He smiled as she stepped to walk by his side. Paedyn hadn’t realized how attractive Devarius’ sister was. He wondered if they truly were siblings. Devarius didn’t look that good. His face was rough, leathery, with a bit of wrinkles when he smiled and raised his brows with excitement. His sister, however, had smooth dark brown skin, the same color as an oak tree. Her hair fell past her shoulders, straight, and gleamed under the light of the sunset. Zaviana’s lips were, well, large and moist. Shivers traveled up Paedyn’s spine. This was his friend’s sister. He shouldn’t look at her that way. Her hazelnut-color eyes should have no place in their mission. Was that a freckle in the right one? He shook his head. What did she ask?
“Hazelnut?” Paedyn asked.
“Excuse me?”
“I like hazelnuts. They’re delicious. Have you ever tried one?”
Her eyebrows wrinkled. “What does that have to do with snow?”
“Oh. Sorry. For some reason I started thinking about hazelnuts. I can’t recall why.”
She rolled her eyes.
Everyone rolled their eyes at Paedyn. He always liked watching the color make a circle, exposing the white sclera. It always fascinated him. Most people rolled their eyes from top to left and around, but a few did it the other way. He wondered why.
“As I was saying,” Paedyn said, “the snow is our ally. It will cover our tracks.”
Zaviana inhaled, then blew loudly out her nose. “I suppose.”
“But seriously, have you ever tried a hazelnut?”
Her eyes widened as she looked at him. “I can’t recall.”
He grinned. “Well, perhaps I’ll have to get you to try some. You know, they have some at the pub in Saefron. Perhaps we could go tonight.”
Her mouth parted. “Are you being serious right now?”
“Umm ... no?”
“Good, because we are being attacked by who knows how many dragons and the entire empire. The last thing I care about are nuts.”
Paedyn shrugged. “I care.”
As they reached the southern side of the city, Paedyn thought they were home free. Or Saefron free. Close enough to slip in. Whatever. He thought they would be fine; he was wrong. Three dragons dropped out of the sky.
Paedyn’s mouth opened, exposing his teeth, and his eyes wrinkled around the sides.
“One, two, three. Yup. There are three of them,” Paedyn said.
Zaviana stopped, one hand on the hilt of her sword, the other held in front of her, a strange glow emanating from her fingers.
Paedyn closed his mouth and pursed his lips as he watched her. “That is neat.”
Her eyes grew wide as her head stretched forward. He followed her gaze.
“Oh, right.” He turned to face the three dragonriders. “Good evening. I don’t suppose you want to surrender?”
One of the dragons roared.
Paedyn’s shoulders stretched to his head. “Worth a try.”
Are you done playing games? I’m ready to flame, Pyro said in his mind.
“I like flames,” Paedyn said.
Everyone looked at him strangely. He walked forward, unsheathing his sword. The three dragonriders stared at him with disbelief. He twirled the blade in his hands, making the blade shift from his left to his right.
One of the dragons opened its mouth, growling as it prepared to release its fire. Paedyn grinned, grabbed a glass vial from his belt, and threw it toward the dragon. He dove to his right as the dragon’s flames erupted from its throat.
Before the flames could reach far, they shattered the vial, exploding a few ounces of fire oil a few feet from the three dragonriders. Flames erupted in the air, a loud bang shook the snow around them, and the three dragonriders blasted backward. One of the riders lay dead in a mountain of flames. His dragon was injured, one of its wings shattered.
“Now, Pyro!”
His wyvern flew forward. Paedyn leapt into the air. Pyro flew underneath him. He landed on his dragon, grabbing the reins as he passed. Paedyn began laughing maniacally as they flew into the sky.
“That was a lot of flames, Pyro!” he shouted.
That was foolish, Pyro said.
“Foolishly brilliant!” Paedyn grinned. “I bet you can’t make that many flames.”
Bet on.
They flew toward the injured dragon, Pyro blazing fire toward the creature. Fire didn’t hurt the dragons as much as the other elements, but it still did damage.
“I don’t know, Pyro. Yours didn’t go bang.”
Give me one of your vials. I’ll make a bang.
Paedyn clicked his tongue in his mouth. “Now, now. These vials are mine.”
Technically, they’re mine.
“What you’re referring to is the oil inside. However, the vials, the glass, yup, they’re totally mine.”
They circled back around the injured dragon. Paedyn flung a vial at the creature. Pyro didn’t hesitate. Flames erupted from the wyvern’s mouth, catching the vial as it nearly reached the injured dragon. Another loud bang echoed as the vial exploded into a massive burst of flame. The flames consumed the dragon, and the large beast collapsed to the ground, black instead of its natural red hue.
The other five wyvernriders with him, two blue, two gold, and one purple, flew around the remaining two dragonriders. They used their elements to attack, but the two dragons were smarter than the first.
“It looks like they could use a distraction,” Paedyn said.
What did you have in mind?
“How long can you breathe fire? Can we make rings of fire around the two dragons?”
Not wide.
Paedyn grinned. “Thin is fine.”
They flew toward the two dragons. Paedyn rubbed Pyro’s neck as he held onto the reins with his left hand. The reins were more for helping the rider stay on than directing the wyvern, though in times of need where speech was impossible, it did help. When they were close enough, Paedyn flicked the reins, signaling Pyro to begin their crazy plan. Flames filled the air below them in a thin line. They circled the dragons three times, making three thin lines of flame around them. Both dragons turned to face them, mouths stretching wide and flames heading straight for them.
“Away, Pyro!”
The wyvern tried to turn, but the flames caught them on Pyro’s underside. Paedyn hung onto the reins tight as Pyro spun in circles and they headed toward the ground. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the world spinning around him anymore. It didn’t help. Dizziness still consumed him. Blackness found him.
Chapter 26
Zaviana dove out of the way as Paedyn and his wyvern tumbled toward her. She stood, brushed herself off, then turned to look at Paedyn. He was still atop his wyvern, but he wasn’t moving. She slowly stepped toward him. The wyvern opened its eyes and groaned. Zaviana reached Paedyn. He was slumped forward in his saddle with his eyes closed. Zaviana checked his pulse. He was alive.
The wyvern tried to stand, grumbling all the while.
“Are you all right?” Zaviana asked.
The wyvern stared at her, then nodded.
“Well, your rider isn’t. He needs to rest.”
The wyvern turned to look at Paedyn, looked back to Zaviana, then shook its head.
“You want to go back and fight?”
Yes, a voice projected inside Zaviana’s mind.
She jumped, not expecting the cracked voice.
“Would you mind if I ride you?”
The wyvern tilted its head, then moved it around as if inspecting Zaviana.
Zaviana approached the wyvern. It took one step backward, but Zaviana didn’t go toward its head. She reached the creature’s back, unstrapped Paedyn, and eased him to the ground. Instead of waiting for the wyvern to decide, she climbed atop the saddle, secured herself, petted the wyvern’s neck, and whispered, “Let’s go.”
The wyvern swayed its neck, as if unsure what to do, and was surprised by Zaviana’s forwardness. After a second of deliberation, the creature crouched, then leapt into
the air.
Zaviana gripped the reins tighter as they soared into the air. Wind brushed against her face, tossing her long hair behind her head. It hurt. She’d have to remember to tie her hair back next time. Next time? Did she dare do this again? It was exhilarating being in the sky, feeling the momentum of the wyvern’s flight. She looked down. Zaviana gulped. She shouldn’t have done that. Her eyes closed as she positioned her head upward. When her eyes opened, she realized they were close to the opposing dragons. One of them was injured. She angled the reins to focus the wyvern on the injured one. Zaviana hoped they had been trained similar to horses, because horses were all she knew.
“What is your name?” Zaviana yelled, wind catching in her mouth, making her gag.
Pyro, the creature responded in her mind.
A large flame shot from the creature’s mouth, arching toward the dragon. It hit directly on the creature’s head as it was turned to snap at a smaller blue wyvern. The fire hurt the wyvern, but not as much as Zaviana thought it would. She wrinkled her nose.
Zaviana covered her mouth with her hand as she screamed, “Take me closer.”
Pyro’s head spun around to look at her. The wyvern didn’t have a facial expression like a human, but Zaviana could have sworn its eyes grew slightly larger, as if asking her if she were serious. Zaviana nodded.
Pyro’s head shook, but she continued toward the dragon. Zaviana closed her eyes. There was much energy in the sky. She could feel moisture all around her in the air, in the clouds. Zaviana channeled it all to her. The air all around them grew dry, all its humidity drained. Zaviana compressed cold next, forming a sheet of cold air in front of the moisture she’d collected. She opened her eyes. They were close to the dragon now. Zaviana released the energy. Water spouted forward, through the sheet of cold, and transformed into liquid ice as it covered the dragon.
The dragon’s red body turned blue, then ice collected on its hide until it was several inches thick. Ice covered the rider and the dragon’s wings last. It couldn’t flap its wings to stay afloat anymore. A piercing shriek left its throat, shattering the ice from its jaw as it tumbled toward the ground.
Zaviana finally looked down again, watching as the dragon crashed into the snowy earth and shattered into a thousand pieces.
Brilliant, Pyro said.
“Thank you,” Zaviana whispered.
They circled around the empty space where the dragon had just been, and along with the other two wyvernriders, they approached the last dragon. Elements blazed through the air: Pyro’s fire, the two ice wyverns’ ice, and lightning from the two gold wyverns. The purple wind wyvern stood on the ground recovering from a minor injury. Zaviana began to channel more moisture from the air, but it wasn’t as strong this time. She was weaker, her fatigue growing. When she released, it was only as powerful as the ice wyverns. It connected with a wing, partially freezing it and making it difficult for the dragon to remain in the air.
The dragon roared, blowing fire all around it. All the wyvernriders flew away to avoid the flames. When Pyro flew back around to find the dragon, they saw him using his own flames to melt the ice off of his wing. The dragon roared one last time, then flew away, escaping toward the empire’s camp.
“We did it,” she breathed, a smile creeping onto her face.
Pyro landed in front of the party along with the other five wyverns. Zaviana slid off the wyvern, then nearly fell forward when she tried to walk. Her inner thighs ached. It’d been a long time since she’d ridden a horse, and a wyvern was a little bit wider than the horses she’d ridden.
You did well, little one, Pyro said.
“As did you, Pyro,” she said.
Paedyn stumbled over. “You stole my wyvern.”
“Borrowed.” Zaviana smiled.
I am no one’s property, Pyro said.
“You totally are. We talked about this, Pyro. You’re my fire. Without you I don’t have fire. I need fire in my life. Therefore, you are mine, and I am yours. End of story.”
Paedy— the wyvern tried to speak.
“I said, end of story!”
Zaviana laughed.
Paedyn wrinkled his nose. “Is he projecting to you too?”
She nodded.
Paedyn shook his head. “Now you’re even talking to other people. I am hurt. Do you hear me, Pyro! Hurt.”
The wyvern tilted her head down to try and touch her nose against Paedyn.
“No! Don’t touch me. I’m going to be mad at you for the next five minutes. You’ll have to wait.”
A soft chortling noise came from the wyvern’s throat.
“Don’t laugh at me! Six minutes!” He stormed off.
“Is he serious?” Zaviana asked.
Mostly, no. He is rather attached to me. I call him my pet human, Pyro said.
Zaviana stifled a laugh.
Lilianya approached. “We need to leave.”
Zaviana nodded her head. “Yes, we don’t want that remaining dragonrider to bring more to us before we can get to safety.” She brushed her hair down over her shoulders with her fingers. Her hair hurt. “How much longer?”
“Not long. Follow me,” Lilianya said.
Chapter 27
Devarius saw Paedyn’s signal on the southern side of the city. It wasn’t hard to miss. Paedyn wasn’t exactly a surreptitious kind of guy. Flames burned in the air on the southern side reading, “Boo.”
Shaking his head, Devarius strode over to the hidden entrance. He brushed hay aside to reveal a small tunnel, large enough for men and women to climb through, but too small for a wyvern or dragon. It was meant to be an escape route, but they hadn’t forseen this many coming to attack at once. They would only die in the cold of the mountains in the winter if everyone left through it.
He stood over the hole. Over four inches of ice blocked it from entry. Devarius motioned over a fire wyvern. The creature nodded at Devarius, then blazed fire onto the ice. It was thick enough to take several long minutes before it completely melted. Paedyn would need to do the same thing outside the city.
After several long minutes, people started climbing into the city. Devarius stood at the entrance to help everyone up. Once everyone was safe, and they made a few checks to make sure no one was left behind, Devarius had Ayla breathe ice back over the entrance, securing it.
Devarius hugged his sister. “I’m glad you made it back safe.”
“We lost a few,” she admitted.
Devarius raised a brow. “You were attacked?”
“A small party of a hundred warriors attacked us on the eastern side. We defeated them, but we lost a few. Shortly after, your friend, Paedyn, found us and brought us to the southern side.”
Devarius glanced at Paedyn. “Good.”
“There, we fought against three dragonriders. But we defeated them as well.”
“Dragonriders attacked on the eastern side?”
He turned to Paedyn. “You did make sure to cover the entrance well?”
“Of course. I even melted a gigantic rock on top of it,” Paedyn responded.
“Good. Did you lose anyone to the dragons?”
Paedyn shook his head. “No, but your sister stole my wyvern.”
“What?” Devarius asked.
“Borrowed,” Zaviana said.
Paedyn rolled his eyes. “Borrow implies asking.”
“I did ask, you were just unconscious.”
“Do I need to put you two in time-out?” Devarius asked.
Zaviana smiled.
Paedyn frowned.
Devarius laughed. “Come on, we need to prepare the defenses. If we live through this attack, we can sort out the semantics.”
They turned to watch all the crates being brought into an empty forge. The men were careful when they carried them, sweat beading along their faces, even with the cold.
“Do those crates weigh that much?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius shook his head. “They’re just nervous. If one of the vials breaks ... well, it won�
��t be good for any of us.”
“What do you plan on doing with them?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius shrugged. “I haven’t had time to experiment with them.”
“I make them go boom,” Paedyn said.
Zaviana rolled her eyes. “I saw what you did with them. There has to be more practical ways to use them.”
“All I know is it seemed important enough to save the oil. I am unsure what all we can do with it. The only way we’ve used it is throwing them at a target.”
“Didn’t you say one small drop is highly effective?”
Devarius nodded. “One small drop of fire oil makes a large bonfire. One small drop of ice will freeze a rat solid.”
“How many drops are in each vial?”
Devarius furrowed his eyebrows. “How should I know?”
Zaviana shook her head. “How much of this precious oil are you wasting?”
“Excuse me,” Paedyn cut in. “But our elegant approach has been working just fine, thank you.”
“Elegant? Throwing full vials of oil at dragons?”
Paedyn nodded. “Yes. As I said, elegant.”
Zaviana shook her head. “And what happens when you throw one of these vials inside the city, and it misses?”
Paedyn wrinkled his nose. “Pray?”
Zaviana snorted. “Have you tried using the oil on arrows?”
Devarius raised a brow. “Arrows?”
“Arrows by themselves are useless against a dragon, but if covered in ice oil, or lightning, what effect might they have?”
Devarius’ eyes bulged. “That’s brilliant.”
Paedyn crossed his arms. “You’re just saying that because she’s your sister.”
“And what about the large ballistae? We can put oil on the larger bolts as well,” Zaviana said.
Paedyn scratched his chin. “Wait a minute. How are you going to fit a bolt in a vial? The bolt is way too big.”
Zaviana closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and resisted the urge to slap him. “Put the oil in jars. Scatter the jars through the city, in places least likely for a direct hit with dragonfire.”
Devarius nodded. “Find us some jars, Paedyn.”
“As you wish,” he grumbled, walking away.
Dragonia: Revenge of the Dragons (Dragonia Empire Book 2) Page 11
