Page 14 of Magick and Lead (Dragons and Aces #2)

I hoped perhaps Parthar would be able to relay my thoughts to the riders.

But the telepathic communications between dragons and riders were quixotic, and my connection to Parthar was tenuous at best. Even if he did somehow relay my message to the riders behind us, I wasn’t sure if I knew any of them.

They’d have no context to understand an ace communicating with them via dragon.

And so, they continued, still coming, still gaining.

Ahead, smoke rose from the cratered earth, and the crackle of gunfire rose on the wind.

I spotted Blaize’s squadron, mere dots at first against the blue of the sky.

But the dots weren’t all planes, I saw as we neared.

There had to be at least a hundred golenae there as well, gray monsters of all shapes and sizes, darting about and harrying the planes as they tried to avoid their attacks and hit their targets on the ground.

Damn…

As I watched, a new wave of golenae rose from the ground—most of them shaped like huge bats. As Blaize’s squadron took evasive action to avoid them, their formation deteriorated into chaos.

So much for an easy trip back to base.

I heard a roar behind me and looked back just as a bright burst of flame torched the two rearmost planes in my squadron. The dragons had caught up to us.

Snarling with frustration, I banked and dove.

With my thumb, I released the safety on my cannons and straightened myself out until my flight path was in line with the trenches below.

We needed to get the hell out of here, but I wasn’t leaving until I’d at least lit up a few Lacunae first. When I was lined up, I opened fire.

Clods of dirt flew, and shouts came from below as my shots hit home.

Behind me, my squadmates opened fire, too, unleashing a thunderous sound and lashing the ground with their fire until one wall of the trench collapsed.

But we couldn’t stay at this altitude for long.

Already, I could see serpentine tendrils of black rising from below us and to our left, behind enemy lines.

The mages of the Gray Brothers were working their dark magick.

Fly too low, and their void power could touch you and wreak unpredictable havoc.

Make planes go haywire. Make pilots go mad.

I pulled up, banking right again. Another of the dragons caught one of my squadmates from behind, grabbing the plane’s upper wings in its talons and riding it down until it hit the earth in an explosion of dirt.

Suddenly, a huge golena was in front of me.

I didn’t know where the hell it came from or what it was supposed to be—it was like a massive, winged crocodile, its jaws wide open as it streaked toward me.

I lit it up with my cannons, but the shots barely seemed to have an effect.

It streaked toward me on a collision course.

I tilted slightly right, pulled up a little—and squeezed the trigger on my cannons again.

Bracing myself for a crash-landing in its savage jaws.

But at the last second, my bullet found one of its eyes.

The thing’s left wing went limp, and it tumbled from the sky.

I was about to breathe a sigh of relief—when the monster’s tail lashed upward once as it fell and clipped my right lower wing.

The plane shook from the impact and I looked over to see that the front of the wing had been smashed. It would still fly, but its speed and maneuverability would be compromised.

Great.

A thunder of gunfire caught my attention and I looked up to see a plane diving toward me, its cannons blazing—hitting golenae, but hitting me, too.

Pff-pff-pff. Shots punctured the upper right wing, then the plane dove past me, climbed again, and banked away. Blaize. The son of a bitch.

I’d pay him back for that. But not today. Not with a damaged plane, and not when dragons were in danger.

Speaking of dragons, I looked left and saw several of them in the midst of my squadron. As I watched, a big green beast took several cannon shots and roared, wobbling in the sky, then falling.

Don’t hurt them! Parthar’s voice wailed in my mind.

I gritted my teeth. His feelings felt like a sob inside me.

I’m an ace, buddy. It’s what I do, I shot back.

But the truth was, I couldn’t watch any more dragons die. Not when I knew they protected Essa. Not when Parthar was inside my mind and my heart.

And so, I banked again and pushed the throttle, climbing, and set a course back toward Admar. One by one, my squadron broke off their attack and followed.

Back at the base, I was hanging my flight gear back up in my locker when I heard Carter Blaize shouting.

“Hey! Inman!”

I turned to find him storming toward me, our fellow pilots scurrying out of his path.

“What the hell was that up there?”

He lashed out and slammed my locker shut with a bang.

“First you lead a flight of dragons toward us, then you bug out in the middle of battle? What the hell is wrong with you?” He went on before I could answer.

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Your time with the magick people made you soft.

Yeah, I saw a copy of the report. Everyone thinks you’re a hero for worming your way into the enemy court.

But here’s what I think. I think they corrupted you.

I think you love dragons and that whore of a princess better than your own?—”

I’d heard enough. He was pointing a finger at my face.

I grabbed his hand and twisted, steering him into the lockers.

He bounced off them, broke free of my grip, and came up swinging.

I ducked a punch and countered, cracking him in the cheek with a blow that sent him sprawling to the floor—to a chorus of ooohs from our fellow pilots.

Then I was on him, raining blows on his face.

I grabbed his neck, choking him, and leaned down, snarling into his ear.

“Call her a whore again.”

His eyes were wide with fear, one hand scrabbling at his belt, feeling for his sidearm. Then, he was wailing like a baby. I was so caught up in my rage that I didn’t know what was happening until I smelled it. Burning flesh.

Quickly, I released Blaize and sat up. He sat up, too, scooting away from me fast and touching his neck gingerly with his fingers.

“What the hell…?” he muttered, looking at me with a new dread in his eyes.

I could already see the red splotches forming on his neck. The pilots around us glanced at one another, confused. My hand slipped into the top of my shirt, touching the dragon stone there. It was hot to the touch.

Magick.

Shit. I’d burned him with dragon magick… in front of everyone.

As I got to my feet, Blaize shrank back in fear, one hand on the pistol at his belt. I could see the others backing up warily, too. Even the guys from my squadron looked at me as if I’d just murdered someone.

The wheels in my mind turned as I searched for something clever to say. A joke, an explanation—anything. But nothing came to me. And so, I turned and stalked out of the room, my footfalls clapping into a heavy silence as I went.