by Avril Sabine
Joining the crowd at the table, she squeezed in beside Kade. Over a cooked breakfast, Ronan explained the plan. Once they’d eaten, and Rian cleared the table, he rolled out a map so they could see where all the local allies were for the clan they were attacking. She began to wonder if the most difficult clan had been chosen to attack. What if they called on their allies to help? They certainly had enough of them nearby.
Rising to his feet and rolling up the map, Ronan said, “Even though this is a test, raiding an enemy of your clan isn’t the main objective. If you need to drop the spoils to get the enemy off your tail when the other mages attack, you drop them. We need to capture one of those mages and take out their dragons. Aim for the wings.” Ronan met Amber’s eyes. “They won’t have any qualms about aiming for ours.”
When everyone rose from the table, Donna hurried forward, grabbing first Amber’s hand and then Jasper’s, pulling them to the side. “You make sure you look out for each other.” She pulled them in close, hugging both of them.
Amber tried to draw away. “Mum. We have to go.”
Donna released her. “Let me know when you’re safe. As soon as the battle is over.”
“Our phones work in their lands,” Jasper said. “You could ring us tomorrow if you want.”
“I still expect you to call me the moment it’s over.”
“It’s more than just the battle. We’ll call as soon as we get the chance,” Amber said.
Donna dragged them in for another hug. “Be careful.”
“Okay.” Amber pulled away again. “Gee, why not tell us to wear clean underwear too.”
Ronan, and his gold dragon joined them. “Jasper, you’ll ride Turi. He hasn’t passed all his tests yet so he seemed the logical choice.”
Jasper nodded before he turned back to Donna. “See you, Mum.” She dragged him in for another hug before he unwrapped her arms from around him and, with a grin and a wave, clasped Turi’s forearm and nodded to the dragon. They disappeared into the Void.
“Is that safe?” Donna asked.
“Safer than crossing the road. Look, Mum, I have to go. I’ll call you, right?”
Donna nodded and Amber stepped back when it looked like her mother would hug her again. Feeling Kade behind her, she turned to head towards him. “Get me out of here now.” Kade wrapped his arms around her and took her through the Void to the gathering point.
Rian came forward with a dragon saddle and put it on Kade as soon as he changed forms. During the next few minutes everyone prepared, taking to the air once they were ready.
“You all know your directions,” Ronan told everyone. “Move out.”
Amber watched as Flinn flew towards the left, Crystal on his back, his warriors on each side of him. Turi, Jasper on his back with Ronan and Brann flanking him, headed for the right. Kade gave them some time before he flew straight ahead, Maira and Rian flying with him. Amber mentally searched ahead, looking for trouble. Unlike Crystal she wouldn’t be able to find trouble if it was hiding in the Void.
When they were within sight of the castle, Amber released herself from the saddle, turning into a goshawk as she let go. Fear and uncertainty evaporated as animal instinct kicked in and her first thought was to chase the birds in the distance. She forced that urge away and flew towards the castle, coming at it from a different angle to the dragons.
Ahead she could sense Crystal and Jasper, also in goshawk form. So far everything was going according to plan, even to the dragons pouring out of the castle and headed for Kade, Maira and Rian. Mentally searching she found the other two teams already in battle. The one thing she didn’t find were any humans. She had no idea what they’d do if they failed to lure out the Dragon Mages. She guessed Ronan would make them organise yet another test to complete.
Drawing her wings in close, Amber flew in through one of the upper windows, landing on the floor and turning human when she found the bedroom empty. Now to locate the treasure she was after. She opened the door slightly, listening and mentally searching. The corridor was empty. Racing along it, she continued searching her surroundings, hoping no one was hiding in the Void. Reaching the end of the corridor, she headed up the stairs, following the directions Ronan had given her earlier. It was taking her longer than she’d expected. The castle was much bigger than it had looked on paper.
“Are you okay?” she asked Kade, finally reaching the top of the stairs and coming out into a tower room with barred windows.
“Just hurry up.”
That hadn’t been the answer she was looking for. Spying the wooden chest sitting under one of the windows, she crossed the small room and tried to open it. The lid didn’t budge. It was locked like Ronan had said it would be.
Grabbing a handle, she tugged it towards the stairs, pushing it down them. The chest crashed against the stone wall, but stayed intact. Wincing at the noise, Amber ran down the stairs to push it down the next flight, swearing when it still didn’t break. Drawing on the strength of her panther, she hoisted the chest onto the stair rails, balancing it as she peered down the stairwell. Three stories. If that didn’t break it she had no idea what to do. Giving it a shove, she held her breath, letting it out in a rush as the chest smashed onto the floor below. Turning into a goshawk, she flew down the stairwell, dodging to the side when four warriors ran towards her, attacking with swords.
Chapter Seventeen
Amber circled around, darting in when one of the warriors tried to pick up a drawstring bag from the shattered remains of the chest. Grabbing the strings, she flew towards the nearest window, ignoring the shouts behind her. “Got it.” She sent the message to all those with her.
“There’s four Golds hiding in the Void. I can’t get to my location,” Crystal said.
“I’ll have my target in a minute. Someone better be ready to grab the sword when I throw it out the window,” Jasper warned.
“Crystal get out of there. Jasper hurry up, I’m still waiting. Amber retreat with your team,” Ronan ordered.
“But I don’t want to be the only one who fails,” Crystal protested. “What if we end up completely failing?”
“As long as we capture a mage, only one treasure needs to be brought back for all of us to pass the test. I didn’t want it riding on one item,” Flinn said. “Now get out of there and don’t take stupid risks.”
“Okay.”
Amber was relieved to hear Crystal agree to retreat. Behind her was the sound of wings. Not having time to look, she mentally searched and found the four dragons who’d attacked her. They weren’t far behind. Searching ahead she found her team battling nine dragons. The odds didn’t look good. The dragons behind her came closer since she was unable to fly as fast as usual carrying the bag. But she couldn’t drop it. She knew Crystal would be tempted to go back for her treasure if she did.
“Ready Ronan? I’m throwing the sword out,” Jasper said.
“Now,” Ronan said.
“What’s taking you so long, Amber?” Kade demanded.
“The treasure is slowing me down.”
“Ditch it,” Kade said.
“No,” Flinn said. “That’ll only give us one treasure. It’s too early to be down to a single treasure.”
Amber hated to agree with Flinn, but he was right. It was too soon to be down to one treasure.
“So it’s okay for my mage to take risks, but not yours?” Kade demanded.
“Everyone get out of here. Rian, do your job and help Amber,” Ronan ordered.
“Where are you?” Rian asked Amber.
“Straight ahead. You should see me soon.” She spoke to Rian alone, tracking him as he came closer. Several dragons followed him.
“When I am close enough, drop the bag and I will catch it. Then get out of here,” Rian said.
Amber waited until he was nearly upon her before she let go of the bag, wheeling back towards the dragons that were chasing her, dodging between them.
“What are you doing? Get out of here,” Rian said.
Amber screeched angrily when she realised he’d broadcast his question to their entire team.
“What are you doing, Amber? Follow orders and retreat,” Ronan said.
“We’ll never make it.” She dodged dragon flames. “You get out of here, Rian. That’s an order.”
“What are you planning?” Jasper asked.
She checked where her brother was, finding him rapidly drawing near. “I think we can take one. Make it crazy.” She sent the words to her brother only.
“You better not get yourself killed.” Ronan said directly to Amber. “The rest are fair game if you’re dead.”
“I know.” Seeing her brother come close, she dropped onto one of the dragons, turning human. Clinging to his back, she forced several fireballs into him, Jasper doing the same. When the dragon spun in midair, roaring, she was thrown from his back. As she turned into a goshawk, she checked his mind, finding nothing sane. She screeched a victory cry as the dragon turned on his companions and the other two stopped to help. Now for the ones who’d continued to chase Rian.
Jasper flew beside her. “Are you trying to get us killed? Mum would have a heart attack if she knew we’d done that.”
“It worked, didn’t it? And I didn’t hear you argue before we did it.”
“I didn’t expect it to be so dangerous.”
“Make yourself useful and deal with the ones chasing me. They’re slowing me down,” Ronan said.
Amber searched for him, finding him not far behind her. “I thought you were worried I was going to get myself killed.”
“Don’t be smart, kitten. And try and control your smugness. I can feel it from here.”
If she could have laughed she would have at Ronan’s comment. Instead she screeched again, changing direction, Jasper at her side. “Let’s take the one in the middle.”
“I bet I get to him first,” Jasper said.
“I doubt it.” She dropped down, landing on the dragon to become human, Jasper doing the same. Clinging to the dragon that twisted in midair, Amber forced several fireballs into him before she was flung through the air. It was harder to change this time and panic momentarily rushed through her as the ground came closer. Then she was changing and flying upwards, searching out the dragon her and Jasper had attacked. He was feral, not a single shred of sanity to be found.
“Amber, where are you?” Kade asked.
“Coming.” She wheeled around and flew towards Ronan who carried the sword in his claws, Jasper flying with her.
“Well hurry up and stop pulling crazy stunts.”
“Rian told you, didn’t he?”
“Mages!” Flinn warned.
“Where?” Ronan demanded.
“Coming from my direction.” Flinn said.
“Everyone to Flinn,” Ronan said.
“Maira and I still have too many dragons attacking us,” Kade said.
“Rian ditch your treasure and go help them,” Ronan said.
“No!” Flinn and Amber said at the same time.
“Rian you head for the drop point and Jasper and I will help Kade and Maira,” Amber said.
“Who is organising this?” Ronan demanded.
“Are you lot trying to get us killed?” Flinn asked.
“I still have dragons chasing me,” Rian said.
“Then head to Kade. We’ll deal with them.” Amber saw Kade and Maira ahead. Jasper continued to fly at her side, but Ronan had circled away to head towards Flinn. “We’ll be there in a minute. It won’t take us long to deal with this.” Darting between two dragons, she landed on one and became human, Jasper with her. She forced fireballs into the dragon until she was flung off by his erratic movements.
“Amber!” Kade’s mental shout was accompanied by a roar.
Answering him was beyond her, she was too busy trying to change back into a goshawk as the ground rapidly approached. Tree branches whipped at her just before she changed shape and darted between the trees, headed for the sky.
“No more taking chances.” Kade flew in close.
“One more.” She aimed for one of the dragons chasing Rian. “You up to this?” She sent the question to her brother.
“Always.”
They landed on one of the dragons, forcing fireballs into him. Amber dropped away before the dragon could throw her from him, changing shape and flying towards Kade.
“I will take the treasure to safety.” Rian wheeled in the sky, the dragons who’d been chasing him now fighting each other.
Amber landed in the dragon saddle, becoming human and strapping herself in. “I’m fine.” She drew power from her bracelets before she healed the cuts on her body, the worst of them on her arms and face. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the dragons her and Jasper had made feral causing plenty of problems for their companions. Checking that Jasper was fine, she was relieved to see him flying nearby.
“Then why can I smell blood?”
Her gaze was drawn to the steaks of blood smeared across her arms. “They were barely scratches. Go help Flinn and Crystal.”
“We will talk about this later,” Kade warned.
“You won’t need to. I’m sure Ronan will have more than enough to say. Now hurry up.”
“Is anyone else coming? And don’t let anyone get that sword Ronan dropped. We can collect it when we’ve dealt with the mages,” Flinn said.
Amber searched the area around Flinn and his team. “There’s four Dragon Mages and eleven dragons.”
“Then why aren’t you here already? Do you expect us to deal with them on our own?”
Flinn’s words annoyed Amber. “We’re coming. As if I’d leave Crystal behind.”
“You will fight from my back,” Kade ordered.
Amber smiled. “We’ll see.” She’d do whatever it took to survive this battle. And make sure her people survived too.
Kade banked sharply. “We won’t see. You’ll stay on my back.”
Amber laughed at his movement. It was better than a roller coaster ride. “Just hurry up. I don’t want anything to happen to Crystal.” As they came closer, she called fireballs to her hands, readying them to throw.
Kade dropped sharply as one of the mages threw fire at them and Amber threw her own the moment his flying steadied. Fire, lightning and ice was thrown around and Amber began to worry that they couldn’t win. Drawing more power from her bracelets, she released herself from the saddle, ignoring Kade’s bellow as she changed form, calling Jasper to help her.
Darting in amongst the dragons, she latched onto one, turning human and forcing fireballs into it, Jasper once again at her side. This time she let go of the dragon before he could fling her from his back and quickly changed into a goshawk, darting away. The dragon roared, attacking those nearest him. Fighting his friends.
“Are you crazy?” Crystal demanded.
“Probably.” Amber darted between two more dragons. If it took being crazy to survive then she had no problems with that. “Ready, Jasper?”
“I must be crazy too since I’m going along with the idea.”
The moment Amber became human, she laughed, forcing fireballs into the dragon, as did her brother. Letting go, she turned into a goshawk, flying out of the way as the dragon snapped at her. When he gave chase, she came in close to one of his friends, relieved when he attacked the other dragon instead of continuing to give chase.
“These mages smell odd,” Maira said.
“In what way?” Amber asked.
“Human and dragon. I can’t smell anything else,” Maira said.
“Don’t let them fall. We need at least one alive,” Ronan said.
“How are we meant to do that?” Amber asked.
“Get back in a saddle and throw fire at the wings of the dragons they’re riding.”
Since there were only the dragons ridden by the mages after them, Amber decided to follow Ronan’s order, returning to Kade. “I don’t know how that will help. They’ll go down with their dragon.”
“Once their drago
n is out of action, I’ll fly in and slash at the straps holding the mage in the saddle and Maira can grab the mage,” Ronan said.
“There’s a gold dragon hiding in the Void,” Crystal said. “And it’s not one of the officials. They’re a lot further back.”
“What’s it doing?” Ronan asked.
“Watching.”
“Tell me if that changes.”
“Okay,” Crystal said.
Amber hoped the dragon didn’t mean trouble. They had more than enough to deal with and she was getting tired. She threw another fireball at the wings of one of the dragons, but it was nearly impossible to hit with the way Kade kept dodging the fireballs aimed at him. Looking around she saw that Jasper and Crystal weren’t having any better luck.
“This isn’t going to work.” Drawing more power from her bracelets, she unstrapped herself, becoming a goshawk. “You better catch the mage, Maira.” She flew straight towards the mage that had been attacking her, darting between fireballs and ice. Then she collided with the mage, turning human as she wrapped an arm around the man, unstrapping him from the saddle. They both fell towards the ground, the man bellowing as Amber became a goshawk and slipped from his arms that had gone around her as they’d fallen.
“Got him,” Maira said.
Amber’s victory screech was cut off in mid cry as a dragon grabbed her out of mid air.
“Gold coming in fast,” Crystal warned.
Amber struggled to get free, Kade and Ronan both flying towards the mageless dragon that had captured her.
“Where?” Ronan demanded.
The gold dragon flashed out of the Void, slashing at the dragon who held Amber, disappearing so quickly that Amber doubted for a moment that it had happened. But the dragon released her, screaming as he turned on his attacker who was already gone. Then Ronan and Kade were on him, tearing at his wings, letting go as he spiralled quickly to the ground. Amber flew upwards, refusing to look or even search in his direction, trying not to think about him colliding with the earth. From this height, he wouldn’t survive.
“The gold is going back to watching. Think they’re a friend?” Crystal asked.
