He pulled his ship into a climb, but kept the falling woman in the rear view screen. Her form rippled in the air as she fell and the fabric of the dress shredded as massive red wings unfurled. Her back arched and her arms drew out from her sides as her skin tore away revealing red scales. Her wings beat frantically as her form grew. A loud scream of triumph sounded sending the metal of his ship shivering as the dragon shed the last of its human guise. With powerful beats of its wings it began to climb toward his ship quickly. The speed it was gaining on him was unreal. He had never realized before how rapidly the creatures could fly.
“And a dragon, of course,” he grumbled and poured more magic into his ship to increase her speed. The scream of the dragon split the air again and he felt his controls quiver under his hand. His gaze flicked back to the rear view screen once more and his heart stopped for a breath. There was no sign of the sky behind him, only enormous ivory teeth and the very large gaping mouth they were contained in. A flicker of light at the back of the creature’s throat drew his attention and he watched in horror as the billowing flames grew. Dragon fire could melt anything. He knew that well enough from his lessons. The Shade had no chance of surviving that attack if he allowed it to succeed. Cursing loudly he hit the panel for the cargo hatch and cast a quick spell. The loud snap of the chains securing the cage rang through the ship accompanied by the frenzied screams of the goblins. He watched the view screen long enough to ensure the cage was indeed falling toward the dragon and then veered hard to the left. The explosion behind him rocked the ship hard and he fought to regain control.
That wasn’t a trump card he had wanted to play, but at least now he knew the alchemical mixture he had fed the goblins worked. Fighting hard to slow his heart he brought the ship back around for another sweep at the transport. He had to make a door for Charm now. He knew he was running out of time and luck.
“Fortune I do love you,” he whispered as he watched the headless corpse of the dragon plummet past the ships. Its tail tore through one of the fighters as it fell sending the ship spiraling into another Avanti ship. Both spell hawks careened toward the water below still hopelessly tangled together at the wings. “One,” he added and prepared to fire on the transport itself.
Moving his fingers along the controls slightly he selected the two guns he had prepared for this purpose. If everything went as planned the ammunition would do most of the damage to the ship and not the occupants inside. With a quick prayer for luck he opened fire and watched the rounds splatter against the side of the ship. “Hmm not what I had planned,” he grumbled pulling his ship back to the right for another sweep at the transport. The flash of flames in the rear view caught his attention and his eyes widened with alarm as he saw the side of the transport ignite fully into blazing flames. “Shit,” he gasped and leaned forward to look at the gun controls he had used. “Oh shit,” he gasped again, he had selected the wrong guns.
Charm take cover behind something solid now. Don’t question. Don’t argue. Just do it, now!” He tried to keep the panic out of his voice as he sent the mental command to the rogue. “Twenty, nineteen, eighteen …” His voice trailed off as he dove away from the transport. He had to get clear before the second part of that ammo hit.
We are protected, what did you do? Charm’s question came right as the explosion did.
Shade’s ship rocked once again and he looked up to see debris flying in all directions from the transport ship. The last unfortunate fighter hadn’t realized what the flames had meant and had suffered the brunt of the blast. Making a really big door. Umm. Are you still alive? he answered as he watched flaming pieces of metal fall from the sky.
If I wasn’t, you couldn’t make a mental link with me, idiot, Charm snapped, the panic completely gone from his voice, replaced with what sounded like fury. Get out of there. I’ve teleported us to last camp site before Rivana. Meet us here.
I didn’t see you jump, Shade protested.
We didn’t have to Shade, your damn explosion destroyed the wards preventing us from leaving, Charm explained in a tone that suggested it would be a long while before he forgot this particular adventure.
Shade nodded slowly and watched the Avanti transport as it too crashed into the sea below. “Eight fighters, one transport, and a dragon,” he muttered and pulled a cigarette from his coat pocket. Placing it in his mouth numbly he stared down at the wreckage strewn water below. With a slightly trembling hand he lit the cigarette and shook his head slowly. “And to think, I used to be a pacifist,” he whispered.
Chapter 22
Sanctuary
Morning light filtered through the pale green curtains. Jala shifted on the couch and brushed a strand of hair from her face as she stared at the window. Her head rested on Neph’s leg while her feet were draped across Jail. Marrow and Wisp were curled on the floor near the couch sleeping soundly. Of all of them, she was the only one that hadn’t drifted off while they waited on Finn and Valor. Emily hadn’t returned yet either. No matter how many times she tried, Jala couldn’t form a mental link with any of her missing friends.
There had been riots in the city last night. They had seen the flames from the warehouse. Twice, Jail and Neph had gone out to calm the crowds and put out fires. She chewed on her lower lip and continued to stare at the window praying she would hear the sound of horses soon.
The faint scuffle of movement from the hall drew her attention and she turned her head just enough to see Sovann emerge from his room. He padded barefoot to the window and pulled the curtains back just enough to peak out. She watched his shoulders slump as he realized his brother still hadn’t returned.
As he turned, she caught a full glimpse of how young the mage truly was. He looked so much like Finn normally, that they could pass as twins aside from Sovann’s slighter build and longer hair. Today, however, he had the look of a scared child about him that made him seem years younger. He noticed her watching him and he did his best to erase the worry from his face and dark green eyes.