Page 13 of Galadon
Stay under the trees for cover unless you’re spotted, then you run for Taugud territory as fast as you can with the other horses,she said telepathically to him.
He snorted.I know that.
She rubbed his nose.True, but I still felt like I needed to say it.
Humans are odd…waste words.
Rayna almost responded that everyone thoughthewas the odd one, considering he liked to munch on dead dragons, but she left it alone. Let him think what he wanted as long as he stayed safe.
They began walking west up a gently rising slope. As they climbed, Rayna’s stomach began twisting in a knot. Something dark and deadly lay on the other side. It was a feeling she often got when she came close to Kandoran, especially groups of dragons. They emanated the evil magic that tainted them.
The mystical orb they’d used at the end of the war had cured most of the tainted, but some had been too far out of range. Those were the ones they had to keep hunting down. Nothing could cleanse man or beast if they’d been infected for a long time, and anyone who emitted the darkness she felt now was far beyond saving.
In silent agreement, all four of them slowed and crouched as they neared the rise. Her heart leaped into her throat when she peered over the top. Giant, green dragons lifted into the air and blasted fire straight at their faces.
“Shiiiit!”Conrad screamed.
The heat of the flames made Rayna’s eyes water. “Get down!”
They were all experienced slayers and knew what would happen next. Though she couldn’t see the others through the wall of fire enveloping them, she trusted they would lie flat on the ground the same as her. She’d barely pressed her cheek to the cool, damp earth before the loud snap of teeth sounded a foot above her head.
The fire disappeared, and she found the others in the prone position beside her. All of them had a mix of horror and relief in their gazes. The Kandoran had been clever, lying in wait, and it had nearly cost them their lives. She’d known they were close but notthatclose.
Rapid wing beats came from behind her, and Rayna rolled over to see six green dragons splitting off to bank and come back around for another attack. They had maybe a minute before their enemy returned. They’d become the prey in this hunt and needed to develop a strategy fast.
“Spread out,” she ordered.
These were large dragons, and at their current positions, only one or two could fly directly over their heads. To improve their odds, they needed to take down at least a few of them on the next pass.
After everyone was spaced about fifty feet apart, she called another command, “Don’t move until the flames hit your face, then drop to your knees and thrust your sword up into their stomachs. Try to cut as deep as you can.”
“Good idea,” James said, giving her a nod.
Gutted dragons tended to crash, which made it easier to finish them off. Every one of them was an experienced slayer and wouldn’t flinch in the face of danger. Those who did usually died within the first few months after completing their ritual. This job was not for the weak-willed or indecisive.
The dragons came back around and soared straight for them with their jaws wide open. Rayna was glad the trio of sorcerers who originally controlled the Kandoran were gone and couldn’t use them as puppets for their magic. They’d used spells to make the beasts shoot green fire that burned anything, including slayers and other dragons. She’d had some close calls during the war. Every time a Kandoran opened its mouth now, she had flashbacks and had to remind herself it wouldn’t happen again.
“Hold fast,” she reminded the others as the dragons neared them.
A hundred feet. Seventy-five. Fifty. Twenty. Rayna’s body shook with the need to move, but only once the wide jaws came within five feet did she drop to her knees and spread them to brace herself. Gripping her sword with both hands, she thrust it upward and plunged it into the dragon’s stomach. The beast screeched and tried to jerk away. She used every ounce of her enhanced strength to avoid losing the blade as the Kandoran’s momentum kept it moving forward. After a few feet, though, her weapon slid out with a spurt of blood splashing her face, and she barely managed to keep her grip on the hilt.
Rayna ducked as a tail swung to hit her, barely dodging it in time.
“Ahhh,” James cried out.
She glanced over and found he’d been thrown several feet and had a gash running from his cheek to the side of his head. Apparently, he hadn’t escaped his dragon’s tail. Maya lay gasping on the ground, also covered in blood, but no apparent injuries.
Rayna spun around, unable to find their fourth. “Conrad!”
“Hurry up. Get down here!” he called from below.
She twisted to find him at the bottom of the hill, already going after his dragon where it had crashed to the ground. He certainly got points for enthusiasm. Two other Kandoran were down there as well, but the fourth must not have been injured enough and stayed in the air. They rushed to finish them. Rayna found her dragon a couple of hundred meters away, screeching and trying to rise to its feet, but one of its wings was caught underneath it.
She leaped as the beast’s tail swung at her as she came close. If she hurried, this would be an easy kill, so she wasted no time running up the Kandoran’s back, switching out her sword for a dagger. Before her foe could buck her off, she dropped onto its long neck and plunged the blade into a small area just behind the skull where they were the most vulnerable. It was dead in moments, massive body going still.
“Anyone need help?” she called out.
A quick sweep told her Conrad and Maya had finished the other two they’d brought down. Rayna spotted James—despite his injury—running in the distance. The fourth Kandoran had crashed two hundred meters away, having soared much farther before succumbing to its injuries. The dragon was struggling and making squalling noises.
