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57

ESSA

I n Skrathan training, we were taught to keep track of how many enemies were in each quadrant of the sky. It was to help us know at any instant what direction we might turn in order to attack or to flee. But now the foes were like stars in the night. There was no chance of keeping count. And more kept coming.

Luckily, we had Mother.

She and Autan had winged out over the bay, drawing our enemies away from the city, and I stayed with her, shadowing a short distance to her left. She drew heavy fire, but the ancient dragon’s thick hide kept the bullets at bay—so far. When he’d gone far enough, she spun him to face her attackers, sending a billowing blast of fire into their midst.

URA planes were fire-proofed, but fire from a dragon like this was another story, and six or seven fell burning toward the sea.

Attack! I told Othura and she loosed a blast of wind. Dozens enemy planes were in formation, firing at Mother, the sudden gust knocked off course, sending their shots wide.

Charge. Straight at them!

Othura obliged, pinning her wings back and diving to meet a low-flying biplane. We came at them from above and Othura caught their upper wing with her back talons, then banked hard, swinging the plane around then letting it go, slamming it into two more planes that were flying in formation next to it. All three tumbled from the sky, in flames.

Yes! I cheered Othura. This was how an Irska should battle, and I felt pride rising in me, warm and bright—until I glanced around and saw how many planes were still in the sky.

And it wasn’t just planes, either.

A horde of winged golenae had followed us too, launching themselves from the castle walls like gargoyles and winging toward Mother.

Her dragon was fighting like a demon out of the pit, roasting planes with her flames, crushing others in her jaws, whipping more down with her tri-tipped tail, slashing others with her claws and leaving them to fall, tattered, into the sea.

But no matter how many she destroyed, more appeared, and her dragon was taking so many shots, especially from?—

Him.

Every Skrathan in the kingdom knew the Silver Wraith and what he meant. Death. Every rider dreaded him—but only I had felt his lips on mine. Only I had lain, my body tangled with his in the cool morning air. And only I carried the fire of his betrayal like a torch burning in my heart.

Only I had loved him…

So it was only right that I should be the one to bring him down.

He was fighting cleverly, staying out of range of Mother’s dragon’s tail and her fire but still managing to hit her with his gunfire, more bullets thumping into Autan’s hide with each pass. He was attacking her from below, several bullets striking the tender area beneath her wings, and I could tell from the way she winced that they were hurting her.

Let’s go, I urged Othura, but she hesitated.

Are you sure?

Othura knew my feelings—perhaps better than I knew them myself. But this was not a time for emotion. It was a time for action.

“Go!” I said again, digging my heels into her side and leaning forward, flattening myself against her back as she dove. We closed on the Wraith.

Perhaps I don’t have to kill Kit—Charlie, I thought. Maybe if I just chase him away from Mother he’ll get the hint and move on…

But as I closed in, he banked and nosed his plane up—toward me. Fire flashed from his machine gun and I saw the flares as his bullets streamed in my direction. Only by dipping at the last second did Othura save me from having my head taken off.

For an instant I sat hunched on her back, my heart thudding as I processed what had just happened.

He really just tried to kill me.

So that was how it was.

With a feral scream, I urged Othura forward again. I could feel her pulling a little unevenly through the air; her injured wing was bothering her, but I knew she wouldn’t give up any more than I would. Straight at the Silver Wraith we flew, dragon teeth and a whirling propeller in a collision course.

Who would veer off first?

Not us.

But the machine gun was firing again, and Othura had to roll to keep me from being taken off her back.

Upside down, I felt myself leaving the saddle, weightless. But I’d put the clip back on, and it kept me securely in place. As we passed the Silver Wraith, Othura raked upward with her claws, slashing the underbelly of the plane and leaving its cloth fuselage in tatters. But as I looked back, I saw the damage was mostly cosmetic. The plane still flew fine. And already, the Wraith was banking for another pass.

Your mother, Othura said, and I looked over. The good news was, she’d managed to lure the bulk of our attackers away from the city. The bad news was, Autan was beset with dozens of golenae even as the planes continued to pelt them with machine gun fire. Autan was powerful and ancient dragon, but he’d only just woken. He couldn’t last forever against an attack like this…

We have to help them!

Othura turned, flying hard for Mother. As we drew close, Othura blew a hard blast of wind that knocked several golenae off Autan, but there were still dozens more. A human-like golenae had been riding one of its winged brothers and leaped onto Autan’s back. As I watched, Mother hacked it with a mighty blow from her sword, nearly splitting the monster in half.

We swooped in, attacking one of the golenae clinging to Autan’s flank, Othura snagging the monster’s wing with a rear claw and ripping it off while I dispatched another with my sword.

But the thunderous chuckle of machine gun fire came from our left and I looked to see the Wraith streaking toward us again. Another plane behind him was firing as well, but that pilot must have been inexperienced, because it looked like some of his shots actually struck the Wraith.

Chaos…

Then the unthinkable happened. One of the Wraith’s bullets hit home. Autan unleashed a bellow of pain and her wings began flapping lopsided.

With a battle cry, I broke off and sped toward Kit—Charlie—the Wraith—once more.

One of his wingmen got to us first, coming at us from above with blazing guns.

Wind! I called, and Othura let forth a blast of air. It disrupted the plane just enough to mess up its aim. As we closed on it, Othura rolled, grabbing one of its landing gear in her foreclaw and whipping it sideways. The plane fell in a spiral.

Behind us, another terrible roar issued from Autan and I looked over to see the Silver Wraith once again pelting him with gunfire. His wingbeats were slowing, causing him to lose altitude. He opened his mouth to breath fire and only a cloud of smoke came out—a bad sign. Charlie was taking another pass, his bullets mercilessly hitting the dragon’s body—and from the worst angle too, from below and to the side. Blood spattered as bullet after bullet struck him, a trail moving along Autan’s belly, onto his side, up his flank, up his back and to?—

Mother!

I saw the moment the bullet hit. Saw her go limp in the saddle.

Then she and the dragon were both falling.

* * *

Time seemed to falter. I could have counted the folds in Mother’s cloak as she fell, or the bloody wounds in the dragon’s body.

We dove, swooping into the line of fire to protect Mother and Autan. I felt Othura’s body clench as two shots hit her.

Still we dove, shielding mother and spiraling down to reach her. I felt torn between the need to save Mother and a burning desire for revenge—and I looked up to the Silver Wraith. Charlie was showing no mercy, still firing down at Mother even as she fell. I could see him in the cockpit, the leather flight helmet covering the hair that sometimes fell into this eyes— lifeless glass disks of his goggles covering those dark blue eyes I had so loved gazing into.

As I watched, a second plane, which must have been out of control, dove toward the Wraith, cannons blazing, and caused Charlie to veer off track, buying us a momentary respite.

I felt my balance shift as Othura dove more steeply. Her action spoke louder than words could have, and she was right. Save Mother now. Revenge could come later.

Down we dove.

And down Mother fell.

Down. Down…

I watched as Autan struck the water with an impact like a boom of thunder, his wings splayed, his huge body parting the waves and sending up a massive blast of spray. The water seemed to open up for them and I saw Mother upon the dragon’s back, her body slack.

Othura dove even more sharply until we were almost in free fall, dropping so fast my scream was left somewhere behind me, so fast my tears were lost to the wind.