Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) (53 page)

Ammon sighed and nodded. It was obvious Theo trusted her and Boris must have trained her. Hopefully once the battle started she could hold her own. He felt a tug on his sleeve, and he looked down at Lily’s tear-streaked face.

“Are you gonna bring Queen El home?”

He brushed a few wisps of stray hair from her face and knelt down beside her. “Yes, Lily, Fulgid and I are going with all these dragons to bring El home and stop those men who put you in the tunnel.”

Lily looked at Fulgid who sat patiently waiting beside him. Her little hand reached out to pet him on the head. “Are you gonna come back soon?”

Ammon smiled. “I’ll be back, but it might be a little while. Will you be alright until then?”

Lily sniffed but didn’t answer. He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully for a moment. “Lily? Could you do something for me? It’s pretty important…”

Lily’s eyes grew large and she nodded.

“Good! I need someone to watch over a friend of mine. He works all by himself up in the Nests and sometimes he forgets to eat. His name is Derek, and he’s very nice, but some people are afraid of him because he’s so big. Queen El and I often visit with him while he watches over the dragon eggs, but while we’re gone, he’ll be all alone. Do you think you could keep him from getting lonely? Maybe you could bring him some fruit from the kitchen? I think he would really like that!”

A grin slowly spread across the little girl’s face, and she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly.

“Lily, I have to go now, so you take care of Derek for me ok?” She nodded again.

Theo laid a hand over his shoulder. “It’s time to go.”

He rose to his feet and followed Tashira to her dragon, a sleek gray that eyed Fulgid curiously. She patted her dragon’s side affectionately. “You’ll be able to socialize with him later, Argent, right now we have work to do.”

She walked slowly around the dragon checking each buckle and strap carefully. When she’d made a full circle she stopped and turned to face him with her arms crossed. “That was a lovely thing you did back there.”

Ammon felt his eyebrows raise. “Huh?”

She looked down and kicked at a stone with her toe. “Telling Lily to watch over Derek. That was very sweet.”

Ammon smiled. “Well, I thought maybe something good might come of it. Who knows?”

She laughed quietly. “Lets get mounted!”

He climbed into the saddle behind Tashira, and Fulgid hopped up to perch between them, twitching his ears at the other dragons in the courtyard. From where Ammon was sitting he could see the whole group. Shane was methodically checking every saddlebag, making sure each had the correct supplies.

The large cook Maise followed behind him, passing out small sacks filled with meat pies and cheese. She handed two bags to Ammon and huffed. “You’ve finally put on a little weight, but you’re still too thin!” Her eyes narrowed at Fulgid for a moment, then she smiled and handed Ammon two more bags. “He looks thin too!” She hurried off to catch up with Shane.

Tashira leaned back, tapped her nose and gestured towards them. “There’s one man with a ring in his nose who’s too blind to see it.”

Ammon watched the pair in confusion. A ring in his nose? What was that supposed to mean? He shrugged and decided not to pursue it. He had far to many other things to worry about right now.

The courtyard was cleared of everyone but the dragons, and the riders turned their attention to Ammon. Tashira leaned back as if to check the tightness of the saddle girth and whispered. “They’re waiting for your signal to take flight!”

Of course! He was the one leading the dragons this time so it only made sense! Mimicking the way he had seen it done before, he raised his fist over his head and pulled it down sharply. The force of Argent’s leap shoved Ammon deep into the saddle as the great wings pumped the air. Steadily they began gaining in altitude and the rush of the wind blew back his hair. Below him he could see the dragons taking off in pairs, and soon the entire squad was airborne, forming a giant spiral as they circled upward.

Fulgid gripped the edge of the saddle with his claws and beat his own small wings, as if to push Argent faster. Once high enough to clear the top of the palace, they headed towards the horizon in single file.

Fulgid settled down with his wings tucked back against his body and Ammon absently scratched him behind his ears. Below them the ground slipped past at a breathtaking speed and they flew steadily towards the snowcapped mountains in the distance. He knew she was alive, he could feel it. “I’m coming El! Hold on, I’m coming!”

***

The sun had just dipped below the horizon when they finally arrived to circle over the last of the three smoldering mountains. Even in the fading light, the glimmering peaks seemed impossibly high and forbidding. He forced away his own self doubts as he stared up at the bleak, ice-covered ridges. This was the best chance he had to save El’s life. He had to make it work. He drew a deep breath and wrinkled his nose at the strong sulfur fumes. Tonight they would camp on the top of the smoking mountain where the dragons could warm themselves. If the weather held, tomorrow they’d make their first attempt to cross over.

As the camp settled, Ammon watched as the knights removed large, flat stones tied together with leather straps from their saddlebags and stack them around the steaming vents. When strapped to the sides of the dragons, the heated stones would help them to ward off the cold and could easily be cut free once their warmth was gone. No one had ever tested them before, so there was no way to know how well it would work.

The meal was served in silence with only the occasional deep rumble of the earth beneath them. Only Fulgid seemed immune to their somber mood as he bounded from knight to knight, staring at them with unblinking amber eyes until they surrendered a portion of their food. When he was satisfied that not a single morsel was left, he climbed into Ammon’s bedroll and fell quickly asleep, filling the small tent with snores. For Ammon, it was a long time before sleep came.

When morning came, he lifted the tent flap to find Tashira waiting outside with a cup of strong, black liquid. He ignored the bitter taste and gulped it down to force his body awake. They broke camp quickly, and once the heated stones were strapped into place, Ammon took his place behind Tashira. Argent’s deep wing strokes swirled the rising smoke from the vents into the bitter morning air. Already the temperatures were noticeably different, and as they flew towards the mountains, puffs of steam blew from the dragon’s noses. A frigid gust of wind sent shivers through him as they steadily gained altitude.

The pale sun did little to warm them, and he pulled his cloak closer to block the cold. The ground beneath them gradually changed from sparse trees to barren rock and then to featureless snow and ice as they headed towards a notch between the two nearest mountains.

Bit by bit Ammon felt Argent’s speed lessen as they struggled against the thinning air and icy temperatures. They skimmed just a span or two above the ground as they labored up the steep slope. He looked back and watched the line of dragons that followed, their wings beating sluggishly. Ahead of them the mountain continued upward, but in the featureless snow, it was impossible to judge the distance to the top. As they crested each rise hoping to have reached the summit, their eyes met only an endless sea of white rising ever higher and higher.

He could hear Tashira coaxing through chattering teeth “Come on, Argent, just a bit further now!”

With each passing minute their speed slowed drastically, and he could hear the others behind them shouting encouragement to their mounts as they struggled to keep up. In the reflected glare of the cold sun, he saw the top of the next rise far up the slope and knew they’d never make it. He tapped Tashira on the shoulder, but she shook her head as if she’d already read his mind.

“We’ve already past the point of no return. They’re too cold to make it back, and if we stop, they’ll never get moving again. We have no choice but to keep going and hope we make it.”

He turned to see one of the dragons following behind drop slightly and its belly struck the surface, sending up a burst of snow. It struggled mightily and barely managed to keep flying. It wasn’t going to work. In despair, he realized Boris was right, he had led them to die on a mountainside with El held captive on the other side. It was a gamble he had chosen, and El, the knights, and their dragons would pay for his mistake.

Fulgid suddenly stood up on his hind legs and pointed his muzzle into the air. With a sudden blast, he loosed a tremendous fireball over their heads and Ammon had to duck to keep from being singed. “Fulgid! By the dragons teeth what are you doing?”

Fulgid ignored him and let out another, even larger fireball.

Bewildered, Ammon looked back to see the dragon behind them suddenly emerge through the flames that still hung in the air. He gasped as he realized what was happening. Heat! “Tashira, do you see what he’s doing?”

With a large grin she nodded and leaned forward to speak to her dragon. “Go ahead and let one loose Argent!”

Although brief, the heat washed over them as they passed through the flames, and with each blast, the warmth began to slowly soak into his bones. The dragon’s wings began to beat faster, and the peak drew steadily closer until he could see the crest clearly as they approached.

With an exhilarating rush, they passed over the top and glided down the other side with increasing speed. Beyond them lay another, smaller mountain, and they easily flew over with bursts of fire blossoming around them. Beyond each peak lay another, lower mountain and finally the snow gave way to rock. Finally the ground below them dropped away as they passed over the Wall and from their great height, he could see the twisting Olog River in the distance, and he choked back a gasp. They made it! He threw his arms around Fulgid and squeezed him in a bear hug while the riders behind him cheered. They crossed over without losing a single rider!

They quickly descend into a small clearing and stripped off their cold weather garb while the dragons rested. Tashira gathered the group together and carefully recounted her plan of attack once more. There was no room for error, and it wouldn’t take long before Tirate’s men realized they were just a diversion. Ammon stood quietly and listened as Tashira assigned tasks to each knight.
Despite his earlier misgivings, Theo was right. She was quite knowledgeable in the tactics of war, much more so than he.

It was mid-morning when they took to the sky with the sun on their backs and codas notched in their bows. Ammon rode with Tashira at the head of a fist of five dragons. They would be the first to draw blood as they swooped down hard and fast to cleave through the outer ring of crossbows before heading towards the heavily guarded tunnel. The rest of the group would be causing as much havoc as possible, destroying crossbows and disarming anyone carrying a weapon.

When they reached the edge of the encampment, Ammon grimaced. It was larger than he had thought, but fortunately, the semi-circles of crossbows had been drawn in closer to the tunnel. On Tashira’s signal, the dragons dropped from the sky and Ammon felt his stomach sour as bile rose in his throat. Beside him, Fulgid’s claws gripped the saddle harness tightly. His golden ears were pinned tight against his head, and above his curled and snarling lips, his eyes glowed white. The wind pressed hard against their chests, and ahead of them, the ground rushed towards them in a blur.

As they leveled out, Ammon drew his bow and loosed the first coda. It struck its target and fire spread across the thick wooden planks of the crossbow. In confusion, the guards lounging beside it leapt to their feet with a shout. One of them reached for a pail of water as the other broke into a run towards the camp. Ammon fumbled to notch his bow, but before he could take aim, the man fell to the ground with Tashira’s arrow planted firmly in his back. His companion barely had time to drop the bucket before he met the same fate with only the fletching of her arrow protruding from his chest.