Page 29 of Dragon Fire

Meanwhile, Seth approached a gryphon who had been pointed out as the general of the fighting wing with caution. He made his ritual bow and waited to be noticed. The male gryphon was huge, much larger than Flurrthith, but they shared a bit of coloration.

Seth couldn’t guess too much about his wingspan, since both wings were folded neatly across the general’s back at the moment. Still, just going by his body size, those wings must be quite broad and powerful. Suddenly, the beak turned, along with the rest of his face, and the gryphon’s eyes were set on Seth. Was it wrong to feel like prey?

Seth swallowed hard and did his best to stand his ground. It would not do to show fear or weakness to such a strong and intelligent predator.

“You are the healer they’ve ssent me, eh?” the general asked rhetorically.

“I am Seth, apprentice healer of the Southern Lair. I am your liaison to Sir Hrardorr, our best weapon against the pirates,” Seth introduced himself, giving credit where it was due, to Hrardorr.

“I look forward to sseeing thiss weapon in action,” the gryphon replied, and Seth couldn’t tell if his tone was impatient, annoyed or just factual. Seth wasn’t great at interpreting full grown gryphons’ moods yet—if he ever would gain such a skill. The gryphon general’s gaze dropped to the sword and sheath strapped around Seth’s waist. “You carry a blade? Odd for a healer, no?”

“I’m also a student of the sword. Sir Gowan taught me and gifted me this blade just before the battle of Dragonscove,” Seth replied honestly.

“It hass been blooded?” The gryphon looked skeptical.

“Yes,” Seth said quietly, remembering the lives he’d been forced to take and the many injuries he’d inflicted on the invaders before it was all over.

“Ah.” The gryphon nodded sagely. “Well, then. Perhapss you will be of ssome usse, after all. Tell me, when doess thiss ssecret weapon plan to sstart working?”

“Hrardorr?”Seth sent his silent message quickly, hoping for an update.

“I am nearly in position,”came the reply just as fast.“Is the beach defense ready? I’m going to start on the eastern point and work my way down the beach.”

“We’re ready on the beach,”Gowan told them, Hrardorr having brought him into the conversation.

“Sir Hrardorr is nearly in position, and Sir Gowan reports that the two-legged defenders are ready on the beach,” Seth said, reading surprise in the way the gryphon general reared back a bit. “Hrardorr wants to know if the winged contingent is ready.”

“We are,” the general said. “Though we cannot do much about the sshipss with thosse evil weaponss, we are more than able to defend the land. The two-legged, asss you call them, are the firsst line of defensse, and we will block any that might get through a weak sspot.”

Seth relayed the gryphon’s words to Hrardorr.

“Good. Keep the gryphons away from the water for now. I don’t need their help just yet, but if they are able to drop boulders from great heights with any accuracy, that could help later, once I’m clear,”Hrardorr told Seth in return.

Seth passed on Hrardorr’s words to the gryphon, drawing an unexpected laugh from the giant cat-bird.

“That we can do,” the general agreed. “When your dragon friend hass cleared the sscene.”

“I’m starting my first run,”Hrardorr told Seth at that moment, and a split second later, Seth saw the dragon erupt from the water, shooting flames into the sails of the ships at the far end of the beach.

“There he is!” Seth pointed as a cheer went up from the two-legged defenders down on that end of the long, wide beach.

The gryphon’s beak clacked open in what Seth thought was surprise. “I never thought to ssee the like.”

Hrardorr felt alive again as he hadn’t since the last battle. He was a warrior. This was what he lived for. If dragons could grin, he’d have been wearing the widest smile in the universe as he flamed the sails on a half dozen ships on his first run.

He dove back down into the water, preparing for his next flame run. He’d have to hit them hard and fast before they could turn those dragon-killer weapons on him.

He leapt out of the water and did a second run, farther down the beach. He’d targeted the most dangerous ships for his first few runs. If he destroyed their catapults and sank the stores of diamond-bladed weapons, so much the better for everyone with wings.

On his third flame run, a blade nearly clipped him as he dove back down into the water. The enemy had adjusted. No more flame runs just yet. No, now, he would go to work below the water line, as he had in the cove, to disable the most important ships—those with the most deadly armament. He would ruin their rudders so they couldn’t steer. He’d poke holes in sensitive places with his talons. He would sink what he could and damage the rest.

He couldseeunderwater, after a fashion, and stars knew he could navigate in the depths much better than in the air. This was his battleground now. If he could, he would have made it his home, but the one thing that he hadn’t inherited from his sea dragon ancestor was the ability to breathe underwater.

Hrardorr had no gills. Oh, he could hold his air for a long, long time. Nearly an hour, if he’d judged it right, but at some point, he had to surface to get a gulp of air into his lungs. True sea dragons, he believed, didn’t have to do that. Although…he’d never met a real sea dragon, so he was just going by the old tales he’d heard of his ancestor.

Hrardorr set to work on the hull of the nearest ship—one that was loaded with deadly diamond-bladed spears. He attached himself to the underside of the ship like a giant barnacle, trying to crush his way through the thick wood with his talons.

Something brushed past his tail, making him bleed, and Hrardorr realized archers were shooting diamond-tipped arrows down into the water. He’d have to be more careful about his wings and tail. He’d have to keep all of his body directly under their hulls while he worked and dive deep before moving on to his next victim.

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