Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) (58 page)

In the back of his mind the familiar golden voice bubbled up. “
WE COME. WE FIGHT
!”

He pressed his face close to the window and smiled as almost a hundred men and women appeared out of the shadows and charged into the street. Behind them he could see El hurrying to join them with Fulgid racing beside her and his smile faded. What is she trying to do? Get herself killed? He took a deep breath, threw open the door of the tower, and attacked the guards waiting there.

Despite the ferociousness of his attack, the guards held their position and his arms began to tire as they began to surround him in groups of two and three. Even with Fulgid’s help, he could see El’s ragtag army wasn’t fairing any better. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and it was only a matter of time before they were overrun. It would be long over before any of the dragons or hatchlings could arrive to help.

He set his jaw in determination and felt his eyes beginning to burn. If nothing else, he would find a way to save El. With renewed effort, he battled his way towards her, recklessly slashing his golden blade through the guards like a scythe. He was almost there when he saw a large man grab El roughly from behind and knock her sword to the ground. In an instant Fulgid was there, but the man instinctively held El in front of himself for protection with a knife placed to her throat. Fulgid skidded to a stop just a pace width away, fangs exposed and smoke trickling from his nostrils, ready to pounce at the first opportunity.

For a long moment the world seemed to stop as the three of them faced each other in a stalemate. Ammon forced himself to speak calmly. “Let her go and I’ll let you live.”

The big man chuckled. “Oh, you’ll let me live? You’re a funny little white-eyed boy, aren’t you? All the dragons, except that little demon of yours, are on the other side of the city, and Tirate will hold them off with his crossbows! This little gathering you brought is all but defeated! The way I see it, this girl is my ticket to get that little gold beast back to Tirate!”

Ammon’s heart raced as he tried to think of a way to free El without her getting hurt. Suddenly there was a thunderous crash from behind that sent him tumbling to the ground as shards of wood and debris flew in every direction. He rolled to his feet and looked up in surprise at Theo’s dragon Ebony standing in the entrance. The heavy gate lay shattered, and the guard towers felled like trees as the angry dragon charged through. Beneath her right wing, the half-buried shaft of a crossbow jutted out, and a trail of dark blood streamed down her side. Before the stunned guards could react, dragon fire swept across the cobblestones leaving nothing but charred bits of smoldering armor.

Distracted, El’s captor loosened his grip momentarily, and she slipped the knife from her belt and stabbed at his shoulder. With a scream he threw her aside and grasped at the wound, only to realize his mistake a moment before a massive fireball from Fulgid enveloped him.

The few guard that were left began to scatter in every direction, leaving behind a trail of discarded armor and weapons. Ammon turned to pursue them, but a wiry old man wielding a rusted sword gripped his arm and shook his head. “Let ‘em go, they won’t get far. Throughout the city are small groups like ours. Ain’t no place in the city for ‘em to hide. Besides, looks to me like your friend needs help.” He nodded towards Theo and Ammon felt his heart sink.

Theo stood stroking Ebony’s head as she lay on her side, drawing ragged breaths. El pushed past them and fearlessly climbed up the foreleg to inspect the wound.

Ammon hurried closer and put a sympathetic hand on Theo’s shoulder. “How is she?”

His voice was almost inaudible. “Bad. Real bad.” He looked up at El and cleared his throat. “Can you pull it out?”

El’s darkened gaze met Ammon’s for a brief moment before she shook her head. “No, it’s too deep. If we pull it out she’ll bleed to death, but I think I can stop some of the bleeding.” She jumped to the ground and motioned to one of the women nearby. “I need hot water, as hot as you can make it, and clean cloth. Lots of them! Hurry!”

Theo leaned forward and rested his head against Ebony’s snout. “I didn’t ask her to do what she did. She crashed through the gate on her own as if someone had told her what was happening in here.”

El touched his face gently. “I’ll do what I can for her.” She turned to take an armful of sheets from one of the women and paused. “Ammon, I can’t leave. I’m needed here, but
Gaul still needs you. Please…be careful!” She stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips, then hurried away clutching the sheets tightly.

The thin old man sniffed and shoved a gaunt hand into Ammon’s. “My name’s Meader. Ya know, that’s quite a woman you got there. She said you’re some kind of king that’s come here ta help? Well we’re mighty grateful already! We might not be much of an army, but we’re willin’ ta follow you right through the palace gate! You just lead the way!”

Ammon looked grimly at the few dozen elderly men and women scavenging through the guards discarded weapons. He felt a slight nudge behind his knee and looked down to see Fulgid waiting patiently. His hand automatically reached to scratch behind the dragon’s ears as he mumbled to himself. “If we at least had the hatchlings, we’d have a fighting chance.”

Once more the bubble in the back of his mind rippled as the voice chimed in his head. “
FULGID CALL
!”

Ammon watched the little dragon, expecting him to make some sort of sound, but Fulgid sat quietly with his eyes half closed.

Meader cleared his throat politely. “S’cuse me sire, but what are we waitin’ for?”

Ammon nodded towards Fulgid. “He’s calling for the dragons to meet us here.”

Theo opened his eyes slightly and frowned without lifting his head from Ebony’s snout. Minutes passed slowly, then the distant sounds of shouting reached their ears. One by one, the hatchlings appeared, racing down the streets with their knights running breathlessly behind them.

As each one arrived, Theo’s eyes grew wider and wider. “Ammon…how? How did you do that?”

Ammon hesitated. Nobody ever believed him before when he said Fulgid could speak, what if they didn’t believe him now? The middle of a battle was not the time to put doubt in the mind of anyone. “I didn’t do it. They must have decided to come back on their own!” Guilt washed over him. He knew lying to Theo was wrong, but what else could he do? “Now that they’re back, I have a plan!”

***

Ammon led the group through the alleys and side streets up to the palace. The thick wooden door to the kitchen hung at an odd angle by its broken hinges, and one by one they climbed the narrow stairs. The long hallway outside the kitchen was deserted and his army followed him down towards the guard towers he stopped and spoke softly as they gathered around him.

“Try not to attract any attention and let the hatchlings spread out along the walls to take out the crossbows one at a time. Once we’ve been seen and the alarm is sounded, we’ll all attack. Fulgid and I will go to the left and take out the nearest guards and crossbow. The next hatchling goes down the right side of the wall. Any questions?”

The young knights exchanged nervous glances in a mixture of eagerness and dread. He knew they were worried about their hatchlings. The decision to put them into battle without any training wasn’t easy, but he knew Tirate would be expecting an attack from the full-grown dragons flying overhead, not from within the palace walls.

He pushed the tower door open slightly and pressed his face to the crack. The doorway led to a parapet that encircled the palace. On either side of the walkway was a shoulder-high battlement designed to protect the guards from projectiles. About every ten paces along the parapet a dragon-killing crossbow was mounted on a swiveling base so the guards could easily aim at targets overhead or on the ground below. Anyone trying to enter through the courtyard would have been shot to pieces in moments.

Two guards manned each crossbow, and he watched as the nearest pair shot a long bolt at a dragon flying overhead. The huge shaft fell harmlessly to the ground far outside the palace walls. He chuckled softly to himself. Stalwart had precisely measured the firing distance of the captured weapons and knew exactly how close they could fly and still be out of range.

He watched as the two men reloaded and counted. While one worked a crank on the side of the device, the other dropped a latch over the taunt bowstring and loaded the next shaft. About ten seconds elapsed. He whispered the information to the knights behind him, then took a deep breath and looked down at Fulgid beside him. “Ready?”

The amber colored eyes were already starting to glow.

They slipped out the door the moment the nearest crossbow shot off another bolt. The next shaft was just being laid into position when the guard noticed Fulgid and Ammon just a few paces away. Fulgid shot past, leapt over the crossbow, and struck the man in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Just as the other guard looked up from the crank, Ammon stepped forward and butted him between the eyes with the pommel of his sword. He crumpled to the ground as a line of knights and hatchlings rushed by to take down the next crossbow in line. Fulgid stood atop the guard who lay face down on the stones.

Terrified, the man suddenly shrieked and Ammon groaned. The next crossbow was already disabled, but the men working the third one in line had already swung it around and were aiming it straight down the narrow walkway.

A loud twang echoed across the yard as both knights and dragons pushed themselves tight against the stone battlements. The shaft bounced wildly against the walls, and Ammon dove behind the crossbow as it whizzed past. He heard a loud grunt and looked up just as Fulgid careened down the walkway. The bolt had passed through the guard Fulgid had been holding and hit the little dragon square in the chest.

He crawled on his hands and knees towards Fulgid, who lay curled up in a tight ball. Through their link he could feel a horrible pain in his chest, and he pulled the little dragon close and held him tight. “Are you ok?”

Slowly, the little dragon uncoiled and stood with his wings spread. Ammon ran his hand down the scales of the undamaged chest and sighed in relief. Fulgid’s eyes flashed searing white and bared his fangs. His claws flexed and curled, and bits of stone broke beneath his feet. Slowly Ammon’s feeling of relief was replaced by the rage that oozed through the link
and burned his eyes. He gripped his sword tightly as the blinding fury washed over him and he struggled to keep himself from being swept away by the anger.

With blinding speed, Fulgid jumped to the top of the battlement wall and leapt fearlessly out into the space above the courtyard. Ammon stared after him in disbelief as Fulgid flew the length of the wall and blasted fireballs at each crossbow as he passed. A number of men at the far side of the yard tried to aim their bolts at the golden dragon as he darted back and forth. Fulgid was so intent on what he was doing that he didn’t notice the men preparing to shoot, and Ammon looked around in desperation.

He stepped behind the loaded crossbow beside him and swung it around to point at the men across the courtyard. He pushed the release and watched the black shaft streak across the yard to strike the guard in the chest. The man slumped forward and the crossbow fired harmlessly into the air.

Ammon watched as the knights and hatchlings moved rapidly to disable the machines. As more of the guards aimed towards them, it was obvious they’d never reach the far side without taking heavy casualties. A dark shadow suddenly passed overhead, and Ammon looked up to see a massive black dragon swoop down with Boris hanging from the saddle as the beast flew upside down. They passed over one of the crossbows, and a sharp snap sounded as his longsword sliced through the bowstring. The steel tipped bolt clattered harmlessly to the ground as Ellis turned upright and they began to gain altitude.