She hopped into the saddle, holding her breath for as long as she could. Raffa flew low through the thick gray haze. Maija began to need to breathe, but didn’t want to take in the harsh smoke. Unable to hold out any longer, Maija took several short breaths, each one worse than the last. She coughed violently; the lack of oxygen made her feel sick. Raffa sped faster toward the city and she began to throw up.
Flying out of the smoke and just over the low rooftops of the adobe-style homes, Raffa descended into an opening inside the city. Maija choked on her vomit as he hit the ground with speed, falling and sliding on his underside. She held onto the saddle with all her strength. Raffa’s wings plowed through homes alongside the street. As soon as he slowed, Maija let out a final hurl, spilling the rest of her lunch on the ground below. Gasping for air from having not had a decent breath in longer than she could stand, Maija focused on not passing out. Blinking rapidly and taking in deep breaths of the fresh air, she controlled her breathing enough to take in her surroundings.
The smoke behind her acted as a wall trailing from east to west as the wind pushed it across the Plains. The sky was devoid of dragons. While Raffa gathered his feet under him, Maija could see that the dirt street they’d crashed onto and the surrounding streets within sight were empty.
Are you alright? I felt you were going to pass out, so I hurried as fast as I could, Raffa said.
Yes, I’m going to be alright, Maija said. Thank you, Raffa, she said, patting his neck, then asked, Where are the people?
I didn’t see anyone, Raffa said.
Horses and people were nearby just a minute ago, she said as she searched the area with her mind for the horses and people she’d felt moments ago. She found them, moving very quickly away from them. Maija cursed, They’re fleeing upriver. We must have flown right over them.
There must be others closer to the fires, Raffa said, spreading his wings to fly.
Maija checked the skies, Raffa, don’t fly. She directed his attention to where she’d just seen a dragon loop out from behind the smoke. She gasped a moment later when she saw a second follow the same path.
Was that them? Raffa asked after the dragons flew back out of sight behind the smoke.
If it wasn’t, Anders is in for a tougher fight than he expected. I hope he knows what he’s doing, she thought.
I’ll stay low and near the smoke in case we need to hide from view again, he said.
Be careful, Maija warned. I’m not sure I can take on two dragonriders alone. We should keep our mind barriers up, too, and try not to search too far out from what we can see.
Agreeing, Raffa flapped his wings several times and let the wind carry him just over the homes. Staying close to the smoke, he moved forward across the city. Maija looked south across the breadth of Aquina. Strangely, she didn’t see a single person or horse, a drastic change from their visit nearly a week ago.
Where is everyone? Why aren’t they defending the city? she wondered. We should see people here, fighting and trying to smother the flames. Unless they fled in the days since we returned to Brookside?
I sense people ahead, Raffa said.
Maija searched and found a small group moving in their direction. They’re coming this way, she agreed. These people were moving fast, like the small band she had sensed fleeing. We’ll try to flag them down, she told Raffa.
The group of men on horseback galloped along the edge of the smoke-filled street. Maija directed Raffa to hover as they came into view. She shouted at them, trying to wave them down. Several men and women from the group of the last Aquinians in the city limits looked up and saw them. Their eyes went wide and they peeled off into the smoke.
No, Maija thought. Raffa we need to catch them.
Several arrows shot up from the hazy streets. Raffa moved deftly to dodge them. As the shots flew by, he asked, Why don’t they recognize us?
They think we’re with the other rider. How would they know that we’re still on their side when we show up at the same time that they’re under attack? Maija heard wooden arrow shafts snap against the energy shield Raffa had summoned to protect her. If I can just get their attention, they’ll see that we’re here to help. If we can talk to them, they might send word to wherever the rest of their people have fled that Anders and I will fight for them, she said.
Maija, Raffa said, sounding alarmed.
Maija looked away from those fleeing on horseback to the smoke-filled streets where Raffa had directed her attention. Pouring out of the haze and onto the streets came fairnheir. The massive houndlike creatures with hellish red eyes snarled and snapped in pursuit of their prey.
Reacting simultaneously, Raffa produced a jet of fire while Maija summoned magic. Just as she had done with the attacking kurr, Maija channeled a pulse of energy from her well of magic. This time the warm electric buzz didn’t fizzle out when it reached her fingertips, rather it exploded from her with more force than she’d ever been able to produce. The burst of energy splashed across the charging fairnheir, sending a deadly wave of battle magic and dragon fire through the streets.
Almost instantly she felt the massive amount of energy drain from her body. She wavered in her saddle, reaching for the crystal-hilted dagger at her side. Maija grabbed the dagger and felt a surge of magic shoot back into her reserves.
The people, she thought to Raffa. He flapped twice and disappeared into the smoke. Maija’s world became a dense cloud of unbreathable air. She held her breath, searching for the horsemen they had attempted to save. Like the others she’d seen, they were riding north, upriver. Feeling the pressure of the beastly hounds continuing to charge toward them, Maija called for Raffa to fly out of the smoke.
Once in the clear, Maija could see the chaos below. The black-haired giant hounds rampaged through the streets. A tangle of horsemen who hadn’t escaped earlier grappled and then fell under their charge. Maija looked desperately for Anders and instead spotted two dragons flying close together.
The dragonrider is distracted, Maija told Raffa. Now’s our chance to take the fairnheir.
There are homes down there, Raffa worried.
Empty homes. The people are gone, Maija said. To make sure what she said was true, Maija expanded her mental search now that the dragonrider was distracted. She fed on the power she’d absorbed from the crystal to gather the scope of the attack. Raffa shared his mind’s eye with her so they could combine what each was sensing.
The hounds below broke the defense, Raffa said.
The only survivors are galloping north. There’s one way to stop them from taking over the city, Maija said. Burn them. The thought made her cringe, but she couldn’t think of another option. She couldn’t reason with the fairnheir; they were evil creatures who acted as agents of chaos for Merglan.
She gripped her saddle and prepared to form an energy shield around herself. Raffa flew over the tops of the buildings and released a steady stream of fire as he passed. The heat and flames they let loose licked around the energy shield Maija had summoned. She continually tracked the fight with Anders and the enemy rider, watching the explosions and streams of flame coming from each dragon.
The fires from the enemy dragonrider and Raffa grew together, catching many of the fairnheir before they could flee to the Bareback Plains east of Aquina. From her perch, Maija could see far out across the grasslands. On the horizon, she saw the mountains tapering south to what she thought was the tree line marking the elven forests. That must be where the orc and kurr army is. There might still be time for us to secure the city before they reach us, she thought.
Having dealt with the fairnheir within the city, Maija turned her sights on Anders. Before she and Raffa turned away from the fire, a black streak came into view. A second later, Maija felt the jolt.
The sudden crash into Raffa’s underside caused Maija to buck from her saddle. She launched forward onto the back of Raffa’s head. Pain burned across her neck when she slammed into him. She would’ve fallen had she not landed directly between three of the dozens of spikes sprouting along the length of his spine. The burn on her neck felt wet and she could see the spike rising up next to her head.
I’m not dead, she thought when she realized she had full control of her body. Taking hold of the spikes and returning to her saddle, she asked, Raffa what was that?
Whatever it was, it hit hard, he said. I think it’s gone now.
Puzzled, Maija climbed back into her saddle and felt at her neck. Her hand was covered in blood, but not more than what a scrape would produce. That was close, she thought. Are you okay? she asked, leaning over to inspect him.
Stop that, it tickles, Raffa said.
