“We can’t fly into a bunch of birds,” Duck said.
“They’re heading for the airship, it looks like,” Leftie said. “What happens if you shoot a dragon when it’s a pigeon? Will the bullets get through?”
“I don’t think so,” Duck said.
“Are we sure those are the dragons?” Blazer asked skeptically.
“I don’t reckon a bunch of pigeons would attack an airship of their own accord.”
Even as Duck spoke, the flock flew past right under their flier. Dorfindral agreed that there was magic afoot—the sword flared even brighter.
Hunt! it seemed to cry into Rysha’s mind.
“Chase after them, Captain,” she ordered, even if lieutenants weren’t supposed to give captains orders.
“Yes, ma’am,” Duck said, apparently forgetting he outranked her.
Rysha leaned forward as much as her harness would allow, tempted to unfasten it to extend her reach, but Duck might have to fly upside down for her to have a chance at reaching those birds.
Leftie came in from the side, also chasing after the pigeons. He fired into the flock, and blood and feathers flew.
“Aw, Leftie, that’s not sporting,” Duck said. “Unless you’re planning to collect those pigeons and fry ’em up later, you shouldn’t kill ’em.”
“They’re about to attack the airship, Captain,” Leftie growled, firing again.
Rysha found it telling that the pigeons didn’t break up, not even with some of them being killed in their midst. They continued on, heading straight toward the airship. Would all the birds attack it?
“Faster, Duck,” Rysha urged, amazed that the creatures were staying ahead of their flier.
Dorfindral blazed, the hilt warming her hand. It knew even if her eyes didn’t that two of those birds were dragons.
But she couldn’t hit any of them yet, not with the sword. Rysha jammed Dorfindral between her knees and leaned over to the rifle mount. Duck weaved as he rained fire into the back of the flock, striking them from different angles. It gave her opportunities to fire without the risk of hitting him or the propeller.
Dorfindral, still in contact with her, seemed to guide her aim. She let it, and her sights settled on a plump bird near the center of the flock. She fired, and though it was a small target, she struck it. But, unlike with the pigeons Leftie had hit, it didn’t die. The bullet bounced off and didn’t hurt it at all.
You will not strike me down so simply, a voice spoke into her mind. Our purpose is noble and just, and we shall prevail.
Though Rysha appreciated her gun mount a great deal, she realized there was no point in firing at dragons with the rifle, so she took Dorfindral in hand again.
Duck caught up to the rear of the flock, bringing her almost close enough to take a swing. She leaned to the side and as far out of her seat as her harness would allow.
But Duck had to pull up before she could strike. They had reached the airship.
The birds did not pull up. They streaked below the envelope and across the deck, fearlessly flying at the humans on it, their expressions warring between surprise and disbelief as they watched the flock approach. Neither Trip nor Kiadarsa wore such expressions. They crouched, ready for battle.
Rysha twisted to look back as Duck sailed around the envelope, frustrated that she hadn’t gotten to take a swing. Would they be able to fly across the deck and give chase? Or were the quarters too tight for that?
The pigeons battered at several of the Cofah, their wings flapping wildly and aggressively. The ship’s defenders shot back, but struggled to aim with dozens of sets of wings battering them.
Trip ran toward the birds, Jaxi in his hand and the sorceress running at his side. A twinge of jealousy ran through Rysha at seeing them together. She tamped the emotion down. This wasn’t the time.
Fire flared around Jaxi’s blade, and a blazing orange fireball that seemed certain to set the balloon on fire roared into several of the pigeons. The soulblade had avoided aiming toward an area with people in it, but the Cofah soldiers still stumbled back, raising their arms to ward off the heat. The flames incinerated the birds instantly. Most of them. One survived the fire, twisting in the air and transforming into something else.
Would it turn into a dragon right there? Was there room?
Rysha twisted the other way as Duck looped around, taking the flier toward the airship again.
Trip sprang while the dragon was still transforming, swinging Jaxi toward it as lightning shot from his hip, from the other soulblade. The charge of electricity took down more of the attacking pigeons.
Before Jaxi could strike the creature—it was turning into some giant cat—an invisible force slammed into Trip.
It hurled him all the way across the deck and toward the railing on the far side. He almost went over, but the swords must have stopped him, for he jerked to a halt in the air. His feet dropped down to the deck again.
By now, the dragon had finished transforming. A huge white tiger with black stripes crouched on the deck.
A second tiger had emerged from the flock near the Cofah—Kiadarsa stood protectively in front of her people, ignoring the pigeons that still pecked and battered them as she faced the tiger. She splayed her fingers, launching some invisible attack.
Duck flew by, looking like he wanted to angle bullets toward the magical creatures, but there was no way he could do so without hitting their allies.
Trip ran back across the deck toward the tiger he’d tried to attack earlier. It sprang at him with its clawed paws outstretched. When it roared, the sound reached Rysha’s ears over the noise of the propellers.
Jaxi slashed defensively in front of Trip, blocking those slashing claws and knocking the tiger aside. Trip lunged after it, raising the blade to strike, but once again, he was hurled away with great power. He slammed into a support post, and Jaxi tumbled from his grip.
“We have to do something, Duck,” Rysha yelled in frustration as they flew uselessly past again. She barely resisted the urge to thump him on the shoulder. “Can you land? I can’t fight tigers from the air.”
Lightning shot from Trip’s hip as Jaxi launched another fireball from the deck. Both attacks slammed into the invisible bubble around the tiger as Trip grabbed the soulblade and rolled out of the creature’s path. Once again, the attacks did nothing to hurt it.
Rysha clenched her fist. She needed to be down there, using Dorfindral to pierce the dragon’s defenses.
“Find a spot to land,” Blazer ordered from the other side of the airship, apparently coming to the same conclusion Rysha had.
“Yes, ma’am,” Duck said.
As Trip turned to face the tiger, its pursuit relentless, Rysha hoped they wouldn’t be too late.
• • • • •
It wasn’t a tiger.
Trip reminded himself of that as the creature raced toward him once again, death in its predatory yellow eyes, eyes with reptilian slits. One of those mental attacks had nearly thrown him from the ship.
As he crouched, bracing himself with Jaxi in his hand, a surge of exhilaration flooded his veins. He felt in over his head, but that didn’t keep him from longing to fight, to dominate his enemy.
Azarwrath hurled lightning at the tiger. It branched around the creature without touching it. Trip had hoped the dragon’s shields might be weaker in a shape-shifted form, but that wasn’t proving to be the case.
It sprang, claws flashing as they slashed at Trip. He leaped to the side as he swung Jaxi at the creature’s body. He hoped the blade might sink in and ravage his enemy, but once more, the sword bounced off before striking fur and flesh. The tiger twisted in the air, claws raking toward Trip’s face. He jerked his head back, but a couple of those claws caught him, and fiery pain erupted from his temple.
Jaxi hurled a fireball at the tiger, the power and heat making Trip stumble back. He imagined a shield of his own flaring to life to protect him. Maybe it worked. Or maybe Jaxi did something, because the heat halt
ed abruptly. The fireball still burned, filling his vision for a second, but he didn’t feel it.
Unfortunately, the tiger didn’t seem to feel it, either. It landed, turned, and sprang at him again.
Trip raised the soulblade to block it as he tried to throw a mental attack of his own, anything to keep the deadly foe away.
To his surprise, the tiger faltered in mid-air, as if struck by a powerful gale. Lightning and fireballs streaked toward it, Jaxi and Azarwrath working together.
Evil humans, you think to hurt me? came a powerful cry in Trip’s mind. You think you have the right to hurt me? To keep my kind from reclaiming our rightful homeland? You will know our wrath, and you will never get close to the Portal of Avintnaresi.
Before Trip could think of a response, intense pressure crushed his mind. It felt like his skull was shrinking, or his brain was expanding, and there wasn’t enough room. He wouldn’t let himself drop Jaxi, but he reflexively brought his hands to his head, as if that would help. But the pain only increased. His vision darkened, and he lost track of the tiger—the dragon. He dropped to his knees, gasping for air.
I’m trying to protect you, Jaxi said, but this one is strong in the mental ways.
Yeah, noticed that. Trip winced, trying hard to focus on his surroundings, knowing he was vulnerable right now.
Fight it off. We’re shielding you so he can’t physically get in to finish you off.
Trip forced his eyes open enough to see the tiger throwing itself at him, but not reaching him, instead bouncing off the soulblades’ barriers. But it kept trying, and Trip could sense the barrier faltering as their enemy threw mental attacks as well as physically slashing at it. Even two soulblades couldn’t hold off a dragon, not indefinitely.
You have more strength than you believe, a male voice Trip hadn’t heard before spoke into his mind. He tried to concentrate, to listen to it, even though his brain pulsed with pain, and he thought his heart would stop from the stress of it all. And you have two of us. You must attack the dragon back so that its concentration falters. If it is struggling to protect itself, it won’t be able to continue this attack on you.
Great. How?
You tried a mental attack. That wasn’t bad, but your strength will probably be fire. Hurl fire at it.
Trip had trouble thinking of anything but the pain assailing him, the constant attack on his brain. He dropped his forehead to the deck, his body curling in on itself, as he imagined obeying the suggestion by finding matches, lighting them, and flinging them at the tiger. Obviously, that wouldn’t help.
But, wait. He’d made fire before, hadn’t he? Back on the pirate airship. Jaxi had said he’d done that, not her.
Trip lifted his head and attempted to channel his anger, pain, and rage into one focused attack. He envisioned fire engulfing the tiger and burning its brain from the inside out. With a ferocious roar, he flung his arms out, willing the attack to happen.
The pressure on his brain halted, disappearing so quickly that he almost toppled over. But he caught himself on Jaxi, digging the tip of the sword into the deck and leaning on it. A wall of fire burned in front of him, but he didn’t feel its heat. Was it real? An illusion? Had he created it or had the soulblades done it?
A screech of pain filled his mind, so loud and powerful, he almost thought it a new attack. The deck quaked in response.
The roar of a flier propeller filled his ears, and he glanced left in time to see Rysha leap from the back seat of Duck’s craft. She raced toward the fire, her sword held aloft, the blade blazing with that pale green glow.
Afraid she would be burned, Trip willed the flames to go out. They disappeared, revealing the tiger on its back, writhing with all four legs in the air.
He realized he’d made a mistake in letting the fire die out, because the creature sprang to its feet. It transformed in front of his eyes, turning from the white tiger into a silver dragon. The hulking creature’s head brushed the bottom of the envelope.
Rysha was close enough to spring at the dragon, slashing her green blade toward it. A spark of light flashed as Dorfindral pierced their enemy’s protective barrier. Rysha jumped closer, slashing for scale and flesh this time.
The dragon bunched its legs to spring away. Though still on his knees, Trip locked eyes with the creature. A wave of ferocity welled up from deep within him, and he snarled as he willed it to stay in place, its talons locked to the deck.
It hesitated, frozen in place, but only for a couple of seconds before that big silver head shook itself. The dragon’s eyes narrowed, staring into Trip’s soul. He expected to be punished for his blasphemous attempt, but his soulblades attacked then, Jaxi sending another fireball and Azarwrath hurling lightning. Their magical attacks landed as Rysha sank Dorfindral deep into the dragon’s side.
Hold him, the male voice ordered, or he’ll simply get away. It’s within you, I swear.
The voice was compelling, as if it had a power of its own over him, and Trip felt obligated to obey. Once again, he tried to light a fire in the dragon’s mind, to inflict the kind of pain on it that it had thrust onto him. Anything to keep the creature busy, to prevent it from flying away.
“Don’t let it escape,” someone yelled. Kaika?
“I’m trying,” Rysha yelled back, yanking Dorfindral out so she could sink it into the dragon’s side again.
Its tail whipped toward her, the angle such that it would knock her over the ship’s railing.
Look out! Trip yelled, and envisioned her flattening to the deck to avoid it.
He wasn’t sure if his warning worked, or her own quick reflexes were responsible, but Rysha dropped to her belly as the tail whooshed over her. She sprang up immediately, raced in, and jabbed the blade into the dragon’s haunches.
The creature screeched again, the deck quaking in response. It stood frozen, its eyes locked on to Trip, but pain gripped its body, and it didn’t attack him.
Kaika raced in from the other side and sprang for the dragon’s side. She sank her sword between scales and into flesh, then used it as a handhold to pull herself up onto its back. From there, she ran up and thrust her blade into the creature’s neck.
Another screech burst from the dragon, but this one was weaker. Kaika sank her weight against the sword, driving it deeper. She twisted it, cutting through vertebrae. The dragon’s head and long neck flopped to the deck. The eyes stared at Trip, accusingly.
Excellent, the male voice said. You did well.
Trip looked down at his hip. Was that Azarwrath speaking to him?
In truth, he wasn’t sure he had done anything. All evidence of the fire was gone—had it been his imagination? There was no soot on the deck, no burn hole in the envelope.
The male voice chuckled. Your accuracy is improving.
Well, look who’s talking, Jaxi said. But you two boys better not pat yourselves on the backs yet. Look.
A man’s scream came from the bow of the ship. The other dragon had also changed back to its natural form, and two bloody men lay on the deck next to it. Someone else knelt, injured. Jylea.
Blazer stood over her protectively. She lunged and swept her blade toward the dragon, trying to get close enough to hurt it without leaving their injured allies vulnerable. The dragon jumped back, evading those swipes.
Evil humans, it cried into everyone’s minds, even if you slay me with those vile tools, know that you’ll never make it to the portal. You’ll never leave this land of ice and cold again. You haven’t the right to deny our kind access to this, our homeland, and we know it. We will fight you!
Blazer faltered, dropping to one knee and wincing at the force accompanying those words. Even with the sword protecting her from attacks, it couldn’t keep out telepathic communications, and those communications resonated with intense power.
The dragon must have sensed that its words could affect its attackers, for it ran toward Blazer, wings spreading and its maw open, long, sharp fangs leering at her.
We would
n’t try to keep you out, Trip thought at the dragon, trying to make his own words intense, or at least heard, so the creature would focus on him long enough for Blazer to recover, if you didn’t kill us or threaten to enslave us. If you would live in peace with humans, we wouldn’t object to your presence.
We are great predators, the dragon replied, pausing its charge to glare at him. A predator does not live in peace with its prey. This territory, this world, belonged to us long before it belonged to your puny kind. You, of all humans, should understand this.
Blazer regained her feet and stalked toward the dragon. Kaika and Rysha, who had also faltered at the dragon’s words, now sprinted down the deck to help.
Kiadarsa clenched her fists. Blood smeared the side of her face, but she glared defiantly at the dragon. Trip sensed her launching a mental attack, trying to knock it toward Blazer and her sword.
But the silver wheeled and sprang at her, fangs flashing and talons slashing toward her. She raised a barrier, but the creature batted it aside with its mind while hurling an attack that knocked her to her back. Snarling with the pleasure of the hunt, it lunged for her.
“No,” Trip cried, attempting to thrust flames into its mind, willing the creature to feel pain. He tried to channel all of his own energy into the attack, as if by sheer will he could stop the dragon.
Its head jerked back, and it screamed in pain. The entire airship trembled.
Kiadarsa jumped to her feet and raced out of the way as the dragon’s head whipped around on its long neck, as if it were a giraffe trying to get a bug out of its ear. Kaika and Rysha reached the creature, and they joined Blazer in an attack. As one, they raced in, cutting with those dragon-slaying blades, obliterating its defensive shield and springing for its scaled sides.
Trip’s legs trembled, and he sank to his knees, leaning on Jaxi to keep from collapsing all the way to the deck.
Humph, Jaxi thought. I would hurl some more fireballs, but those silly swords are in the way.
Those swords are more effective than your fireballs, the male voice said. Azarwrath. Women should know their limitations.