What if they crashed and he couldn’t save the crew?
The crew would be alright. This was a light skirmish at worst.
What if Valenna was killed because he was up here on Dread Five instead of protecting her?
No, she didn’t need his protection. In the past few weeks, she’d saved his life more times than he’d saved hers. She could take care of herself.
The day warmed, brightened. The air smelled of salt, and waves crashed below. Then they passed over the mountains, and Evander’s stomach rose as Samara directed the dragon down. He checked the altimeter and his compass. They should be approaching the beach soon.
Ahead, there was a faint boom, and the clouds flashed orange.
Dread Five didn’t have time to react before a hail of scattershot tore into them.
Tiny steel pellets, no larger than a grape, ripped through their jackets and deflected off their dragon-scale vests. Rosemary gripped her throat, blood gurgling from her mouth. Her knees buckled, and she tumbled over the side.
Evander lunged, trying to catch her before she fell, but he wasn’t near enough. The scattershot had severed the girl’s safety line, and she tumbled over the side. Samara shrieked, and Ignatius dove after her, catching at the end of his tether. But Rosemary plummeted down and down and down until she was out of sight.
Evander stared in horror at the empty space where Rosemary had been a second before.
They dipped below the clouds, and Evander lost his breath.
Below them, on the beach, Ashkendoric infantry stretched like ants all the way to the dunes. The fortifications had doubled, club dragons with their armored plates and heavy tails waited to charge into the landing force, and sharp stakes were embedded in the sand.
There was no time to turn around. Before Evander could bark an order, the manor and bunkers on the dunes flashed, followed by the rattle of shotfire. Heavy iron balls soared into the air, exploding at their peak and sending more scattershot, shredding the clouds. One pellet cracked against Evander’s vest, and one stung his cheekbone, narrowly missing his eye.
The Dread Five razers fired down into the infantry, aimless with terror.
Samara looked to Evander for instructions.
Behind them, Manwester’s crew panicked and released their cannisters. They exploded on the beach, blowing a gap in the infantry that was instantly filled again, like sand sliding into a hole.
Giles reached for the canister release.
“Wait!” Evander shouted. “Elspeth, take the tripod!”
His mind scrambled to catch up. When the army made landfall, they would crash into the Ashkendoric forces and be mowed down by razers and artillery before they could reach the shore.The manor had to be destroyed; the bunkers had to be neutralized because Valenna would be there, in the heart of the bloodbath, and so would the little Sennalaithic invading force. They would lose their chance to retake Talwaith, and everything they’d sacrificed would be for nothing.
They had to destroy the manor, or go down trying.
“Nothing has changed,” Evander shouted to the crew. “We complete our mission as before. Keep going straight!”
Already, the Sennalaith landing force was struggling in the surf, trying to gain the beach as heavy fire shredded their lines. Amphibious dragons thrashed in the foaming shallows, throwing their riders as they tried to turn and slink back into the depths. Boats, reinforced with steel, lowered their ramps only to be pummeled with scattershot and columns of flame from the dragons ranged along the shore.
A few had made landfall, but were being mowed down by a barrage of artillery and sparksparrows below.
Flying through bursts of smoke and ash, Dread Five pushed toward the manor and its flashing windows. The bunkers opened fire, and so did a line of artillery on the forest’s edge. Black smoke puffed in the air.
An explosion on the ground caught Evander’s attention. Dread Seven had dropped their canisters early.
“Sir!” Giles shouted. “If we go down with these bombs, we’ll be blown to pieces!”
“Wait …” Evander insisted.
“But sir, the others are turning!” Ignatius protested.
“Wait …”
Shotfire balls pattered against their dragon’s scales. She bellowed in rage as they lodged, painful but not deadly, in her thick hide. Manwester’s dreadnought pivoted, trying to head toward the sea, but as they banked, the dragon exposed its back and crewto the artillery. Manwester’s crew fell out of formation and then spiraled down, flaming. Evander’s flesh prickled as he heard the screams of the crew burning on the dragon’s back. They crashed, the gas in their dreadnought’s belly burst, and a plume of fire shot into the sky.
