Max looked back down at his brother’s pale, shocked expression. Bo tried to look down at the sword, but Max distracted him, “Bo, look at me.” Bo looked up at Max, staring into his eyes. Max couldn’t think of what to say except, “Hold on, Bo. Hold onto me.”
Kirsten slid in next to Max and knelt over Bo. In a panic, she held the sapphire against his chest and watched it begin to glow. She held his face and said through tears, “Stay with me, Bo. Stay with me. I love you.”
Though she tried to use her powers to heal him, Max knew she didn’t know how. The blood continued to flow from Bo’s wound and he trembled. Bo’s grip on Max’s hand tightened. His brother looked up blankly and said, “I love you. Be strong for me.”
“Stay with me, Bo,” Kirsten said one more time.
Max watched helplessly as his brother’s life slipped away. With a final exhale, Bo stopped breathing and stared with lifeless eyes into the sky overhead. Max continued to hold his hand while Kirsten held her crystal against his chest and sobbed. Max’s vision blurred from the tears. He looked up at his brother’s killer and saw Tony’s horrified expression.
Max clenched his jaw, trying to stop his lip from quivering.
Tony mumbled to himself, “What did I do?”
The next thing Max knew, Tony had reached down, grabbed an orc blade from the ground, and ran straight into the thicket of enemies beyond the chaos of the front lines. His shouts turned to cries of death in the distance.
The push of the orcs and kurr seemed unceasing. The only thing that rallied Max to stand up and defend Kirsten and his brother’s body was the hope that Britt was still alive. He placed the sapphire against his blade and cut back any enemy that attempted to surround them.
“Kirsten!” Max shouted during gaps between the incessant attackers, “You must get out of here. Take Bo and get out of here!”
At first his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, but after his third attempt to get her to move, Kirsten rose, shouldering Bo’s body and moving back into the allied army.
After ensuring that Bo’s body wouldn’t be trampled by orcs and kurr, Max launched himself into the enemy ranks with blind range. He mowed through enemies as they came, heedless of his surroundings. The bodies piled up; he had to keep moving or be walled in by his destruction. Suddenly Max’s sword stuck into the side of an orc without cutting cleanly through. The exhaustion hit him, dropping him to his knees. He dropped the tapped crystal on the ground. Reaching into his pouch, Max tried to fish out another. His pouch was empty.
He looked up at a kurr charging at him. Max feared his life was about to end when a flash of light passed in front of him. It struck the charging kurr in the chest, launching it and all of the orcs backward into the air. Max felt two hands come under his armpits and lift him to his feet. His savior continued to wield magic, pushing back the dark forces. It wasn’t until the warrior turned to face him that Max recognized Sanka, his crewmate from Britt’s ship and fellow crystal-bearer.
“Here,” Sanka said, reaching into his pouch. He tossed Max a crystal.
Max caught the sapphire and instantly energy surged through his body. He regained his fighting edge. He had more clarity now, too, after having felt the exhaustion drain the rage from his body. He also noticed that they were far out in front of the others. Max and Sanka held back the enemy as they slowly retreated to join their allied forces.
Suddenly two dwarfs ran past him, hacking their axes into the orcs that were chasing them. The safety of the lines was coming into reach. Max ran farther back toward their army. Sanka was no longer at his side. Max stopped and saw Sanka working with the dwarfs to hold off the forces. As he was looking on, a dragon dropped into sight and opened its mouth, shooting a wall of flame toward Sanka and the dwarfs. Max deflected the fringe of the fire with his sapphire’s energy. The heat was too much to bear and he was forced to run back into the tangle of fighting where the allied armies held their ground.
He turned around to see smoldering bodies where his friend had been. The dragon that had attacked them lay amongst the still burning destruction after a rider cut its head off. He didn’t have time to think before he had to rush away from the orcs and kurr now filling the open space behind him.
Searching for a place to reenter his side of the fighting, Max spotted Britt in a crowd of dwarfs. He doubled his efforts, pushing through to her as he called her name.
“Max!” she shouted when she finally spotted him.
He threw himself into her arms and wept.
Without speaking, Britt seemed to understand. She helped him retreat farther into the safety of their ranks. When they were well away from the fighting, Max sat down on the ground. Britt joined him. Through his sobs, he told her of Bo and Sanka’s deaths.
***
With two of Merglan’s elven dragonriders dead and most of the wild dragons defeated, Merglan’s lone rider had little help against Anders and Hannah. The rider had no choice but to go on the defensive. Maija and three other Northland riders had been making quick work in finishing off the last of the wild dragons when Merglan joined the fighting. Moments after their fellow Northland rider had beheaded a dragon whose fire would’ve caused untold damage to their army, Merglan struck. While Killdoor and the powerful sorcerer destroyed the Northland rider, Anders flew past Maija. He and Zahara sped directly at Merglan. Raffa changed course and followed.
“Anders, what are you doing?!” Maija shouted after him. He didn’t seem to hear her over the rushing wind. I guess it’s now or never, she told herself, having feared this moment for some time.
Anders clapped and a pulse of energy spread toward the evil dragonrider. A half a moment later light exploded between Anders and Merglan. Anders quickly sent three bolts of energy as a follow-through. They shattered against Merglan’s shield magic. Maija’s heart pounded as she watched Merglan and Killdoor hovering in the air, not at all fearful of Anders’ attack. Anders extended Lazuran and swung the energy blade at Merglan. The dark sorcerer produced an energy blade to match Anders’ and she saw Killdoor’s chest glow a dark red through his black scales. They clashed in fire and magic. Maija was overcome with a sinking feeling. Even with her extra crystals, she knew she didn’t have the skill to take on such a powerful rider.
She flew in, directing Raffa toward Killdoor’s blind spot. As Raffa passed behind Killdoor and came in close, Maija realized Merglan was completely distracted by Anders’ attack. I might pull this off, she thought, reaching for her magic. Summoning energy from deep within, she felt the electric tingle at her fingertips. She could fire when ready.
When Raffa was nearly on top of Merglan she released the spell. She watched the thick stream of light shoot from her palm at her intended target. This was easily the most battle magic she had ever produced. It rocketed through the sky at Merglan and Killdoor’s backs. Just when she expected the deadly channel of energy would hit her intended target, Merglan reached his hand behind him and swiped it out of the way. Maija gasped as Raffa continued down on top of Killdoor. He was going to try to strike them with his body.
She lurched forward, holding on tight to her saddle in preparation for the impact. Almost instantly she was pressed backward as a wave of magic pulsed around them. She flattened in the saddle and heard Raffa’s roar. She feared the worst, that Merglan was taking her bonded’s life. She reacted with instinct; not thinking, only doing. Rolling onto her side, she moved with an elf’s speed, sprang to her feet, ran down the length of Raffa’s neck and jumped.
Maija drew her blade as she fell through open space, falling down onto Merglan. The scene of what was happening suddenly became clear when she could see it all. Merglan was locked in a battle with Anders while Killdoor used his magic to hold Raffa back. Killdoor had failed to capture Maija in his spell and she was surprised to find that she had managed to drop onto his back with her blade in hand.
Several hundred feet over the battleground , Maija landed on Killdoor’s back, Maija swiped her blade at Merglan’s back. The sword scraped across an energy shield just inches from his riding armor. By the time she’d hit him, his sword arm was already swinging around his back. She was too close for the blade to hit her and Merglan’s forearm and fist landed on her shoulder. The strong backhanded strike knocked her off balance and she fell off of Killdoor’s back.
She sent her arms reaching, trying to grab hold of anything before she fell to her death. Her back hit Killdoor's wing catching her for a moment. He flapped, trying to shake her free and Maija was tossed. She flipped backward and saw Killdoor’s wing within reach. She grabbed and found a hold on the frontside of his wing. Focused on hanging on for dear life, Maija felt a sudden stabbing prod pierce through her mental barriers.
You’re as good as dead, girl. Let go and die painlessly, Merglan’s voice said wickedly and abruptly retracted from her thoughts.
Light sparked and flashed around her as she fortified her mind again. On the downward thrust of Killdoor’s wing, Maija pulled herself up. The momentum launched her over his wing and when he lifted it again, she landed in the leathery expanse. Not wasting time, she ran at Merglan. Without realizing she’d dropped her sword until that moment, Maija did the only thing she could and leveled her shoulder into Merglan’s side. She tackled him with all her speed and felt him lift out of his saddle. Expecting to drop into the open air, Maija’s breath released when she felt them land on Killdoor’s other wing.
Maija looked for Merglan as she slid in toward Killdoor’s back again. She saw him slide off the backside of the wing and grab hold of Killdoor’s scales. Landing against Killdoor’s back directly above where Merglan clung, Maija kicked at his hands while trying to hold onto the soaring dragon.
She saw Anders and Zahara try to break through. Anders released a shot of energy at Merglan, also trying to knock him free. The energy deflected against his energy shield. Maija heard Merglan grunt and witnessed him suddenly launching himself back up onto Killdoor’s back. This time he landed right in front of her, punching her hard and sending her falling. She slid on Killdoor’s back past the front of his wing and slipped to one side. Maija found herself in Merglan’s position now, clinging to Killdoor’s scales for dear life.
Energy flashed around them as Anders and Zahara tried to gain an opening on Merglan. Maija traversed near Killdoor’s wing. If she could grab hold of it again, she could use it to get her feet under her. As she grabbed onto the front of Killdoor’s wing, Maija glanced up. Merglan’s hand glowed hot with magic. He glared at her with a hateful expression ready to fire it at her. Her eyes darted to a flash of red moving across the sky from behind him. Taking a chance, Maija let go just as Merglan released his magic at her. Killdoor’s wing blocked him from view and she saw the light cut through his own dragon’s wing and pass less than a foot from her face.
She fell down as they continued away at a downward angle. Merglan’s dragon’s screams filled the sky around them. Maija felt Raffa’s touch on her mind and she rolled herself over in the air. He came under her and she landed on his neck, grabbing hold of the spines and quickly returning to her saddle. She searched the sky and saw Anders and Hannah rocketing together, following the trail of blood from Killdoor’s wing.
Raffa chased after them. Merglan buffered the two riders’ attacks while trying to heal his dragon’s wing. They spiraled toward a space in the plains clear of fighting. Maija looked around in search of the last elf rider. She found him fighting to escape the only remaining Northland rider.
Now Raffa, she told him. Now is our chance to take Merglan. Maija joined in with Anders and Hannah, sending attacking blasts of energy flying at the solo rider. Raffa and Zahara circled with the purple dragon as they teamed up to break through Merglan’s defenses. Maija allowed the sapphire’s energy to flow though her, carrying more power through her attacks than ever before.
With Merglan defending himself against three powerful sorcerers and trying to heal Killdoor at the same time, Maija could sense that he was giving up on his dragon’s wing. Anders and Hannah pressed the sorcerer’s mind. Soon Killdoor joined the attack, lashing out at them with his claws, swatting and breathing fire at them. Maija felt his mind trying to break through her barriers, but she had opened her access to the wealth of sapphires she carried.
