We’re safe now, Anders, Zahara said. It’s worth a try. This might be your best opportunity to find out whether Ivan can tell you how to defeat Merglan. We could save so many lives if we knew the secret to breaking Merglan’s strength.
Seeing their point, Anders agreed. Doing the same as he’d done before, he retreated into the inner sanctum of his mind. He dug deep, trying to replicate what he’d done when the elven rider suddenly attacked his thoughts. Anders went as deep as he could, shouting and calling his father’s name, but he heard no response and saw no glowing light. He came back, opening his eyes.
Did it work? Tarron asked.
No, he replied.
Try again, Maija said.
Anders tried again and again, each time with the same result. He attempted to penetrate the magically sealed walls of the cube but was presented with the same outcome each time. Deciding that his strength better served their efforts in battle, Anders reluctantly abandoned the attempt to speak with Ivan’s soul.
When they neared the city at the heart of the plains, Anders caught sight of something moving quickly across the sky. He looked left and saw a swarm of dragons trailing them from the north. He looked back but still couldn’t see Aquina.
“Move into formation!” Hannah shouted.
Anders followed the others as they gathered into groups and formed a half-dozen similarly shaped wedges in the sky. Zahara and Raffa glided in with Hannah’s group. Anders realized they were preparing to attack the dragons coming in behind them.
He formed a barrier around his mind leaving only a communication link with Maija open. Dragons weren’t as powerful alone as a dragon with a bonded rider, but the size of the flock left them way outnumbered by four to one.
Maija, keep Thomas protected. He doesn’t know how to fight with magic, Anders said as their formations turned to face the oncoming dragons.
I will. You look after yourself and don’t do anything reckless, Maija said to him.
Anders shared the warmth he felt for her in his heart. She did the same and the next thing he knew Kirsten was screaming in his ear. “Dragons! Dragons!”
“Kirsten!” Anders shouted. “Everyone knows. Now hold on tightly and don’t fall off.” Anders pulled Lazuran from its sheath and stared down Zahara’s neck at the rider-less dragons of the C.F.D.D.
Fire erupted as the dragons met in the sky. Anders blocked the flame wall with his energy and prepared to use his blade. Kirsten screamed for dear life and she wrapped her arms around him so tightly that he started shouting. Zahara burst through the flame wall allowing Anders to see their first targets. He fired a wave of energy at them, blasting the first dragons to the side, causing them to crash into their fellow wild dragons.
“Kirsten, not so tight!” he shouted when he had the chance to breathe.
Kirsten seemed to realize they weren’t on fire and stopped squeezing so tightly. Soon he saw flashes of light flying from her palm as she joined the fight. The sky became a tangle of dragons. Anders fought frantically to keep the formidable beasts from latching onto Zahara.
One swooped down from above them, it’s jaws open and snapping for Zahara’s neck. Anders sent a flash of energy out, deflecting the dragon’s head away from them. The dragon’s open jaws snapped just inches away. Anders leaned forward in the saddle and swiped Lazuran as the dragon continued past them. He felt the elven blade dig into the dragon’s hide for a second, then the dragon’s body fell from sight.
Anders looked at the sword to see that it was covered in blood. Before he had time to think, another dragon came at him from the side, smashing into Zahara and causing them to tumble through the air. Anders used his magic to keep Kirsten glued to Zahara’s back, relying totally on his saddle’s magic to hold him in place. He realized as they fell that Zahara’s wings were being held down by the dragon who’d tackled her. Seeing it happen to one rider already, Anders knew the dragon wouldn’t let go; it would sacrifice its own life to take theirs.
The g-forces of their rapid descent pulled his body into Zahara as they spun toward the ground. Anders released his hold on Kirsten and pointed the tip of his sword at the attacking dragon’s chest. Pushing energy into Lazuran, he extended its blade, plunging it right through the dragon clutching Zahara. The dragon’s grip released and Zahara regained control. He reached back and felt Kirsten. He was relieved to know that she’d managed to hold on.
“How did you stay in the saddle?” Kirsten asked while Zahara flew back toward the swarm of fighting in the sky above.
“It’s a special binding with the energy in the saddle. By ‘special’ I mean made just for me,” he said.
“Next time we go for a ride, I need one of those,” Kirsten called.
They joined the fighting again, finding Maija and Raffa swatting back dragons as they continued to pursue the riders.
***
Maija leaned against Raffa’s neck. Thomas’ screams faded as he pressed his head into her back and muttered to himself. Whatever he was doing to stay aboard Raffa was working. Raffa turned to narrowly dodge the open jaws of a smaller dragon. Just then Maija heard a loud crack and looked back to see Raffa’s spiked tail lifting away from the dragon. It dropped, spiraling out of control unable to use its broken wing where Raffa had hit it. Maija felt a wave of heat as fire washed over the shield.
Thomas broke his silence, squeezing her tightly and groaning under the intense flash of heat. Bursting through the backside of the flame, Maija was surprised to see open sky in front of them. They’d flown away from the rest of the attacking dragons. Raffa arched and for the first time, she saw the aerial battlefield as a whole.
The morning sky was teaming with dragons and dragonriders. Their once-organized formations had broken apart during the sudden attack by a hundred wild dragons. Among the streams of flame, thrashing dragons and flashes of magic underway, Maija could hardly tell which dragons had riders.
This is chaos, she thought as Raffa continued through his arching turn.
Maija sensed that Raffa’s strength had been depleted somewhat since they’d left the army’s camp the previous morning. Her first instinct was to tap into the energy from the crystals she still carried. But when she saw another dragon falling to its death, she had an idea.
Raffa picked up on her idea and quickly returned them to the fight. Picking off a wild dragon near death, Raffa swooped in on top of it, catching it in his claws. Maija syphoned the remaining life’s energy from the dying dragon as she had done to the kurr several weeks before. She drained the creature, giving him a numbing death while recharging her crystals. When Raffa let go, she focused on giving Raffa a resurgence of energy.
As she passed the flow of energy into her dragon’s stores, she spotted three dragons holding onto a rider. They were swarming like bees onto an attacking wasp. They gnashed and clawed at the dragon and rider, pinning the dragon’s wings until they were right above the ground. Maija thought they would all crash, but just when they were over the hard plains, the attacking wild dragons released the rider’s dragon and flew away. Unable to know where they were in relation to the ground, the dragon and rider hit the ground at full velocity. Maija looked away, not wanting to see the resulting smatter.
This is only the beginning, she thought. If the dragons can pick us off, there won’t be much of a resistance when the enemy riders and Merglan show up. We have to fight harder.
Raffa flew with a renewed strength, powerfully biting and clawing each dragon who opposed them. Maija slashed out with her sword, attempting to make the energy extend her blade the way Anders did. She swung into the air each time, unable to create the same effect. Frustrated that she was only able to use her sword when dragons were close enough to latch onto Raffa, Maija used what little magic she knew how to.
We need to find Anders and break away from this fight, she said to Raffa. Some of us must return to the city before Merglan or his riders attack.
Maija lurched in the saddle when Raffa dove quickly to avoid another dragon attack. She felt Thomas clutching her tightly and knew he’d not been thrown. Maija held on as best she could. Raffa pulled out of his dive and she flattened against his back. She instantly thought of Thomas, hoping he hadn’t been struck by Raffa’s spike. She leaned forward and he coughed in her ear. “Are you hurt?” she shouted to him.
“No!” Thomas shouted.
Maija could tell he wanted to say more, but Raffa’s continued evasive maneuvering made Thomas plant his face against her back again and continue to groan.
Sorry, Raffa said to Maija regarding the sudden movement.
We’re fine. Can you see Zahara? she asked.
You can’t sense them? Raffa asked.
I don’t want to open my mind. Not after that elf broke through.
Finding her in this mess will be hard. I’ll try.
Maija gripped her sword tightly and focused on staying alive. Before yesterday, she hadn’t fought with battle magic, only what she had practiced with the others in Brookside. Maija knew that if she tried something for the first time and it took too much energy, she could kill herself or Raffa. Even with the crystals, she had to take the energy from them one at a time. Using the shield and pushing small amounts out as she needed was all she could do to help Raffa.
As she searched the chaos for Anders, she saw three dragonriders working together. The rider in the middle flashed as they used an excess of magic. She wasn’t totally sure it was them until she saw a light blue blade arch down and strike a dragon’s energy shield, shattering it and cutting into his back.
There, she said, pointing Raffa in the right direction. The one with the energy blade. That’s Anders.
As they closed the gap and flew in behind Anders and the two riders he was working with, Maija considered using her mental connection to reach out and contact Anders. Maija saw a dragon fly unnoticed into the blind spot behind Anders and the others. She shouted but they didn’t hear her. With so many dragons searching for a weak link in any of the riders’ minds, she kept hers walled off.
Raffa dove in on the dragon and Maija reacted, seeing that if she didn’t do anything the dragon would catch up to Zahara. Maija pushed Thomas’ arms off of her and prepared to leap. She heard Thomas startle, but his voice was lost as she jumped out at the dragon. Raffa roared, catching the dragon’s attention and Maija landed on the creature’s back sword tip pointed down. Her blade bit into the dragon’s spine and she felt it’s back end drop limp as she cut the spinal cord. With her elven speed she ran up the dragon’s neck and jumped. She grabbed hold of Raffa’s spines as he passed. A half a breath later she saw Anders’ energy blade separating the dragon’s head from the rest of its body. She quickly came back to the saddle Thomas was desperately holding onto.
“Thomas,” she said getting his attention.
He looked at her and moved. She sat back down and instantly felt his arms cling to her again.
