by Mark Robson
Kira realised she had been holding her breath. She let it out in a long silent sigh of relief.
‘I think that was our cue to leave you to it,’ she announced to Neema and Tarl. ‘Congratulations. We’ll stop by again before we leave, but we have a potentially difficult day ahead.’
‘Of course,’ Neema said quickly. ‘Don’t let us keep you from your rest. It’s been a pleasure to meet both of you. Make sure you stop by the enclave once your quest is complete. Tarl and I will be here for the rest of the year.’
‘Come and see us before you leave,’ Tarl added. ‘And we’ll say goodbye properly then.’
Chapter Twelve
Fright and Fight
‘There! On the left!’ Pell exclaimed aloud. ‘How far does it go? They’re closing fast!’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Shadow replied.
Banking hard, Shadow turned into the narrow canyon and raced between the towering walls of rock. Pell wanted to look back to see if Longtail had followed them in, but he could not look anywhere except ahead. The slot they had flown into barely qualified as a canyon. It was about three dragon wingspans wide at the opening, narrowing quickly to two.
A surging stream ran beneath them, foaming across the rocks in a mackerel-striped race of dark water and frothing white. The gushing sound of the mountain stream and the rushing wind added to the sensation of speed as the rock walls flashed past on either side.
‘Are they still behind us?’
‘Yes,’ Shadow affirmed. ‘But they hesitated before committing. It cost them their height advantage.’
‘Any idea where this canyon leads?’
‘I don’t think it goes anywhere,’ Shadow replied. ‘My senses tell me it’s a box canyon.’
‘Better and better!’ Pell muttered. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Ready as I’m going to be,’ Shadow confirmed, tipping first right and then left as she followed the weaving path of the canyon. ‘Hold on tight. Here we go.’
As Shadow rolled her wings level, she suddenly pitched hard upwards in an attempted repeat of the manoeuvre she had performed in the mountains of Isaa. The last time they had done this it had saved them from certain death in The Knife – a similarly narrow canyon that they had been tricked into entering.
Up, up, up, Shadow pitched until she was flying vertically upwards. She intended to roll ninety degrees to the left and use her talons against the cliff wall to turn her body until it was facing vertically downwards again. Whether she did not have the momentum this time, or she did not pitch up sharply enough into the vertical was not clear. Whichever it was, the result was not what she planned.
Shadow ran out of momentum before she completed the quarter turn, or got close enough to the cliff wall to use it to aid turning her body. Pell’s memory had softened the fear he had experienced when reaching the peak of their climb in The Knife. The sensation this time was nothing short of terrifying. His bottom floated away from the saddle and his grip suddenly felt weak and uncertain. Worse, he could feel Shadow beginning to panic.
The manoeuvre had gone horribly wrong. They peaked and Shadow began to fall out of control – initially tail first, though this was only momentary. The shape of the dragon’s body was not compatible with travelling through the air backwards, and with breathtaking suddenness the airflow flipped her over. The force created by the rapid rotation slammed Pell forwards. His head connected hard with the ridge of dragon horn in front of the saddle, the impact setting the world alight in a swimming golden haze. His grip on the pommel failed and both dragon and rider plummeted headfirst towards the foaming stream below.
Unfurling just one wing, Shadow gave a single flap and spun her body to face back the way she had come. The rotation tipped Pell to the left and, as Shadow abruptly began to pitch out of the death dive, he slid down her side until he was hanging by his feet from the stirrups.
‘PELL!’
Shadow’s shout in his mind snapped him out of his semi-conscious state. The next few heartbeats were agony. Shadow pitched up hard to recover from the dive. The force dragging Pell downwards became immense. Only his stirrups saved him from certain death. Had both of his feet not been firmly wedged in the metal D-shaped footrests he would have fallen. Also, had he been sitting upright in the saddle as Shadow bottomed out of the dive, the night dragon coming in the other direction would have struck him.
What Shadow’s diving run must have looked like to Longtail and her rider, Pell could only wonder. They must have thought Shadow had made the spectacular reversal in order to turn from defence to attack. For the briefest heartbeat, the two dragons flew head to head and looked like colliding with a high-speed closure that would certainly have proved fatal to all. At the very last moment, Longtail climbed just enough to pass over Shadow.
Even though the blow to his head had dazed him, Pell, hanging upside down, was perfectly placed to appreciate how close the dragons came to hitting one another. For the briefest moment, the night dragon’s wings overhead eclipsed all else and Pell caught a glimpse of her great talons as they passed through the place he should have been sitting. There was a whoosh of air that dragged at him for an instant and then it was gone.
His head was thumping with a combination of the impact and the extra blood that was pounding in his ears from being suspended upside down.
‘I’m still with you, Shadow,’ he groaned.
‘Can you get back in the saddle?’ she asked, her voice sounding both relieved and worried. ‘Tell me if you’re likely to fall and I’ll land.’
‘I’ll try,’ he promised, the words reverberating through his head.
The rushing water and jagged rocks were whizzing past. He was not sure if the sensation of extreme speed was real, or an illusion created through being close to the ground and inverted. Either way, he had no desire to fall. Tightening his stomach muscles and pushing his bottom against Shadow’s side, he folded upwards and reached for the stirrup straps. He caught the left one first time and, with a strong grasp, he wriggled and pulled his way back up into the saddle.
The exit into the main valley was visible ahead. There was no sign of Longtail. Despite pain that made his skull feel ready to explode, Pell grinned. They had done it. By the time Longtail worked out a safe way of turning around, he and Shadow would be gone.
Even if Longtail had landed and turned around immediately, there was no way she could take off again in there. The stream dominated the base of the gorge and a dragon needed a good run on firm footing to take off. She would have to walk out into the main valley to get airborne again, which gave Pell and Shadow the time they needed to escape.
‘Are you all right, Pell?’
‘I’ve got a splitting headache and an impressive lump coming up on my forehead,’ he said through the bond, gently running a finger over the rapidly swelling area. ‘But aside from that I’m fine.’
‘I don’t think I’ll be attempting that again in a hurry,’ Shadow confessed. ‘I thought I’d lost you when I ran out of energy and flipped over.’
‘That part was . . . unexpected,’ Pell said. ‘But the end result was what we intended.’
‘I think I’d rather fight against the odds than repeat the sensation of falling. I’ve never felt out of control in the air before. Even as a dragonet, I was always a strong flyer.’
Pell did not respond. He could feel how deeply the experience in the gorge had affected her. If he had been asked to give a single defining characteristic of his dragon’s mind, he would have said ‘confidence’, but feeling her sudden uncertainty made her feel like a stranger. It reminded him of the first time they had met and the shock he had felt when he looked into her mind through the bond. As well as the pervading weariness, her personality felt somehow diminished.
They emerged from the narrow canyon into the expanse of the main valley. Pell saw Darkhorn almost instantly. She was approaching from the right, flying along the middle of the valley and apparently unaware of their presence.
‘I see them,’ Shadow told him, her voice carrying the strange echoing quality it had when she was shielding her thoughts. ‘Hold on tight. I am done with running. It’s time we went on the offensive.’
Shadow began climbing again and Pell felt his stomach tighten with anticipation. Darkhorn held a slight height advantage, but Shadow eliminated it within a few wingbeats. They were closing on a rapid intercept course and already well above Darkhorn when she saw them. The night dragon lurched into a turn towards them, but then seemed to have second thoughts. She twitched first one way and then the other, no doubt wondering what had become of Longtail.
Unswerving, Shadow arrowed forwards in a head-on charge. It suddenly occurred to Pell that he had no idea how dragons fought in the air. What would Shadow do? He could feel her muscles bunch beneath him as she braced herself for battle. Darkhorn bloomed ahead of them and Shadow reared to strike even as her opponent did the same. Both dragons screeched as they collided, becoming a frenzy of slashing talons and teeth.
The fight was vicious and short. To Pell it felt almost like a dance. The two dragons turned hard in a tight spiral, wings beating hard to limit their rate of descent, but both spinning downwards in a slashing, biting wrestling match. Shadow gained the advantage quickly. She was bigger than Darkhorn, and used her size and extra weight to force her opponent down.
Both dragons were fighting to maintain their height above the ground. Both were losing. They had not been high when the fight began, but what altitude they had enjoyed disappeared fast. Until the fight began, Pell could not take his eyes off Darkhorn. Once they had engaged, he found it hard to tear his gaze from the expanse of trees in the valley as it swelled rapidly towards them.
With a roar of triumph, Shadow gained a hold on Darkhorn’s neck. First with her teeth and then with her front talons, she took control. Twisting to arch over the smaller dragon she gave a mighty shove downwards, gaining the boost she needed to begin climbing again. The sound of cracking, splintering wood told part of the story, but Pell was not in a position to see the results of Shadow’s victory.
Almost brushing the treetops, Shadow laboured to stay in the air. Pell’s heart was drumming double-time, as he willed her to find the strength she needed to stay clear of the grasping trees. Slowly, span-by-span, she dragged herself back into the sky, accelerating to a more normal flying speed as she went. Once they were well clear of the treetops she made a gentle turn that allowed Pell to look back. There was no sign of Darkhorn. It was as if the trees had grabbed her and swallowed her whole.
‘She is alive and her rider is unharmed,’ Shadow informed him. ‘Though I don’t think she’ll be in a hurry to fly again.’
‘Good!’ Pell responded. ‘Now let’s get away from here before Longtail finds her way out of that canyon.’
Shadow did not reply, but he sensed that she felt the fight had already delayed them too long for a clean escape. They completed their turn and rolled out heading along the valley that took them deeper into the mountains. Pell watched the entrance to the narrow canyon anxiously for signs of Longtail. Sure enough she emerged before they had got out of a direct line of sight.
‘They have seen us,’ Shadow confirmed. ‘But it appears they have decided to give up the chase. They are talking with their friends in the trees.’
That was a conversation Pell wished he could hear, but he was content to have defeated them. The lump on his forehead was pulsating with pain and he felt sure he had pulled several muscles in his arms and back. All he wanted to do was find somewhere to rest where they would not be found, but his conscience would not let him rest yet. His promise to Elian haunted him. Somehow they had to find Nolita and Firestorm.
The valley curved gently left and it was not long before the night dragons were far from view.
‘We’d better start looking for a way to loop back towards the others without having to cross the ridge,’ Pell suggested.
‘Very well,’ Shadow replied.
Their thoughts on what they would find went unspoken, but Pell could tell that his dragon’s thoughts echoed his own. She did not expect to find them alive, which meant they were likely to face more trouble from Deepshade.
Chapter Thirteen
Finding Jack
Getting into the saddle was not easy, but with Kira’s help Elian overcame the difficulties of climbing up Aurora’s side. Back in the saddle, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief. It was as if he had been lost for a long time and finally found his way home. He shuffled his bottom around until the pressure on his right thigh was minimal.
He looked down at Kira. ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I’m all set. You’d better mount up. I can feel the dawn approaching.’
She nodded and ran across to Fang, who was waiting patiently nearby. With nimble agility she leaped up into her saddle.
Elian and Kira had said their goodbyes to Neema and Tarl. A dozen dragonets had already broken free from their shells and more eggs looked ready to crack at any time. It was an exciting time and busy for the two dawn dragonriders.
‘Are you all right, Elian?’ Aurora asked. ‘I can feel your discomfort.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ he replied. ‘It’s going to be painful, but I’ll cope.’
Elian could not voice the fears that plagued him. What horrors awaited them on the other side of the gateway this time? Their last visit had left him with injuries that he doubted would ever heal. An icy feeling in the pit of his stomach made him feel sick with worry.
Aurora gave the mental equivalent of a sigh. ‘I do,’ she admitted. ‘Visions of a world without the Oracle plague my thoughts. We must find the final orb soon, or all our efforts will have been in vain. Do not fear, Elian. I will protect you to the best of my ability. Whatever awaits us, we shall face together.’
‘Then let’s go and get this over with,’ he urged. ‘Let’s find Jack and see if he’s got any ideas.’
Aurora moved gently until she was in position to run towards the mouth of the cavern. Outside the cave the slope was steep. A strip down the mountainside had been cleared of all large rocks. This gave the dragons some distance to accelerate to a safe flying speed before launching.
Elian winced as he settled into a balanced position for the take off. The pain in his leg was intense, but he gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore it. Aurora did not need to give him further warning before leaping forward towards the mouth of the cave. With her mind linked to his, she sensed him reading the play of her muscles as she prepared and knew he was ready for the explosive acceleration. She raced towards the opening, her talons clacking with increasing tempo on the stone floor as she picked up speed. The instant they emerged into the open she spread her wings and with one final push of her hind legs she launched into the air.
As they left the ground, Elian experienced a momentary dizziness that rocked him in the saddle, leaving him feeling nauseous and struggling to stay upright. It was not quite the same as the twisting disorientation he had experienced when entering and leaving Aurora’s gateways between worlds, but the similarity was disturbing. He took several deep breaths, drawing them in and expelling them slowly. Gradually the feeling subsided until he was able to enjoy the sensation of flying again.
A light drizzle hung in the air, the tiny droplets of water seeming to float towards the ground rather than fall. The atmosphere felt still and heavy. It was murky with a dull grey veil of cloud shrouding the mountaintops around them.
Elian had hoped to see something of the area around the enclave, but all he could see was that they were in mountainous terrain. It was warmer than it had been in Isaa and the smells that pervaded were different from those of Orupee, but the scenery was similar to all mountainous areas he had seen during the past month. There was no time to explore. He could feel the moment of dawn approaching.
Aurora began to draw on the energy the rising sun gave her. Through the bond he could feel she was strong and rested. Power flowed easily and he felt the gateway opening ahead of them. The gr
ey of the swirling vortex was barely visible against the murky background, but Elian could feel exactly where it was. They slowed, allowing Fang and Kira to overtake them and lead the way in. The gateway swallowed the dusk dragon and his rider even as Elian felt a surge of joy rush through Aurora’s mind. Before he could ask her about it they plunged into the void.
The twisting sensation of entry did not affect Elian as much as the disorientation he had felt during the take-off run. Floating in the grey nothingness between worlds brought no fear, but as the wrench of emergence signalled their arrival he felt his stomach tighten.
It was dark again. Memories of his most recent night experience over the battle lines assaulted him. A lance of pain shot through his injured thigh as his tightening muscles put pressure on the wound. He hunched over the pommel, shifting his position in the saddle to try to relieve the pressure on his right leg.
‘Are you all right, Elian?’ Aurora asked, feeling his discomfort.
‘To be truthful, no, Ra,’ he admitted. ‘But I’ll survive. Where are we this time? Can you tell?’
Distant flashes to their right had already given him the clue that they were not over the battle lines, for which he was most grateful.
‘We seem to have emerged near the small area of woodland where we last saw Jack Miller,’ she said. ‘Should we land there, do you think?’
Elian thought for a moment. ‘Jack appeared keen for us to avoid the trap in the other woods where we were attacked by the dogs,’ he replied. ‘So, I imagine he will have tried to avoid telling his superiors about this place. Can you feel him anywhere nearby?’
The sensation as Aurora reached out with her mind felt more intense than he remembered. It was almost as if he was reaching out with her, scouring the sky for a familiar sense of presence. He knew the answer before she gave it.
‘No,’ she said. ‘At least, he’s not in the air. He could be on the ground nearby. The field where he flew his machine from is not far from the trees. Perhaps we should land here, use the trees as cover, and begin our search by looking there.’
