And he knew that if they could see the city, the wolves could see them—a dozen dragons flying as fast as they could toward the walls. The wolves would be scrambling even now, running to their positions, ready to defend Holbard. He could imagine the fear, the determination.
Another wave of cold hit them hard, and two of their pursuers freewheeled toward the ground, out of control, too weakened to stay aloft. Anders held his breath as they spun downward, and despite the threat they posed, he willed them desperately to spread their wings, to somehow slow themselves enough to land safely. He thought they did, but he wasn’t sure.
And then they were over Holbard, the familiar green rooftop meadows flashing below them, cold air rising from the city, the tiny figures of the wolves racing along the city walls and taking position, ready to cast ice spears and waves of cold the moment the dragons came within range.
Rayna was floundering beneath him, the cold air sapping her strength, pulling her down toward the city, and he could sense she didn’t have much time left before she, too, crashed. And just as bad, now that they’d reached the city, she and Ellukka were forced to slow, giving the Dragonmeet time to close the gap.
Ellukka was still valiantly weaving around Rayna’s smaller form, trying to protect them, but when the Dragonmeet caught up, they’d be surrounded.
Anders pulled the Sun Scepter from the straps on the harness, holding on tight with both hands, desperately afraid he’d drop it. He raised it above his head and fumbled for words, his brain suddenly completely empty.Pack and paws, now wasn’t the time to forget how to speak!
He knew it was listening, but what was he supposed to say to bring it to life? Something grand? Something fancy?
“Heat!” he yelled, giving up on sounding impressive and hoping the scepter could hear him, with the wind ready to whip away his words. It was pummeling him from all directions as Rayna dodged and dove, and only the leather belt he wore clipped to her harness kept him safe.
Ellukka’s sunrise scales darted past, and out of the corner of Anders’s eye he saw a burst of pure white dragonsfire, golden sparks flying from it, falling to the city below.
The flame had been aimed at them!
Ellukka and Lisabet pulled up just in time, and suddenly there were two more dragons there, adults, bigger than any of the others.
One had scales like a warm sunset, and from its similarity to Ellukka, Anders was sure it was her father, Valerius. The other was a deeper red, and for no reason he could explain, Anders was positive it was Leif, protecting his students. The quiet, calm Drekleid was roaring now, his fury directed at the dragons who had dared threaten the children.
Everything was chaos—the adult dragons circling them as Anders tightened his grip on the Sun Scepter, the wolves racing along the walls below, casting up ice spears that wouldn’t fall short of their targets for long, Rayna twisting and turning beneath him, and nothing was happening with the scepter, no heat was...
... and then suddenly, Anders felt it.
A wave of warmth washed over him like a real wave of water, sending all the dragons scrambling to stay steady, sudden updrafts lifting them unexpectedly, tipping them off balance. Beneath them, wolves howled their discomfort, and the runes on the Sun Scepter glowed so brightly he had to look away.
Theo had been right that the Sun Scepter would bring heat where the Snowstone brought cold—but this wasn’t simply heat. This was changing the very air around them, and it was too much for the wolves below.
Rayna was suddenly stronger, surer in her movements.
But what would the adult dragons do now? They’d peeled away, suddenly convinced that the children were on their side after all, and as they soared out over Holbard, bellowing their defiance at the weakened wolves below, Anders’s heart shrank.
Had they led an attacking force to the city despite all their efforts to bring peace? Were they about to make themselves the traitors to Ulfar they’d never meant to be?
He’d only just finished the thought when far below, a white cloud—a white explosion—appeared over the roof of the Wily Wolf, the tavern he and Rayna had slept above for so many years. Jagged white frost was ballooning out in every direction.
A few seconds later, a wave of cold hit the dragons midair, and Anders realized it had all come from the Wily Wolf.
Sigrid must have hidden the Snowstone in the roof, the highest point in Holbard!
That was why he’d always seen wolves there on his visits—not because they were using it as a lookout, but because they were guarding something.
Could he and Rayna get there? Could she make it through the waves of cold rolling off the tavern’s roof, and if she did, was there a way to pit the Sun Scepter against the Snowstone? A way to protect Holbard from both sun and snow?
A cloud of ice and cold flowed down from the highest point of the Wily Wolf, barreling along the streets of Holbard in every direction, freezing them over. It reached the harbor, and icy fingers snaked out into the water, freezing the surface solid and squeezing the hulls of the ships until they began to crack with bangs Anders could hear even above the city.
Suddenly ice spears were flying up from the walls, along with huge clouds of cold cast by the most powerful of the wolves, and the dragons were staggering, tossed about by the cold wind.
Anders felt the Sun Scepter tingle in his hands, and as he stared at it, mouth open—not speaking a word—it began to glow again. “No!” he cried, but it was too late—a wave of heat had flowed out from it to crash into the cold air around them, and below, a huge crack was opening up right through the middle of Holbard, running straight through the courtyard and outbuildings of Ulfar Academy itself! Stonework crumbled, walls collapsed, and a jagged trench cut the ground in two.
Was the lava far beneath the city trying to find a way up?
“Stop!” he screamed, shaking the scepter in his hands. “Sun Scepter, enough!”
It was too late to think of somehow counteracting one artifact with another. Both were completely out of control. Now, all Anders could do was try and save as many as he could from the chaos below.
