Since I have Azarwrath to help shield the flier, it makes sense. And with Colonel Grady behind me with one of the chapaharii blades, that should be further protection. Assuming he doesn’t brain me. He seems affable in general, but I’ve caught him fondling his hilt and glowering at me a couple of times.
You know the command words on the original blades if he—or it—gets uppity.
True. As to what you should do, I just asked the general. He asked if your dragon would accept commands from him or do what she wants.
Uh. Rysha remembered the shape-shifted Shulina Arya sailing around the castle corridors on that crate scooter, completely ignoring the guards’ orders for her to stop.
A sensation of amusement came from Trip. Got it. I’ll let him know.
The city is almost in sight, Shulina Arya announced, flapping her wings harder. We shall lead the way into battle. With our combined powers, we’re much deadlier than Bhrava Saruth.
Rysha rested her hand on Dorfindral’s hilt, but didn’t point out that her power was borrowed.
The sword thrummed at her touch, as if to let her know that it was also eager to go into battle. Interestingly, the chapaharii blade had stopped sending such intense urges through her to attack whenever Shulina Arya showed up. It was as if the sword understood that this dragon was their ally. Rysha wished she could get the blade to accept that about Trip.
I assume from watching you pull into the lead that you’re definitely not amenable to following orders, Trip observed.
I am, but you’re right about Shulina Arya. She seems to have her own ideas about how this battle should go.
I’ll tell the general that you’ll work independently. Our plan is to lure the dragons away from the city so we can fight them over the ocean, where we won’t likely hurt people or do damage to buildings or ships in the harbor. Right now, three of the six are holed up in Lord-governor Arrowwood’s headquarters. The other three are at the outskirts of the city, standing guard, it looks like. A gold and two silvers. Those would be good ones for you, Shulina Arya, and Bhrava Saruth to go after. Hells, what now?
Trip? Rysha saw him craning his neck in his flier, looking toward the dark clouds over the sea. Lightning flashed out there, but she couldn’t make out anything in the water or the sky.
I sense another dragon out there. I’m not sure if he’s an ally to these six or not, but he’s a big powerful gold.
We’ll keep an eye on him—and these three—while your team goes in to get the others.
Good. Be careful.
Rysha could make out the spires and towers of the city ahead. Even though Portsnell’s population was smaller than the capital’s, it still housed more than fifty thousand people. Fifty thousand people who were in danger of having their city razed.
A gold dragon perched atop a lighthouse on the rocky shore south of the city sprang into the air. It flapped its wings and flew toward them. Rysha’s stomach clenched with nerves, but she gritted her teeth and drew Dorfindral.
Trip attempted to wall off his mind as he piloted Colonel Grady and the other fliers toward Portsnell. His brain crawled with the discomfort of having so many dragons in close proximity to each other.
The gold and one of the two silvers had left the city and were flying toward the formation now as lightning flashed over the ocean. Trip sensed the second silver lingering near the harbor. The two other silvers and the female bronze were still in the government headquarters building. Their auras were diminished, and Trip suspected they were shape-shifted. So they would be less likely to be noticed? Or so they could fit into the building?
Trip had never seen dragons hide inside a building to avoid a battle. What did they think was in there that would be of value to them? Not livestock, surely.
“I want half the squadron to help our ally dragons with these three dragons outside,” Zirkander said. “If Bhrava Saruth or Shulina Arya can knock down their barriers, you’ll be able to hit them with your bullets. I’m concerned about the dragons in the headquarters, so every pilot with a sword wielder, head over there to check on them. They could have hostages. Even though the gold is with the ones outside, it’s possible these dragons are diversions.”
“Awfully large and shiny diversions, sir,” Captain Duck drawled.
Since Trip was still leading, he took the initiative and dipped toward the shoreline and the city first. He had never been to Portsnell, but his senses told him where that government building was.
The gold and one silver dragon continued to fly high, toward Bhrava Saruth and Shulina Arya. The second silver remained in the harbor, lurking.
Though Trip worried about being separated from Rysha, he had to trust that she had the tools—and dragon—she needed to take care of herself.
As he flew along the harbor, Trip glimpsed the silver there on a cannery rooftop. It looked balefully at him but did not move from its perch. He didn’t know why it wasn’t leaping into the air to join the battle, but the fewer enemies for his allies, the better. So long as it wasn’t harassing the locals.
A few fishing boats and sailing ships were tied up at the docks around the dragon, but not nearly as many as Trip would have expected given the stormy weather. Maybe crews of other boats had seen the dragons coming and had sailed out toward other ports, hoping they wouldn’t be noticed.
A large crabbing boat floating in the harbor was the only vessel with people out on deck. They carried rifles and clubs, as if they meant to fight off any dragons that came for their ship. Trip lifted a hand toward them, admiring their spirit, even if it would do little good.
“My sword wants me to attack that silver dragon,” Colonel Grady called over Trip’s shoulder.
“Does it still want you to attack me, sir?”
“Yes, but I sense that the full-blooded dragon is more of a draw.”
Trip was glad to hear that. “Don’t worry about passing the silver. Three full-blooded dragons are waiting for us in that building. They’re just less noticeable to the sword because they’re shape-shifted into humans right now.”
“Three dragons are better to battle than one.”
“You elite troops officers have interesting notions, sir.”
“We’re a special bunch.”
Trip passed the harbor and spotted the flat roof of the two-story government headquarters. The three dragons were still inside. He felt a twinge of disappointment, realizing he would have to land his flier and go in after them. An air battle would have been much more enjoyable.
“The enemy dragons have engaged our dragons,” Zirkander stated.
Trip fought the urge to twist in his seat and look back into the rainy afternoon sky. His battle waited for him below.
Now that he was closer, he realized that only one of the dragons was in human form. The other two had turned into… bears? Trip sensed actual humans in the building, too, all down in the basement. Being held there as hostages? As Zirkander had guessed? If so, to what end? This behavior was not typical for dragons.
Trip veered for the rooftop, deciding to land there instead of in the yard below, though he doubted it would matter. It wasn’t as if they could take the dragons by surprise.