“Chasm!”
Damara looked up from where she sat under the bridge as she heard Iris cry out.
“They’re coming!”
They’re coming? Damara furrowed her brow. Who’s ‘they’? And why does she sound so panicked?
She recalled Chasm’s words from yesterday, ‘Let them come to us. We’ll be waiting.’
As cautiously as a rabbit emerging from the undergrowth, Damara slunk out of the shadows, squinting as the light washed over her eyes. A breeze fluttered her light cape towards the bridge, as though advising her to retreat back into the shadows.
As her eyes adjusted, Damara turned her gaze up the river bank and saw Iris speeding away, into the wreckage of the once great town. She stared past the river, but all she saw was more rubble and ruins. She was familiar with the eerie stillness of the destroyed town, but it seemed more pressing now than ever, as though threatening to break into chaos.
Damara leaned up against the stone bridge, waiting. She was calm, as though suspense was her new equilibrium. Picking at the scabs on her arms, one cut began to bleed.
Chasm swooped in like the wind, landing before her with wings braced open.
“Climb up,” he commanded.
Damara looked up at him, expressionless for a moment as she scratched her arm. Then, without a word, she did as he said, mounting his back and easing her legs under the ropes still tied around his torso. The blanket cushioning was lost long ago, but Damara never complained about it. She spared her words, knowing how little Chasm valued them.
Iris hovered low above them, glowering down at Damara. Her hide shone brightly in the sun, vibrant magenta with star-like specks sprinkling her body.
She looks like the night sky painted by a lunatic, Damara thought distastefully. A theatrical costume come to life.
“That human is going to be the death of you,” Iris chided Chasm, who scoffed.
Taking to the air with a cocky flare of his wings, he said, “She will serve her purpose.”
What purpose? Damara questioned him silently. So far I’ve done nothing.
As they rose higher into the air, Damara saw both Hasten and Veer also ascend. Then, looking outward, she realized what the Strong Pack was gazing at.
A mass of troops approached, like the army Damara had seen from the mountain top. Except this was significantly smaller and she could see the dread and exhaustion in every step of their feeble march.
They aren’t going to win this battle, Damara foresaw grimly. How many more will I have to watch die?
She closed her eyes tight. I will not watch! Chasm can’t make me. A familiar sense of weightlessness lifted her, telling her the dragon was going into a dive.
Wind whipped over her in their plummet.
Don’t look. Don’t listen.
Chasm pulled out of his dive with a jolt.
Damara tried to block out the yells of men and the clanging of metal. Tried not to breathe in the reek of blood. Pretended not to feel Chasm thrash out. Tried to ignore the harsh screams of agony, the splintering of bones, the searing of flesh…
She tried as best she could, but failed.
“Kill the rider!” someone called out.
Me?! Damara opened her eyes, exposing them to the horrors. The air was stolen from her lungs as she saw the sheer quantity of spilt blood. It flushed the ground, surging from wounded men. It splattered Chasm’s hide and even on her dress. The soldiers that could still stand held up their weapons, toiling in vain to block as the dragons swiped at them, grating their teeth and snarling.
There was a flare of light and Damara gaped at the sight of Veer igniting men with a surge of flames. The soldiers screamed, clawing at their burning clothes as Hasten charged and trampled them underfoot.
Should I jump?! Damara looked at the ground, wanting to escape but petrified by fear of the weapons and fire. No, they’ll kill me!
Whatever had been spared of the flames in the Strong Pack’s first attack now crackled and coughed up ash. Crumbled houses and scattered straw caught fire eagerly. Damara’s eyes stung from the smoke that rose in endless columns. It clouded over the sun in the sky, as though to tell the entire kingdom of the calamity taking place down below.
Like that of a shrill bird, Iris’ cry rang out above them. Damara felt Chasm lurch in response, turning his head towards the earsplitting sound.
“What?!” he exclaimed and Damara followed his gaze.
In the air, Iris stood out against the brown and grey, struggling with another dragon Damara had never seen before. Immediately, Chasm was up in the smoke, beating his wings furiously towards the new assailant.
The unfamiliar female was locking talons with Iris and snapping her jaws. As Chasm barreled into the stranger, Damara gasped, holding on as tightly as she could to keep from flying off his back. The collision was solid, jarring Damara and whipping her forward.
With the stranger and Chasm now in aerial combat, she had to watch out for the slashing claws and teeth of the brown female. Then, in an instant, the dragon halted in her assaults.
Damara caught a glimpse of her eyes right before the stranger turned and fled, gliding in descent on soft pink wings. She watched her land where three other unfamiliar dragons were fighting Hasten and Veer. These weren’t the ones she’d seen on the battlefield against the Wystilian army. She had no idea where they’d come from.
The spy! Damara gasped as she recognized one of them through the smoke. His teal frame was smaller and more fragile looking than any of the other dragons. It looked as though he could be crushed, should Veer or Hasten catch him. But he did an excellent job of evading their attacks, dodging and distracting the dragons for his allies to catch them by surprise.
Now the Wystilian army was retreating, scrambling to help the injured up to their feet and hurrying away. Damara willed them to run faster, praying for their escape. It relieved her when she thought she saw the King clad in chainmail, gripping his side as he led the way.
But then, her attention was diverted, honing in on something else. Rising up from the ground was a green dragon with dark blue wings. On his face was a leather hood pulled over his eyes. Damara gaped, astonished to see someone on the masked dragon’s back, directing him with reins.
A man!
She could not see who it was, for the man was dressed in full body armor and the visor of a knight’s helm covered his face. Yet there he was- a human riding a dragon!
I’m not the only one? Damara stared as the knight approached. Her heart jolted in sudden fright as her eyes fell upon the lance in his hand, held in a low, forward position.
Damara panicked, imagining herself at the end of its sharp, unforgiving tip. She slouched closer to Chasm, peering past his scales as they both awaited the knight’s arrival. Iris dropped lower in the air, pulling back behind Chasm.
With her ear so close to Chasm’s throat, Damara could hear a deep rumbling growl vibrating inside. Just as it looked as though the dragon and the knight were about to make contact with her and Chasm, the man yanked the reins, directing his flying steed out of the way.
Damara stared, wide-eyed as she and the knight swept past each other. In the same moment, he turned his head to her.
Who is he?
The man was clearly better equipped than her. A saddle fit his dragon perfectly and the reins attached to the beast’s leather hood directed the dragon well. Damara’s eyes lingered on the lance in the knight’s hand a moment longer. She also thought she saw a dagger strapped to his waist.
Flinching in fear, she saw the knight turn his dragon to face them once more, speeding towards them through the smoke. The armored man huddled tightly into his saddle, as though bracing himself.
He’s going to run me through!
Damara heard Chasm curse loudly. Plunging, he hollered at Iris to follow as he swooped for the place where Hasten and Veer were struggling with their opponents. A marine green dragon had Hasten pinned, fire dancing off his tongue.
Damara cried out as C
hasm charged, full speed, for the stranger. They collided, and Damara nearly flew off as Chasm tackled the green dragon to the ground. Even after being caught off guard, the stranger twisted masterfully out of Chasm’s clinch. Now he and the brown female advanced on Chasm.
“Let’s get out of here!” Chasm snarled to his allies.
Hasten and Veer heaved themselves to their feet as Iris ascended on wing ahead of them.
The Strong Pack escaped, leaving the strangers behind. Swiveling around, Damara thought she could see the dragon rider dismount and kneel over a broken soldier, but trees blocked her view as Chasm sailed low over the forest. Only the smoke could still be seen, a dark stain in the sky.
Damara could see that Chasm was taking them back to the mountains. He beat his wings faster than she’d seen him do ever before and it wasn’t long until they reached their refuge in the valley.
The dragons landed. Damara could feel that Chasm was furious. His back muscles twitched unnaturally underneath her, and his movements were sharp and aggressive.
Shakily, she slid off of his back, facing him as she backed up. Chasm didn’t seem to remember she was there. His nostrils flared like a maddened horse and his mouth jerked until he stretched his jaws wide open and roared.
Damara clapped her hands over both her ears, feeling the dragon’s thundering in her bones. She noticed Iris perk up, while Veer and Hasten looked on, alert.
For the next few moments, Chasm stood there, heaving. Iris drifted over to him, swinging from side to side until she shouldered up against him, rubbing the crown of her head under his chin.
Chasm took a deep breath, exhaling steadily, and forced a smile of confidence.
“Very well,” he composed himself in a cool voice, addressing the Strong Pack. “Perhaps I was not prepared for this sudden complication, but they cannot stand in our way for long.
“Veer, Hasten,” he directed his eyes to the expressionless dragons. “Make sure the human doesn’t run off while I’m away. Don’t let her leave at all. She may play a very important role in our victory.”
What? Damara gritted her teeth. What role?
Chasm grinned cockily, turning his attention back to Iris. “I won’t be gone for long,” he assured, touching snouts with her. “Just wait for me here.”
The oak grey dragon spread his wings as the sky turned to dusk. As if on second thought, he cast Damara a warning glare, saying, “You know I can find you wherever you go.”
With that, he took to the air and Damara retreated to a concealed place in the mountain side, her mind racing with all that had happened.
Chapter 12