A Threat of Shadows (13 page)

Alaric noticed in passing how clear his mind felt, and he glanced at Ayda. She was focused on the sky.

Don’t fight a dragon
, Keeper Gerone would say.
Leave that sort of business to warriors. Distract it and flee.

Distract it with what? They were in an empty valley. But they certainly weren’t equipped to fight it. Not this group. Douglon was the only one even close to a warrior. There was no archer. No one even had a sword. Alaric could protect them somewhat, but only from the fire. He had no defense against dragon teeth.

“Any ideas?” he asked Ayda.

“Befriend it?” she offered.

Useless elf.

“If he lands,” Douglon said, “we might have a chance to injure it and drive it off.” His voice didn’t hold any real hope, though. “Stay in the trees until he does.”

“What if he sets the forest on fire first?” Milly asked.

Alaric gathered some energy. He began to weave an invisible shield over the nearby trees, enclosing the group in it. It wouldn’t stop the fire completely, dragon’s breath was too hot, but it would protect the trees from enough heat that they shouldn’t burst immediately into flames. And hopefully, it would stop the flames from reaching them down on the ground. His hands began to burn as he stretched the shield farther. He had guarded Douglon, Brandson, and Milly from the heat and was turning toward Ayda when she flashed him an irritated look.

“I don’t need your help,” she said. “Take care of the others.”

“Sorry,” he said, pulling the shield away from her and anchoring it above the rest of them.

“Here it comes!” Douglon warned.

A rushing sound began high above them, then plummeted down.

Douglon was right. Any chance they had of even injuring the creature depended on it being on the ground.

Maybe a strong wind could ground it. Alaric began to gather energy again, pulling it in as fast as he dared, feeling the pressure of it building inside of him. He wove a web across the space between their grove of trees and the main forest, containing a portion of air. When the web was complete, he drew energy out of the air above it, pulling out the heat, making it colder and colder. The cool air pressed down on his web, getting heavier the colder he made it. He drew out more and more heat until the air was frigid. An erratic wind began to move at the edges of his web, and the trees on either side where he had anchored it bent down toward the ground.

The dragon pelted toward them. An ear-splitting roar cracked the night.

Alaric’s hands were in agony, and his arms burned as he forced more and more energy into the net. He stretched clawed hands forward one more time. The grass at his feet withered as he pulled energy from it to replenish his own. The leaves of the nearest tree shriveled. Alaric reached farther, searching for more strength to put toward his task.

The dragon sped down along the grass. With a surge, Alaric tore his net off the trees and let the cold air plummet down. The dragon, caught in the draft, crashed to the ground. But in a moment, it bunched its legs and launched itself back into the air.

He caught a glimpse of Brandson’s knife as he threw it. It tinked harmlessly off the red scales of the dragon’s belly and tumbled into the grass.

Alaric sank back on his heels, his stomach dropping. His arms were like rocks in his lap, and he had barely affected the dragon. The trees Alaric had protected were smoking, but one more pass would light them like torches.

The dragon roared high above them.

Ayda came over to Alaric. It took most of his strength to lift his head and look up at her.

“I thought you’d do better than that,” she said, looking a little disappointed. “You didn’t do much better than the wizard.”

Alaric stared after her, unable to move as she stalked toward the grass where Gustav had disappeared.

“You stupid elf!” Douglon shouted, watching Ayda walk toward her destruction. “It’s a
dragon!
Get back here!”

Ayda ignored him and kept walking. With one last look at the sky, the dwarf rushed after Ayda spewing curses.

Ayda shot him a furious glance and flicked her hand at him.

The dwarf jerked to a stop. Thin roots had snaked up out of the ground and wrapped around his feet, growing and hardening over his boots. He shouted at Ayda, waving his axe wildly and tugging with all his might at his stationary feet. He took his axe and chopped at the edges of the roots. For every root he cut through, another slithered out of the ground.

Ayda continued walking into the open grass. Brandson began to run after her, but at another dangerous look from the elf, he stopped and backed up next to Milly.

The dragon’s roar came closer, and the sky lit again. On Alaric’s chest, a flash of light reflected off the flame that Ayda had frozen for him.

Maybe the elf standing in the center of the charred circle of grass wasn’t so vulnerable.

But then the dragon appeared, impossibly huge and fast. The rush of wings grew louder, and the world glowed red. Milly screamed and hid her face in Brandson’s shoulder as the dragon hurtled toward Ayda.

Alaric couldn’t pull his gaze away. With the dragon bearing down on her, Ayda was nothing more than a golden wisp in the moonlight.

Ayda waited, looking up at the descending monster, watching until it was so close that the flames were inches from her face. With a wave of her hand, she cast the flames away, solidifying them and sending them splintering into countless pieces. They landed on the ground near Alaric’s feet with the ringing of a thousand tiny bells. The grass was covered with glinting shards of deep red.

Enormous jaws crushed the end of the flame, which had solidified while still in the dragon’s mouth, and the creature shot back into the sky.

Ayda looked pleased at the pile of hardened flames. “That was pretty.” She crinkled her brow. “I think I’ll make the next set blue. There’s much too much red over there now, don’t you think, Milly?”

Milly, staring with her mouth wide open, said nothing.

“Yes, blue.” Ayda turned to see the dragon approaching again.

This time, the beast dove near to the ground farther up the valley and raced toward her. With its blood-red belly skimming the grass, it waited until it was right on her before spewing out flames. Another wave of her hand diverted the flame, this time, turning it a brilliant blue as it hardened.

Milly screamed as the dragon bore down on Ayda. But the elf, with an exasperated flip of her hand, sent the dragon tumbling over her as though it had caught a clawed toe on a rock. The dragon plunged to the ground behind her, crashing down on its back. The valley shook, and Alaric ducked, shielding his head from the branches and pinecones that rained down on him.

In a breath, the dragon twisted back to its feet. Crouched with its chin brushing the ground, the beast let out a low, vicious hiss.

Ayda cocked her head to one side.

“You’re not going to try the fire again, are you?” she asked.

The dragon flared its nostrils but did nothing. It seemed to be contemplating the same question. Alaric slowly let out his breath, but drew it in again when Ayda walked toward the beast as though he were an angry house cat who needed soothing.

“Sir Dragon,” she began, “if I may call you that since I don’t know your proper name. I’m afraid that you have attacked a group that would have been better left alone.”

The dragon stared at her with a mixture of hatred and confusion.

“We realize that you are a truly terrifying beast and that there are few who would dare to stand against a beast such as you, but we are among those few.” She had reached the dragon now. Although the dragon’s chin was on the ground, the top of its nose was shoulder height to the elf.

“It’s not just me,” she continued. “There’s a fearsome dwarf warrior in those trees.” The dragon flicked its eyes toward the trees. Douglon, who had been slouched in shock, his feet still frozen, straightened himself up and gripped his axe.

“There’s a young blacksmith who is quite strong and equally determined.” Brandson stood taller. “And there’s a milkmaid with a frying pan. Between you and me, I don’t think she was planning to cook over dragon fire.” Milly hid the pan behind her back.

“And, if you had gotten by all of us, there is still a magic worker in those trees who I had
assumed
was fairly adept.” She cast a critical look at Alaric.

Alaric felt Douglon, Brandson, and Milly look at him as well. The dragon turned intelligent eyes toward Alaric for a long moment.

Ayda stretched her hand out to touch the dragon’s snout, but its eyes whipped back toward her and narrowed. A loud, threatening growl rumbled deep in its chest.

Ayda paused. Douglon made a strangled noise.

Alaric’s heart was in his throat, waiting for the jaws to open and Ayda to disappear.

She dropped her hand back down, and the dragon’s nose inched forward. Its head lashed forward, and it snapped its teeth. Ayda jerked back, crying out and grabbing her arm. Blood seeped through her fingers.

“A little help?” Ayda said, bracing herself as the dragon’s snout drew closer again.

“What am I supposed to do?” Alaric hissed at her.

The dragon growled again, vibrating the ground. The breath from its nostrils swirled Ayda’s hair. The dragon’s eyes lit for a moment, watching the golden sparkles from her hair.

Distract it. Right. Dragons liked sparkly things.

Alaric pulled some energy in from the trees near him again and, ignoring the fact that his hands were still throbbing, began to pour energy into the air behind Ayda’s feet. The air warmed and rose, lifting strands of her hair with it. More and more locks lifted and swirled around her head. In the middle of the moonlit grass, she looked like she was surrounded by sparks.

The dragon’s eyes glazed slightly.

Alaric crept forward, feeding energy slowly into the air and gathering more at the same time until he thought he would burst with the pressure of it. When he was right next to the dragon’s neck, he stopped feeding the air near Ayda and braced himself.

This was going to hurt.

The dragon blinked as Ayda’s hair stilled. Alaric pushed both hands onto the dragon’s scales at the base of its neck.

The dragon twisted and lashed out at Alaric, his claw tearing through Alaric’s shoulder. Pain ripped across Alaric’s arm. He dove to the side while Ayda yelled, drawing the dragon’s attention back to her. Alaric scrambled back close to it and slammed his palms against the dragon’s neck.

“
Paxa!
” Energy surged out through his palms, searing his skin as it poured into the dragon.

The dragon’s entire body relaxed.

Alaric dropped to his knees and fell forward. Blisters formed on his palms, and his arms ached too much to move. Blood was running down his left arm from his shoulder. His head swam, and it took him a moment to realize he was leaning on the dragon’s neck.

He used his elbows to push himself off the monster. Brandson, Milly, and Douglon were staring at him in amazement.

Ayda let out a whoosh of air. “That’s better,” she said, her voice quavering slightly. She reached out to touch the dragon’s snout, but wrinkled her nose when she saw the blood on her hand. She wiped it off on her dress, leaving a dark stain, then set her hand on the dragon’s nose.

Its eyes softened, and it made a sound less like a growl than a purr.

“Yes, I like you, too,” she said kindly. “But it’s time you were going. I’m afraid that we can’t all share this valley and since we have some business here…”

Brandson cleared his throat.

“Oh, right,” Ayda said. “We would appreciate it if you would leave the next valley alone also. It is our home, of sorts.” With a final pat of the dragon’s nose, she turned away.

The dragon blinked at her.

“By the way, what is your name?” she asked, turning back to it. She paused, her head cocked. “Anguine? Well it was lovely to meet you, Anguine. You are a very fierce dragon. I did think the old man you ate would have caused you a bit more trouble,” she said with a crinkled brow. “I guess he wasn’t too calm under pressure.” The dragon shifted, and Ayda fixed it with a piercing gaze. “I see,” she said. “Well, off with you.”

Turning her back to the dragon, she walked back to the others. The dragon shook its head once. The clawed foot near Alaric flexed, and he scrambled back away from it. With one final confused look at the departing elf, it vaulted itself into the sky and disappeared northward toward the mountains.

Chapter 15

Alaric sank back against the nearest tree trunk and watched the red glint of the dragon disappear over the mountains. At least it had flown west toward the Roven Sweep and not south into the heart of Queensland. Although the nomads on the Sweep were going to have a tough time dealing with it.

The gash in his shoulder burned, and his arms hung down on his lap, aching. He gingerly turned over his palms and saw a circle of blisters on each, shiny and taut in the moonlight. He rested his head back on the tree trunk and closed his eyes.