It was so hard not to fly faster; she wanted to rip and tear. In this form she was more animalistic, and all she wanted to do now was let that side of her take over, but she couldn’t. She needed to stay focused. A guttural roar ripped from her as Sydin told them to attack. A pink orb of energy left her, hurling itself at the brown Ascended. It in turn was sending something her way. She dipped in the air, letting the spell fly by harmlessly. The second blast hit her left wing, renting the air with a crack.
Fool me once…
she thought, sending four quick spells as the gap closed.
The brown Ascended tried to avoid them, but only made himself off kilter. Iselin slammed into him, feeling her chest plates dig into her scales. With a growl she bit down on his shoulder. Her mouth filled with the salty tang of blood. Her sides burned as the brown Ascended raked his claws down her ribs. The cuts healed almost as fast as they were being inflicted. Even her bite was gone now. Their tails thrashed as they tried to cut each other with the blades attached to them. Bands of energy lashed out from each dragon, twisting and curling in the air.
He snapped at her neck, catching the showy armor and ripping it off. The chainmail on his left flank was dangling in the air. Hers was also all but gone, leaving only the real armor. They separated, trying to gain altitude. The sky was filled with magic as the dragons fought.
Sydin’s voice rang out. “Break the line! Break the line!”
Right, she was to break the line. She shouldered the brown Ascended, forcing it sideways. This earned her a tail blade to the thigh. Too late she tried to block it, as it sliced through the muscle hitting bone. She screamed with pain, but it soon faded as wards healed the wound. The next time he attacked with his tail, Iselin blocked it with the thick metal on the bottom of her feet.
Again she rammed into him, driving him where she wanted to go. A gap was opening in the Iumenta line and they seemed to notice what was going on. The brown and others were trying to reform the line, but it was too late.
There was the sound of crunching wood and a bolt from a ballistae passed by them. Iselin looked down, seeing that the fleets had met. She caught a glimpse of the few Iumenta ships colliding with Elvin ships and stopping fast. But for the most part it was looking to be a slaughter. Most of the enemy ships were human. The ships shattered like glass as the Elvin shipped rammed them. Men jumped overboard trying to avoid arrows.
The air below them filled with flaming missiles fired from ballistae on the Pawdin ships. The dragons tried to keep above the line of fire. Iselin refocused on her job and tried to ignore the scene below.
* * * * *
Barnin settled himself on Umbra’s back yet again. Just on the other side of the spikes that ran the length of her back was Josher, behind him Heath and three other men. Barnin had four behind him, each clinging to a spike. It wasn’t going to be a comfortable trip, they were packed closely together on her back, each man’s head at about armpit level for the one in front of him. Barnin felt a sticking spell suck him into place and he let go of the spike he was holding.
His unit was spread over three dragons, each carrying ten guys. Barnin’s unit was the only human unit that was a part of this mission. There were ten dragons in all, three carrying Barnin’s men and then the other seven carrying Elves. They were going to fly to the beach ahead of landing parties. The dragons would come in close to the ground and use magic to place them behind the town walls of Noris, close to the gates. From there it was a simple plan: open the gates. With Umbra and others wreaking havoc, opening the gates shouldn’t be overly difficult. The hard part was making it to Noris. Between them and the town was the Cona fleet, and a lot of Iumenta dragons.
Josher, who had come a long way since joining Barnin’s unit, looked to be thinking rather hard. “What's on your mind?” Barnin asked.
“Sir, let me get this straight. Just in case, ya know, I didn’t understand what you’ve been telling us in every briefing for, I don’t know, a week. So we,” he motioned to everyone on Umbra’s back, “we are supposed to ride Umbra here to Noris, and then open the front doors and say to our buddies, ‘Let’s level this place.’ But to do that, we are going to fly over the Cona fleet and hope that the other Elvin dragons have opened a hole for our little group here to fly through. And during that time the Iumenta ships are going to be shooting spells and bolts and all that fun stuff at us.”
“That’s about the gist of it, yeah,” Barnin said, smirking.
Josher craned his neck, looking around the deck of the carrier.
“What are you doing?” Barnin asked.
Josher turned back to him. “I’m trying to check out one of the those Elf skirts before we leave. Since we’re gonna die, I want to look at one last beautiful woman before I bite it, ya know?”
All of the men on Umbra laughed, and she twisted her neck to look at Josher.
“What am I not good enough for you?” she teased.
Josher grinned up at her. “Don’t worry hon, you can eat me any time you want,” he said with a wink.
Umbra rolled her eyes and Barnin felt as if he was going to be chucked off her back when she laughed.
A horn sounded on the ship and everyone became serious. It was time for them to leave. Barnin looked up the length of Umbra’s neck, noting all of the dings and scratches up the armor. Today she was only wearing the bare minimum for speed. Barnin went over a mental inventory of his own armor, trying not to think about what would happen if he fell. The spell sticking him to Umbra was strong, but if it failed he would plunge into the water wrapped in metal, and would sink to the bottom like a rock.
The carrier they were on was in the back of the formation. He watched in awe as the rest of the dragons took off, covered in gleaming metal. They would wait until the main body of Ascended were on their way before taking off themselves. There was no smoke in the distance, or the sound of spells and wards colliding, so he figured the fleets hadn’t engaged each other yet.
Umbra unfurled her wings and coiled to take flight. Barnin felt the man next to him tense, never having been on a dragon before. Barnin closed his eyes and felt himself hurled into the sky. When he opened them again, the sea air stung a bit. He looked down at the fleet of carriers sweeping behind him. Umbra was flying lead for her squad, which had been joined by two other dragons that acted as replacements. The ten black dragons slid through the azure sky, their wings rising and falling in unison.
They circled the carrier fleet, waiting for their time to go. In the distance, Barnin heard the sound of thunder, and he looked to see the horizon lighting up with magic. He wondered how people were fairing. Was Legon fighting anyone? Surely, he thought, Iselin was. She’d have been in one of the left formations.
Umbra touched his mind. “The main fleet has engaged the Cona Empire. The ships with landing parties are attempting to skirt around the fighting, they will be free of the main battle soon.” She paused and went on. “In the air, we are winning. The Impa line will break soon. When it does, we will start our approach. They will have figured out by now what we are planning on doing. They may let the line break to get us in close.
“The landing ships have broken away, we will have to make our approach soon, even if the line doesn’t break,” she continued.
A few minutes later Barnin heard her roar and she turned in the sky, angling toward the fight. Barnin turned back to his men. “This is it! Keep your head in the game and try not to lose focus. Things are going to get bumpy until we hit land.”
Umbra was facing the coast, forcing her wings down as fast as she could. Barnin felt the air buffet him as she sped up.
* * * * *
Keither finished checking to make sure their landing ship was packed. He would be going in the third wave, but he wasn’t going to wait until the last moment to prepare. He heard grinding metal above him, but didn’t bother to look up. The ship he was on was making it way around the Cona fleet, without much in the way of resistance. The Pawdin fleet was holding the human and Iumenta forces at bay. Above, the dragons were paying almost no attention to the ships below.
“Why don’t the dragons care about us, and why is Umbra going through that fight?” Sara asked, looking up.
Keither followed her gaze. “It's a different fight. Dragons can move faster than ships, so Barnin and his group can’t just skirt around like us. They need a direct line.”
As he watched the sky, he saw a hole in the Iumenta formation form. He looked west, seeing the all-black Ascended streak through the sky, headed for the hole in the formation. They weaved through the air, avoiding magic and weapons shot from ships. His attention was pulled by a messenger.
“Sir, wave one has broken away and is preparing to drop lines. They will be on shore in twenty minutes,” he said, and ran off.
* * * * *
Barnin’s breath became shorter and shorter the closer they came to the fighting horde of dragons. There was so much light and sound he felt like he was going to get sick. Umbra was focusing completely on what lay ahead. If anything went amiss with Barnin and his men, she’d have no idea.
There was a hole in the group of dragons and Umbra made for it. Barnin was jarred as she pitched and rolled. He looked down, seeing an Elvin ship collide with a human one. The humans jumped from the decks to be pulled down to the bottom of the sea by their armor. Some didn’t jump, but rather were crushed by the ships.
Time was slowing as he took in the skies around him. Light flashed, making little spots pop in his eyes. He thought he saw Ise, but wasn’t sure.
“HANG ON!” he yelled to his men.
As if in response, Umbra turned in the air, rolling over like a corkscrew. An emerald ball passed by. Barnin looked behind them to one of the dragons with Elves on its back. Their armor caught in the day and magic light. A small object that looked like a package floated between Umbra and the rest of her squad. Barnin focused on it, wondering what it was. There was a flash of light and
BOOM
. Barnin saw the black of Umbra’s wards.
“Hang on, we are over the Iumenta, there will be flack,” Umbra said and then disconnected.
Flack?
Barnin wondered as he watched several more packages. They blew up like the first one. This time he saw little trails of something small in the air. Umbra shook with the concussion of the explosion, then the ballistae bolts started whizzing by them.
It was hell in the sky. Barnin felt as though he was going to vomit, so rapid were Umbra’s rolls and turns in the air. One of the other dragons carrying Elves was next to them now. Barnin turned, looking at the figures on the dragon’s back. They didn’t seem shaken or surprised by the happenings. Suddenly, a red Iumenta dragon broke past the Elvin Ascended. Barnin tried to yell a warning to the Elves as if it would change anything, but it couldn’t. He watched helplessly as the red dragon's tail, encased in a blade, slashed down the line of men. Blood and innards hung in space. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from it…
His head hit one of Umbra’s spine as she turned in the air. Barnin felt her whole body tremble as she roared, spewing black fire. As he looked, his face turned warm with the glow of flames, one jet the black of Umbra’s fire mingling with bright blue of an Iumenta dragon.
The Blue Iumenta Dragon slammed into Umbra, knocking the wind out of Barnin. Dots swam in his vision as they fell back. The dragons cartwheeled in the air, biting and clawing at each other. Barnin moved out of the way as one of the Iumenta’s paws reached around Umbra’s shoulder, trying to get purchase. Barnin jerked away as one of the dragon’s blade-extended talons made contact with Umbra’s spine armor. The bladed extension to the beast’s natural claws added another two feet, and they were sharper than any knife or sword Barnin had ever used. The talon squealed along the armor and back up Umbra’s shoulder. It dug into her scales, spraying Barnin with blood. He gasped, worried that she was injured, but once the claw was gone, her body knitted together almost instantly. Fear gripped him. In his current position he was all but useless. He couldn’t even draw his sword.
What could you do to a dragon with a broad sword?
a voice in his head asked. In truth, there was nothing. He was just along for the ride.
Barnin was hyper aware. Umbra’s back was facing down and he took in the ships below them. They were over an Iumenta one, its gray form gliding in the water. On the deck they could see Iumenta running about, pointing ballistae up at them. They fired. The tips of the bolts glowed magenta.
Barnin turned his head to Heath. “What’s with the glow?”
“They have crystals in the tips. When they make contact with a ward they try and break it. Most should glance off Umbra, but if they make direct contact…”
There was a crack as if to bring the message home. A flash of magenta and black blinded him. The bolt’s point glowed hot as it skidded across one of Umbra’s wards. Above the tip, Barnin noticed what looked like spikes, but it passed too quickly. There were more cracks, and he looked down her tail, which was pointed at the ship. Magenta strikes ran up her sides, some making it through her wards to clatter up her body, trying to get purchase. Barnin and his men dodged the best they could. One flashed bright and buried itself at the base of Umbra’s tail. There was an almost instant flash of black, ejecting the projectile with much blood and tissue. It wasn’t a moment too soon. The bolt exploded, sending shimmering trails up her back, and one glowed yellow. The yellow bolt zipped over to Heath. Barnin, craning his neck, looked at him and Josher on the other side of Umbra.
Caught in Heath’s hand was a three-inch spike that looked like the head of a spear. Barnin stared at the spike as Josher yelled, “If one of those went off inside her wards we’d all bite it in a matter of—AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” he screamed.