Obviously. If I wanted comfort or ambitions I’d be following Starie around letting everyone tell us how great we were instead of holed up in a cave with Savette, Hubric, and Raolcan.
Are you ready to pledge yourself to keeping your word, upholding truth and being loyal to your dragon in all things?
This time he didn’t wait for an answer. He blasted me with his truth-sieve thing again, but this time I could feel three distinct minds combing through mine, Rasipaer, Kyrowat and one other.
Daieseo. Dragon to Aliss Landris, the fresh voice said.
What they did this time took far longer than last time and I fought to find that thing sparkling in the trees as they fought to sift through every random thought and impulse of my being. There. In the trees. It was hard to concentrate, but I’d found it. What was that? Oh! A glistening silver-skinned dragon.
Wait. What? Kyrowat was listening as he sieved.
A glistening silver-skinned dragon, crawling across the forest floor with another beside him. They carried something between them – some dark shape and there was something wrong with their wings. Were they broken? Around them, men with swords and armor stumbled. I’d seen them before. They looked exactly like the dragoons that surrounded the Dominar.
Enough. Now she swears the oath and we finish, Kyrowat’s voice rang in my mind.
You aren’t- Rasipaer’s was cut off by a sharp thought from Kyrowat so fast and blade-like that I couldn’t catch it with my mind.
Amel, swear that you will serve truth and Raolcan, for the honor of the Purple.
By my word and the truth which is all I have, I swear.
Was that...? It was! An Ifrit rose from the ground behind the silver dragons, harrying them as the fled towards us.
Fall backward and finish this.
Didn’t he see how important that was? Those dragons and those warriors meant only one thing –
Fall! Quickly, now!
There was no time to keep looking and no more time for this ritual. Not now. The fastest way down was the way they already wanted me to go. I crossed my arms over my chest, closed my eyes and pitched backward. It was up to Raolcan to save me or I’d crack my head on the rocks below. But he’d never failed me.
The wind whipped around my hair as I tumbled backward but no strong back met mine. No powerful wing flap soared upward with me underneath.
I opened my eyes to see the ground rising to meet me.
Oh no.
Chapter Twenty
A claw snatched my foot seconds before I smashed across the rocks.
Gotcha.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. My heart raced, and black flecks danced across my vision.
Just breathe. You’ll be fine.
Why did he wait so long to catch me?
It’s a Purple thing. The longer I let you fall before I catch you, the more honor there is for you. It’s considered a great thing if you trust me enough that I don’t have to save you until the last minute. I did you a favor.
It hadn’t felt like that! It felt like I’d been about to die!
But there was no time to dwell on that. Raolcan had to help me get Savette and save those people in the trees. He was moving before I finished the thought, racing us toward the anteroom. I stumbled off his back, grateful when Ashana shoved my crutch into my hand with a quick “Congratulations.”
She was cinching the straps on Rasipaer tighter. On either side, her riders did the same. No one spoke, but it was obvious that this time they had the same priority that I did – the dragons in the trees.
“Savette!” I called. “Savette! You’re needed!”
I raced into the hall, still calling her name. She nearly knocked me over as she barreled through the door.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Ifrits,” I gasped as we rushed to Raolcan and scrambled onto his back. The last Purple dragon was already leaving the antechamber. No time to strap in properly before Raolcan was through the crack in the wall. I scrambled to tighten my straps as we plunged into the cold air beyond and took to the skies.
The silver dragons were closer, lumbering awkwardly over the ground toward our hideout. They were minutes away, warriors circling them. The warriors were flagging, their steps dragging, their arms slow to raise weapons and their shoulders bent with exhaustion. How long had they run like that?
The Ifrit reached their rear - lifting up one of the warriors and smashing him on the ground – as we gained our height and swooped toward them behind the other Purples. Savette reached out her hands, light filling her. If she lifted off Raolcan as her power filled her, where would that leave her? Hanging in mid-air? I grabbed her waist as she lifted off of Raolcan’s back, hastily slinging a strap around her and tightening it.
Light surrounded us all – so bright and overwhelming that I struggled to see outside the brilliance. There was a feeling of shooting forward and then the light left us, bursting through the trees and surrounding the Ifrit. He crumbled to nothing in the act of wrenching one of the dragoons in half.
The other Purples swept behind the fleeing dragons and warriors and with horror, I realized four more Ifrits had joined the fray. With no more effort than a horse swatting a fly with its tail, one of the Ifrits slapped at Rawlins and Drarjes, shattering them against the ground. One look at the tangled mess of human and dragon was all I needed to know that I’d never get to properly meet the Purple or his dragon. The other Purples flamed energetically against the Ifrits, but Raolcan held back, letting Savette recover her strength and fill us with light again. We spun around, settling over the fleeing party of Silvers and warriors before Savette launched her second attack, evaporating a second Ifrit as it lunged at one of the Silver dragons. It burst into pale mist and was gone.
The other three Purple dragons swung around us, signing desperately about the way the Ifrits seemed invulnerable. Did I know enough sign to explain that their fires were not enough? Raolcan would have to tell them.
I am telling them, but they aren’t listening.
Even to their prince?
They are arrogant. They think Haz’Drazen would not have assigned me to your care if I was in her favor. They haven’t been south since they were given to humans and that means they don’t know the heart of Haz’drazen.
Fools.
Exactly.
One of the last two Ifrits swatted at Aliss and Daieseo. Seconds before he hit them, Eeamdor swooped in from his perch, flaming angrily at the Ifrit and distracting him, drawing him away from the fight to chase after the moving target. Would he be able to outrun the Ifrit?
He’s fast, even for a Red. He’ll be fine. At least someone still knows how to show respect.
My eyebrows rose in my surprise. Had Raolcan called Eeamdor for help?
Even I know when to rely on allies.
We needed to get these new refugees into the fortress and find a way to hold out against the Ifrits.
There were still two left.
I glanced behind me, grateful to see the first Silver inching through our door, his warrior guards fanned out around him. We needed to get them inside, finish off the last two Ifrits, and then follow them within to safety. Raolcan rose up over the battle to give Savette a better view as she filled again with light. How many more times could she do that?
This one last time, and then she will need to rest.
But there were two Ifrits.
Yes.
I signed desperately to Ashana to bring her dragons in. This was our last shot at finishing off the Ifrits. She ignored me, wheeling to attack again, and this time Danver and Iasafae were too slow. The Ifrit snapped at them, biting dragon and rider in two with his gaping, fiery mouth. I flinched at the sight, horrified by the destruction.
The last Silver figure darted behind the pillar and into the cave and behind him. Eeamdor dove for safety. I signed desperately to Ashana to fall back, but I didn’t see her response before Raolcan wheeled around again and Savette let loose her lig
ht. I was blinded by the blast, clinging to Raolcan as ripples of power spread out from us across the valley and consumed the last two Ifrits with a burst of power. They fragmented to dust and blew away on the wind. In the after-shadow of the burst of light I scanned the horizon. In every direction I saw Ifrits. The two who died must have been burnt on my vision.
No, they’re not,” Raolcan said as we followed Ashana who was finally diving for cover within our sanctuary. Aliss was right on her heels and Raolcan dove behind them. Those are all real. And they come for us.
We crowded in behind Aliss, fear filling me as we shoved into the crowded anteroom. Ashana pushed through the crowded people to the entrance to the Great Hall and felt up along the doorway until she found what she was looking for. A small stone door swung open beside the larger door, revealing a lever. She pulled it dramatically and looked at me.
No, not at me - behind me. I turned and watched as a stone wall slid across the entrance, blocking us from the world beyond just in time to seal us off from the Ifrits outside the door. We were trapped here with a month’s worth of food for the humans and nothing for the Dragons and no other way out.
Ashana fell to her knees and my eyebrows knit together before they fell on the dark litter being carried between the two silver dragons. On it lay a bleeding man, missing one arm. His face was completely concealed by the mask and crown of the Dominar.
Continue Amel’s story in Dragon School: Dark Night.
Need a text alert when the next book comes out? Text “dragons” to 622-200-4303.
Behind the Scenes:
USA Today bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson, hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario where she lives with her husband and two small boys. Her interests include the outdoors, history, and philosophy. Her books are always about fantastical adventures in other worlds.
Sarah would like to thank Harold Trammel and Sarah Brown for their incredible work in beta reading and proofreading this book. Without their big hearts and passion for stories, this book would not be the same.
Need a text alert when the next book comes out? Text “dragons” to 622-200-4303.
Visit Sarah’s website for a complete list of available titles.
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Dragon School: Prince of Dragons Page 7
