Page 130 of Shattered Stars

We reach the end of the path.

“There’s nothing here,” he says, smothering a yawn.

I nod and we turn.

The cold is bitter, biting. I miss the relative warmth of Los Magicos. I tug at the collar of my jacket, blow warm air over my fingers. I want to get back to the barracks. Away from this man. I don’t want to reminisce about the freaking academy. Or girls. A girl.

We turn and as we do, the sky bursts with color. It entrances us both for just a fraction of a second. Then a boom thunders through the air and sweeps us off our feet.

My face hits the mud, the ground beneath me shaking. I spit out the earth from my mouth and scrabble to my feet, skidding in the mud.

“What the hell was that?” the other soldier says, climbing to his feet, but another crashing boom sends him flying back down into the mud. This time I keep my balance. The sky is alive with exploding magic, like a million fireworks let off all at once, colliding and slamming into one another.

“What the fuck,” the other man shouts.

“We’re under attack,” I yell and then I’m picking up my feet and running back through the trees, down the path towards the barracks. It’s chaos. An alarm blares. Lights flash and spin. Soldiers dash from the barracks, half dressed, rubbing sleep from their eyes. A couple of commanders stand in the middle of the mayhem bellowing orders but it’s unclear if anyone is listening. I sprint to the nearest one.

“What do we do?” I yell above the commotion.

“What the hell do you think? Get to the front line!”

I swing my gaze around and see some soldiers already heading that way, I start after them. Then I freeze. We all do. A giant dark shape glides across the sky, blocking out all the light. We stare as it swoops above us and then the sky is alight again, this time with fire, soaring from whatever the hell that is, towards us on the ground. People scream, yell, run for cover.

But I’m still frozen, frozen to the spot, gaping up at this weapon, at this … beast. Fire courses around me. A man catches alight, falling to the ground, rolling about in a desperate effort to smother the flames. A tree catches fire too, its burning branches flickering like some grotesque candle.

“Dragons!” someone yells, and I see another and another filling the sky.

It can’t be? Dragons? There haven’t been dragons for several hundred years.

I start to run for cover, expecting them all to swoop down together and burn – raze – everything to the ground. But they don’t. They fly right over our heads.

“They’re heading for the capital,” that same commander yells as he runs past me, “we need to warn them.” But he never makes it to the door, his body consumed in a ball of fire.

The capital? Los Magicos? Under attack?

Rhianna!

Every cell in my body screams.

I can’t let anything happen to her. I need to protect her.

A strange compulsion overtakes me. I’m moving before I know I am, racing towards the barracks and up the fire escape, up and up and up until I’m four stories high, sprinting across the roof. The dragons soar closer, low enough I can see the ruby glint of their reptilian eyes, see the strange glistening of the scales that cover their tails, see the strong claws tucked into their bodies, and the strange swish of their tails in the air behind them.

The first two are too high, and the third swerves away, but the fourth is low, low enough, if I could …

The beast roars inside me and I know he is stronger, better, braver. I let him take control and together we leap into the air, grabbing a hold of the dragon’s tail and clinging on with every piece of strength we possess.

48

Rhi

“Uh oh,”Winnie says, spotting Summer too as she slides up beside me. “Someone doesn’t look happy.”

Summer’s expression becomes fiercer and she begins to push her way towards us.

“Wanna run for it?” Trent asks on my other side.

“You guys can if you want,” I say, facing Summer front on, “I’m staying right here.”