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Kaia’s head snapped around and she bellowed, the sound echoing harshly across the roar of the wind. I turned, gaze scanning the shroud of clouds behind us. And there, in the distance, was the subtle glint of gold. Not one, not two, but three riders.

Vahree help us...

Fly hard,I said urgently.

Fight,she snapped.Better.

We can’t beat three, Kaia.

You have fire. I have teeth and claws.

And they have spears and liquid shit that burns.

What shit?

I sent her images of both courser and bird manure.

Kak no burn, she replied.

This one does.I sent more images, this time of the damage it had done to the men and women defending the cavern’s entrance.

I not soft human.

This liquid cuts through stone, Kaia, so it will certainly ash drakkon scale.

Fury burned through her thoughts, but she nevertheless increased her speed, her wings pumping so fast they were almost a blur. The riders neither drew nearer nor fell away. It was almost as if they were herding us...

I swore, untied the long viewer from the side of my pack, then lifted it to my eye, twisting the focus ring around until the shoreline became clear.

And once again saw the distant glint of gold.

Riders. Two of them of this time, coming straight at us.

We fight, Kaia said.No choice.

No, we didn’t. Not now.

We need to punch through the two ahead and keep on flying.

I rise into cloud then dive behind. You flame. Stay on.

I half-laughed.That’s certainly the plan.

Her amusement rumbled through me, but it was mixed now with excitement and the bloody need to rent and tear. The queen was eager to begin her quest for revenge.

I wished I could say I was totally behind that emotion, but in truth, all I felt was fear. There were just too many unknowns for me to be entirely comfortable battling these people and their birds. But as my father often said, fear was a means of keeping focus as long as you didn’t let it gain control over your actions.

I drew in a deeper breath and released it slowly, imagining all the emotion, the fear, and the uncertainty flowing out of my body—something all raw recruits were taught, and a lesson considered almost as vital as sword and bow craft. Then I shifted my feet a little deeper into the stirrups and double-checked all the knots and clips holding me onto Kaia.

With that done, all I could do was watch and wait.

The riders behind us had spread out and drawn closer, no doubt anticipating us diving either left or right in an attempt to flee once the riders ahead came into plain sight. They didn’t, not for what seemed like forever. The sun was riding higher in the sky now, making me wonder how much longer the riders could keep their birds aloft—if, that is, we’d been right about their restrictions.

We were about to find out the hard way.

The birds directly ahead shone like golden stars against the gray of the clouds. Kaia flew on at speed, her mind focused and ready. I’d seen many drakkons hunt over the years, but this was different.

This really was Kaia going to war.