Rysha suspected those dragons were buying time rather than outright trying to defeat Bhrava Saruth, and that worried her. What was this cohort of dragons up to?
Bhrava Saruth doesn’t seem to be injured, Rysha thought, trusting Shulina Arya to read her thoughts. Maybe it would be better to finish this one off and then help Trip and the others. I’m concerned the dragons have set a trap down in that headquarters building.
Hm, yes, that is possible. Not all bronze dragons are thinkers, but many are like my parents. They would definitely use guile rather than facing gold dragons, and if this one has convinced a gold and four silvers to work with her, she must be well-spoken and clever. She has convinced others to come out and face your dragon-hating sword.
I’m not the only one here with a chapaharii blade. I think Kaika and Therrik went in with Trip. What if the dragons anticipated that and that is why they set a trap? To capture the weapons so we would have fewer resources that are effective against them? Rysha grimaced, worrying anew about Trip and the others, as Shulina Arya took her in the opposite direction, chasing the wounded gold along the cliffs to the south of the city.
I will interrogate this one as you rain a thousand cuts on him, Storyteller!
With Shulina Arya diving toward the gold, the dragon having already been wounded with at least a dozen cuts, Rysha didn’t have time to form an answer. Shulina Arya caught up with their foe, hurling fire at the gold’s broad head.
Though their enemy was injured, it still raised a concave barrier, deflecting the flames.
In a maneuver Rysha was growing accustomed to and ready for, Shulina Arya banked at the last second, turning her back toward the dragon—and the barrier. Rysha leaped to her feet again so she could extend her reach, then swept Dorfindral overhead.
Though the barrier was invisible, Rysha felt it pop, a jolt of energy running up her arm. She attempted to slash again, now that the dragon’s defenses were down, but she couldn’t reach its scales.
Their foe roared, twisting in the air, and retaliated. A shower of fire sprayed from its maw. Rysha recoiled instinctively and crouched low on Shulina Arya’s back.
Some of the flames made it to her scales before she got her own barrier up, and Rysha felt their heat as the brilliant light stung her eyes. Even though the fire was warm and far too close for comfort, Dorfindral flared an intense green, and the flames did not burn her. The sword’s hilt felt cool in her hand.
The fire halted abruptly as Shulina Arya got her own barrier up and angled so Rysha was protected, even though her blade would not allow a bubble of magic to fully encapsulate her.
Forgive my slowness, Storyteller, Shulina Arya said as she wheeled to get away from the gold—or to ready herself for another attack. I was attempting to drill into his mind and extract the information you need.
It’s fine, Rysha thought. The sword protected me.
It is good that those foul dragon-loathing blades have a use. I may be able to forgive that one for constantly telling you to slay me. Do not think I do not witness the influence it tries to use on you. Foul magic. But good for poking enemy dragons with.
Very true. Rysha wanted to ask if Shulina Arya had learned anything, but their enemy must have thought it had gained an advantage, for it flapped its powerful wings and arrowed after them. Or maybe Shulina Arya had managed to extract some information and it was desperate to keep her from sharing it?
The dragon threw all its speed into a chase. Rysha believed Shulina Arya had meant to turn back into the battle—she didn’t seem to have the word retreat in her vocabulary—but she let out an indignant snarl as the other dragon lunged close, jaws snapping.
He thinks to bite me in the butt? Shulina Arya cried, whirling to snap back. This is not the mating season, and I am not in heat.
She hurled a gout of fire right into the dragon’s eyes.
Even on her back, Rysha felt the heat from her inferno, and she had to squint against the light. Despite the roiling orange flames, she saw that the other dragon had its defenses back up, and the stream of fire parted and flowed around him.
Since Shulina Arya seemed too irritated to do their traditional maneuver—the two dragons were hovering in midair, facing each other, she hurling flames and the other perhaps throwing a mental attack back—Rysha adopted a less traditional one. She stood and ran up Shulina Arya’s neck so she could see over the top of her head, then hurled Dorfindral point-first like a spear.
Though she feared the sword would end up in the ocean far below, she knew from past experience that she and Shulina Arya could retrieve it from the bottom if necessary. And she had the satisfaction of seeing that barrier disappear. The flames spewing toward it struck the gold dragon full in the face.
It roared as its scales charred black, then wheeled and spun away. But Shulina Arya did the aerial equivalent of a lunge, coming in close and snapping her jaws down on her foe’s long neck. Her sword-like fangs bit deep, the gold’s scales crunching loudly under the assault, and she shook her head like a dog finishing off a rat.
Rysha grimaced as louder crunches sounded. Bone breaking?
Shulina Arya’s body shook beneath her in response to the violent movements she was making, and Rysha dropped astride her, holding on in case the dragon forgot about using magic to keep her there.
But Shulina Arya soon let go, startling Rysha with how abruptly she released the dragon, and dove.
They arrowed toward the ocean far below, wind whistling in Rysha’s ears. She realized they weren’t arrowing toward the ocean but toward her sword. It must have been hung up on the dragon for a few seconds, because gravity hadn’t yet swept it below the surface of the water.
Shulina Arya streaked downward at hundreds of miles an hour, her wings flattened to her sides, her tail stretched out like a spear behind her. Rysha worried about her ability to snatch the blade out of the middle of its thousand-foot fall without cutting her own hand off.
Telling herself that it had likely already reached terminal velocity and the rate of its fall would be a constant did not help. All it did was make her wonder how the dragon was falling faster than that—she imagined some magical version of a flier’s propeller adding thrust from behind Shulina Arya. Then she told herself this wasn’t the time for mathematical speculations.
Shulina Arya turned so that her back would be toward the sword as they caught up with it. Doing her best to ignore the blue water below them, water growing closer and closer by the second, Rysha reached out. With the wind slipping behind her spectacles and tearing her eyes, she could barely see.
“One… two… three.” She snatched outward, wrapping her fingers around the sword.