Page 45 of Dragon Outcast (Age of Fire 3)

“There, open him up just under the knee; e’flows so nicely there—”

“I’ll feed you along the way,” the Copper said. “You and your mother both.”

Enjor’s eyes brightened. “That’s a generous offer, m’lord.”

“Faaaa! E’s our host!” Mamedi said, leaping on Enjor’s back.

“Off me, y’daft sot!”

But just as Thernadad shouldered his way into what was working up into a fifty-bat brawl, a bat let out a terrified death screech. A snake had reared up, biting a low-flying bat heading for the Copper’s tail and dragging it to the ground.

“Sons o’ Gan!” Thernadad shouted.

The Copper hugged rock, protecting his belly, and heard a pained squeak.

The cavern came alive with white shapes, pink tongues flicking as they rushed forward, coiled, struck, and rushed forward again. The greedier bats, stuck on the floor by the Copper’s open wounds, fell first.

The Copper found himself eyeball-to-eyeball with a great white snake, almost a rival to King Gan himself. He felt his griff lower and rattle, and the snake pulled back, gathering itself for a strike.

It would flash like lightning when it hit, so the Copper preempted the fangs with an openmouthed rush of his own. The snake, for all its size, wasn’t used to a dragon dash and seemed to slide in all directions in panic. The Copper bit for the neck—anywhere else on the snake would mean a counterstrike of venomous fangs.

The snake whipped its head sideways and the Copper went with it, clinging with claws and teeth. He struck the cavern wall, saw stars at the impact.

Blindly, he bit down hard, pulling with teeth and pushing with sii. The snake rolled and rolled again. The Copper found himself ensnared in coils. But they didn’t crush; they just twitched.

He dropped the dead snake’s neck and pushed away from the still-writhing body.

“Kill that one! The burning lizard!” the Copper heard. He turned his good eye to the sound and saw the great snake with a black-flecked face. King Gan’s smooth nose was peeled and cracked.

Snakes dropped dead bats and crawled for him.

The Copper doubted he had the strength left to fight another such snake, let alone several, or King Gan himself. He ran for the river. A snake slipped sideways to intercept. He jumped over it before it could do more than snap at his legs.

He looked up. The surviving bats were fighting to get into holes too small for snake heads.

“I’m leaving! Enjor?”

“Good idea, m’lord.”

“Leave the cave?” a bat squeaked.

“Who be a’needing it?” Thernadad barked. “Snakes and misery and too many bats lately.” He glared at his mate.

“E’be our host! W’be coming along,” Mamedi said, fluttering toward the river.

“Mum! Mum!” Thernadad shouted. He alighted on the chain hanging by the river mouth, then turned to search the tunnel and cavern beyond. “W’mustn’t leave without m’mum!”

“Past her time, anyway,” Enjor said, turning circles over the river.

“Mum!”

“’Ere me be!” a tiny voice squeaked. “M’been clinging for life to this fool dragon.”

A trio of snakes followed as quickly as coils could carry them.

“Unless you want to swim, madam…” the Copper said.

Thernadad flapped down and alighted on the Copper’s back. “Here, Mum, climb on.”

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