Shadow (27 page)

‘My help?’ she squeaked. ‘I can’t do the sort of things you just did.’

‘No, and I wouldn’t ask you to,’ he replied. ‘But that’s not what I mean. I injured my left hand when I caught the lance during the first task. The pain nearly
caused me to lose the second. Could you ask Firestorm if he will heal it for me, please? It would help a lot if I faced the final challenge without this distracting me.’

Pell held his left hand out. Nolita winced as she took in the deep, purple-black bruising and the obvious swelling around the base of his thumb.

‘Of course,’ she said quickly. ‘I’m sure Firestorm will help. Perhaps this is what the Oracle meant by working together.’

Pell did not care whether it was what the Oracle meant or not. He wanted to win. If that meant begging aid from Nolita, then he would do it. All that mattered now was beating Segun’s man.
If his companions felt he was working with them for the benefit of the Oracle, then that was fine. The truth was, he wanted to poke Segun in the eye for imprisoning him at the enclave. By winning
through this series of challenges, he knew he would set Segun’s plans back and undermine his credibility as a leader. What better outcome could there be?

One of the night dragons launched into the air. The whooshing wingbeats sounded loud in the silence of the cold valley, but then gradually faded into the distance, as dragon and rider made for
the tunnel that led out of the canyon. Pell kept his focus on Nolita.

‘Firestorm tells me he heard our conversation through my mind and he is happy to heal your hand,’ she said, her eyes going distant for an instant as she communicated with her dragon.
‘Go to him and he’ll do it straight away.’

‘Thank you,’ he said simply.

Pell turned to where the day dragon was crouched. His blue scales looked particularly bright against the white background of the snow. Although he was nowhere near as physically impressive as
Shadow, Pell found himself admiring Firestorm’s appearance.

There was something handsome and noble in Firestorm’s bearing that he had never noticed before. But he wasn’t really interested in any dragon other than Shadow. He simply wanted
Firestorm’s help.

He walked forwards until he was standing directly in front of Firestorm. The blue dragon eyed him impassively and, for the slightest moment, Pell felt as if Firestorm could see what he was
thinking. He clenched his teeth together tightly and fought down the sudden urge to turn and run. Firestorm drew in a deep, slow breath and Pell held out his left hand towards the dragon’s
mouth. Then it happened.

Pell had not been conscious the last time Firestorm had healed him, so he had no idea what to expect. In his mind he had imagined the healing flame would be somehow very precise, targeting the
area of the wound. The reality was something of a shock. His first instinct was to close his eyes as the great blue nimbus of flame engulfed him, but as soon as he realised that the fire held no
apparent heat, he cracked his eyelids open again to watch. The blue flames swirled and danced, causing his skin to prickle and his hair to float about his head like a ball of fine yellow seaweed,
gently caressed by unseen currents.

The prickling was most intense around the wound on his left hand, but it did not hurt. Indeed, he could feel the fire penetrating through the skin of his thumb and working its healing miracle
deeper and deeper into the flesh. He lifted the hand in front of his face and marvelled at the changes he could see. The swelling was reducing and the darkness of the bruising was dispersing. Once
again he felt invigorated, much as he had done when he had awoken after his previous healing. As Firestorm finally ran out of breath and the blue fire died away, Pell was ecstatic.

He bowed to the dragon with what he hoped was suitable respect, turned, and repeated the gesture to Nolita. She blushed a deep crimson, and Pell could see instantly that the effort had not been
wasted. Elian and Kira looked as if they were in shock. He had them off balance. Good. They had proved they could be resourceful. If he could manipulate them and use their skills to his advantage,
they could prove to be a real thorn in Segun’s side.

As he and Shadow were outlawed, it would not hurt to have allies with such an unusual mix of abilities in future encounters with the night dragon enclave. Kira would be the trickiest to control.
Even now he could see the cynicism in her expression. He would have to keep her off balance and play along nicely with the quest for a while as if he really cared. If he worked at it, he felt sure
he could win her round.

‘Do you think we have time for food?’ he asked. ‘I’m suddenly feeling really hungry.’

‘I think we could all probably use a bite,’ Elian replied. ‘We could eat some of the cold food.’

The four scattered to their respective dragons and rummaged through their saddlebags. Even as Pell was digging through his bag, he noticed the night dragon returning along the valley.

‘The griffins prevented her from leaving,’
Shadow told him.
‘I sense that Widewing is not pleased. Whatever Segun was planning is unlikely to happen
now.’

‘Good,’
Pell responded, his mood lightening even further. ‘
Anything that goes wrong for Segun is fine by me.
’

He rejoined the others and they brushed snow from some rocks so they could sit down without getting wet. The rocks made cold seats, but the four riders made themselves as comfortable as possible
and proceeded to eat their food.

They watched in silence as the night dragon-riders met their returning companion. Pell expected Segun to be furious, but after a quick conference he looked remarkably composed and satisfied.

‘What was that all about?’ Kira mused aloud.

‘Segun looks smug,’ Elian said. ‘You’d better watch yourself on the last challenge, Pell. I don’t like the look of that.’

What the rider could have achieved by flying to the end of the valley and back, Pell could not begin to imagine. One thing was certain – Elian was right. It did not bode well.

It was some time before they finally spotted Karrok flying towards them along the base of the valley. The griffin landed by the metal plinth.

‘Challengers, mount your dragons,’ he called out in a loud voice. ‘Your final challenge will be a test of endurance and speed. You will race out of this valley and follow a
series of markers that have been laid out to lead you along a route through the mountain valleys. The first team to return to the plinth having completed the course will claim release of the orb.
Griffins have laid markers on the ground at turning points along the route. They will observe the turning points to ensure both dragons complete the whole course. You will see the first marker as
you exit the valley.’

Pell was delighted. He felt sure that Shadow was stronger and faster than Knifetail. Unlike the previous challenges, this was one he felt sure they could win. He ran to Shadow and leaped up her
side and into the saddle. He could see Dirk settling on Knifetail’s back. It had all come down to a simple race. If the Oracle had told him this at the start, he would likely have laughed. It
seemed a ridiculous way to determine the future of dragon-kind.

‘Ready . . . GO!’

There was no further time for thought. Shadow powered forwards with Knifetail matching her, stride for stride, wingbeat for wingbeat. They climbed into the air, but neither dragon climbed more
than a few spans. Instead, all power was converted into forward motion as they accelerated faster and faster in a sprint for position at the end of the valley. Each dragon was determined to reach
the exit tunnel first. Whoever held the lead there looked set to have the edge for the rest of the route.

The valley began to narrow. Still both dragons held position. Pell glanced across at Knifetail. The dragon seemed to be using her tail as an extra form of propulsion, lashing it from side to
side. The motion made her look ungainly in comparison to Shadow, but Pell could not deny that she was keeping pace with them. Pell noticed something else about the lashing tail. On either side of
its final span or so, there was a shallow plate-like protrusion of bone that looked flat and sharp. The dragon was not called Knifetail without reason. Pell instantly recognised the lethal nature
of such a weapon. If he and Shadow were to fall behind Knifetail, passing her could prove extremely hazardous – and not just for him. The natural dragonbone blade on her tail could
potentially slice through Shadow’s armour as well.

‘Come on, Shadow!’
he urged, leaning forwards to the right of the ridge in front of him and flattening himself against her back in the most streamlined fashion he could.
‘You can do it.’

They were running out of room. The valley was narrowing fast as they entered the final bend and the two dragons were all but wingtip to wingtip as they raced around the corner towards the
tunnel. The throat of the valley forced the dragons closer and closer together. Pell was watching for trouble, half expecting Knifetail to pull some nasty trick in order to take the lead into the
tunnel. To his surprise, the dragon dropped back, allowing Shadow to lead the way out of the valley.

Shadow dipped her wing and turned hard into the exit tunnel. Pell squeezed his muscles against the huge force that crushed him against Shadow’s back as they whipped around the corner on a
wingtip. Being flat to her back, the effects of the pressing force were reduced, but he was glad to be able to grip securely with both hands, or he might have slid out of the saddle. They rolled
out of the turn inside the tunnel and powered towards the bright opening ahead.

‘Turning hard right,’
Shadow warned.

Suddenly they were in the open. Pell barely had time to register the flash of blue on the ground before Shadow was into the turn and he was being crushed against her back again. They rolled out
and Shadow resumed beating her wings with the urgent tempo she had established in the valley.

‘How long can you keep up this pace?’
Pell asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Knifetail and Dirk who had dropped behind by a few dragon-lengths.
‘We
don’t know how long this route is going to be.’

‘It doesn’t matter how long the route is, Pell,’
she replied.
‘Knifetail will burn out before I do. I am strong. You know this. We will win this
race.’

She was right. In terms of pace, he would bet on Shadow against any other dragon, with the possible exception of Widewing. Segun’s dragon was even bigger than Shadow. Although he would
have liked to defeat the night dragon leader directly, rather than one of his lieutenants, Pell was a lot more confident of success than he would have been racing against the formidable
Widewing.

Pell could see another blue marker on the ground ahead. The colour stood out clearly against the white of the snow. The valley forked in front of them and the blue line of cloth indicated a
right turn. He looked around for the watching griffin and soon located it. The creature was perched on a rock, high up on the dividing wall between the two valleys.

A glance over his shoulder and Pell could see that Knifetail was slowly falling further behind. They took the valley to the right; the great mountains on either side towering up into the sky
like monstrous pointed teeth. A chill wind began to gust and swirl. High in the sky above, white wispy horsetails of cirrus gave warning that the long spell of good weather was finally coming to an
end. It would be some hours yet before Pell needed to worry about lower cloud bringing trouble. Even so, it was not a good sign. He would rather not be in the mountains come nightfall, as
conditions could become dangerous very quickly.

The valley curved gently to the right. Ahead was another marker – black this time – indicating a sharp turn to the right. At first Pell could not see the opening, but then the narrow
crack in the cliff-face became apparent.

‘Gods alive!’
he breathed aloud.
‘Can we fit through there?’

‘I think so,’
Shadow replied.
‘But it’s going to be tight.’

She took a slightly wider line into the cut so they could see into the canyon before they entered. It looked treacherously narrow, barely wide enough for a dragon with Shadow’s wingspan.
It was slightly wider higher up, but if they climbed, they would inevitably lose speed. There were wickedly jagged rocks protruding from the walls on either side, poised to catch on a wingtip and
there was no clear path through to the far side.

‘Hold on tight. This is going to get interesting.’

Pell was so focused on the treacherous path ahead that it did not cross his mind to look for the watching griffin until it was too late. As they entered the canyon he flicked a quick look over
his shoulder and was just in time to see Knifetail fly past the entrance without so much as twitching towards it. In that instant, he knew they had been fooled.

‘It’s a trap, Shadow!’
he gasped.
‘Dirk and Knifetail carried straight on. Somehow we’ve been set up.’

He could feel Shadow’s anger through the link like a brewing storm, but she was concentrating so hard on not hitting the canyon walls that she could not release her feelings. They could
not descend, for the crevasse beneath them continued to narrow to a fine wedge shape. Shadow was likely to break her wings if she tried. If they climbed, there was no room to turn until they
reached the open sky many spans above.

Dipping and weaving through the perilous crack in the mountainside, Shadow fought to keep them in the air. A sudden, horrible revelation struck Pell as they wormed deeper into the canyon.
’Ware ye the knife.
This was the knife! The crack they had entered was so narrow it looked almost as if a knife blade had sliced a jagged path into the mountainside. A moment later
the horror got worse. They were facing a dead-end. There was nowhere to go. One way or another they were going to crash into a rock-face and fall.

‘We’re not done yet, Pell,’
Shadow said suddenly, her voice fierce with determination.
‘I once saw a mad young dragon do a manoeuvre that might just save us.
I’ve never tried this before, so let’s hope I get it right. Hold on as tight as you can. We’re going vertical.’