Page 55 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
"I can see them!"
"Good, then you can help me aim!"Draco let out a battle cry in her head, and Ava joined her mental cry to his. Lightning-fast, he raced towards the spectator stands and struck the transparent mass with his tail.
The mages became visible but were unharmed.
"Beware, mages!" Ava shouted from the back of her dragon, who shot back into the air to avoid injuring his wide wings on the structures.
The two mountain dragons quickly threw the combat students off their backs and fled into the mountains.
"Why are they running away?"
"They fear magic."
The cadets, on the other hand, showed no fear. Magg looked up at her questioningly. Ava pointed to the stands, whereupon all the students gathered and drew their weapons. Undoubtedly, there were advantages to being in a training facility for future dragon fighters.
But the mages didn't wait for the cadets to confront them. They were already forming hissing lightning bolts between their hands and throwing them at Magg and the others. The attacks hit the students unimpeded, causing the first one to fall to the ground and lie motionless.
"They don't have Isip stones?"
"They're so rare that you're lucky to have one. The mages have destroyed almost all of them."
She didn't need to ask why. Quickly, she took the stone from her pocket and wrapped it around the handle of a dagger.
"I need to get down to them!"
"No! The mages came for you. Your protection is the most important thing!"
"But the others can't defend themselves!"
"You are the prophesied guardian!"
"Let me down, or I'll jump!"
"You want to attempt your first jump from this height?"
"If I have to!"
Draco roared, causing all eyes to turn to him. Once again, he struck their opponents with his tail, but two of them quickly formed a shield that it bounced off of. A vibration went through his body that almost threw Ava off his back, but she caught her balance at the last moment.
Meanwhile, the remaining mages were forming their next attacks and hurling them at the combat students. Magg and Ralph jumped aside at the last moment, causing the lightning to strike the sand. But the next one followed immediately and hit a cadet before he could duck.
"Fly lower!"
"I can't risk losing you, Ava!"
"We can't let them die!"
Draco roared again, but he began to descend. He tilted one wing to the side so that Ava could slide down it instead ofjumping. He flew lower than during their practice maneuvers, making it as easy as possible for her, and Ava looked down. She had to do this.
Heavens, it was still terribly high. What had she been thinking, wanting to jump from Draco?
When the next cadet screamed, she blocked out her fear. Quickly, she swung one leg over to the other side and slid down Draco's wing. It wasn't a proper jump, but she made it to her fellow students, and that was what mattered. Draco immediately shot back up before he could injure his wings on the buildings.
Ava landed in the arena, immediately turned to face the mages, and raised her daggers ready for combat. The Isip stone was attached to one of them. This allowed her to deflect the mages' attacks.
Her opponents were already firing the next volley. There were ten hooded figures. Three attacked Draco, who immediately struck back at the intruders with his tail, while the rest hurled one magic orb after another at the cadets.
Ava deflected them with her dagger. Highly focused, she whirled the blade around in front of her fellow students. But the incantations hissed closer and closer, faster and faster, until a magical lightning bolt made it past her. It missed Magg by millimeters. While Ava followed it with her eyes, the mages bombarded her with countless more projectiles. There were too many to deflect with a single weapon and a single Isip stone.
