Page 81 of The Dragon Queen

“You need to stop doing that.” Draven’s voice was a low purr in my ear, almost the same pitch as the winds that rushed past. “It’s very distracting.”

“Distract me,” I grumbled. “Anything to take my mind off this ache. I’ll be red raw when we land tonight.”

“If my queen insists.”

But right as his hand slid up my ribs, Glimmer landed on Darkspire’s neck. She had spent much of the journey gliding along. Mostly caught up in Darkspire’s wake, but she held her own until her wings got tired, then she came back and sat with us. That’s what I thought was happening now, until her eyes met mine.

One of the traitor dragons is below.

“Draven—”

“I know.” All the heat rushed out of him as he snatched a spyglass from his bags and then used it to look down below.Darkspire let out a low roar, and he patted the dragon’s neck absently with his free hand. “I know, lad. I see him too.”

“One of the Duke’s dragons is here?” My eyes tried vainly to pierce the haze of clouds below, but I couldn’t see it. “This close to the border?”

“Not for long.” Draven barely ground that out before looking over at the rest of the wing and making a sharp gesture that could not be misunderstood. We would give chase, bring this defector to justice, and each one of the dragons let their wings dip down on the right before sweeping around, ready to fly down this enemy. “I can get one of the riders to come and fly you to safety as we deal with this.”

“Are you serious?” I leaned forward, gripping the saddle horn tightly, as if it would be me who descended down on this enemy rider, claws outstretched. “Don’t you even try.”

“Your wish is my command, my queen.”

I regretted my decision the moment Darkspire made his descent, because I realised now how easy all of them had been on me when I rode with them. It felt like the world was rushing up to meet me, eager to smash my skull open on the ground. Wind threatened to yank me from the saddle, and if my thighs ached before, they were agony now. I was fighting to keep my seat, when Draven’s arm wrapped around my waist.

“You’ll never fall, not while I still draw breath.”

As if in response to his word, Darkspire’s plummet levelled off as his roar rang out, declaring to everyone around his intent. The defector dragon seemed to take the hint, scrambling to take flight and get beyond our reach. It would never have succeeded. We had momentum, speed on our side, so why would it bother doing something so stupid?

Because this was a trap.

And we’d taken the bait without thought.

“Ballista!”

Brom’s shout diverted our attention away from the dragon and I could almost hear the grinding sound the gears made as the massive war engines were wound around to focus on us. They looked like ahuge crossbow, and each one of the javelins loaded into the mechanism were aimed at us.

“Shots fired!”

The traitor dragon wasn’t our focus, not when our own were under attack.

Obsidian, to the left!Glimmer’s imperious little voice rang out through my head and I bet Brom’s dragon felt the same.Cloud Raker, up!I watched Ged’s dragon back wing frantically, trying to get some distance between him and a javelin that went whistling over my head.Burn that javelin!Cloudy twisted like a snake, erupting a massive gout of flame into the air and turning the wooden projectile to ashes.Wraith…!

I sucked in a breath, the air stuttering in my chest as I heard Soren’s dragon scream. My love was now flattened against his dragon’s back, making sure he did nothing to impede his dragon’s progress as Wraith tried desperately to veer away from the javelin’s path. He misjudged it. I could tell as soon it got close. Soren was trying to wrest his dragon to the left, but ended up right into the javelin’s path.

SOREN!

If anyone doubted the rumours about us, they wouldn’t now. My mind shoved past its usual limits, broadcasting to the world what I felt. Him, safe, out of the path of this damn ballista and then rallying before descending on the assailants with righteous fury. Wraith would fry them where they stood, Obsidian too, and while the battlements crackled with lightning, Cloudy would blast them all to hell with fire. Their screams would be silenced by Darkspire looming out of the chaos, laying waste to everything organic with his acid breath.

And that’s just what happened.

I could feel Soren, the tension in his body, the way he wrenched Wraith sideways, his muscles screaming with the effort. I could feel Wraith, his heat beating like a drum, as he did the same. Him, me, Soren, we were one in our desire to ensure we all survived this.

Not just us.

They dare to try and shoot my mates from the sky?Glimmer glowedbrighter and brighter, rivalling the glow of the sun, her whole body quivering like a dog on the hunt.They dare to try to take them from me?I heard the growl build in her chest, in ‘Spire’s.Strike them down, burn it all to the ground, make them rue the day they thought to stand against us!

My dragon’s thoughts were like a lash we could not defy. The dragons all moved as one, hurtling towards the earth, falling like stones, veering left or right to avoid projectiles, but never pausing. I could hear the sound of their wings fluttering, the wind roaring, my own heart rattling in my chest, right before we pulled up abruptly. Wide eyes, open mouths, I saw that briefly, right before we rained down hell.

Lightning crackled across the battlements, dancing along the stones, limning the outline of the ballistas right before the wood began to crack. Obsidian and Wraith were pulling up and away as Cloudy swept forward. I’d seen a firestorm before, the dreadful combination of fire and lightning creating a chaotic swirl that threatened to destroy everything in its path, just as it did now. Men screamed, threw themselves off the battlements, but this did little to help them.

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