Guardians surge into the space between us and the tennis court, charging past Chumana and General Goranov and towards me. We turn to run, but there are more coming from the other direction, their white uniforms blackened from the heat of the naked flames. My stomach lurches and Atlas’s eyes grow wide with panic. We waited too long and now they’ve found us—
I hear a long, low whistle.
The signal.
My head snaps up. Marquis? He’s supposed to be flying the plane. How can he be signalling to me from—
There’s movement in the tree above. A face appears among the leaves.
Sophie.
Duck!she mouths.
I don’t think twice. I pull Atlas to the ground as a blue dragon swoops low over us and on to the Guardians, its huge wings stretched out like a giant net. Their screams are silenced by a roar as they are knocked backwards and Muirgen’s talons scrape across the General’s back, forcing him to release Chumana from his jaws. Sophie drops from the tree. I feel Atlas’s lips on my cheek as his grip on me releases and before I can turn around, he disappears into the smoke. Sophie’s hand finds mine. We run, her cold fingers interlaced with my burning ones, until we burst on to the tennis court.
Yndrir snaps at a Bulgarian’s head and they both barrelthrough the tennis nets, flattening the poles that hold them up. There’s the plane, flying as low and as slow as it can above the court, a rope ladder dangling down. The screeches are deafening as Sophie grabs hold of the ladder and pulls herself up.
‘Get on!’ she shouts.
I scramble up after her and the plane begins to rise, pulling us higher. The freezing wind whips my hair round my face as I climb, burning branches falling past me. Gideon’s face appears above, and then Sophie is pulled upwards and inwards. As I reach for the last few rungs, I cast one more look down at the smoke rising from the manor house. I see them then, in the garden. Ralph and Atlas. They’re caught in an argument I can’t hear. Dragons fly above them, as swift and sharp as the words I imagine being exchanged. Ralph lifts his gun.
Atlas jerks forwards, then backwards, as if his body has been pulled by an invisible string.
My foot falters on the rung. The shot is rendered silent by the sound of battle and yet it resonates through my body, the loudest moment I have ever lived.
Time slows.
Atlas collapses to the ground.
Voices above scream my name but my eyes are fixed on Ralph, advancing towards Atlas as my whole world goes up in flames.
‘Viv!’ Sophie screams. ‘Climb!’
I let go of the ladder.
PAIN FILLS MY CHEST AND I gasp, desperate for a breath that doesn’t come. When I open my eyes, I’m on my back, the plane circling above me. My chest spasms over and over and I choke, then wheeze as air finally fills my lungs. A dragon’s talon almost crushes my arm and I roll over, pulling myself across the court on my stomach until I’m free of the flailing tails. I jump to my feet and run, crashing back through the forest to the garden. In the light of the dawn, Ralph is kneeling over Atlas.
‘Get away!’ I scream.
My knees give way as I reach him.
‘Atlas?’ I gasp.
His eyes blink rapidly as he tries to focus on my face. Ralph backs off, a silver revolver in his hand. I press my fingers to the gush of red spilling from Atlas’s side.
‘Your shirt is stained,’ I say shakily. I press down on the wound. ‘We’ll wash it, don’t worry.’
He frowns, his face strained with pain. ‘You’re supposed to be on the plane.’
His blood, which coats my hands, is terrifyingly thick. I bring my face close to his as the trees around us spin.
‘Help will come,’ I whisper. ‘A doctor will come. Someone will—’
My eyes land on Ralph, who is staring at us with a stunned look on his face. ‘I was aiming for his leg, not his–’
‘Chumana!’ I fling my head back and scream for her. ‘Chumana!’
The sky is eerily empty. Atlas reaches for my hand.
