The towers of the nearest choke point were visible now, and William tried to estimate the distance they had yet to go. As he stared, he caught sight of Maya and Charlie returning at full speed. They slowed and wheeled around, but before they could shout to him, he noted their anxiety. Their news would not be good.
Maya flew directly below him, eliminating the dragons’ great wingspans as a barrier. Why hadn’t he thought of that earlier? She shouted upward, and William strained to hear her. After several tries, he shook his head, and Maya peeled away to let Charlie take her place.
“There’s no blockade!” yelled Charlie in his booming voice.
“Are you kidding?” said William in disbelief. “What about the chain?”
Charlie shook his head. “It’s down. It looks like the rebels took over.”
William couldn’t believe it. Once again, the rebels had been one step ahead, sending a force to remove the one obstacle blocking their freedom. After all he and his friends had done—the searching, the flying, Oz’s death—the rebels would simply sail away to freedom, unchallenged, taking both gold and duke with them. He shook his head in anger, his fists searching in vain for something to pummel.
The vigil seemed pointless now, but with nothing left to do they continued anyway, unable to do more than watch the ships pull closer to freedom with every oar stroke. Where had he gone wrong? How could he have allowed this catastrophe to happen? Instead of chasing the rebels, they should have stationed guards around the duke, protecting him as well as the tax money he’d collected for the king. Looking back, it was obvious now. The rebels had already attacked one city—how could he have overlooked the possibility they’d do so again, especially with most of the Guard absent?
A sharp whistle caught his attention. He looked up to see Jack pointing behind them. He followed Jack’s gaze and his heart leapt with hope—a small flotilla of rowboats was headed their way. Soaring above the boats, William could barely distinguish the shape of a dragon and its rider. Melissa had done her job.
A glance in the other direction shattered his hopes. The rebel ships had drawn closer to the choke point, and had picked up speed in anticipation of gaining their freedom. He looked back and forth to compare the distances, and his heart sank again. The rowboats were faster but had too much distance to make up. All the guards on Esper would be of no use if they couldn’t reach the choke point in time to block the rebels.
They were too late.
He glared at the ships below him, vowing silently to exact revenge. He would enlist Rachel’s help, travel to Ibyca if necessary, and hunt every one of them down and deliver them to justice. Even as he vowed it, he realized how ridiculous it was—such an effort would take years, and he couldn’t even identify most of them. But it was the only comfort he had, stranded in the sky, powerless to stop the greatest crime in Esper’s history.
Without warning, the wind changed. It was subtle, but he noticed it when Adonis banked, a gentle breeze blowing from the southwest, against the ships. The wake from the ships changed, too, indicating a slight decrease in speed as the oarsmen struggled against the wind. A little more wind and the rowboats might have a chance of catching up, even passing the ships, with their much smaller profile.
If only they could find another way to slow the ships. What he wouldn’t give for a stiffer breeze, or a powerful current to spring out of nowhere.
A chill passed through him, raising the hair on the back of his neck. Unbidden, a desperate idea occurred to him, and it slowly dawned on him that nature didn’t have to intervene.
They could do it themselves.
Chapter 32
Excited as he was, William didn’t know where to start. Adonis would need to understand exactly; hand signals wouldn’t be enough, and they couldn’t land to discuss it. If only he could speak to the dragon without his words being whipped away by the wind.
William smacked his forehead as the obvious solution occurred to him. He remembered a lesson from school about sound, and how holding a metal or earthenware pot against a wall and pressing his ear against it allowed him to hear voices on the other side. He had tried it at home before his father died, listening through the wall of his parents’ adjoining bedroom, but gave it up after hearing some embarrassing pillow talk.
Presumably, the trick should work in reverse. He leaned forward and pressed his jaw against one of Adonis’s neck ridges, hoping to conduct as much sound through the dragon’s scales and bones as possible. “Adonis, can you hear me?”
Adonis jerked a little in surprise, giving William a little thrill of fear as he nearly became unseated. He quickly pressed his ear against the ridge. “I can hear you,” came the reply.
“We need to slow the ships,” yelled William. “I want to try burning their oars.”
“What are oars?” asked Adonis.
“The wooden things propelling the ships…poking out the side. If we burn them, then they can’t move the ships until the wind picks up. In fact, they won’t even be able to go through the choke point.”
Adonis hesitated. “My flames cannot reach as far as their arrows. My scales may protect me, but they cannot protect you. Do you still wish me to fly closer?”
“As close as we dare, Adonis. We’ll use speed and surprise to our advantage. They won’t be prepared, we’ll be a moving target, and I’ll make myself as small a target as possible. Maybe we’ll get lucky and disable the ship first time around.”
“Which one shall we strike first?” asked Adonis.
“The lead ship,” said William. “If we slow that one, it may block the others.”
“Hang on tight.” Adonis dived just as William adjusted his grip on the drone’s neck ridges. His stomach lurched as he lost all feeling of weight, and he soon feared he might fly off the drone completely. Moments later he was pressed back into his seat, struggling to lift his head as Adonis spewed flame over the oars on the left side of the ship, his wing tip nearly brushing the hull as they passed by.
Shouts rose from the ship, but when William had a chance to survey the results from a safe distance, little damage had been done. However, several rowers had pulled their oars from the water, slowing the ship, causing it to swing to one side. The chaos they created was nearly as good as burning the oars would have been, at least in the short run.
He looked around for his friends, half expecting Jack to be shaking his fist at him for taking such a huge risk. Instead, both Jack and Rachel signaled to him that they wanted to follow his lead.
William pressed his jaw onto Adonis’s spine ridge again. “Ask your brothers to do the same,” he said. “Two at a time, one on each side to split the arrow fire.”
Adonis nodded, and seconds later Jack and Rachel’s drones dove for the lead ship on opposite sides just as its oars returned to the water.
This time the ship nearly stopped. Rowers on both sides pulled their oars in, replacing them once the dragons passed. Maya and Charlie went next, resulting in the same momentary slow-down. The ship behind it came dangerously close and veered left to avoid crashing.
The plan was working. Whether they could do enough to allow the rowboats to catch up was questionable, but for now they would do what they could. William grinned as Adonis prepared for the strike, the riderless drone aiming for the opposite side, and his stomach fluttered with weightlessness as before, only to be crushed along with the rest of him as the drone leveled and aimed for the oars. This time the oars were pulled in before Adonis had the chance to engulf them in flames, so the drone sent a fireball at the men on the deck instead. William quickly set his jaw against the neck ridge in alarm. “Don’t burn the ship!” he said to Adonis. “The duke may be on it, and we want to capture those men, not kill them.”
“Very well,” said Adonis. “I will inform the others.”
They continued their attacks with little more result than short pauses as the rebels retracted their oars. Even Clyde got in on the action as he followed close behind William and Adonis, adding his small
er flames to those of his larger cousin. The rowers adapted to the attacks, timing the retraction of the oars to minimize their loss of speed, but the momentary stalls began to accumulate. The second and third ships soon bunched dangerously behind the lead, making no move to get around their beleaguered companions, likely for fear of being subjected to the same treatment.
William turned to look at the approaching rowboats. Even with the ships moving slower, he still wasn’t confident they could catch up in time. Melissa remained with them, guiding them from the air. He felt a sense of relief that she was spared the need to join in the attacks—and then a sense of guilt for thinking of her safety above the others’.
His turn came around again. He was growing used to the odd sensation of dropping like a stone to gain speed, but the heaviness that followed was too much to fight against. He hugged his body close to Adonis’s neck, his face cradled between the neck ridges. The pressure was still intense, but at least he wasn’t tiring himself by trying to stay upright. The only drawback was that he couldn’t see what was happening.
“My brothers and I will tire of this soon,” Adonis told him after they’d passed the ship. “It is much more effort than simple flying. Have we gained enough time for your help to arrive?”
“Not yet,” said William as he peered back to the rowboats. “How much longer can you keep this up?”
“Not much longer, but I will warn you before it is too late. We will need to find a place to land when the time comes.”
William cast his gaze about for any sign of land and realized they were much closer to the choke point now. “Can you see where the ships are heading for? They have to sail between those two towers to reach the open sea.”
“I see it.”
“We’ll head for that spot when you have to land. Save enough energy to get there, but let’s stay as long as we can until then.”
On their next pass, a bolt of pain shot through him like lightning. He barely hung on, moaning as his foot throbbed.
“Are you hurt?” asked Adonis with alarm.
William glanced down. “I have an arrow sticking out of my boot. I didn’t even know they were firing arrows. I’ve kept my head down every time we passed.”
“They have done so since the first time. Few came close, but one or two bounced off my scales.”
William gripped tighter. “We can’t risk this anymore, Adonis. One of those archers might get lucky and hit one of my friends somewhere more delicate than the foot. For all I know, someone might have been hit already. King’s boots, that hurts. I can’t reach to pull it out, either, or else I’ll fall.”
“I have told the others to cease the attacks for the moment. My brothers inform me that they and their riders are unhurt. What shall we do instead? I must admit I have enjoyed this.”
“We aren’t doing this for fun, Adonis,” said William through teeth clenched in pain. “And humans don’t have scales to protect us from arrows, so we have to think of something else.”
“What about burning the top of the pole?”
“You mean the mast?” asked William. “What good would that do?”
“It would not burn the ship, but would it not distract them?”
William pondered for a moment. A piece of burning mast falling to the deck might be just what they needed, creating a frenzy and pulling men from rowing duty to fight the fire. The dragons’ bodies would shield their riders from arrow fire as well. “Let’s try it,” said William.
The first pass accomplished nothing, but by the time all the dragons had taken their turns, pieces of burning wood began falling. The deck erupted in chaos as the rebels tried to douse the flames or even toss the burning debris overboard before the fire could spread. More importantly, far fewer oars remained in the water to propel the ship.
Several passes later, the top of the mast was gone, leaving a charred stump in its place. “Aim for the spars,” suggested William. “Those beams sticking out where the sail hangs from. If we burn one of those off, it might dangle from the ropes and cause even more chaos.”
The spars on both sides came down easily, one dangling into the water and interfering with the oars. The ship drifted to a near standstill as men poured from below to climb the rigging to cut the spar free. The second and third ship nearly collided with the first as they passed by slowly.
William glanced quickly behind him, and his heart leapt for joy—the rowboats had narrowed the distance. “Let’s do the same to the other ships,” he told Adonis. “Concentrate on their masts—that did the most damage.”
“Which ship?” asked Adonis.
“Both,” said William. “Let’s pass them both at once and try to leave them all dead in the water.”
Adonis lined up to fly straight from one untouched ship to the other. He hit the first mast with gigantic, billowing flames, then glided toward the next ship. Before they reached it, the drone bellowed, startling William so much that he nearly lost his grip. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
The dragon answered in a strained voice. “My wing is damaged,” he said. “I’ve been hit by an arrow. I was foolish for flying such a predictable path. I did not take your rebels seriously, and I am paying the price.”
William looked to one side then the other. The right wing was punctured, dark blood oozing from the opening. “How bad is it?” he asked.
“I must land, or the wing will tear further.”
“How soon?”
“Now!”
William whirled around, looking for the nearest land. The choke point was still a mile or more away, and even the nearest sandbar was minutes away. A wild, desperate idea occurred to him, one that Jack no doubt would castigate him for, but he had no other choice.
“The sandy islands are my only hope,” said Adonis as he banked toward the sandy reef islands. “Though that hope is faint. It has been an honor to fly with you, William Whitehall. If I fall, I hope your fate is better than mine.”
“Wait!” said William. “I have a plan. It’s crazy, and it might get both of us killed, but it’s better than certain death by drowning.”
“What is it?” grunted Adonis. “Hurry, or we won’t have a choice.”
William clenched both jaw and fist, his eyes firmly set on his target. It was now or never. “We have to land on a ship.”
Chapter 33
“Land on a ship?” asked Adonis. “Have you gone mad? You cannot ask me to deliver you into such danger! The queen would scorch my scales if I allowed harm to come to you.”
“If you try to reach land, you’ll have no scales left for her to burn,” said William. “Besides, you’d be further away from help. If we land on the front of a ship, away from the mast and sail, no one can get behind us, and you can protect me with flames if need be. We can decide what to do from there.”
Adonis hesitated a moment before speaking. “Which ship? Decide quickly.”
William glanced at Adonis’s injured wing. The wound was ripping open. Which ship should he choose? He might get lucky and land on the one carrying the duke, but what if he chose the wrong one? He would have no way to rejoin the fight, and his life would still be in danger.
He looked from ship to ship, looking for any sign of either Vincent or Bird, but he was too far up to recognize faces. The first ship was in complete chaos, and was probably too damaged to land on anyway, so William rejected it. Another was still in turmoil as the other four dragon-riders—plus the riderless dragon—continued their attacks.
The third ship had sustained as much damage as the others, but the activity on its deck was less frantic. William spied someone standing at the stern of the ship, gesturing this way and that, a calm demeanor amid the frantic pace of the people around him. A commander.
“That one,” said William. “The one with the man at the back.”
“Are you sure about this?” asked Adonis. “We have only one chance—I will not be able to fly again until my wing heals.”
William gripped a neck ridge and steeled himse
lf for what was about to follow. “I’m sure. Remember—land at the front.”
Adonis banked gently, gliding toward the ship from the front. William peered over the dragon’s head at the impossibly small target and gulped. They flew just below the level of the deck, and William hugged the drone’s back, keeping his profile low to avoid arrows. He felt a gentle lift as Adonis rose above the bow, slowing to a near stop as he did so. Then a stomach-churning drop, followed by the sound of creaking timbers. The ship rocked under the sudden weight, and William waited a moment for it to stabilize before sliding from Adonis’s back, wincing at the pain in his injured foot. He yanked the arrow from his boot with a grunt, unsheathed his sword and waited.
“Start bailing!” someone yelled below. “You lot, grab your gear and find out what’s going on up there.” A hatch opened in front of William, and several men poured out, dressed in Guard armor and sporting spears. A group of archers followed and positioned themselves behind the spear-men, taking aim as William dove behind Adonis. Before they could fire, Adonis let loose with a massive bellow that sent billowing flames into their lines, igniting both clothing and hair. The air filled with screams, and several rebels jumped into the water to douse the flames while others writhed on the deck, their comrades beating the flames with cloaks.
William stepped out from behind Adonis, sword in hand, and faced the bedlam. “Drop your weapons and leave them on the deck unless you want more of the same,” he said. “Carry the wounded below and remain there until you’re instructed otherwise. Do you understand?”
Many nodded; all complied. Those who could walk helped their injured comrades, and soon they were all below, and William bolted the hatch with a discarded spear. He looked around him, then turned to Adonis. “Have you seen Clyde?” he asked.
“Not for some time,” said the drone. “I cannot speak with him as my brothers and I do; I wish I could tell you more.”
Skyrider of Renegade Point Page 34
