We left for our target at the crack of dawn.
Though my sleep hadn’t been restful, it was just enough to energize me for the wearisome journey ahead. The two-day flight would culminate in a face off against the Rebels’ best dragons—and when the dust settled, Drin Accan and his dragon had to be in our custody, alive.
The letter from Hakan was tucked away safely in Ignimitra’s saddle bag, stuffed between a wad of clothes for safekeeping. I still didn’t know what to make of it, but it was comforting to know that Hakan was doing okay. Now that the sun had risen, it was easier to imagine that he was capable of taking care of himself.
Beneath me, Ignimitra was the picture of calm confidence.
Even in her silence, she reassured me. The past year had turned her into a trustworthy dragon. She carried out her duty to the best of her ability, even though her heart wasn’t in it. I had to be like her now.
You still don’t understand. She snapped me out of my reverie.
What do you mean? Chiding her for eavesdropping on my thoughts would get me nowhere. And if I was being honest, I actually enjoyed it.
I carry out my duty because of you. She seemed mildly annoyed. I will protect you with my life, so I do as you want me to.
Her words tugged at my heartstrings. Ignimitra was devoted to me completely, even when it meant going against what she wanted.
It was a novel thought, but it didn’t exactly make me happy.
One day, we will be on the same page about what we want, I reassured her.
I look forward to it, there was a childish lilt to her voice, like she knew something that I didn’t. But I didn’t press her. Instead, I retreated to my thoughts, trying a little harder to improve my mood and prepare myself for the battle ahead.
Ignimitra’s surety in battle was one thing, but I still needed to be decisive. The two days that lay ahead presented an opportunity.
I had to get rid of my hesitation if I wanted to survive this.
I couldn’t think about Vadhzo, the systemic annihilation of innocent people, or Team 17’s altered dragons. I couldn’t bemoan my lack of choice, or focus on how much I didn’t want to be doing this. Everyone on this team—even repulsive Vulknor—needed me to be my best.
Else we would fail.
All that mattered was completing this mission.
When the dust settled, I would figure it all out. I had to. Otherwise, it might drive it crazy. I only needed to make it through the next week.
I KNEW WE WERE CLOSE to the deserted island of Sift when the deep purple sky filled with fog. One moment we were gliding through a sky so clear I could see the moon and stars, then the next I could barely make out Ignimitra beneath me, much less the other dragons in our formation.
No wonder they had chosen this island as their hideout.
It was impossible to see from the skies, making an organized aerial attack difficult.
Taking a deep breath to get rid of the bubble of panic, I closed my eyes and focused on my Fusion Bond with Ignimitra. They had mentioned this in the briefing. If we lost visual contact with our teammates, our dragons would be the thread that connected us.
Is everyone keeping the formation? I asked Ignimitra.
Yes, she said. Phobos has asked that we move faster. Our descent will be soon.
Okay, I swallowed hard, gripping her reins tightly. Our dragons had been gliding to conserve energy. Ignimitra’s pace picked up to a frenzy.
Speed was our advantage.
We had to hit them fast—and hard—in order to neutralize as many dragons as we could before they realized what was happening.
It was the dead of night. We would strike while they slept.
My stomach turned.
This was the same strategy they had used on us.
Even though our mission was difficult, the plan was simple. The briefing had educated us on the kind of dragon that Drin Accan had, a Terragian Rocktusk. The breed was rare enough to assume that he was the only one who had one.
Any other dragon was fair game.
We had been rocketing through the sky at a blistering pace for a few minutes when Ignimitra said, I will lend you my power now.
The fire came over me suddenly, filling every inch of my body with a pain so great I thought I was set ablaze from the inside out. It sizzled in my blood, drying my tongue and sent a sharp ache through my brain.
The world grew black.
I didn’t even know when it subsided, only that Ignimitra’s voice was there in the midst of it, pulling me back to reality.
Kaos? Kaos! Kaos, are you okay?
When I became aware of my body again, I realized that I was hunched against her body, my eyes squeezed shut. My mouth was full of copper, my limbs heavy but light all at once.
Kaos?
I finally opened my eyes, and the world was so bright that I had to squint. Wasn’t it nighttime?
Kaos!
Yes, I’m here. The fog was still there, but now it seemed transparent. I could see as far as Phobos up ahead of us, and the purple sea roiling a good distance below. That hurt more than the last time you did this.
I think I should have warned you, she said. But I did not expect that it would hurt you that much.
You did something different? I was curious now.
Ignimitra’s voice was fuller, more distinct in my head.
Suddenly, I realized that she had sounded garbled all this time.
Not exactly. Usually when we bond, I give you one or two things, like my strength or my eyesight. I didn’t have to focus much to do that. My senses were so heightened I could feel her quickened heartbeat—or was that my own? It felt like one and the same. But, this time I gave you as much of me as I could.
I mulled over her words. So, what else have you given me?
My toughness, I hope. She chuckled lightly. This is a new experience for me too. I never felt like I could transfer so much of me to you before.
Closing my eyes again, I focused on what I could feel within.
There was heat in me, all over. I felt it surging through my blood, like power coiled back, waiting to be expelled. There was a steady low hum in my chest—it was softer than a heartbeat, but thrummed twice as fast.
In the crevices of my mind, I felt Ignimitra more than I usually did.
It was if we were two halves of the same whole. I felt her own power bearing down on the barrier that separated us—it was hotter than mine, but more tumultuous too. I opened my eyes then, suddenly aware of what this meant.
Our Fusion Bond’s deeper, I said in awe. This feeling, it has never been this strong before.
She didn’t respond.
I felt her mind drift off from our conversation, as if she was speaking with someone else. It was as if I was listening to a conversation through a thick wall.
We must descend now.
When I cast my eyes down to the water, I spotted Sift. It was a sleeping strip of coast and trees in the middle of the sea, beckoning to us.
WITH MY ENHANCED VISION, I was able to make out much of Sift.
It was longer than it was wide, with no shoreline—only a jagged cliff that dropped off into the ocean. It was dark; no electricity or lit lamps. At first, I thought the huge shadows were buildings, but as we approached, I came to see their true form.
Slumbering dragons.
Squinting, I tried to make out their coloring.
Rocktusks were such a deep shade of brown they almost looked black, with long white horns extending from the sides of its face. They shared similar characteristics with most Earth Dragons—they were thick and muscular where our Fire Dragons were sinewy and graceful.
The three nearest dragons were somewhere between grey and brown, but they didn’t have the distinctive white horns. Instead, they had bone-colored spikes that lined their spine.
Jules has spotted Drin’s dragon on the far end of the island, Ignimitra said. She says we must take the those closest to the west.
Ignimitra, Zelkor & Titan broke off from the main formation then, flowing into a smaller attack formation where Ignimitra was the lead. We were less than a minute out by this, and with each second, we sank towards the waterline.
The apprehension that I had felt was burned away, replaced with a sense of anticipation that nearly dizzied me.
Was it Ignimitra’s power that made me feel this invincible?
Tell Zelkor and Titan of my plans, I said to Ignimitra.
The thought had appeared in my mind the moment we had been assigned our targets. Since we weren’t apprehending Drin, we didn’t have to hold back.
Freeing my sword from its scabbard, I loosened the harness that kept me strapped to Ignimitra’s saddle. We were still sinking; it was only a matter of time before we were a few feet above the water.
The goal was to fly low over the dragons.
As low as we could.
While Ignimitra focused on keeping our quick pace and adjusted our altitude, I embarked on a risk of my own.
Irikai thinks you are crazy. Solra is on board.
Tell him it’s an order, I chuckled.
Ignimitra seemed amused as well, then did what I asked.
Holding on to the leather straps that connected my saddle to the girth that circled Ignimitra’s underbelly, I looped the hooks of my harness onto the cinch. My dragon’s wings thundered like a storm, whipping up seawater as she went. If my enhanced senses were just a fraction of a dragon’s, it was a wonder the Earth Dragon’s hadn’t awoken by this.
When I was sure that the harness was secured, I gritted my teeth and dived off the side of Ignimitra’s back.
My heart was in my throat even though the fall was short.
I felt Ignimitra stretching to fly even faster then. We were a few seconds away from the sleeping giants. Now that I was hanging from Ignimitra’s underbelly, I only had a short window to catch them off guard.
Fly over the grey one, I said to her. My grip on the hilt of my dagger was so tight that I was thankful that it was made from the most indestructible ore in New Terra, otherwise it would have snapped under the pressure. Have Zelkor and Titan choose their targets too, we only have one chance to get this right.
Ignimitra obliged, altering her course so delicately I barely felt her move.
We were lined up with the grey dragon now.
From this vantage point, he looked still asleep, slumbering so deeply I wondered if somebody had attacked him before us.
Three seconds away.
My limbs were numb from anticipation, and the wicked wind whipped me around so violently, I had to use one hand to steady myself.
Two.
I raised my sword lithely, giving the poisonous metal one last look before it lost its silvery sheen.
One.
Ignimitra passed so low over the dragon, that I could see the texture of its scales. This dragon had seen many battles, war had left its mark all over the thick grey skin—missing scales, broken spines and badly healed scar.
This battle would be its last.
I thrust my sword into the side of the dragon, forcing it as deep as I could.
The dragon shrieked in pain, a guttural sound that echoed in my chest.
Ignimitra’s breakneck pace pulled me along despite the resistance of the Earth Dragon’s thick skin, creating the effect that I wanted—a deep wound that spanned the length of the dragon.
Behind me, I saw that Solra and Irikai—despite his reservations—had done as I asked of them. They each gave the dragon a wound that they would succumb to sooner or later.
It was definitely going to be later.
Ignimitra was back over the water on the other side of Sift when I saw the grey dragon shake the lethargy from itself. All three dragons had risen, a battle cry echoing through their camp.
I counted one, two, three…nine dragons lift into the air, out for our blood.
And here I was, dangling from Ignimitra.
This was a better plan in hindsight.
I scrambled to get back on top of Ignimitra, fighting with gravity in the process, while she swooped through the skies to avoid the rock missiles that the oncoming dragons were hurling at us.
It took a few seconds too long for my own liking to get back atop her.
A hunk of earth whizzed past my head, knocking a gust of cold air into my ear.
A sliver of anxiety crept into the darkest corner of my mind—we were in over our head, my plan had failed, and now we were too busy evading their attacks to land one of our own—but I squashed it, tapping into Ignimitra’s valiant energy.
We would win this.
We had to.
Let’s take them higher, I said to Ignimitra, Have Zelkor and Titan do the same. We need to fall back into our formation.
It was the only way we would be able to take control of the battle.
I wasn’t sure if Earth Dragons needed a line of sight to use their powers, but I imagined that the further we were from land, the harder it would be for them to summon their rock spears.
Soon, we were soaring high, and to my delight the projectiles stopped.
We were being pursued by four dragons, and three of them had been injured by our swords. I wasn’t sure if they were fighting the poison or our wounds hadn’t been deep enough, but they would be the easiest to pick off regardless.
They were hot on our tails, nothing more than two dragon lengths behind.
Finally, all off Sergeant Vera’s Aerial Combat classes would come in handy.
With a smile, I gave Ignimitra my orders to relay. The next moment, we were moving through the very technique that we had failed in one of our earlier classes.
Our formation angled upwards, gaining enough altitude to roll into a split-s that took us above then behind the Earth Dragons. We moved through the routine so quickly that there was little they could do but watch.
The tables had turned.
We were now the ones pursuing them.
How fire-retardant were injured Earth Dragons?
We would find out.
Ignimitra responded to my heart, pelting a black stream of fire at the grey dragon. Wailing in pain, the dragon began to lose altitude. Irikai and Solra followed soon, hurling torrent after torrent of fire at the three injured dragons until they couldn’t stay in the air.
We were down to one.
As if sensing that the odds were no longer in his favor, the dragon—it had the color of dirt after first rain—nosedived, twisting towards Sift.
We followed, moving through the change of course gracefully.
On the island, it seemed as the rest of the Guard had gotten the upper hand as well. We had them outnumbered now, and a surge of happiness filled my chest.
It was nearly choked out by the sight of Drin and his dragon. When they had mentioned the size of the Rocktusk, I had used the biggest dragon I knew as reference, the Giantwing.
Yet, this dragon was bigger than even them,
Even though its size made it sluggish in maneuvering, it was still ridiculously quick for its size, and one lash of its humongous tail had sent Phoenix plummeting into the ocean—even with the effects of the dragon enhancement serum.
The Rebels were down to just four dragons including the Rocktusk, but those odds still gave me doubts.
How were we going to bring Drin and his humongous dragon in, alive?
As if hearing my thoughts, Ignimitra relayed a command from Jules.
Team 17 will handle the remaining dragons. We must help them with Drin. She shifted course, turning away from the dragon we had been pursuing. Jules believes we are quick enough to wound it.
Jules belief in us took the edge off.
Ignimitra continued to relay Jules’ ideas to me.
She wanted to injure him enough so he would fall out of the sky—onto the land hopefully—then we would bind him with a chain imbued with poisonous ore.
Nurik engaged the Rocktusk just as we joined the fray.
I caught a glimpse of Avek, perched on Nurik’s back with his sword outstretched. His jaw was set, his eyes aglow from his own Fusion Bond. He looked strong, fearsome even.
Phobos was on Nurik’s heels.
While Avek was aiming for the Rocktusk’s neck, Phobos was after his abdomen.
The enemy dragon was enraged and, on his back, Drin looked red with fury too.
Was he worried about losing?
I brought Ignimitra as close to the dragon as I could, weaving between Nurik and Phobos. We narrowly avoided a swipe of the Rocktusk’s claws, but Ignimitra pressed on fearlessly.
When we slipped past, I brought her around sharply, hovering above Drin.
The Rocktusk was beating its wings hard to maintain the altitude, almost stationary in the air. We had it marked on every side—six dragons and their tamers, poised to strike this huge dragon.
Would he give up?
I didn’t have long to ponder the thought when the dragon’s tusks began to glow.
Ignimitra relayed Jules’ war cry, and in the next breath we were plummeting towards the huge creature. I had no idea the kind of attack the dragon was about to execute, but we couldn’t sit back and allow it.
Grab him, I told Ignimitra, moments before she flew in close enough for me to feel the wind from the Rocktusk’s wings on my face. As gently as you can, I reminded her, feeling her confusion.
She plucking him off his dragon with her forepaws, ripping his harness in the process. Despite how crude it had been—her angle of approach was awkward—I was in awe of the delicacy that it took from her.
Though Drin looked to be a bigger than normal human, Ignimitra could’ve still crushed him to death.
The Rocktusk was seemed surprised that we had snatched Drin right off his back, and in its moment of confusion, the other five tamers struck. It was an onslaught of fire breath and sword slashes.
But the Rocktusk fell from the sky soon enough, its hide riddled with injury.
It landed with a thud that shook the air.
By this, Team 17 had finished off the other enemy dragons.
The nine of us converged on the fallen dragon. Ignimitra landed on three feet instead of four, one forepaw had become Drin’s prison. Even though we had managed to decommission his dragon and capture him, I knew he wouldn’t go quietly.
It took the nine of us nearly half an hour to chain the injured dragon, with the help of Phobos and Aresa. When it was subdued, Jules assigned transportation of the dragon to Titan and Herata.
Then the two of us walked over to Ignimitra.
“Nice work,” she said, patting me on the back.
I smiled. Her eyes were glowing from her Fusion Bond too. “But thank me we when we’ve got him in chains too.”
Jules drew her sword, then turned to me.
“Tell your dragon to release him.”
I nodded my head, and Ignimitra obliged.
The moment Ignimitra let Drin go, he lunged towards Jules.
Being outnumbered and losing his dragon hadn’t dimmed his fire apparently.
He was shouting something at her that I didn’t quite understand.
Drawing my own sword, I readied myself for his attack.
Jules was a few steps ahead me.
He didn’t even get to hit her with his short blade.
With the hilt of her sword, he hit him so hard in the shoulder I heard a crack.
Drin fell to his knees.
She kicked him in the face. Crack.
When he crumbled to her feet, she stomped on one of his ankles. Crack.
She turned him into a broken mess in just a few seconds, her strength evidence of how deep her Fusion Bond with Phobos was.
Then she took a chain that was looped around her waist and bound his hands and feet.
I was speechless.
“Alright, let’s get back in the air!” She shouted, her voice carrying despite the wind. She hoisted Drin—who was easily two and half times her size—over her shoulder, and marched to her dragon.
My feet carried me to Ignimitra, but my mind was elsewhere.
THREE DIFFICULT DAYS later, we were back in the Wilds.
Carrying a mammoth dragon as cargo had slowed down our pace so much that it was a miracle we made it out of Terragian territory unscathed.
When I got off Ignimitra, my body hurt all over. In places I didn’t even know I could hurt. My eyes were heavy, my spine felt like it was made of thorns and even when I was standing on land it felt like we were still in the air.
It was only through sheer willpower that we had made it this far.
Exhaustion was evident on everyone—the sagging faces and the dragons that seemingly fell asleep the moment they landed.
Ignimitra had already drifted off into sleep and it had only been a few minutes.
I wanted to drop into the sand and do the same, but Jules would have none of that. After all, we had prisoners and we had to keep them alive.
The journey had drained the Rocktusk.
Ignimitra had explained the effects of the poisonous ore chain like being trapped in a fire that would never get hot enough to kill you, only burn you enough to keep your wounds open and sap your energy.
The huge dragon was powerless to a chain that weighed a little more than I did.
Drin wasn’t much better off.
He looked like someone had put him through the wringer—and maybe he had, since he had flown with Jules the entire way here. His tawny skin was stained all over with red, and I couldn’t tell where one bruise ended and another started.
After checking a leafless tree for rot, she tied him to it and instructed us to build camp around the tree. We would have to take turns watching him.
And of course, I had the misfortune of being assigned the first shift.
I only had time to make my tent and scrub some dirt from my skin in the sea.
Just wonderful.
I WAS PERCHED ON A piece of driftwood just a stone’s throw from Drin.
My watch partner had been Lyle, yet a few minutes into our duty he told me he was going to retrieve something from his tent and never returned.
The snores coming from said tent told me all that I needed to know.
The sky was dark.
It was supposed to be sometime after midnight if I had to guess, but I wasn’t certain. My memory of the days had all melded into one, everlasting nightmare. Sleep would reset my brain enough for me to stay sane for the journey back to Pyralis, but until then I had as much memory as fruit fly.
The full moon had the color of brass, casting a hazy light on our surroundings.
I had never seen it that color before.
I was in the middle of deciding if that was a good thing or a bad thing, when a strange sound caught my attention. My eyes snapped to Drin.
It was coming from him.
His bloodshot eyes were almost as eerie as the moon, pinning me with a soulless stare. But there wasn’t any menace in them, just a deep need for survival that surprised me. I stared back at him, noticing his features for the first time.
Strands of hair stuck to his face, coated in blood and grime.
It was the color of citrine at the roots, a strange color for hair. He had a thin face, and a nose so straight it reminded me of the kind I saw on people from the higher Orders.
Yet, his skin was the color of acorns.
Was I hallucinating from the tiredness, or was he trying to get my attention?
He made the sound again while I was staring him down. And as I watched him, I realized that he was actually trying to talk.
The lack of sleep had burned away my sense of danger it seemed, for I got up from my driftwood and walked over to him, crouching just a few steps away from him.
That’s when I made out what he was saying.
“Wa…ter,” he croaked.
His tongue was heavy, and the word seemed foreign in his mouth. But I understood him. Was the word for water the same in his language too, or did he know some Pyralian?
“You want water?” I asked for clarity.
He nodded his head slowly, opening his mouth to reveal an incredibly parched palate.
His mouth was so dry it looked painful.
He was a prisoner sure, but hadn’t Jules even given him some water?
I considered it for a moment.
Drin Accan had conceptualized the attack that had decimated the Academy, they said.
That attack had killed tens of Dragon Guard soldiers.
It had killed the teammates of two people on this very mission. It had killed my own cohort-mates. This man was probably just as evil as the Headmaster was.
Yet, if I thought he wasn’t deserving of my mercy, what did that make me?
I had been on a team that had burned an entire village to the ground. A village filled with women and children. I might have stopped Ignimitra in the middle of her attack, but I had helped divert the river that could have saved their lives.
And I fought for a country that believed such horrible things were necessary.
Walking over to my tent, I found my flask among the things that I kept in my rucksack. After filling it with water, I returned to Drin’s side, realizing my next problem.
His hands were bound to the tree.
I couldn’t just hand him the flask and be done with it.
If I was going to give him water, I would have to feed it to him.
Drin’s eyes lit up at the sight of the flask in my hand, the kind of guttural response that only extreme thirst could bring on. He had been reduced to his survival instinct.
“I’m going to give you some water,” I felt the need to announce my intentions as I approached him. “So, stay still.”
He seemed to understand me, for his fidgeting stopped.
Kneeling beside him, I brought my flask to his lips and started to pour the water into his mouth. He emptied the flask in three big gulps.
“Do you want more?” He nodded his head firmly, strength already coming back to him.
I gave him two more flaskfuls of water.
“Thank…you,” he croaked out.
Now that his thirst was quenched, he looked more human.
His face was still bashed in more places than I could count, but he seemed more alive.
“Would you like a little dried meat?” The question spilled out of me before I realized what I was asking. Water was one thing, but to give this man some of my rations?
“Yes,” he nodded his head slightly.
Another trip to my tent, and I had retrieved enough dried meat for the both of us. I fed him the same way that I had given him the water.
I was about to go back to my perch on the driftwood when he spoke to me again.
“You have…good heart,” he said. His face twisted into what would have been a smile, had his face been whole. “Not like…others.”
I looked at him for a few moments.
Was he trying to charm me so that I would let him go? What I had done would already put me in hot water if Jules ever caught wind of it, so I hurried away from him, filling my mouth with dried meat.
Drin’s burst of energy didn’t last long.
It only took a few minutes for him to drift off into sleep.
At first, I wondered if he had succumbed to his injuries. But the rise and fall of his chest calmed my fears. Having him die on my watch, was the last thing that I needed.
With Drin asleep, I was left alone with my thoughts.
I couldn’t wait for this shift to end so I could get some sleep, and beyond that I couldn’t wait to get back to Tartaris so I could figure out my next move.
After being alone with my thoughts for most of the flight over here, I had come to a decision that was divisive at best. But I needed more time to think about it.
It was burning a hole in the back of my mind.
I wouldn’t be able to think properly until I was back in that rickety seaside cottage.
When Solra and Irikai relieved me some time later, I almost cried tears of relief.
