But there’s nowhere to go, just ocean in all directions for days, and Sevrin needs help. If he doesn’t get it, he won’t make it.
Below, the fortress gates burst open, and a stampede of dragon riders pours onto the rocks. One of them points up at us, and I don’t know what he says, but I know it’s not good.
A dozen dragons peel off, angling for us. I count at least twenty more on the ground. Ebron is bigger. Stronger. A male dragon. But even I’m not sure he can handle these odds.
Can you get the female dragons to obey you? Can you stop them?I ask Ebron.
Unfortunately, no. I tried, but they are not listening. However, the females from the Island of Dragons are on our side.
The enemy dragons have nearly reached us, all flying at full force against my very tired dragon. I don’t know what to say or what to do, but I know I have to warn him.
“Ebron—” I start, but he’s already banking hard, dodging a spray of fire from a blue-scaled dragon. Sylvara and Verdraxa close in on either side, shielding us with their bodies.
We may be able to fight these enemies, but not with you on our backs. Things are going to be all flames and smoke. I would prefer to put you somewhere safely on the ground, Ebron says, his tone grim.
I don’t know if there’s anywhere safe, but I say, “Do it!”
Ebron tucks his wings and dives, aiming near another entrance into the fortress. The other dragons give chase, claws outstretched. We hit the rocks with bone-jarring force, but Ebron doesn’t pause. He barrels straight into the waiting riders outside the fortress, jaws snapping. The first man to get close is bitten clean in half; the next gets whipped off the edge of the cliff with a flick of Ebron’s tail.
Gareth, Lucien, and Alaric land beside us, and the three of them form a circle, eyes blazing. Their dragons lash their tails. The ground shakes with every impact.
Thorne’s riders close in, weapons out. I brace Sevrin in front of me, trying to prepare myself for anything. Every inch of my body is screaming, but I won’t let them take him again. No matter what it costs me.
One dragon rider stalks forward. “Give us the Hollowborn and the girl. They’re who we want.”
“You just want us to let you murder our wife and our bonded partner? That’s it? Well, that’s reasonable,” Lucien says, voice laced with sarcasm.
But Gareth is more straight-forward. “You will have to kill your princes to get to them! Traitors!”
The dragon rider looks uneasy, then shouts, “Take the princes alive!”
The dragon riders launch into action. It’s chaos. Ebron viciously bites a dragon when it tries to land on him. Sylvara uses her wounded wing as a club, smashing riders left and right. Verdraxa breathes fire so hot it melts three men at once.
Another dragon moves to attack to our left, but Ebron swings his head and grabs the dragon rider off the back of the dragon in his jaws. For a heartbeat, the world stops. The man is too shocked to scream.
Ebron’s teeth close.
The sound is wet, final, and the other riders hesitate, fear in their eyes.
Gareth and Alaric press the attack, trying to drive the riders back, but more and more dragon riders gather until there’s a sea of them stretching out in front of us. More than we could ever possibly fight. Ebron was right. He and his mates might have a chance, but we won’t. When these dragons start flaring everything, we’ll be toast.
Then an idea hits me.
Ebron.
Yes?
Stop focusing on talking to the female dragons that are attacking us. Reach out to the ones that belong to the dragon riders who are imprisoned by Thorne and his men. Get them to fight at our side.
I will try.
The dragons around us continue to attack, left and right. Ebron continues to do what he can to shield Sevrin and I from the flames, but I can feel heat all around me. Prickles of sweat roll down my spine.
And then something happens. I spot dragons in the distance coming. First, just a few of them. Then, dragons in all directions. Other dragons rise from the opposite end of the island and launch into the air. Soon, the tides turn, and there are more dragons on our side than on theirs.
For a minute, Thorne’s men and their dragons are just being surrounded from all directions, and then their dragons drop from the sky and land on the island.
Ebron?
