I am Dragon (Dragon Fires Rising Book 2) Marc Secchia (most read books .TXT) 📖

said, “One Ranger to stay. Brief her and get her back into battle if you can.”

“Me!”

“Thanks! Let’s go,” Azania said. “We’re needed up at that tower.”

The Sankir pressed a bow into her hands. “Heard you’re useful with one of these. If you see a tall, greasy-haired man with a love of flashy black leather cloaks – he’s our rebel Lord.”

Dragon launched sideways, taking advantage of a sea breeze to whisk him aloft. Time to sniff out the stench of evil magic around this dark citadel, and end it. Otherwise, he had an awful sense of what Azerim’s fate might be. Backed into a corner, the Lord might just decide to end his captive’s life.

He hissed, Gazaram, fear the talon that carves your doom!

Chapter 31: Talon Magic

IMMEDIATELY, HE CAME UNDER fire from the so far ridiculously accurate defenders. However, they faced a capable enemy. Five Dragonesses swarmed over the battlements, kicking catapults and slicing apart ballista crews with horrific precision. They never seemed to be quite where the defenders expected them. Azania picked off a couple of defenders on the battlements, while he rapid-fire hit a series of arrow loop slits lower down, silencing the archers behind. They wheeled past a fierce battle for the inner keep.

Tower door lower right. Hit it! Azania yelled.

A stream of white fire ignited the defenders trying to bar the door against ingress.

And the left! Hit the keep door!

He spat again, surprising himself with a precision blast that set the front doors of the inner keep alight. In that glow, he saw a silver-edged black cloak swirling away; a big man who moved like animate shadow, marshalling the defenders.

Gazaram!

I know, the Princess panted. Took a shot but missed him. To the tower!

He burst over the short gap, alert for more mischief. What he saw was Aria diving toward the tower, only to veer off and come within a scale’s width of braining herself on the rock below that top section.

What the … WHAT?

The world turned upside-down. Jangled to his core, Dragon veered off instinctively and achieved two things: one, a stream of fire that still managed to hit the target, and two, he bounced off the summit of the sea stack with a great deal less elegance than the cobalt warrior. The warriors on his back cried out, rattled like him.

Wheeling away, he collected his senses. The sky and ground switched places and behaved themselves once more.

“Dragon, what was that?” Aria’s call alerted him.

“Dark magic!” one of the Rangers cried.

“Some kind of directional pretzel magic,” he spluttered, “plus a very powerful repulsive force. I mean, it completely scrambled my balance and seemed to flip my vision?”

“Mine, too,” his Princess agreed. “We have to break in there. Fast.”

“Effect on Humans?” he asked.

“Nil. I sensed something going on, but nothing like – Aria duck now!”

A silver ballista quarrel hurled past the cobalt warrior as she flicked out of its path with the most incredible reactions Dragon had ever seen. The quarrel grazed her chest before arcing away into the pounding surf, where it struck a rock and detonated with a crack! Electricity! At once, his mind spun back to the lightning machine the Skartunese had used to strike him down. Somehow, these quarrels stored an electrical charge powerful enough to stop a Dragon in their tracks. Was this a new Terror Clan technology?

He summarised this information for the openly shocked cobalt Dragoness; whirling toward the rest of the fight to warn her team, she ordered him to stay away from the tower until she returned.

His ears, however, detected a different sound above the rising hissing of the wind – a whine he recognised all too well. The weapon needed to be recharged. A window of opportunity was open if they acted swiftly. Three warrior Dragonesses circled the metal tower. Seven Rangers to land on the summit, if they could.

Azania, how can we –

I’ll be your eyes. Close them.

WHAA – GNARR!!

Nice Dragon. Good boy, she said, patting his neck. Her tone did not exactly make matters better. Humans talked to hounds like that! At once, however, her mind explained, Speed of thought. Trust me. We can shut that weapon down if we work together, but you’ll need to –

I do trust you.

Trust someone else to be his eyes? This might be the hardest thing he had ever done. Even though he knew Azania better than any other, and they had flown together for months, the act of giving over was one of the hardest things he had ever done. It spat in the eye of draconic pride. Yet the way the dark magic had turned his brains into scrambled egg – it was defence on a whole new level. The Terror Clan knew what they were doing. He would try to protect his mind, but if he did not understand the first thing about how the magic worked …

He called, Dragonesses, we’ll try to shut that weapon down. Will you feint for us? Be wary of that foul magic.

One snapped toward him, Aria’s orders!

NOW!

Squeezing his eyes shut, he readied himself for the Princess’ directions.

Farther around, farther … ninety degrees to your left wing – right now! Aim – higher, her thoughts came in thick and fast. By his sire’s egg, he was not used to being peppered like this. Hundred, ninety, eighty … FIRE!

The world rotated around him, but even as she was yelling at him to remain steady, he found his steadiness – her mind. A rock amidst chaos. Following the minutest promptings of his mind, he focussed his fire and directed it slightly farther upward, before breaking off a millisecond before a violent yet muted explosion smashed against his ears.

The Princess gave a crow of triumph. That’ll show them!

The whirling and tumbling did not