The dragons flew apart, wings flapping hard as they recovered, returning to flying upright. They both bled from numerous wounds, and Shi… Vorik gaped. Sometime during the slashes and bites, she’d jumped—or fallen—off her dragon’s back.
She clung to the side of the cliff twenty feet below the ledge, blood saturating the shoulder of her tunic and her face twisted with pain. Was she too wounded to climb up?
Several people had run forward to look down, and Chief Tenilor shouted for someone to bring a rope.
But Agrevlari wasn’t ready for the fight to end. When Uxtar flew toward Shi, probably intending to pluck her up, Agrevlari sped toward the blue dragon at full speed.
Uxtar flew faster, trying to reach Shi before Agrevlari reached him. Not deterred, Agrevlari roared, his battle lust fully roused, and healsoflew faster. Shi glared at Vorik with utter hatred. But, at this point, he had nothing to do with the battle and doubted hecould have stopped Agrevlari even if he’d shouted for the dragon to abate.
And there wasn’t time for that. With the cliff looming ahead, Vorik could only brace himself. It appeared inevitable that the dragons would crash together—and then hit the rock face. They didn’tquite, but Agrevlari’s left wingtip did brush the cliff as he smashed into Uxtar. The other dragon had surely seen him coming but hadn’t been willing to give up on rescuing Shi. Between Agrevlari’s momentum and weight, he hit the blue dragon solidly enough to knock Uxtar into the cliff.
Bone crunched audibly, and the jolt of the collision was almost enough to hurl Vorik from Agrevlari’s back. Again, only magic and willpower kept him from flying off. But while Agrevlari bit and tore into his foe, Shi produced one more weapon. Another throwing knife.
Gravity caught up with the dragons and, even as they bit and clawed, they started falling toward the sea. Shi threw her knife.
Vorik flattened himself to Agrevlari’s twisting and tilting back. The blade sliced through his side, laying open clothing and flesh, but didn’t sink in deep. And the move cost Shi. She’d only been hanging onto the cliff by one hand, and the rock or maybe her grip gave way. As the dragons struggled to extricate themselves from each other and find enough room to flap their wings and fly up before hitting the rocks below, Shi tumbled past them.
Uxtar saw her falling and tried to turn to retrieve her, but he wasn’t fast enough. She landed on a jagged rock that might as well have been a spear. It killed her immediately.
Vorik slumped to Agrevlari’s back as his dragon flew away from Uxtar. Looking away from the bloody rocks, Vorik didn’t know whether to be horrified or relieved by Shi’s end. He told himself that she’d brought it upon herself, that he’d only wanted to take charge of the tribe, notkillany of his own people.
As Agrevlari flew upward, Vorik grew aware of all the dragons that had been circling above the battlefield, watching but not interfering. At least until now.
Agrevlari landed on the bluff. The stormer onlookers had backed to the trees, silent, as if they all knew something else was coming. And it was. Though Uxtar had flown off down the coastline, probably too wounded to confront Vorik and Agrevlari further, most of the dragons landed on the ledge. Vorik feared the battle wasn’t over, at least not for him and his ally.
A couple of other dragons, including Wise’s Tonasketal, alighted near Agrevlari and faced those at the edge of the bluff, as if saying they would stand by him. But far more landed with their backs to the sea, facing Vorik and Agrevlari, their fangs on display. In the end, only two dragons stood with them, and sixteen opposed them. Some of their eyes glowed. None of them looked happy.
I don’t think the dragons wanted to see me win, Agrevlari.
They believe you will sway your people to seek peace with the Kingdom.
And they don’t want that.
They always supported what Jhiton and other prominent stormers before him promised: an end to the shields that protect the islands on which they desire to hunt.
Are they willing to kill me if I oppose that?Vorik asked.
Oh, they’ll kill you for much less than that.
Wonderful.
I will stand with you. Even though you have chosen a flight path that may bring our deaths, you have brought me many delicious meals of smoked salmon, sung wondrous ballads to me, and supported me in my attempts to court Wreylith.
Despite his predicament and possible imminent death, Vorik blinked with emotion, touched.Thank you, Agrevlari, but Ibelieve I should tell you to step aside and save your own life as I face that which I’ve wrought.
Oh, you should, but I will ignore your suggestion, regardless.
As you’ve ignored many of my suggestions in life?
Indeed.
The dragons advanced, and Vorik said nothing more to Agrevlari. If he was to save his own life, he would have to think of something to say to all the irate dragons.
But what?
15
Usingthe megaphone and standing on top of the wheelhouse with Wreylith at her side, Syla called out to other fleet ships as they sailed along the coastline. In several cases, those ships had been moving to intercept; in others, they had been observing her passing without shifting course. She made similar speeches as before, telling the Kingdom crews that she not only had the weapons platform to use on the dragons but that she possessed a new shielder to place on Harvest Island. Again, her moon-mark glowed silver as she spoke, and she sensed that her words had more power than usual.
