But knowing what was happening didn’t do me any good. I watched in horror as the Madlings fell upon rider and dragon alike—dragging the riders from their saddles and sinking their claws into the dragons’ hides to bite and gnaw their flesh with their needle-sharp teeth.
My heart fisted in my chest as I watched the awful spectacle. The air was filled with cries of horror and terror—the Wings were in complete disarray.
I looked wildly for Ryse and saw M’alex beating the air with powerful strokes as he hovered in position. Behind them, their Wing still held—ragged but unyielding. They flamed on command and a few of the Madlings fell, screaming and burning to the ground far below. But there were more of them—always more coming. The sky was black with them, and the air was charged with terror and despair.
“Ryse is telling them to hold their ground, no matter what they feel,” L’eesha told me. “M’alex says the dragons are scared because their riders are scared.”
“Of course they’re scared,” I said, my throat tight with terror. “It’s the Madlings—they’re making everyone crazy!” I still wanted to run myself, but I was holding my ground by sheer force of will. Only the need to see Ryse and be sure he was all right kept me from hiding at the back of the caverns and whimpering like a child alone at night.
And somehow I managed to do the most important thing, which was to put a barrier between my fear and my dragon. If I let L’eesha catch even a whiff of the terror I was feeling, she would feed it back to me tenfold—she might even broadcast it to the rest of the dragons. I couldn’t allow that that, so I kept a tight reign on my feelings.
“You must break the cycle,” the voice whispered in my ear. “You have the only Golden Queen—use her!”
Use her? How? My fear-addled brain refused to think for a moment. Then I remembered how L’eesha could project emotions. It was a gift no other dragon had—not even the mightiest Gold-wing could send his feelings to anyone but his rider. But my Golden Queen could.
“Dearheart,” I said to her, stroking her neck. “What they need is courage. Can you send it to them?”
I felt L’eesha quiver under my hand. She was frightened too—I could feel her fear clawing in my mind like a trapped animal.
“i don’t know,” she sent back to me. “i’m so scared, my Auri!”
“I know you are—I am too,” I told her.
And then I heard the voice in my ear again—the one only I could hear, apparently.
“Remember,” it said, “It is the dragon who echoes the rider’s emotions. You must master your own fear—do not feed it to your Queen. Give her courage that she may send it to all the others.”
“I’ll try,” I whispered. “I swear, I’ll try.”
Though I hated losing sight of Ryse, even for a moment, I closed my eyes tight. I did my best to shut out the horrible terror that was knotting my stomach and making me want to run.
Courage, I told myself. Be brave—have faith. Think of Ryse, up there fighting those things. He isn’t backing down—he and M’alex need you and L’eesha!
I dug deep, remembering the few short months I’d had with Ryse. I remembered the way he’d caught me when I fell off the Flight Simulator…the first time we went flying together when he wrapped his arms around my waist and said he didn’t trust anyone else with me. I thought back to when I’d showed him who I really was, how he hadn’t gotten angry or told on me. Instead, he brought me tea and helped me clean up and washed out the sheets that were stained with my blood…
“He loves you,” whispered the voice in my ear. “You can use that. Love will brave anything—love will dare to do what should be impossible.”
Slowly, I began to feel it—my love for Ryse and his love for me. I put both my hands on L’eesha’s neck, and I poured it into her.
“Courage, sweetheart,” I said to her. “Courage and love. Can you feel it?”
L’eesha’s head went up and her eyes—which had been sunken in fear—were suddenly bright.
“i feel it, my Auri!” She told me excitedly. “i feel it now!”
“Good—and can you send it out to the others?” I asked her.
“not from here—we need to get closer. hurry—get on my back.”
There was no time for a saddle. I knew how dangerous it was, but the battle was going horribly now. The sky was black with Madlings and almost none of the Wings were holding. Ryse and his wing were still flaming in formation, but they were the only ones. Everywhere I heard screams of terror and defeat.
I closed my ears to all of them and climbed on my dragon’s back.
“No fancy flying today,” I warned her. “I’m only holding on to your dorsal spine!”
“i will be careful, my Auri,” she promised.
And, beating her huge wings, she rose into the air with me clinging to her back.
