“This was no accident,” said Jolian, turning around with a glare and striding toward the exit. “Novir did this.”
“How?” Matt asked, coming behind.
“I’ll find out when I strangle him.”
They ran through the tunnels with Matt’s staff casting light far ahead of them, Jolian taking the lead as she expressed confidence about their path. After another few minutes, they heard a faint roar ahead, then another. Ryan assumed it was Sebast and Brazin. Jolian picked up her pace, exuding rage. The roars grew louder amid the sound of ice shattering with a loud crack. Then it went quiet for a minute until they burst from the tunnel and paused. All except Jolian, who continued past the line of trees separating them from her kin. The others followed and came into view of a battle just as Jolian yelled her brother’s name in disbelieving surprise or anger.
The green dragon, Sebast, lay on his side, one wing visibly broken, shards of ice embedded all along that side of his body, including his neck and head. Gashes that appeared to be from another dragon’s claws punctured the body, and several evenly spaced holes that looked like bite marks were on his neck. A green liquid oozed from his nostrils, dripping on the ground and hissing as leaves emitted smoke from its touch. From the lolling head, gaping mouth, and unmoving, open eyes, he seemed dead.
Brazin reared up on two hind legs, his blue body showing burn marks from the green liquid that dripped off of him. Two gashes in his belly oozed red blood, and Ryan saw the body expanding as the dragon sucked in a large breath that heralded trouble. Two baleful eyes fixed them. On his back sat Novir, who lifted his crossbow and fired at the group just before a blast of frost from Brazin’s throat flew toward them. Matt put up a shield, and the bolt bounced harmlessly away, but the ice struck the barrier and stuck to it, forming a dome over the invisible protection. As the blast continued, Eric stepped back and then ran away through the trees as Ryan watched, wondering what he was doing.
Chapter 6 – Flight of the Dragons
Eric sprinted through the trees, using them to hide his intentions. Once out of sight, he chose another path and began creeping back toward the blue dragon, hoping to emerge where they neither expected him nor saw him.
“Brazin!” Ryan yelled, “you have a coward on your back.”
Eric looked over at them but couldn’t see the knight’s position. Maybe it didn’t matter as long as he kept up a banter, but then another dragon joined the distraction.
“Brother!” Jolian called out, voice anguished. “What have you done?”
“I have done what I am commanded, dear sister. Do not follow or your death is next.”
In reply, Jolian transformed into a dragon, and in that moment, Eric threw a knife at Novir. The blade was halfway there as he took off at a run. It did not surprise him that his throw missed, partly because Brazin moved. Seeing the blade go by, Novir turned and fired the crossbow at him but didn’t come close. Eric hurled another knife as he ran, then another as he adjusted the aim. The last blade struck Novir in the side.
“Fly!” the guardsman yelled in pain, pulling the blade out and dropping it.
Brazin leaped up and beat his wings furiously, lifting into the sky. Jolian looked ready to follow when Eric called out.
“Wait! Not without me!” He ran for the dragon, who turned with impassioned eyes. He thought she would refuse, but she lowered a wing as her brother continued a climb.
“Climb up the wing, Andier. My magic will keep you on.”
He raced up the wing, the footing bouncy until he ran along the bone at the front, wondering why they didn’t just use magic all the time instead of using saddles, which there was no time to put on. Reaching the spine, he straddled it and grabbed a handful of red dragon’s mane, the insanity of what he was about to do filling him with adrenaline and fear.
“Eric!” Ryan called. “We shouldn’t separate!”
“No choice!” he yelled down. “Wait for us!”
He nearly bit his tongue as Jolian leaped up, wings beating the air. The time for talk had passed. She climbed effortlessly, Eric hanging on with effort. The idea of letting go to find out how well she was keeping him there with magic made him laugh, but he knew that if she failed for even a second, he was plummeting to his death. He didn’t need to look down to know his knuckles were white. He squeezed her enormous body with both legs, but as he did so, he had the sense that they were almost attached to her back, as if it and him were magnetic. He tried to lift one knee away and found he couldn’t.
“You will feel better if you trust me,” Jolian said, and he wondered if she felt him struggling despite what he assumed was a preoccupation with gaining altitude. Brazin had turned away, high enough above the peaks to soar for escape to the west and Ortham, but Jolian needed a few more seconds to pursue. Eric looked down and saw that his friends were growing smaller beneath him, a half dome of ice still standing behind them, since they had come out from behind it. With a pang, he sensed he might never see them again.
He yelled to the dragon, “Just
