Braith had just reached the chamber where she’d met her cousins only a few days ago when Heledd flew in. She was going so fast that when she tried to touch down, she hit the ground hard, and turned into a rolling ball of blue scales and black claws until she hit the far wall.
Braith ran to her side just as her other two cousins followed Heledd in. This time, the aunts caught them, preventing them from ending up like Heledd.
Helping her cousin up, Braith asked, “Are you all right?”
“They’re right behind us.” Heledd looked over at the rest of the kin. “We need to move.”
“You all know what to do,” Crystin said. “Now go.” And Braith’s kin did, charging out of the cave and into the open. “You,” Crystin barked at Braith. “Stay by my side. I don’t want to face The Mountain if something happens to you.”
Heledd patted Braith’s shoulder before heading back out. Braith did as she was ordered and went to her aunt’s side. Together they moved toward the exit, but before they reached it, Lightnings dropped from the skies. There were so many, Braith didn’t even bother to count, concerned that she would let the number make her feel defeated before she even began.
And without a word, the Lightnings charged, attacking Braith’s kin inside and outside of the cave. They had no intent to harm; they wanted to bring the females in alive and relatively healthy. So they were trying to disarm, which was exactly what two Lightnings did to Braith.
She’d barely raised her hammer before it was ripped from her claws and tossed aside. Then the two males were on her, slamming her to the ground.
All she managed to hear was, “Get her wing!” before the panic set in.
He wanted to pace, but he didn’t want to do it while hopping. He had no idea what was going on outside and he was completely and utterly not happy about it!
“Fuck it!” he finally muttered. “I’ll just bloody hop.”
But before Addolgar could move from his spot by the hall table, he scented what some would consider a thunderstorm. That scent of lightning in the air. But he knew there was no storm deep inside these cave walls.
Gods, he was definitely not at his best if he was forgetting the battle strategies of the Lightnings. Especially when it came to rounding up females. He’d always heard there was a lot of arguing about that strategy among the Lightnings. Most came head-on because they had a better chance of getting hold of the most hearty females. Those females not afraid to attack, although there was always the risk of mortally wounding them during battle. At the same time, other Lightnings would go in the back way, where they often found the ones too young to take, the old She-dragons—which could be ridiculously dangerous at those advanced ages, especially if they were the ones minding the hatchlings—and the weaker She-dragons too afraid to run. The weaker She-dragons were also the ones the Lightnings could make use of.
Addolgar knew that somewhere in this cave the Penardduns had hidden the hatchlings. He may not be able to help Braith, but he wouldn’t let anything happen to her young cousins while the Lightnings were searching for other females. Turning, he started to hop over to his ax when a flash of purple flashed by him. But it was too late. He was already flying across the chamber and crashing into the opposite wall.
“Look what we have here, lads!” he heard a Lightning announce. “A lonely little Fire Breather!”
One Lightning was holding her down while the other pulled out his ax. “Flip her over!”
Not liking the sound of that one gods-damn bit, Braith got one forearm out from under her attacker, bent it, and brought it up. Her elbow collided with the Lightning’s jaw, stunning him, but he still wouldn’t loosen his hold. So she brought her elbow across his snout again. That knocked him out and she pushed his body off her. She tried to scramble away, to get her hammer, but a claw grabbed her by the ankle, dragging her back.
“Oh, no you don’t,” a male said. He didn’t seem to care what she’d done to his comrade.
Braith tried to grab something she could hold on to, but her talons tore through nothing but dirt and stone.
She was yanked back to the Lightning and, desperate, she kicked out, hitting him in the chest. With an “oof!” he flew back several feet, and Braith tried again to get to her claws.
“Get that one!” someone yelled, and Braith knew they were talking about her.
Addolgar slid down the wall and landed on his ass. He could already hear his father telling him this was his fault because he wasn’t paying attention! And knowing the old bastard was right, yet again, did nothing but piss Addolgar off.
An ax head slipped under Addolgar’s chin and lifted. “Hello there, darlin’,” the Lightning taunted. “Those females leave you in here to protect you from the big, bad Northlanders?”
“Poor thing,” another one tossed in as the ten or so Lightnings laughed. “What should we do with him?”
“Make it quick, I think. Wouldn’t be right to let him linger in shame.”
A clawed foot was placed against Addolgar’s shoulder to keep him sitting up and the dragon pulled his ax back, readying to swing and remove Addolgar’s head. A part of his body he was quite attached to.
“Give us your name, darlin’,” the Lightning told him, “so we can tell the females we take that you died with your head up.”
“Name’s Addolgar the Cheerful,” Addolgar replied over the hearty laughter of the Lightnings.
“What a lovely name. It’ll look good on your funeral pyre.”
Then Addolgar added, “Of the Cadwaladr Clan.”
The ax, in mid-swing, stopped and the laughter died. The moment lasted no more than two, maybe three, seconds, but that was all Addolgar needed. He grabbed the claw pressed against his shoulder and yanked the Lightning down and close, their snouts inches from each other.
“Nice to meet ya, daaaaarlin’,” Addolgar shot back, mimicking the Lightning’s accent. Then he snatched the ax from the Lightning’s claw and rammed the blade into his neck. Blood spurted and Addolgar got up, bringing the Lightning with him. The ax had only gone in halfway, so the Lightning was still putting up a bit of a fight, but it was easy enough to hold on to him, which Addolgar did.
“Now, let’s be clear, shall we?” He pulled the ax out of the dragon he held in his claws, and placed the blood-covered weapon on the ground beside him. “There’s only one way this can go, darlin’s,” Addolgar teased. “You know it.... I know it.”
And to prove it, Addolgar put his claws into the wound and proceeded to tear the screaming head of the Lightning the rest of the way off until he stopped screaming.
Addolgar dropped the body and held the head in one claw while he grabbed the weapon with the other.
“So, darlin’s . . . what’s your pleasure?”
That’s when they all charged Addolgar at once.
Braith scrambled a few feet away from the one who’d grabbed her leg and then dived the rest of the way to get her hammer.
She’d just wrapped her claws around the handle when her legs were grabbed again and she was dragged back. Once she stopped, Braith flipped onto her back and raised her hammer in time to block the sword trying to cut off her wing. She shoved, pushing the sword away from her, and rammed the head of her weapon into the Lightning’s chest. He lurched back and looked down at what was now a concave pit where his ribs used to be.
He lifted his gaze to Braith and raised his claw. “Please—” he managed to squeak out, but Braith ignored his plea, running forward and bringing the hammer down on the Lightning’s head. He dropped to his knees, his head flat, his neck compressed.
Panting, Braith sensed there were more Lightnings behind her and she spun around, now ready to fight. But it wasn’t Lightnings; it was her three aunts, watching her while the cousins fought alongside their own daughters and nieces.
“Wait . . .” Braith took a breath, tried to understand. “You didn’t help me?”
“We wanted to see if you could help yourself,” Crystin explained. “And you did. Nice one, niece.”
“Nice . . . ? Are you . . . ? You . . . you treacherous cows!”
