A Day of Dragon Blood

ELETHOR



Roaring fire, he flew at Solina.

Sunrays blazed around him. His fire streamed forward, crackling and spinning. From the inferno, a stream of acid hissed. Elethor howled and banked, dodging the acid. The drops sizzled against his side, jabs of agony like arrows tipped with poison.

"Elethor!" rose her voice from the smoke and flame. She laughed maniacally. "We meet again, Elethor, King of Lizards!"

He growled and flew toward her; he could just make out her form among the smoke. All around them, dragons and wyverns clashed. Fire and acid sprayed, blood spilled, crossbows fired, and bodies rained. Elethor blew fire and Solina raised her shield. The flames bathed it, white-hot, and Solina screamed.

Her wyvern, the great beast Baal, lashed claws the size of men. Elethor pulled back, dodging the blows. Baal's neck thrust forward, jaws snapped, and a fang tore at Elethor's leg. Blood splashed, and Elethor soared just as the beast spewed acid.

He swerved, dodged the sizzling fountain, and swooped. Before he could muster fire, Baal barreled into him. Fangs drove into Elethor's shoulder. He roared. Acid filled Baal's mouth, spilling across Elethor; he screamed in agony.

"You scream like a sow in heat, Elethor!" Solina shouted, grinning wildly. She raised her crossbow, loaded a bolt, and aimed. "You will scream for me in Tiranor soon."

Nearly blind with pain, Elethor swiped his tail.

The crossbow thrummed and a bolt glanced off Elethor's horn.

His tail hit Solina and she screamed.

The blow knocked her sideways—nearly off her saddle. The reins tugged tight, and Baal released Elethor and fell into shadow.

"Elethor!" Solina screamed, and then a horde of dragons and wyverns rolled between them, and she vanished into clouds of fire and blood.

Elethor's shoulder blazed; acid drenched it. He slapped his claws and blew his breath at the foul liquid. The last drops fell, revealing a steaming wound; the acid had eaten through three scales and left his flesh raw and red.

He looked through the flames, seeking his fellow dragons. They flew all around him, four thousand strong; nearly all the dragons who had guarded the southern border, from Ralora to western Gilnor, now flew with him. They were roaring battle cries, blowing flames every which way, and scattering and reforming in chaos. Some howled in fury; others wailed in fear. As he watched, acid sprayed several dragons. They became men and women in midair, screaming and clutching at their melting faces; they fell into darkness.

"Dragons of Requiem!" Elethor cried. "Form rank! Into your phalanxes. Fight them! Kill the riders! Burn them down—"

Two wyverns crashed into him. Their fangs and claws tore at his scales. Acid sprayed and Elethor howled.

He soared, claws lashing, and crashed between them. Above them, he shook himself and bellowed. The acid was already eating at his scales; as he shook, it rained upon the wyverns below. Their riders screamed as the acid seeped through their armor.

Even as they burned, the riders raised crossbows. Bolts flew. Elethor swerved. One bolt shot through his wing, and he crashed into a wyvern at his side. Another beast dived above. Elethor could see no end to them. He spun in all directions, spraying fire and holding the creatures back.

"Solina!" he shouted.

Where was she? He dived between raining bodies, seeking her. Smoke blinded him. Wyverns and dragons shot in every direction, flashes of scales. Human bodies thumped against him, rolled off, and hit the mountains below.

"Form rank!" Elethor shouted. "Dragons of Requiem! Fight them!"

He looked from side to side, panting. Acid coated them. They screamed. Their magic left them; they became men and women and tumbled. No, not men and women, he realized. They were mere boys and girls—farmhands, weavers, and shepherds. They cried for their mothers. They fell, flesh melting, screams echoing in Elethor's ears.

This is no battle, he thought. It's a slaughter.

The wyverns flew in perfect formations, attack flights of four—two attackers flanked by two defenders—swarming from phalanxes of a hundred. They undulated into the distance; Elethor saw no end to them. Most had not even fought yet, but howled for blood, awaiting their turn to kill. They formed a ring of metal and acid around the dragons, picking them from the sky one by one.

"Dragons, fly in your phalanxes!" Elethor cried. "Kill the beasts!"

Blue scales flashed below. From a ball of fire and smoke soared Lyana. Flames streamed from her maw and crashed against a wyvern above her. She spun, lashed her tail, and tore off a rider's arm; it tumbled with a spray of blood. She looked from side to side, clawing the air. Elethor flew toward her, roared, and flamed a wyvern. Soon the two dragons, brass and blue, fought side by side. Wyverns flew from all sides.

"This is a bloodbath!" she shouted at him. "Elethor, we must retreat!"

Crossbows fired. One bolt glanced off Lyana's back, and another pierced her wing. A spear slashed Elethor's burnt shoulder and he howled. Wyverns dived from above and acid rained. Elethor and Lyana scattered, dodged the burning rain, and soared. They blew fire, slashed claws, and felled wyverns from the sky.

The bodies of Vir Requis tumbled all around them, returned to human forms. One girl slammed onto Lyana's wing, still alive and screaming, then plummeted into darkness. A boy fell before Elethor, a writhing mass of flesh that twisted and steamed with acid. His screams died before he could hit the mountains below.

"We cannot let them reach the city!" Elethor shouted. He lashed his claws, blew fire, and tried to find Solina. Was she dead? Did she still fight?

Wyverns dived toward him. Blood and acid filled the sky. The sun disappeared behind the horizon, and dragonfire lit the night. Screams and shrieks rose, and the dead fell in darkness.