Dragonbound: Blue Dragon (6 page)

"Is he all right?" Kanvar asked through his own pain. He knew Devaj felt everything his dragon did. Blood still seeped from the punctures on his chest where Dharanidhar had attacked the gold.

"He's too weak to fly. But if the humans don't get him, he should recover. I smell blood, yours and Dharanidhar's. Are you hurt?" Devaj tried to squeezed a protective arm around Kanvar's shoulders, but was blocked by Kanvar's crossbow and bolts. Kanvar shuddered and tried to twist the sword blade so the flat side lay against his leg instead. He only succeeded in cutting himself more.

Devaj's mind slipped into Kanvar's thoughts and he understood Kanvar's sudden panic. If the dragon tightened his hand any more the sword could sever Kanvar's right leg. "Not good," Devaj muttered. "Very not good. But don't worry. Father's on his way."

Devaj's words were meant to be reassuring, but a spike of fear seeped from Devaj's brain. Amar and his mighty gold would be no match against the full flight of blue dragons, and Dharanidhar was far too hurt and angry to listen to reason.

Out over the mist-covered hills, Kanvar thought he saw a flash of gold. Then the closest mountain reached out and tore Dharanidhar from the sky.

The blinded dragon never saw the rocky precipice that jutted up in front of him. His left wing struck it full-force. The impact spun him around and sent him head-first into a towering tree that grew up the side of the precipice. Wood crunched and splintered beneath the dragon's falling body. Leaves and vines flashed past Kanvar, and he ducked to keep from being speared by a splintered tree limb. With a thunderous crash and bellow of rage and pain, Dharanidhar hit the ground on a wide shelf halfway down the cliff face.

The impact forced his claw open.

Devaj rolled out of Dharanidhar's grasp, carrying Kanvar with him.

Dharanidhar let out a gout of searing blue flame, torching the remains of the tree above them.

Devaj jumped to his feet and dragged Kanvar away from the crazed dragon.

"Stop!" Kanvar screamed. Devaj had his eye on Kanvar and Dharanidhar and not the sudden drop off behind him. Devaj's foot went off the edge, and he slipped down. Kanvar let go of his father's sword and grabbed Devaj's arm, stopping his fall. Devaj hung precariously for a moment, his greater weight threatening to pull both of them off the cliff until Devaj jammed his foot into the pitted volcanic rock and manage to scramble back up to safety. If one could call facing off with a furious Great Blue dragon safe.

Dharanidhar's left wing hung at his side, the main bone broken. Blood and mucus seeped from his wounded eye. The palm of his right claw gushed blood where the sword had cut into it. He reared up and screamed in rage and licked at the wound with his long forked tongue.

Kanvar felt a sudden pressure on his own hurt leg and realized that Devaj had torn off his shirt and was wrapping it tight around the slice on the side of Kanvar's thigh. "Too bad we can't get him to lick this," Devaj muttered as he unfastened his belt, pulled the sheath free and used the leather belt to secure the shirt more tightly around Kanvar's leg. He cleaned the sword, sheathed it, and fastened it to Kanvar's belt instead.

Barely aware of Devaj's hurried actions to save his life, Kanvar watched the Great Blue dragon in shock as the cut on Dharanidhar's claw sealed over. Kanvar had learned as a child that Great Dragon saliva could heal wounds, but he'd never imagined it could work so fast. He noticed that the punctures on Devaj's chest had stopped bleeding as well and wondered if it was because Devaj's dragon had got to shore and licked the wounds closed.

Dharanidhar put his claw down and leaned forward. He sniffed the air and then turned his great head toward Devaj and Kanvar.
You've stopped running. I guess that means you have nowhere to go.

Dharanidhar's words boomed into Kanvar's mind. Kanvar winced, and Devaj put a steadying hand on Kanvar's stumpy left arm. A sharp pain speared through his arm at Devaj's touch. Kanvar cried out. He must have broken his arm when the dragon crashed.

"Not, not, not good," Devaj said, pulling his hand back from Kanvar's arm.

What's that, little Naga
? Dharanidhar said.
You don't want to die?
Dharanidhar let out a deep growl and opened his jaws. They were big enough he could snap Devaj and Kanvar up together and it would only make half a mouthful for him. But he kept his face out of sword range this time.

"Dharanidhar, please," Devaj said. "We have no quarrel with you. Let us go."

Your little brat blinded me. Me. Leader of the Great Blue dragons
. Dharanidhar snatched Devaj into the air and shook him.
I'm going to kill you so slowly and painfully that every Naga on this continent will feel your torture.

Fear for his brother forced Kanvar to sit up. He unstrapped his crossbow, reached down, and hooked the stirrup onto his right foot. He'd never loaded a crossbow sitting down before, but he had to try. He leaned forward and got the gaffle onto the string while Dharanidhar pressed the tip of his very sharp claw against Devaj's chest.

Kanvar leaned back, pulling the string tight, and guiding it into the catch despite the hot pain it caused his wounded leg.

Dharanidhar's claw pressed into Devaj's chest. Devaj screamed.

Kanvar got the bolt into the track, lifted the bow and aimed at the dragon. He knew a light bow like this would never send a bolt hard enough to penetrate Dharanidhar's scales. He could shoot for the eyes again and hope the bolt went deep into the dragon's brain, but the angle was wrong. The bolt would only glance off the eye ridges. That left only one target, the inside of Dharanidhar's gaping mouth. It wouldn't seriously injure him, but might get him to drop Devaj and come after Kanvar instead.

But something else pulled Dharanidhar's attention away from Devaj.

A dark shadow covered Kanvar, and he looked behind him to see a Great Blue dragon glide down to land beside Dharanidhar. The mountain shelf barely had room for the two dragons to glare at each other nose-to-nose.

The new dragon spread its great wings and reared up so it could use its front claws. He was huge. Not as big as Dharanidhar, but almost, and in the full splendor of his prime, not grizzled and scarred. Young and strong and vicious. Kanvar swallowed. He'd seen pictures of this in Raza's dragon book. The blue dragons fought constantly among themselves for status in the blue dragon ranks. A fight for the top position always went to the death, and the new arrival was posturing himself in challenge.

Problem with your wing, Dharanidhar?
The new dragon's question cut through Kanvar's mind.

Dharanidhar growled, spread his good wing, and dropped Devaj. Devaj's head thumped against the stone as he hit the ground, and he lay in a crumpled heap, unmoving where Kanvar couldn't get to him.
Nothing that won't heal quickly, Abhavasimha.

Abhavasimha let out a deep booming laugh. He moved at the same time, the sound of his movement covered by the noise of his laugh. He lunged forward and sank his claws into Dharanidhar's chest. The strike penetrated the scales and went deep enough Abhavasimha could wrap his talons around Dharanidhar's heart.

Dharanidhar froze, a breath away from death.
You plan to kill me without a proper challenge, Abhavasimha? I imagine the others are watching. They'll take you down like a pack of black monkeys on a kitrat.

Kanvar looked over his shoulder, but no other blue dragons were near. He saw flashes of blue fire and sparkling gold far off in the distance.

No one is here
, Abhavasimha said.
It's just you and I. Lucky for you. You're old, Dharanidhar, past your prime. And now you are fully blind. Your wing might heal, but your eye will not. I'm going to give you this one chance to step aside and turn the leadership over to me. If you willingly go into exile. I won't have to kill you. You know you can't defeat me now in a real challenge.

Dharanidhar's jaws parted in a pant of fear, but Kanvar sensed his ancient and cunning mind working out all the possibilities. Dharanidhar lowered his head and dropped his wing in submission, while in the darkest recesses of his mind he planned to return someday and defeat Abhavasimha in combat.

You are right, I am too old
, Dharanidhar said.
Tell the others I've withdrawn myself from the pride. I'll turn leadership over to you and go into exile.

A very good choice
. Abhavasimha eased his claw out of Dharanidhar's chest and let Dharanidhar lick the wound closed.

And what do we have here?
Abhavasimha lifted Devaj's limp form from the ground.
Looks like the young Naga princling.
He let out a bellowing laugh.
Such a fine prize
.
Thank you Dharanidhar.
He spread his wings, leapt into the air, and shot away.

Kanvar had no one left between him and Dharanidhar.

The small crossbow would not save him from the dragon's wrath. Kanvar fired anyway while Dharanidhar's head was still turned, listening to Abhavasimha fly away. The bolt struck the roof of Dharanidhar's mouth and buried itself in the bone beyond the fleshy part of the palate. Dharanidhar bellowed and pawed at his mouth.

Kanvar sensed Dharanidhar's sharp pain as if it had been in Kanvar's own mouth much like he'd felt the sting of the razor beetle on the camdor. Ignoring the pain, Kanvar slung the crossbow into place on his back and tightened it down. Then he eased his body over the side of the cliff, feeling for the footholds that Devaj had used to keep from falling.

His foot found a place, but the sword cut made his leg give out beneath him, and he slid down the cliff face. His right arm tore at vines and roots as he went down. Finally his fingers caught hold of a large vine. He slid along it until he got his hand wrapped around it and stopped his fall.

"This has not been the best day of my life," he muttered as he hung against the rough stone. Thick jungle waited below him. The vine he held hung almost to the top of the trees, but not quite.

Dharanidhar's head appeared above him. Blind eyes staring down. Ears listening. Nose sniffing. He let out a low grumble.
I know you're down there. I've got your scent now. I will hunt you to the ends of the world. And when I catch you, you will pay for what you have done to me.
He drew in a deep breath, readying to flame.

"I guess this hasn't been the best day of your life either," Kanvar said, loosening his hold on the vine a little so he slid toward the trees. A spurt of superheated blue flame followed him down. Kanvar let go at the last moment and twisted in the air so the flame hit the dragonscale armor on his back instead of his unprotected head.
I knew I should have made gauntlets and a helmet
, Kanvar thought as he fell the last few feet into the tree branches.

The lush vegetation slowed his fall, but bruised and battered him before he came to rest on a tree branch. He clung to the branch with his good arm, and rested his cheek against the smooth bark. Below him a river wound its way through the trees and down the mountain toward the ocean. His heart beat hard and he licked the sweat of fear from his lips. He'd escaped a Great Blue dragon. Got away with his life. Unbelievable. His mind twisted in fear for his brother. Devaj had not been so lucky.

A chorus of frogs struck up a vibrant cacophony of croaks. A flock of scaly macaws returned to the tree to feed on the purple berries that grew between the broad green leaves and colorful flowers. Kanvar's head throbbed, and he shivered. The jungle seemed colder than he'd ever known it. The musty scent of the orange mushrooms that grew on the tree made him gag. Water dripped from the upper branches onto the back of his neck.

He stared down into the river and wondered if any Great Black dragons lurked beneath the banks. Here and there the fin of a silver and orange fish rippled the surface.

You can't stay here forever
, Kanvar told himself. But he remained in place.
Try to remember your training
, he scolded himself.
You know how to survive in the jungle. Just think. What to do first
. But his brain remained painfully blank. He hurt too much—his broken stump of a left arm, the cut in his leg, his throbbing head, and the jungle growing colder and colder as the filtered green sunlight dimmed into evening.

In alarm he pushed himself to sit up. The jungle never got colder at night, not like the deserts of Varna. He shivered again, taken with a chill he couldn't explain.

He heard a faint scratching sound from the rock above him and looked up. The thick canopy blocked his view of the cliff he'd come down. The croaking frogs went silent. The macaws took to the air, rustling the leaves as they flapped away. Kanvar shivered. Sweat trickled down his face.

Danger
, his mind screamed. Yet he could not see it. Could not hear it.

Then he felt it. The presence of the Great Blue dragon clinging to the cliff face just above him, readying to strike through the canopy. Dharanidhar had climbed stealthily down after Kanvar, hunting him as deftly as any skilled dragon hunter ever went after a dragon.

Dharanidhar dropped through the branches, his jaws open to catch Kanvar unprepared.

Chapter Five