Ruin of Dragons Read online

  "I'm in, let's go," Gareth said as he slapped the hatch release and made his way forward. The ship was leveling off and lifting out of the trees as he walked into the cockpit and sat down in the copilot seat. Aris turned and was slightly startled. Gareth's skin was flushed an angry red and there was steam rising from his hair. "Nice landing," Gareth said, pushing his goggles back up to his forehead.

  Aris shrugged. "The forest broke the fall." He brought the ship up above tree level and swiveled to bring the escaping dragon into view. "Nice speech," he said.

  "Yeah," Gareth replied, a note of bitterness in his voice. "Didn't work, did it?" He looked to the viewport where the heads-up display showed two green blips overlaid on top of the distant form of the dragon, identifying Mira and Voss. "Stay close," Gareth said, his eyes drawing in tighter. "This one's onto us."

  blind and sting

  Petra opened her eyes and slowly looked around. There had been stillness and silence for at least five minutes, and she hoped that meant whatever had happened was now over. She and her sister were huddled in a corner of the back room, and after another minute she slowly extricated herself and got to her feet.

  "What are you doing?" Viv asked.

  "It's been quiet for a bit," Petra said, starting for the front of the house. "I need to see what's going on."

  "I don't know if that's such a good idea," Viv said, bringing herself to her feet as well and following close behind.

  Petra turned and flashed her sister a wide grin. "Don't worry, if that thing comes back, so will I."

  "What thing?" Viv pressed. When Petra had run in suddenly, pushing her to the back of the room to crouch down in the corner, Viv hadn't even had time to protest as a sudden clap of noise had torn through the house, followed by a low booming roar that had rattled the walls and shaken the foundation. A rumble like thunder had passed over, followed shortly by more shattering crashes, then a gulf of sudden silence. The two hadn't dared move as they waited, looking wide eyed up at the ceiling that Petra had expected to come collapsing down on them at any second. But a minute had passed, then two, with nothing else happening, and Viv had started breathing again.

  "Do you believe in dragons?" Petra asked as they rounded the corner into the front room. Both stopped as a warm breeze blew across their faces. All four windows had shattered, littering the floor and furniture with broken glass. The smell of burning wood was wafting in from outside, and the sounds of commotion could be heard in the distance toward the south end of town.

  "You think a dragon did this?" Viv asked, incredulous, watching her feet as she stepped gingerly across the layer of glass shards covering the floor.

  "No," Petra said, reaching the window first. "A dragon did that."

  Viv stepped up next to her sister and looked where she was pointing. About a block up the road, just off the main street, stood the charred husk of what was once the Post and Mail. Half of the building was missing completely, and what remained was stripped down to only the frame and support pillars, blackened by flame and leaning dangerously inward. Chunks of wood and masonry littered the street around it in a wide radius, and debris could be seen on the roofs of adjacent buildings for at least a block in any direction.

  A half dozen people were scurrying around the wreckage, trying to douse the flames with whatever water was available, all while trying to avoid venturing too far into the perimeter of thick smoke. "My god," Viv said softly. Visible above the rooftops farther to the south were two other similar columns of smoke rising steadily into the sky.

  Petra opened the door and made to step out on the porch, but was caught by the arm over the threshold. "Wait," Viv said sharply, a tight grip on her elbow. Petra turned back to a pair of wide eyes, fear clearly evident on Viv's face, and Petra's rebuke went unspoken. She didn't budge, however, a determined expression on her own face.

  Viv swallowed hard and relaxed her grip. "Be careful," she said.

  Petra surprised her by reaching out and grabbing Viv's arm in return. "Oh no, you're coming with me," she said, dragging her sister out onto the porch and down to the street.

  "What?" Viv asked, stumbling along behind. She may have been older, but Petra was stronger.

  "Come on, we can help," the younger woman said, stopping to turn back to Viv. "Besides," Petra pointed to what was left of the Post and Mail. "If it really is a dragon, we're no safer in the house than out here."

  There was a beat as the other seemed to consider this. "Only you can make something ridiculous sound like it makes sense," Viv said, rolling up her sleeves and falling into step beside the younger woman. As they walked, Viv shook her hands out to loosen them, taking several quick preparatory breaths. The ritual and look on her face were similar to what Petra had seen when they were younger, getting ready to swim in the river when the water was still frigid coming off the mountains. She was preparing to do something that scared her, but something she was determined to do anyway.

  As they approached the burning building, a young man with shaggy red hair separated from the group and stepped toward them. "Viv!" he said, sounding relieved. "Thank god you're okay—"

  "Save it, Colin," Viv said sharply. "Was there anyone inside?"

  "I don't think so, no," he said.

  "Good," she said, pushing through a gap in the line circling the building. "Give me a hand with this water trough." She pointed, and as several people drew in closer, Petra continued on, weaving around chunks of smoking timber and stepping out onto Main Street, where she turned south and promptly stopped in her tracks.

  The Post and Mail was merely the last in a line of damage that trailed all the way to the south edge of town. The covered walk near where she stood was on fire, almost all the way to the corner of Town Center, and there were a handful of people throwing buckets of water up onto it to keep it from spreading. The covered spire of the courthouse bell tower had crumbled down to the support beams, and chunks of brick and stonework littered the ground below. The bell, split nearly in half, sat upended in the center of the cobbled street. There were small fires ranging most of the length of the covered walk along the east side of Main Street, having spread from the last building on the end, the blacksmith workshop, which had been absolutely decimated. Like the Post and Mail, there was little left standing, and its destruction had taken the facades of the two adjacent buildings along with it, punching a crater in the covered walk leading to it. And directly ahead past the edge of town, like the barrel of a gun, the smoking black hole in the treeline stood where the dragon had emerged from the forest.

  All along the street people were scurrying in every direction, some exiting cautiously from homes or shops, surveying the damage, others working in groups, carrying away debris or dismantling unstable sections of buildings. Petra didn’t see anyone wounded or otherwise tended to, so either there were few or they had already been taken to shelter. Everyone who was out seemed to be moving with a purpose, and though there was a general buzz of conversation at a level more frenzied than normal, the initial shock of the whole situation seemed to have passed. There was an air of urgency that hung over everything, and every person she could see seemed to have the same resolute expression in the set of their jaw.

  She started working her way south along the street, watching the bustle of people, looking for a gap she could step into. She stopped as she came to the bell lying in the center of the main intersection and looked down at it. She couldn't remember ever actually hearing it rung, and now it lied broken in the middle of the street.

  She looked up as two people came out of the courthouse helping a third who was limping. She was about to step forward to see if there was anyone else inside when she was suddenly pushed from behind. She stumbled a bit, caught her balance, then spun around—

  "Errol!" she said, looking up at the large black horse looming over her. "I'm sorry! I completely forgot about you, are you okay?" She looked him over, and while
he seemed to be covered in a fine layer of dirt, she couldn't find any cuts, scrapes, or anything else untoward.

  Errol shook his head a bit, then nuzzled Petra like an affectionate pet, painting a layer of saliva across her face that she quickly wiped off with her sleeve. "Well you seem okay," she said, patting him on the cheek. "Been an eventful day, huh?"

  Petra climbed up on the horse's back and turned back to the group attempting to extinguish the Post and Mail. "Viv!" she called, getting her sister's attention. "Errol found me and I need to take him home."

  Viv's eyes were still wide, but she nodded sharply. "Be careful," she said.

  "I'll be back soon," Petra said, then turned Errol and started for the south end of town. As the horse trotted its way down the busy street, she could see people looking up into the air. Several pointed, and Petra followed their gaze.

  Far above, barely more than a black spot against the sky was a winged serpentine shape making its way steadily north toward the mountains. She watched for a moment until its path brought it in front of the sun directly overhead, forcing her to avert her eyes. She looked back down to Errol, made a clicking noise between her teeth and urged him into a faster trot.

  • • •

  The wind blustered across Mira's back as she clung precariously to the dragon's thick hide, her wrist and boot hooks clamped around the creature's scales as tightly as she could manage. She had held her position, waiting to see what it would do, but after a moment it seemed her presence had not been detected, as the creature had started winging its way lazily toward the mountains after finding its altitude and leveling off. Mira risked a glance around. The town of Turic was passing by far below, and behind them the black shape of Vermithrax was visible, keeping a safe distance.

  She was huddled against the creature's side, just behind the right wing. Lifting her head, she carefully climbed up and onto the back, finding Voss already there, crouched just left of the creature's spine. Mira caught the dwarf's eyes as she sidled up next to her.

  "So what's the plan, princess?" Voss asked, looking forward toward the head that was bobbing slowly up and down with each stroke of the great wings. "She doesn't seem to know we're here."

  Mira nodded. "That's what worries me. This one's been unconventional from the start, so I'm trying not to expect this to go too smoothly."

  "You're a regular ray of sunshine," Voss smirked. "We should probably take advantage of the level playing field, though. I'll ready the Sting." She patted the rectangular device attached to the front of her torso plate.

  "Looks like you get off easy this time," Mira said. "I'll wait to move on your mark. Once I reach the neck, she'll know we're here."

  Voss nodded, crawled over to the center of the back just below the shoulder blades and crouched low, positioning the device directly over the spine. Pressing a catch on the top, a series of hooks extended from the device and embedded themselves between the scales, snapping under and locking it to the surface of the creature's skin and releasing it from Voss's torso plate. She keyed activation, which armed the device and inserted an epidural injector through the skin directly into the spinal cord. When triggered, it would release a neuroinhibitor that would block all motor functions and effectively render the creature inert.

  "Sting is in place," Voss said, stretching herself out prone behind the device. She dug her heels in as securely as she could, braced herself, and tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible. "Ready," she said.

  Mira nodded, looking forward. She spent a few seconds watching the head rise and fall, taking note of the rhythm. If she timed it right, she could do this in one single movement. Taking a deep breath, she tensed herself and did what probably no sane dragonrider would dare.

  She stood up.

  Looking down, she found Voss staring wide eyed up at her. "Hold on tight," she breathed, then sprang forward in a shot, bolting off toward the dragon's head. Four quick bounds up the spine brought her to the top of the shoulders, where she planted both feet and leapt straight out into the open.

  For a handful of heartbeats, the world slowed to a crawl. She soared open-armed over the length of the creature's neck, which had dipped down as the wings lifted. Mira could see the muscles rippling under the skin as the neck undulated, bringing the head back up as the wings beat down powerfully.

  Mira's timing was precise, and she collided with the neck at the base of the skull as it rose up into her path. She pressed herself flush with the skin, clamping her legs around its neck and slapping the release on the device attached to her own torso plate. She had time to do nothing further as the world flipped suddenly sideways.

  The dragon reared back completely, twisting its head to the side in several abrupt snaps. Having not yet gained a decent foothold, Mira was tossed violently off the creature's neck, saved only by the fact that she still had a hold on the device that had just secured itself to the back of the dragon's head, and she swung around to dangle one-handed under the creature's chin. She was losing her grip, but the dragon had reoriented itself vertically and was now flying straight up. She let go, swiveled in midair and managed to grab onto the underside of the neck, her hooks digging in between the large flat scales there.

  It twisted, trying to snap its jaws at Mira, but she wasn't far enough down the neck for it to do anything more than hiss at her. Trying a new tack, the dragon flipped backward, looping head over tail to point itself back toward the ground. Mira was slung around like a rag doll as the creature dove straight down. Curling up on itself, the dragon pulled its hind legs forward and attempted to dislodge the elf with a series of furious kicks.

  Hanging against the underside of the creature's throat, Mira let go, rolled sideways to avoid the great taloned claws and found herself falling up toward the creature's shoulder. Grabbing with both hands, she caught hold at the base of the right wing and flipped herself around until she was sprawled across its back between the shoulder blades.

  As the dragon continued to dive, she secured her foothold tight and held still, hoping the creature would think it had dislodged her. Lifting her head, she looked back at Voss, who was still clinging tenaciously at the ribcage. "Still with me?" Mira asked.

  "I hate upside down!" Voss yelled, and Mira agreed, feeling the blood rushing painfully upward. After a moment, she once again began to make her way toward the creature's head. She hadn't moved two feet, however, before the dragon decided to right itself, spreading its wings wide and rolling forward. Mira watched the ground rise up disorientingly over her head as the creature flipped over and was once again winging its way straight up.

  "If I throw up in this helmet, you get to wear it next!" Voss shouted.

  Mira took a breath and started to climb. Slowly, cautiously, she ascended until she was once again at the base of the neck. Tensing to spring, she looked up toward the head, preparing herself, but froze as the dragon convulsed suddenly. The neck bent, and a violent spasm ran through the creature as it seemed to buck in midair. Her eyes widened as the tail came into view over the shoulder, whipping up and directly toward her—

  Voss felt the creature tense up and spasm, heard a loud crack above her, and looked up just in time to see the elf's limp form falling straight towards her. Mira collided bodily with Voss, knocking her loose from her foothold and sending both of them tumbling backward down the creature's spine. The world spun crazily as Voss desperately grabbed out for anything she could get a grip on.

  Her right wrist hook managed to catch in the dragon's scales at the base of the tail just above the hind legs as her left hand found Mira's wrist, and she grabbed onto her as tightly as possible.

  Voss screamed out as she slammed violently to an abrupt halt, both arms wrenched in opposite directions. She looked down. Though she had managed to catch Mira, one of the elf's climbing hooks had sliced into Voss's bracer in the process, piercing straight through her wrist. Blood was trickling down to her hand and she cou
ld feel her grip beginning to slip.

  "Mira!" she shouted. "Come on blondie, talk to me!" But there was no response. Mira's head flopped back, and Voss could see closed eyes and a mouth hanging slack.

  There was a shudder and she looked up. The dragon had shifted and one of Voss's hooks had come loose as the hide flexed. The remaining hooks they were hanging from would soon come loose completely.

  "Don't do this to me, I need your help," the dwarf pleaded as she looked back down to Mira's motionless form, torn. Not many had ever successfully brought down a dragon singlehandedly, and Voss had only cross-trained in the lead rider position a total of once. But there was no way they'd get to try again if they let this one go now. She had to press on.

  She clenched her teeth and pulled her left arm toward her, twisting her wrist to excise Mira's hook, shouting out with the sudden sharp pain. Letting her arm go straight, Mira's weight once again yanked against her, loosening her hook's grip on the dragon's hide even more.

  "I'm sorry," she said softly as she let Mira go.

  • • •

  "Ah, hell," Aris said as one of the green blips on his display separated from the dragon and dropped straight down. "Castle!" Voss's voice cut through. "Flip her chute, she's unconscious!"

  Aris hit the switch that would have remotely activated Mira's parachute, but only received an angry red warning light in reply. "Not responding," he said, punching the engines and angling toward the figure now dropping out of the sky. "What happened?"

  "The beast slashed at her with its tail," Voss's voice came back. "Knocked her out and may have damaged the pack."

  "We'll get her," Aris said. "You keep going; we're not going to get another chance at this one."

  "Copy that," Voss's voice said.