Page 36 of Fire Dragon
Chapter Five
Held tight within Liam’s energy, Emma stood upright on the saddle of his neck. She stilled herself as she stared through the scope of her rifle. The wind was coming on strong now, but Liam’s shield held. Sand began to fill the air.
She saw the lead dragon, with enormous horns and spikes on top of his coppery head and her heartrate jumped.
The Magi were formidable dragons and one of the fiercest looking on the planet. The lead had elegant teal scales on his forehead and a frame of dark copper spikes along each side of his massive jaws. It was almost a pity she had to take his life.
But she also knew the Magi weren’t just killers. They tortured anyone they captured then enslaved the ones that survived. One of her fellow dragon-riders had been caught while on vacation in the west. Her body had been returned to Blue Lake South in pieces.
Emma knew who the enemy was.
She put the center of the dragon’s forehead in her sights, then squeezed the trigger.
A split second later, the dragon jerked in the air and began to fall to the barren earth below. Thank God Ethan had felt their presence before they reached the city. Not many things were worse than getting crushed to death by a falling dragon.
The remainder of the Magi squad faltered in flight for a few seconds then pressed on. She could hear their muffled roars and watched as fire exploded from their enormous maws.
Liam’s voice entered hers.I’m having Ethan and the troops fly parallel. My shield will still flow. Keep firing.
As she squeezed off another round, a second Magi dragon fell from the air, then a third and fourth. Sixteen to go.
She heard more shots being fired from their vampire-dragon line and more distant Magi dropped to earth. Vampires had great vision and wore clear, protective masks during battle. The Magi were all but flying blind without human riders. They relied on their bulk, their essential power and their numbers to win battles.
The sandstorm buffeted Liam’s energy, but the line held.
His great wings flapped harder still. On he pressed toward the enemy.
Emma hoped the remaining Magi dragons would turn tail and retreat. But it wasn’t in the nature of the dragon, in any of the species, to run from a battle.
On they came.
Her reloading process took a few seconds longer than she wished. She made a mental note to practice more once she returned to Blue Lake South.
As she kinetically slid the new cartridges in place, the dragons loomed closer. The three in the lead belched fire and smoke.
She heard Ethan shouting orders to his vampires, three each on either side of her and Liam. They levitated swiftly and seemed to disappear, some moving low, others higher into the air.
She realized the wind didn’t seem to bother them and they could move faster than the dragons flew.
Ethan’s voice entered her mind.Emma. Ethan here. Please focus on the center dragon. He’s wearing an unusual protective vision apparatus. You’ll have to catch a nostril, or when the mouth is open the back of the throat. We’ve got the next five.
Done.
Emma sighted down her scope, she aimed low but as she fired a slight buffet in the wind caught the dragon in the left shoulder.
The insignificant wound enraged him. He roared and blasted fire from his throat.
On he came, huge and powerful. Ethan was right, unlike the others, this one wore a sight guard, something new for the Magi. That was the thing about their world, the Magi continually improved their weaponry and support gear.
She’d only have enough time to take one more shot.Liam, keep us as steady as you can.
His voice came back in a reassuring, calm manner.If you miss, I’m ready to engage.
She took careful aim, but at the same moment she fired, one of the other dragons fell from above and clipped the dragon she was aiming at.
The Magi were excellent flyers. Being struck by another dragon only barely knocked the warrior out of his flight path.
By now, he was headed straight for them and gearing up for a flame.
