His hands gripped to white knuckles, the ranger lowered his head and gritted his teeth. Do it.
Avandriell weaved between the lightning and pierced cloud after cloud until she heard the roars of larger dragons. Get ready! she advised.
Like a knife shooting out of the dark to take its victim in the back, the bronze dragon speared through the last cloud and slammed into Malliath’s back. Her claws sank in, crunching through her enemy’s scales and into the rough hide. With a roar of her own, Avandriell quickly raked her way towards Malliath’s left wing and clamped her jaws around his scapula, a technique Thessaleia had used to disable enemy dragons from flying.
Avandriell soon discovered, however, that the strength of her bite was not that of her mother’s. Rather than lose his ability to fly, Malliath became enraged and twisted his body into an erratic flight pattern. With no intention of giving up the fight, Avandriell beat her tail again and again, hammering the black dragon’s side. Between the frantic beating of her wings, Asher caught sight of Alijah in his saddle. That was his target.
Leaping from the safety of his companion’s back, Asher found himself navigating the various spikes that lined Malliath’s back. His progress towards the half-elf was slow as every other step required him to brace against the spikes to avoid being thrown into the sky.
“You should have stayed on the ground!” Alijah called to him, having turned around while Asher was clinging to a spike.
Asher’s brow furrowed into a hardened scowl. “And you should have stayed in Erador!”
The ranger reached for the silvyr short-sword poking over his shoulder and wondered how he was going to advance while Malliath was writhing. Alijah, accustomed to such aerial acrobatics, had no problem finding the required footholds and closing the gap between them.
Kill him and Malliath goes down too! Avandriell encouraged, her fangs scraping against the behemoth’s bones.
Though he didn’t need the reminder, Asher visualised his silvyr blade thrusting forwards and sinking into Alijah’s heart. It would be quick and efficient, just as he had been taught.
Asher hesitated, catching movement in the corner of his eye. Approaching from Malliath’s right, at a slightly lower altitude, Athis intercepted the black dragon’s flight. As one dragon flew under the other, Inara launched herself up from Athis’s back and crashed into Alijah, taking them both over the side and into a cloud.
“Inara!” Asher shouted after her.
Predicting the inevitable, Avandriell released her grip on Malliath and let her wings catch enough air to lift her off. Burdened with a human mind, Asher came to her conclusion too late.
Malliath dived.
The ranger wrapped two hands around the nearest spike and held on with all his strength. It wasn’t enough. His fingers lost their grip and he was swiftly left behind as Malliath continued to drop through the clouds in pursuit of his companion.
Avandriell! Asher bellowed her name across their bond.
I’m coming! she replied desperately.
Asher could do nothing but fall through the heavens, blind to what awaited beneath every cloud. Avandriell! he called again, concerned that any number of mountain tops were rushing up to greet him.
Hold on! she cried.
The ranger fell through a pocket in the storm, an area of empty sky waiting to be filled with lightning and rain. Only it wasn’t empty. There was another occupant inhabiting the pocket and it was flying up, directly beneath him.
Avandriell! The ranger passed on the image of Malliath rising towards him, his mighty jaws extended to swallow him whole.
There was no response from Avandriell, leaving Asher to watch his fate grow ever closer. Within seconds, they were close enough that he could see Alijah safely returned to his companion’s back.
I’m too far away! Avandriell’s tone spoke of her agony. Like Asher, she knew this would be his end.
Deciding he wouldn’t die feeling helpless, the ranger gripped the hilt of his broadsword.
What are you doing?
With seconds left of his life, Asher gave his last words. I’m going to ram it down his throat.
Malliath’s wet fangs glistened and his tongue curled at the air in anticipation. Perhaps that was why he forgot to mind his surroundings and missed the hulking red dragon flying into his side. With Inara astride, Athis barrelled into Malliath and sent them both careering to the north, their lashing tails missing Asher by just a few feet.
The ranger turned his head to watch the dragons continue their battle, but the storm soon took them in, leaving only a pair of silhouettes as more lightning erupted within the clouds.
There you are! Avandriell’s voice preceded her by a couple of seconds. After falling through a rain cloud, the bronze dragon appeared by his side as the snow-covered mountain tops came back into view. Lining themselves up, now under the pouring rain, Asher reached out and found his place astride his companion.
Perhaps you were right, she remarked. That particular battle is beyond us.
Something about the way Avandriell emphasised her last word made Asher question her current flight path. You’re taking us back into the mountains, he concluded. Why?
You’re not ready for an aerial battle yet, the dragon quickly replied.
You’re not going back up there alone!
Yes I… Avandriell trailed off, her head turning to the right. Asher followed her stolen attention and discovered Malliath dropping out of the storm, closely followed by Athis the ironheart.
They look like they’re heading back to The Bastion, Asher said.
Avandriell banked in their direction and took after them. The lashing rain prevented the ranger from seeing anything more than a few feet in front of his companion’s head. He felt her body shift one way then the next as she navigated the mountainous terrain, weaving her way back
