Pushing the boy forward against Tomaaz, she urged, “Hold on tight.”
Marlies leaned sideways, increasing the grip of her legs on the dragon’s sides. “Swing the chain, Maazini, so I can shoot,” she yelled, nocking an arrow on her bow.
The dragon tipped. The tharuk on the chain swung out beneath her. She released the bowstring. Her arrow went wide and the tharuk swayed back under the dragon, out of sight. She nocked another arrow. The dragon was flying erratically, affected by the tharuk’s weight.
The chain swung again. The tharuk was hanging on like a roach, climbing higher. Her next arrow missed, too.
Gritting her teeth, she leaned out further, her injured arm screaming in protest as she fitted another arrow into her bow. The chain flew out. Holding on with one arm, the tharuk grabbed its knife from between its teeth to plunge the blade into Maazini’s belly. Marlies fired. The arrow struck the tharuk’s forehead. Maazini rocked as it plummeted to the ground.
Marlies slipped sideways. Hands grasping at smooth scales, she plunged after the tharuk.
§
“No!” a scream tore from Tomaaz’s throat as Ma dropped earthward.
Maazini dived. A whump shook Tomaaz’s teeth, then his dragon flapped, rising in the air again. “I caught your mother, but I need to land. Soon.”
“Is she all right?”
“I can feel her heartbeat.”
Tharuk arrows rained around them. Maazini zigzagged back and forth up the hillside, ducking the tharuks’ shots. Zings of pain shot through Tomaaz’s mind as three more arrows met their target, lodging in Maazini’s hide. They drew level with the hilltop, in clear sight of tharuk archers.
“Go, Maazini, go.” Tomaaz willed his friend to fly faster, higher, anywhere but here.
An arrow zipped straight for him. Tomaaz ducked. The arrow hit Maazini’s neck. The dragon bellowed, gusting flame along the hillside, scattering the tharuks.
Finally, they shot above the ranges, into a sky of blazing orange sunset. Tomaaz yanked the arrow out of Maazini’s neck, and ripped the sleeve off his shirt, wiping at the green grunge on the wound. Despite his efforts, limplock was rapidly dissolving into Maazini’s bloodstream. With flagging wings, Maazini made his way across Death Valley to the western range of the Terramites.
Below, a battle horn echoed in the valley. Tharuks spewed out of the mines and caverns, racing up the hillsides. Shards, they were fast. Where was Pa? By now, Handel’s bronze form should be clearly visible. He scrabbled in his pockets for his calling stone. It wasn’t there; he’d left it with Ma. No healer’s pouch either. He clung tightly to Maazini’s spinal ridge as the dragon headed toward the watchtower.
“Maazini, avoid the tower, it’s full of tharuks with more poison.” He shared the memory of Pa being injured.
Maazini bellowed. “Done.” He swerved toward the hill beyond. “Can’t fly much further.”
“Land behind that pile of rubble.”
The battle horn rang again. Tharuks were swarming over the neighboring hills, around the watchtower. Some aimed arrows at them, but they fell short. Thankfully, none were on the hill they were heading to. But it wouldn’t take long for them to get there.
Tomaaz strained his eyes. Where was Pa?
“Tomaaz! I can’t hold on. My talons are cramping. I might drop your mother!”
§
“I have to go, Ezaara.” Deep lines etched roads of weariness in Pa’s face.
She hugged him. He still wasn’t fully recovered, but thanks to the piaua, at least he had a fighting chance. She pulled back and looked at him again. No, he didn’t have a fighting chance. She could be sending him to his death. But how else could they save Ma and Tomaaz? “Pa, there has to be a better way. You’ll be facing hundreds of tharuks on your own.”
He laid his hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. “We’ve been over this, Ezaara. I can get there within moments, sneak in and then bring them home. I shouldn’t be gone long at all.”
“Zaarusha and I could come.”
“Not with the ring, you can’t. You know that.”
And if she rode behind Hans, there may not be space for Ma and Tomaaz, especially if Ma was injured. Ezaara shoved her fists in her pockets. “Give them my love.”
Pa smiled. “Tell them yourself when we return.” He hugged her again and climbed onto Handel.
“I’ll take care of them all,” Handel melded with Ezaara, letting Pa hear.
“Please do.”
Pa shot her a surprised glance. “You can meld with Handel, not just Zaarusha?”
“I can meld with all dragons.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Just like Anakisha. I’ll be back soon.” He slipped a jade ring from his pocket, rubbed it and called, “Ana.”
With a loud snap, Pa and Handel were gone.
Dread dogged Ezaara’s steps as she paced on the ledge. Below, dragons flew about their business, people harvested crops in the fields and gathered fruit from the orchard. Ezaara’s feet pounded out an anxious rhythm.
Roberto arrived. “Adelina’s got a few supplies ready in the infirmary, in case they’re injured when they return.”
He stood near her, but didn’t touch her. A dragon was flying past, carrying Lars, head of the Council of the Twelve Dragon Masters. Ezaara took a step back, distancing herself from Roberto. Lars mustn’t suspect a thing.
“If they return,” she replied. Ezaara’s chest ached. Pa didn’t stand a chance. She’d probably just seen the last of her family.
§
Golden clouds surrounded Hans and Handel, making Handel’s bronze scales gleam. Strange, Handel wasn’t flapping, just hanging in midair with his wings outspread.
“Last time, you were too sick to notice,” Handel said.
Anakisha appeared before them. “Hello, Hans. Someone must be in grave danger for you to be traveling with the ring again so soon.”
Hans nodded. “Marlies and my son are stranded in Death Valley. Marlies has been deathly ill.”
“Very
