Yes.Wreylith banked before reaching the harbor and flapped her wings to head back north.
In the distance, in the direction of the volcano Syla had visited weeks earlier, a couple more dragons flew into view, their winged silhouettes visible against the darkening sky. She chewed on her lip, having a feeling that openly sailing over here with ships would be difficult. There were probably enough dragons in the area that they could keep the fleet from getting close. Since it had lost many ships during the initial invasion of Castle Island, she wouldn’t be able to bring as many as she wished.
Could she launch weapons from the platform while it was on the moving deck of a vessel? She would have to experiment.
Before deciding on that mission, Syla would speak again with General Dolok to see if his intelligence officers had learned the location of the stormer headquarters. If she could retrieve the stolen components and bring a repaired shielder to Harvest Island,thatwould be ideal.
Before they’d turned fully away from the harbor, Syla glimpsed a dragon flying up from the city. One of the ones that had been skulking about on a rooftop down there? It flew after them but not at top speed.
That one desires to make certain we are departing,Wreylith said.
“Did he or she speak to you?”
No. I’ve had few telepathic conversations with stormer dragons or even my wild kin since our bonding.
Syla digested that as she gazed back at the dragon. It flew out over the sea, following them. “Is it because… Are you being ostracized? Because of me?”
It hadn’t occurred to her that Wreylith might be lowered in status with the wild dragons because she was now bonded to a human and allowing herself to be ridden. And the stormer dragons might be irked with Wreylith too since she was helping someone from the Garden Kingdom. Even though the gods had been responsible for long ago placing the shields over the twelveislands, the shields that kept dragons and other aerial predators out, Syla could imagine that their winged kind believed her people at the heart of the problem, their inability to hunt on those islands.
I go where I wish and do what I wish with whom I wish.
“That’s a yes, isn’t it?” Syla patted Wreylith’s back. “I’m sorry. I appreciate your help.”
Yes.One of Wreylith’s eyes rotated to consider the dragon behind them. It hadn’t gained on them, but it also wasn’t veering away, and it was undoubtedly following them, not coincidentally flying in the same direction.
Abruptly, Wreylith’s attention swung forward. Beyond her horns, Castle Island was visible. At first, Syla didn’t see anything that could have drawn Wreylith’s attention. Then, a blue dragon and a yellow dragon flew up from the northern side of the island—they’d been hidden by the bluff on which Garden Castle perched.
Syla sucked in a startled breath as the dragons headed in their direction. “Are they under the shield?”
The barrier couldn’t have fallen. Not in the short time that Syla and Wreylith had been gone.
They fly just above it, their bellies nearly skimming the translucent surface.
Syla would have found that a relief—the dragons couldn’t have been threatening her people—but they were flying straight toward her.
Wreylith beat her wings faster.They intend to cut us off and prevent us from reaching the protection of the shield.
“You mean they’re going to attack us?”
A growl emanated from Wreylith’s throat and reverberated through her body.That is the only way they could prevent me from reaching my destination.
Unlike the dragon following them, the two heading toward them had riders. One was a woman with two long braids of silver hair, and Syla’s gut clenched. From this distance, she couldn’t make out facial features, but Captain Lesva, the vile rider who’d magically tortured her, had silver hair and rode a blue dragon.
Hold on tight,Wreylith warned.
Hands planted on scales, Syla willed more power into the dragon through their link, anchoring herself in place. The effort drained her, especially since, until recently, she’d only used her gods-gift for healing, but falling a thousand feet into the ocean would drain her even more. Likely by killing her.
As the yellow and blue dragons flew closer, they spread apart. Intending to catch Wreylith between them so they could bite and slash at her flanks from either side?
Wreylith flew to a higher altitude and angled away. As the dragons attempted to follow, to cut her off and engage her, the riders drew weapons. A male stormer that Syla hadn’t seen before rode the yellow, and he hefted a gargoyle-bone bow, the arrows also carved from the magical material.
On the blue dragon, the rider lifted a gargoyle-bone sword. Yes, that was Lesva. Her blue eyes locked on Syla with cold determination, and she waved the blade threateningly.
“Looks like she wants to kill me this time, not question me,” Syla said.
Wreylith, wings beating hard, sought to outfly the dragons and maneuver around them. Or at least, Sylathoughtthat was what an outnumbered dragon would do. But after Wreylith had half-circled around the pair, she banked hard, angling toward the yellow dragon, and tilted alarmingly. Syla flattened herself to Wreylith’s back while applying more of her magic.
It was luck and desperation more than skill that saved her, for the archer, though surprised by the dragon turning on him, loosed an arrow. It whizzed past scant inches above Syla’s head.
