“I saw her,” Adan’Karth called from behind. The Drake climbed down from his horse and strode towards the tree line. “Avandriell went this way.”
“Go,” Reyna urged, taking Asher’s reins from him.
The ranger dismounted and wasted no time following Adan into The Evermoore. The Drake took to the forest with a grace and fluidity Asher could never attain. It was as if the trees pulled him in, guiding his every step. It brought back memories for the ranger of his time in Ikirith, a heaven on earth. His mind was stunted, however, gripped with fear for Avandriell.
“This way,” Adan directed, taking them deeper still.
Asher wasn’t sure how his bond with Avandriell worked exactly. Should he be able to find her without sight? Could he call to her with his mind alone? He certainly couldn’t feel her emotions right now, unless the hatchling was fearing for his life as he was for hers.
Then he heard her, the familiar hiss of a baby dragon. They arrived at a small clearing dotted with jagged boulders and a fallen tree. It didn’t take long to find Avandriell, nor the monster she had picked a fight with.
Adan’Karth held an arm out to stop Asher from entering the clearing. “Wait,” he warned firmly. “That is an Arkilisk - very poisonous.”
“I know what it is!” the ranger barked, aware that a single bite from such a creature could bring down the largest of men.
The monster and the dragon squared off, each gripping the same boulder at an awkward angle. The Arkilisk was twice Avandriell’s size and its bark-like hide was covered in sloping spikes. Its six claws outnumbered Avandriell’s and its much larger head possessed a mouth of razor-sharp teeth. Asher knew well that it could tear through leather, and even armour depending on the Arkilisk’s age, but could it puncture dragon scales? That question led him to another question: how strong were a hatchling’s scales?
The ranger cursed himself for not asking Gideon more questions when the opportunity had presented itself. “I’m dealing with this,” he growled, reaching for his broadsword.
“Wait,” Adan repeated, but it was actually his tone that stopped Asher in his tracks.
“What is it?” he demanded urgently, wondering if there was something worse than an Arkilisk lurking in the forest.
“Can you not feel it?” the Drake asked, searching the air around him.
Avandriell pounced at the Arkilisk and the two wrestled briefly across the rock before tumbling to the ground. Asher finally pulled free his two-handed blade having already visualised the way he would slay the creature. The monster scurried forwards and attempted to take a bite out of Avandriell, but the bronze dragon proved the more agile of the two and evaded the attack with apparent ease.
Asher took a step forward when Adan’Karth gripped him by the shoulder and pulled him back. Surprising the ranger all the more, Adan raised his free hand and erected a shimmering shield between them and the clearing.
Only then did Asher feel something of what Adan had been warning him about. He knew it emanated from Avandriell. He could feel her heart racing within her chest. But there was another sensation against his skin that he hadn’t felt since his days with Paldora’s gem on his finger. He could feel magic in the air.
Then something terrifying happened.
Avandriell exploded in a myriad of colours, blinding anyone or anything foolish enough to have been looking at her. The air cracked in that same instance, assaulting their ears with an incessant ringing. Then came the heat. Asher almost choked on it as he wafted the air with his hand. Slightly in front of him, Adan’Karth was coughing and spluttering, staggering around in a daze. The pair blinked repeatedly and hard in an attempt to regain something of their sight.
“Avandriell!” Asher rasped. He squinted into the clearing but it was hard to see anything through all the smoke.
Adan’Karth tried to caution the ranger’s advance but he had to know what had happened to her. Something crunched under his left boot and he paused to investigate. The ranger lowered his head and discovered he had stepped right through the charred remains of the Arkilisk. Everything from its hide to its blood had been scorched black.
“Avandriell?” he called softly.
Adan’Karth entered the clearing and waved one hand through the air. Again, Asher felt the use of magic roll over his skin before he saw the smoke being swept away by the Drake’s spell. Ignoring the sensation, the ranger cast his eyes over the area. What he found opened a pit inside of him. It sucked in all his hope and left him in the company of fear alone.
There was no sign of Avandriell, only ruin. The rocks scattered around the area where she had stood her ground were blasted in the shape of a perfect circle. The edges of what remained were glowing orange from the heat. Two trees were on fire, threatening to torch The Evermoore were it not for Adan’Karth’s swift intervention. Any grass, moss or bark on the ground was simply gone, leaving small patches of flames here and there.
As despair began to creep in, Asher tried again to call out her name. “Avan—”
The ranger was immediately startled and jumped back as the dragon leapt from cover onto the surviving boulders. She looked down at him with her golden eyes. There was so much intelligence behind them. Caught up as he was, Asher required an extra moment to realise this was not the same Avandriell who had just squared off with an Arkilisk.
She was bigger.
Asher stepped back to take her new size in. The best comparison he could conjure was to that of a dog, a big dog. Her tail, of course, made her longer than any dog he had ever come across. Larger as she was, he noted features he hadn’t seen before, though he had to wonder if they
