There must be a hundred of them, all shades of black and red. They fly like a regiment marches, with sharp angular movements and swift turns in direction. As they head for the courtyard, I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
‘I don’t understand,’ Atlas says. ‘They weren’t meant to be here until tomorrow. Isn’t that what Wyvernmire said?’
No one answers him. We all just stare as the dragons advance across the sky. In the courtyard, the rebel humans and Guardians have ceased all fighting and are staring upwards. Even the Bletchley and rebel dragons seem to hover in mid-air, waiting. A burst of flames shoots from the Bulgarian formation and I feel a jolt of electricity in my chest.
‘Serena!’ I shout. ‘Start the plane.’
I grab my cousin’s arm. ‘You and Serena can fly this thing together, I know it.’
‘Get on the plane, Viv,’ Marquis says through gritted teeth.
I shake my head and Ursa begins to cry.
‘I’ll find you,’ I tell her. ‘I just have to go back for Sophie.’
She kicks and screams as Marquis lifts her up the steps and Gideon catches hold of her, pulling her inside.
‘Viv, please,’ Marquis says, tears in his eyes.
I reach up and kiss his cheek. ‘I promise I’ll be fine,’ I say. ‘Take care of Ursa, okay?’
He holds me tightly for a moment, then climbs up the steps.
‘Atlas?’ I say.
He gives me a sheepish look. ‘You didn’t think I was going to let the Coalition fight without me, did you?’
‘Have youseenthe sky?’ I shout. ‘How areyougoing to fight Bulgarian dragons?’
‘Look,’ Atlas says.
Chumana is flying towards the Bulgarians, flanked by Rhydderch and Muirgen, Soresten and Addax, Yndrir and a group of rebel dragons. There’s only a small stretch of sky between the two opposing groups. What is she doing?
For a moment, none of them move, the Bulgarian army with scales like glass on one side, and a small group of dragons, already bleeding from battle, on the other. Are they echolocating? Is Chumana trying to reason with them? Three of the Bulgarian dragons at the front of the formation jerk forward and Rhydderch reacts, leaping to shield his group with a warning snarl. The Bulgarians lunge for him and a scream rings through the sky as they pull his head from his body and blood sprays down like rain.
‘No!’ I shriek.
Monstrous screeches come from the Bletchley dragons as they attack in retaliation and the sky suddenly heaves with movement. Below, the gunshots and fighting resume. There’s a ringing in my ears as Atlas’s eyes meet mine and I see my own horror reflected back. A sea of fire streams down on to the courtyard, engulfing a group of rebel humans and Guardians. The plane splutters into life. The Coalition is ridiculously outnumbered. There’s no way they’ll survive this. How did we ever think we were going to fight an army of Bulgarian dragons? As the plane moves forward, Atlas grabs hold of me.
‘Get on,’ he says.
‘You get on,’ I retort.
‘I can’t—’ He glances back at the burning courtyard. ‘I have to help them.’
‘What good are you going to do out there?’ I say. ‘You’re a seminarian, not a soldier—’
‘We can’t let Wyvernmire become more powerful, Viv. We can’t—’
I grab his face in my hands. ‘Listen to me!’ I shout over the deafening noise of the propellers. ‘It’s too late. The Bulgarians are here and there’s too many of them. There’s going to be a real war, a—’
I stop as a memory appears amid the chaos of my mind. The sound of violins, a flash of feathers and fur, bubbles rising in a glass of champagne.
Language is as crucial to war as any weapon.
And it hits me.
‘I’ve got to go back,’ I say slowly. ‘I’ve got to go back toWyvernmire and give her what she wants.’
