Page 12 of Of Scale and Blood

Yes. Her tone said it was a totally stupid question. And in some respects, it was, because we’d certainly flown much higher over the last few days.

I meant without being seen.

Should. Rise now though.

Do it. She flicked her wing and rose sharply, causing the harness ropes to snap taut again.Is the male willing to help us?

Dree. Yes.

Then tell Dree to fly back toward the aerie and, when you give the word, do a quick fly past the two grounded riders. Make sure you emphasize the need to fly fast to avoid getting hit by more of that spray. It should distract them long enough for us to swoop in and kill those mages.

They too close to wall.

Not for fire, Kaia.

Good. Burn all.It was viciously said. The queen was in a fighting mood; she was not going to let these bastards take any more drakkons, young or old.

The male banked and chased after us, flying hard to catch up. Kaia rumbled approval as she reached out and gave him his orders. And theydefinitelywere orders.

As he banked again and flew toward the mountain, Kaia kept climbing. The air grew colder, the ground more distant, the mountains sharper, more dangerous. Then we were above even them and swinging around once more, flying back along the Black Glass’s mountainous spine toward that swirling, yellowish cloud.

Have you any sense of them?I asked, uneasily studying the unnatural-looking phenomenon below us.Or is that thing blocking your senses?

Not changed position.

Then once the patrolling rider has flown past us, we dive hard and fast. You take out the two riders on the tongue, and I’ll kill the mages.

Like this plan.

It still leaves one rider to deal with.

One better than three.

It certainly was. I glanced down at the ominous cloud and couldn’t escape the notion it was something more than mere cloud. But going through it was our only means of approaching without being seen.

Is Dree ready?

Yes.

I took a deep breath, released it slowly, then said,Go.

Kaia flicked her wings and then tucked them close, diving hard and fast. I held my breath as we hit the fog and felt her do the same. Perhaps, like me, she felt the wrongness in this cloud and didn’t want to risk breathing in the thick and gelatinous muck that moved sluggishly around us, taking the edge off our speed even if it didn’t stop us.

Then we were through and almost immediately, the stinging started. The strange cloud was acidic—maybe not as much as the sprays they used, but probably still enough to damage in deeper concentration. Whether our speed through the cloud would mitigate the effects or not was something we’d soon find out.

And there wasn’t much we could do about it right now anyway, because we were approaching the tongue at breakneck speed, and I needed to be ready. Below us, a drakkon bellowed, the sound echoing loudly in the thick hush underneath the cloud. Dree appeared, swooping not only low but close enough to flick his tail at the first rider, hitting his bird hard enough to send it staggering sideways several steps. He didn’t attack the second, instead swooping away and flying on fast. The second rider yelled something that sounded like a guttural curse, then raised his weapon and fired on Dree. Kaia flicked him a warning and he banked hard; the brown liquid skimmed underneath his belly, barely missing his tucked-up claws and left wing.

Then, with a roar that echoed so loudly it hurt my ears, she shifted her feet forward and swept up the unbalanced rider and his bird, crushing them both in her murderous claws. The second rider immediately spun around, and his bird fluffed up its feathers.

It’s about to fling its feathers at us, I yelled mentally and unleashed the fires pressing at my fingertips, spearing them along the tongue’s length before sweeping it left and right across the cavern’s maw-like entrance. The two cloaked mages went up in a whoosh and Kaia roared her satisfaction.

A heartbeat later, she was banking hard and fast, almost unseating me. I caught the leash with one hand and hung on grimly, waiting for her to turn enough for me to see the rider and his mount. As the deadly rain of golden feathers flew past us, the bird rose, its wings pumping hard, still glittering gold despite the barrage it had sent at us. The rider twisted around in his saddle and aimed his weapon at us, but I hit the thing with a fierce fist of fire. It exploded, taking out not only the rider but a good chunk of the creature’s spine. It collapsed but wasn't dead, so I turned the lance of heat toward it and speared it through its brain, killing it instantly. Then I burned its body, forcing so much heat into my fire that the creature’s deadly feathers became a river of gold that splashed down onto the tongue even as the flesh underneath burned.

Pain ripped through my brain, and the mote in my eye—something all fire witches had—burst. It was a warning that I’d put too much oomph into that last attack, but I didn’t for one moment regret it.

Kaia bellowed a warning to the drakkons caught in the cavern to remain there, then swooped upward sharply. The last rider was barreling toward us, a metal spear raised over his head, though how he was maintaining its position given the speed they were going, I had no idea.

It was the same sort of spear that had killed Ebrus.

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