeling the enemy rider’s presence.

Come out and play, the elf’s mental voice echoed as he brought Anders back to the front of his mind. Now it’s my turn to see what you have been up to, the dragonrider said. 

Anders tried to squirm free of the rider’s mental grip. He was trapped. Anders felt his hand grow hot and a white light exploded in front of him. The rider flinched loosening his grip enough for Anders to force him out. The enemy rider’s mental presence vanished, and Anders felt like he was falling. Opening his eyes, Anders saw the Bareback Plains stretching out in front of him. He sat, folded back against Zahara’s back as she drove toward the ground. He gasped for breath, trying to regain his composure.  

Zahara landed on the grassy expanse with a thud and Anders nearly came out of his seat. Sitting upright in his saddle and drawing in energy from the crystal stores, he asked, What happened? Are we alright? He looked overhead and saw the dragon flying away. 

I’m fine, but Tarron, he’s taken a beating.  

You’re bleeding, Anders said, seeing the side of his dragon’s body was spattered in blood. 

It’s not all mine. I got that dragon pretty good. What happened to you back there?  

I’ll explain later, Anders said, funneling energy from the crystals in their saddlebag directly into the nearly emptied sapphires in his sword. Tarron’s presence felt distant and faint. He wasn’t sure what he could do to help other than restore more energy into the sword. 

Where are they going? Anders asked, looking toward the last place he’d seen the enemy rider. 

Before she responded, Zahara ran, causing Anders to reach for his saddle. Without saying it, she guided him to look to where the silver-back dragon was flying.  

Anders caught sight of them flying directly at Raffa and Maija as they flew out beyond the city limits. “No!” Anders shouted over the rushing winds generated from Zahara’s chase.   

From their distance the only thing they could do was watch as Raffa met the enemy dragon with a burst of fire. Flashes of energy exploding off shields followed. Anders prepared to use his magic the second they arrived within range.  

The dragons became locked in a tangle and Anders lost sight of Maija. He loosed a concentrated beam of energy that fell short of the enemy rider. He fired again, but still they were too far away. Zahara sped at them. Coming within range, Anders lobbed a sphere of magic that crashed into the elf’s shield. Sparks showered around them and he pulled away from Raffa. To his surprise, the dragonrider fled, flying southeast across the evening sky.