Ah, excellent, Shulina Arya said, beating her wings hard as the battle came into view. There are plenty of dragons still left for us.
They were all left. The fight had barely begun. Fliers were still taking off from the bluff.
It looks like you can take your pick of worthy opponents. Rysha took a deep breath and drew Dorfindral. I’m ready.
The weapons platform rose ponderously, and Trip grimaced, watching the engines and propellers with his senses as his hands worked to ratchet down the base of one of the rocket launchers. A small stack of rockets gleamed in the sun, resting in the cradle he’d built into the top of the tower for them. He could sense the dragon-blood-derived acid inside, along with an explosive charge, but barely. His head throbbed from the proximity to the tainted ore, which was incorporated all throughout the platform, and most heavily concentrated in the rocket casings.
“In theory, you should pop magical barriers,” he muttered to the weapons. “We’re about to find out if that’s true.”
Are you steering this platform, Captain? Tolemek asked into his mind.
Not yet.
The weapons platform had to clear the cliffs before it could head south toward the city. Trip hoped it would move laterally faster than it was lifting, or the battle would be over by the time they reached the harbor.
There’s a wheel and levers in the wheelhouse that will let a mundane person steer it, Trip added.
As strange as it seemed, this whole structure would ideally be controlled by those without dragon blood, those who wouldn’t be repulsed by the tainted ore. With that in mind, he had designed it for mundane hands.
That wasn’t my question. I want to know if you’re going to keep us from running into that cliff over there.
I’ll handle it. Trip didn’t think they were close enough to worry about it yet. Just keep installing weapons, please.
Tolemek grunted. You sound like Zirkander. Except he doesn’t say please.
I’m low enough ranking that I’m used to asking politely for things.
It’s a good policy to maintain. Are we testing these rockets before we sail into the middle of the battle and start firing them? I know you said they would be drawn to dragons, but have you figured out how to make sure they go after the right dragons?
By asking our allies to make sure they’re farther away from us than the enemy dragons.
That’s it?
I couldn’t think of any other way to select targets based on their alliances or temperament. In the future, if the weapons platform proves effective, we won’t need our allies in the air.
Good luck telling Ravenwood’s female that. She seems bloodthirsty.
She just enjoys pitting herself against others in noble battle. Something that Trip could understand. He lamented that he would be stuck on the platform during the fight instead of in his flier.
Uh huh. Looks like company is coming.
Trip lifted his head. They had cleared the cliffs and could turn south toward the city now, but a dragon was heading their way. One of the silvers. Had it been sent to investigate the platform? Or destroy it? The dragons must have guessed it represented a threat.
I guess we’ll get a chance to test the weapons, Trip replied. But not this one. The launcher isn’t operational yet.
He envisioned himself grabbing one of the rockets and throwing it like a spear.
Towers Two, Five, Nine, Ten, and Twelve should have working launchers, Tolemek said from his spot on Tower Six. I made sure one on each side of the weapons platform was operational.
Good idea.
Trip jumped up, thinking he would have to run to the closest working launcher, but he saw that Tower Two already had a rocket loaded in it. He could detonate it remotely with his power.
He eyed the dragon’s approach, its silver form growing larger as it flew over the suburbs along the coast north of the city. When Trip had been making his calculations, he’d decided the ideal range for the weapons would be less than eight hundred yards so the dragons wouldn’t have much time to react. The rockets would launch like bullets, but he could still envision the magical creatures twisting quickly enough to grab them out of the air with their talons, then throwing them away before they could explode.
“Three… two… one… now,” he whispered and pulled the launch lever with his mind.
He sensed a click, as the ignition system activated, but the rocket didn’t fire.
Cursing, Trip leaped from his tower and ran across the deck. He magically elevated himself to Tower Two as the dragon swooped in close. The silver came right at him, talons extended, and Trip sensed it drawing upon its power.
Azarwrath? he asked as he wrapped a barrier around himself. He knelt behind the malfunctioning launcher, in part for cover but mostly because he had to fix it.
He realized right away that his barrier was thin and weak, barely extending beyond his body. He groaned—it was because he knelt on the tainted iron. Even the small bit threaded through the top of the tower was enough to disrupt his abilities.
Lending my power, the soulblade said as the silver hurled a mental attack.
Something like a hurricane battered Trip’s mental defenses as the dragon came in. Fortunately, its attack was weaker than Trip expected. Maybe the tainted iron affected it, even though the dragon wasn’t touching the platform.
It screeched, and its talons slashed as it neared Trip, trying to snatch him up like a falcon snatching a mouse from a field. Those talons clashed against his barrier and bumped off, but the blow sent a jolt through him.
Trip snatched one of the rockets from the cradle as the dragon flew away, banking to come around and attack him again. He hefted the weapon to his shoulder and hurled it toward the creature’s chest with all of his physical and mental power.
The dragon tried to dodge, but it was too close. Trip sensed its barrier popping and the rocket continuing through. Even though he hadn’t thrown it with the power of one of the launchers, it was designed to explode on impact, and it did.
Trip funneled more power into his barrier as it blew, yellow fire engulfing the dragon, and a wave of energy flowing in all directions. It hammered Trip’s defenses, and he dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth and struggling to keep up his magical protection. He imagined the tainted ore under his knee mocking him, and for a second, he was back in Bhodian’s barge, defenseless as his powers flagged.
The dragon thumped to the deck, screeching in pain. A gunshot fired, and Trip shook his head, thrusting the memories from his mind. He jumped to his feet in time to see the silver also recovering, running and flapping its wings as it headed for the side.