“No, Cleo!” Xander wails. He lurches forward, but his cry is cut short as the dragon snatches him in its claws with terrifying speed.
Xander’s body jerks, his breath stolen by the sheer force of the creature’s grasp. The dragon lifts him high in the air before letting him fall. His body disappears into the depths of the gorge below.
I gasp. Bile rushes up my throat. Distantly, I hear Taron’s voice yelling, “Take cover!”
The dragon whips its tail in our direction, and the motion brings with it a barrage of molten scales, slicing through the air like a rainstorm.
I crouch low, squeezing my eyes shut. My skin prickles as one of the dragon’s scales whistles past us, embedding itself into the ground with athud.
Cyrus deflects one of the scales with a blade of light. It ricochets into our group and shreds Mei’s uniform as it lacerates her arm.
“Cyrus!” she squeals. “We’re on the same team!”
“So, what? You’d rather I took one to the heart?” he protests.
“In an ideal world, yes…” Mei rolls her eyes, hand clasped to her wound. It comes away smeared with blood, but the laceration itself doesn’t look too deep.
“You’re both alive, so suck it up,” Savannah says in a clipped voice. She peers round the wall, and I do the same.
Two members of the red team have decided to make a break for the bridge. The dragon spots them and they retreat, trying to scramble back to their ruins. They’re too slow, and a torrential breath of fire engulfs them.
I shudder at the sight of one competitor once the flames subside. A blackened husk remains, eyes empty and skin flaking with ash.
His teammate screams, and her voice is shrill. She has conjured a protective shield of sand, managing to repel several of the dragon’s scales – but the force of the onslaught proves too much and she stumbles back, taking one to the heart.
“Man, this is turning into a bloodbath,” Gigi drones, wiping at their sweaty brow with their forearm.
Kara stares at the ruins opposite us as though she can see right through them. “At most, there are only three red teams left. We have five of us here. We outnumber them, at least.”
“Do you have a plan?” Mei asks.
“I think we have to work together on this.” Kara nods at the dragon. “Two teams distract the dragon, drawing its attention, while the remaining three work on restraining it.”
“What about the other red teams?” I ask. “We need to make sure they don’t make a break for it.”
“Good thinking, Maeve.” Kara smiles at me, but it’s a forced kind of thing which pulls oddly at her cheeks. “One team will have to keep the red teams at bay. What does everyone think? Sound like a plan?”
“Sure. No one’s got any better ideas.” Cyrus, with a smear of soot across his forehead, rises into a crouch. “It’s only fit for a prince to slay a dragon. I’ll restrain it – Savannah, you come with me.”
“Why Savannah?” Kara asks.
“If I’m going to risk my life,” he says, “I’d rather do it alongside someone with actual military experience.” He looks over his shoulder at Gideon. “No offence.”
Gideon shrugs as if to say, “None taken.”
“Fine. Savannah, you’ll work with Cyrus on restraint.” Kara yields. “Just remember to aim for the dragon’s key offence points – head, tail, wings. Try to sever one if you can.”
Savannah nods. “Got it.”
“I’ll focus on the red teams with Gideon,” Kara adds. “Wren, you and Maeve distract the dragon with Gigi and Gunther. Rhius and Mei, be ready to assist where needed. Is everyone fine with that?”
Nods travel around the group.
“Are you OK with this?” I whisper to Taron as we follow Gunther and Gigi towards the centre of the clearing.
“It beats standing around doing nothing,” he says. “Let’s just hope we can pull this off.”
Gigi and Gunther waste no time launching their fiery onslaught. As the dragon’s enormous form swoops overhead, blazing balls of flame erupt from their palms, drawn from the lighters in their hands. They aim at the dragon’s head, forcing it to flinch.
