“Draeken has left a golem as a defense,” she said. “But we have to keep the dragons occupied.”
Isray flew upward and twirled between Gorewrathian and Bendelinish. Superheated flames scorched the air and Senia coughed in the smoke. Isray banked out of the dive and rotated, sending a burst of icy breath at the second red. The ice coalesced on its tail as it swooped away, and then Gorewrathian was upon them, its huge form obscuring the sunlight.
You think to fight me little one?
The king’s voice was mocking, the fire pouring from its maw and reaching for Isray. Senia had seen it coming, and directed Isray upward, out of the path of the second red that sought to cut them off.
You are almost a child. The king gave a sinister chuckle. If you were any younger, your snout would still have fragments of shell.
I’m old enough to survive against you, Isray retorted.
You have the oracle on your back, Gorewrathian replied. And she is the sole reason your flesh is not burning as you plummet to your death.
The king’s words pricked the dragon’s pride and Senia sensed the dragon’s intent. She shouted a warning, but the beast whirled in the air, lifting its claws to strike at Gorewrathian. The king’s own claws raked deep furrows in the white dragon’s body, and the second red scorched Isray’s wings. Isray leapt away, flapping for altitude.
“Will you stop letting them bait you?” Senia winced as she examined the wounds. “He’s just trying to get you to fight him.”
I am a dragon of Lumineia! Isray roared.
“You’re going to be a dead dragon if you don’t listen to me.” She turned her head to watch the two dragons giving chase. “You’re faster than them both, but if you tangle again, they’re going to rip your head from your body—and currently I’m riding on your neck.”
She sensed the dragon’s arrogance warring with Rake’s wisdom, the bonding of the two eventually cooling the dragon’s bloodlust. Isray turned his head and bellowed a warning at the two dragons, the great reds responding in kind.
“Get low and fast,” she said. “I know just where to take them.”
Isray did as requested, and folded his wings. The white dragon dropped to the earth and banked north, along the river through the valley. Isray converted the height into speed and hurtled toward the foothills. Skorpians spears were launched in their direction but fell short, the white dragon’s speed preventing any from striking.
Senia reached over the dragon’s neck and to the river water. A simple charm lifted the river in plumes of steam that billowed upward, through the ranks of marching fiends and filling the lower valley. Gorewrathian chuckled at the effort.
You cannot hide from me.
Who says I want to hide? Isray retorted.
Senia directed the white dragon into the foothills of the mountain, and then south, banking around the valley. They flew so close to the mountain cliffs that their passage sent stones and leaves bouncing downhill. The wind through the valley picked up the clouds of steam Senia had created and pushed them to the side, into Isray’s path. Ahead, the cliffs and crags of the mountains gradually disappeared from view, and Isray flapped for altitude.
“No,” Senia said, a grim smile spreading on her features. “Go into the fog.”
I cannot see, he replied.
“I will be your eyes,” Senia said.
The dragon reluctantly continued his path, and Senia closed her eyes, mentally directing the white dragon into the mist. A cliff rose up on their right, and they turned inward and up, sweeping through a narrow pass and then rising to an escarpment that resembled a blade. Invisible behind a curtain of mist and fog, she guided Isray through the cliffs and crags before bursting into open air.
“Now!” she shouted.
Isray flared his wings wide, slowing and turning him into a flip. Bendelinish came through the mist. He’d gone slow enough to avoid the crags, but his body clipped the knifelike escarpment. He roared in pain and rose through the fog, directly under Isray.
The white dragon dropped onto the red dragon’s back, his claws grasping his wings. He leaned down and poured frost breath onto the wing joints, the wings growing brittle. The dragon roared its fury—and crashed into the mountainside.
Frozen solid, the wing joints shattered, and the dragon fell into the fog. A thousand feet he fell, the impact driving the life from his body. Isray roared his victory just as Gorewrathian came through the fog and hovered a short distance from Isray.
A fool’s death, he snarled. But I’ve lived long enough to know every trick of dragon combat. You cannot defeat me, not with the oracle, not with anyone. You are but a hatchling, and I am the king of dragonkind—
A deep groan drew all eyes upward. When Bendelinish had struck the cliff, the impact had dislodged several boulders at the top. They rained down on Gorewrathian like enormous catapult stones, and one struck his back.
Bones cracked as the dragon was taken into the fog. Gorewrathian twisted and turned, painfully dodging the remainder before alighting on a ridge. He roared his pain and defiance, but Isray laughed.
What were you saying about being able to defeat an oracle? Isray taunted.
The red dragon unleashed a blast of flames so hot the fog burned away. Isray swerved to the side and then dove. Senia cried out as she nearly lost her seat, and clung to the bony spikes on the dragon’s neck.
The white dragon flew above the great red dragon and unleashed his breath, leaving a frozen line across Gorewrathian’s spine. The king whirled, but injured as he was, he could not turn fast enough.
Again and again Isray scored the great dragon’s body, the ice forming on his wings, back and tail. Gorewrathian’s breathing was labored and blood mingled with the fire in his throat. His fury turned desperate, and even with Senia’s farsight, the great king managed to burn Isray across the side. Isray landed hard and Senia tumbled from his back, injuring her arm.
I’ll rip your spine from your body and hang it on my wall, Gorewrathian snarled, stumbling after Isray. The white dragon bellowed and hid the burned wing behind his body, snapping his jaws and unleashing more ice, the breath burning into the king’s throat. Gorewrathian sought to turn away but the white dragon pounced and used its claws to hold the red dragon’s mouth open. He leaned in and unleashed a blistering blast of ice right down the red dragon’s throat.
Throat and stomach, heart and lungs, the inside of the red dragon turned to ice. He clawed at Isray, scoring lines in his flesh and ripping scales free, but Isray continued pouring ice down the red dragon’s throat. In desperation, Gorewrathian swung his head and bashed Isray against the stone wall, finally knocking him free. Isray tumbled away, but the damage had been done, and Gorewrathian collapsed.
Impossible, the red dragon screamed, his voice fading into silence.
With a great groan, the king of dragons slumped to the side, his weight carrying him over the edge. He fell in silence, but when he landed below, the ice inside his body shattered, claiming his life.
Senia picked her way across the battlefield, holding her elbow where it had broken in her fall. She regarded the fallen king as Isray began to change shape, the white scales turning to flesh, until Rake lay in the grass. He touched the large burn on his side and sucked in his breath.
“Did we win?”
“We did our part,” she said, turning to Xshaltheria in the distance. “Now it’s all up to Lachonus and Fire.”
