Firestorm (9 page)

With feeling returning to his extremities and the pain receding with every stride, Elian progressively leaned less on Kira. His hands and feet felt as if they were being repeatedly pricked with
a million needles whilst roasting in a hot oven, but he knew the sensation would pass. By the time they reached the outer edge of the woods the worst of it was over, but to Elian’s dismay
Kira’s dragon was nowhere to be seen.

A sudden bright flare from behind lit the countryside around them with an extraordinary golden light. Cries of wonder from the dragonhunters quickly turned to yowls of dismay and pain. Elian
began to turn, but Kira stopped him.

‘Don’t look. If you do, you won’t be able to see properly for a long time. Come on. Let’s get out of here. Give me a moment and I’ll give you a hand up.’

She unhooked his arm from round her neck and, to Elian’s total astonishment, she seemed to climb into the air in front of him. He blinked in amazement as she twisted into a sitting
position seemingly suspended in midair. She offered him her hand.

‘Come on. What are you waiting for? Fang says we must go. Now! The strange one has realised you’ve gone. He’s coming.’

Still not quite believing his eyes, Elian grabbed her hand and tentatively raised his foot only to find what he thought to be thin air was in fact solid dragon. The camouflage was superb. He
could have walked within a handspan of Longfang and never seen him. A few mind-boggling heartbeats later he was seated behind Kira. He could feel the ridge between them, but even holding it, he
could not see the dragon.

‘Have you ridden bareback before?’ Kira whispered.

‘Once.’

‘Well hold tight then. A dusk dragon’s best defence is its camouflage. It’s effective, but flying when you can’t see your ride takes a bit of getting used to.’

Elian did not doubt it. He felt himself lifted higher as Longfang stood up. Then they turned away from the line of the trees and Kira glanced back over her shoulder.

‘Here we go,’ she warned.

Elian’s recent experience flying on Aurora proved invaluable during the next few heartbeats. The initial surge of acceleration was abrupt, but familiar. He felt the first downward sweep of
the dragon’s wings and a sense of exultation rushed through his stomach. They had done it. They had escaped the dragonhunters.

Chapter Eight

Husam’s skin prickled as Kasau appeared next to him at the eastern edge of the woods. He had not heard the hunter approaching. How did the man move so silently? The
ground was littered with twigs and leaves, but Kasau seemed able to breeze across any surface as if walking on air. It was eerie.

The golden dawn dragon paced back and forth about a hundred paces from the tree line, just out of range for a spear throw. This dragon is either very canny, or very stupid, he thought. She
turned again, lashing her tail with anger and apparent frustration. It was unusual. She had drawn attention to herself, allowing them time to get into position. Most dragons would have charged into
the trees by now.

‘She’s waiting for the sun to rise,’ he heard Kasau whisper. ‘Whatever she’s going to do, she’ll do it as the sun breaks the horizon.’

The moment was imminent. The eastern sky was brightening by the heartbeat.

‘Another dragon!’

Kasau’s exclamation was little more than a whisper, but it caught Husam’s attention. His head turned instantly to see where Kasau was looking. The strange hunter had stiffened, but
to Husam’s surprise his eyes did not appear to be focused. It was as if he were in a trance.

The hairs on the back of Husam’s neck prickled again and he instinctively made a warding gesture he had been taught as a child.

‘Gods, but this is a wily one!’ Kasau breathed. ‘She’s not coming in after her rider. She’s got someone else to do it for her.’

Suddenly Kasau’s eyes refocused and his head whipped round. His gaze pierced Husam with a chilling intensity.

‘Husam – you’re with me. Bring Tembo. Quickly!’

Husam had more sense than to question the order. He scrambled through the undergrowth to where Tembo was waiting.

‘She’s beginning to glow!’ the big man said in a hoarse whisper. ‘Look, Husam. Can you see? Isn’t she beautiful?’

Husam did cast a lightning glance at the dragon. Tembo was right. It was almost as if the dragon were beginning to illuminate from within, but he knew better than to get distracted.

‘Tembo, we have to go. Kasau wants us. Now. Bring your weapons.’

The big man grumbled for a moment, but did as he was told. Soon the two were racing through the trees towards the campsite. When they arrived, they found Kasau examining the remains of the cords
with which he had tied the young dragonrider. The cords had been cut. No dragon could do such a thing. This was the work of a human accomplice.

‘This way,’ Kasau said softly. ‘Be ready. There’s another dragon nearby.’

‘How—?’ Tembo began.

Husam signalled his friend to silence and they moved to follow Kasau. From behind them a sudden flare of light blazed, dividing into slices of golden fire through the trees. An instant later
there followed cries of pain and dismay from their fellow hunters. Husam and Tembo instinctively turned. By chance, they were both in the shade of trees as they looked towards the light. Had the
tree trunks not shielded them, they would have been temporarily blinded. When Husam checked to see if Kasau had been less fortunate, he was amazed to find that the strange man had not stopped. The
quiet hunter had kept his focus ahead and was still moving forwards.

‘Just inhuman!’ he marvelled as he and Tembo did their best to catch up with Kasau’s silent charge through the trees.

They reached the edge of the woods and for a moment Husam thought he was witnessing some sort of powerful witchcraft. The young dragonrider was floating in midair behind a girl of similar age.
Beneath them the air shimmered like a heat-haze as they accelerated away from the stand of trees.

Kasau did not pause. He ran forwards and launched his spear in a mighty throw towards the escaping prisoner and his rescuer. It arced high into the air, almost seeming to hang in the sky before
slowly dipping point downwards and plummeting towards its target.

The spear missed the two human figures, but struck the hazy blur beneath and behind them. A mighty roar of pain split the air and a charcoal-grey dragon materialised from the haze. The spear was
stuck firmly in its flank. The two riders turned and looked down at the spear. Even at this range, Husam could see the horror on their faces. It was not a mortal wound, but the spear had penetrated
deep through the dragon’s scales.

They were airborne and climbing now, well beyond spear range. Kasau turned and made eye contact first with Husam, and then with Tembo.

‘Why are you still holding spears?’ he asked, his soft voice dangerous and his strange eyes flashing with anger. ‘We could have brought that dragon down there and then.
Don’t you want to be rich? The stakes just increased. Instead of one rare dragon, we’re now hunting two.’

‘But the dusk dragon has a rider . . .’

‘As does the dawn dragon. Did that stop us? Are you blind? The dusk dragon’s rider is also very young. The dusk dragon enclave is thousands of leagues away. What are the odds that
she’s already been there and back? Virtually nil. That means both riders are unknown to their enclaves. The risks involved in hunting two dragons are little greater than in hunting one. What
were you thinking of?’

Neither Husam nor Tembo answered, but both had similar thoughts. Yes, the stakes were greater, but so was their unease with Kasau’s leadership. He was hiding something. How had he known of
the second dragon? Was he a shaman or a wizard? What was his secret?

Is it too late to pull out? Husam wondered to himself. But they had restrained the young dragon-rider with a view to killing his dragon. That alone was a capital offence. Now Kasau had wounded a
second dragon that had a rider. They were committed. It would be best to make the kills quickly and move on before anyone discovered the truth.

The dusk dragon turned and flew back towards them, meeting up with the dawn dragon overhead, way up out of reach of any weapon.

‘Go and gather the others,’ Kasau ordered, his eyes following the path of the two dragons. ‘We need to break camp quickly. They’re heading north. There’s nothing in
that direction but open savannah. The dusk dragon won’t fly far with that wound. If we ride hard, we can end this tonight.’

Fang’s roar of pain and his loss of camouflage sent fear deep into Elian’s heart. When he looked back and saw the weapon sticking out of the dragon’s thigh,
his heart sank. Would Fang be able to fly?

Then they were airborne and climbing, and Elian saw Kasau with two other hunters, watching them. Even though they were a good distance away, Elian fancied he could see Kasau’s expression
of frustration. As they gained height, they circled back towards the woods. They passed over the treetops safely above the reach of the most powerful of bows. As they did so, Aurora drew in
alongside them and the two dragons turned north.

‘
Are you all right, Elian?’

‘I’m fine, thanks, Ra,’
he thought back.
‘But Fang’s hurt. Can you tell how bad it is?’

‘It’s not good. The weapon moves in the wound with every wingbeat. He’s in a lot of pain.’

‘Is there anything we can do?’
Elian asked anxiously.

‘We? No, but there are those who can,’
Ra answered. ‘
For now Fang will concentrate on getting as far from the hunters as he can. There will be time to arrange healing
later.’

‘While I was escaping with Kira there was a flood of light. What did you do?’
he asked.

‘Let’s just say that I gave the hunters a glimpse of my full glory,’
Ra replied cryptically.

Hearing Ra’s thoughts was reassuring. Despite her obvious concern for Fang’s wound, she sounded unflustered. Her calm, matter-of-fact voice in his head gave Elian a warm feeling of
safety, though he knew they were not out of danger yet.

The dragons beat a measured time with their wings, and the further they flew, the more Elian’s heart soared. The wind-rush in his ears and the feel of it combing his hair felt even more
special today than it had on his first flight. They did not climb very high, as neither Kira nor Elian were dressed to survive the cold. It seemed to Elian that they were flying faster than they
had yesterday. At their current speed he felt they should be safe from the hunters in quick time.

‘It’s a visual illusion, Elian,’
Ra explained.
‘When we were up high your field of view was far greater. Down here we cannot see as far, so the ground appears
to rush past faster. We’re actually flying far slower than we did the other day.’

‘Oh, right. I see,’
Elian replied, feeling rather foolish.

After a short while he tapped Kira on the shoulder, thinking to thank her properly. She twisted to see what he wanted.

It was the first time Elian had seen Kira’s face clearly. Instantly, he realised she was a tribes-woman. Four circular white paint dots described a shallow concave arc under each of her
eyes. Below the dots a diagonal slash of bright red paint ran downwards and outwards across her cheeks. Elian did not know enough about the southern tribes to identify the markings. Her thick black
hair was drawn back and plaited. Deep brown eyes framed by long dark lashes regarded him with an expectant gaze.

‘Kira, I just wanted to say thank you,’ he began. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t more help. I owe you.’

‘Don’t thank me,’ she replied. ‘I didn’t want to get involved. Fang insisted. Now he’s hurt. Do you know that when your dragon is hurt, you feel his pain?
I’m beginning to understand exactly what being a dragonrider means.’ Her voice held no warmth.

‘No, I didn’t know the bond worked that way. I’m sorry. Have you been with Fang long?’ Elian realised as soon the question left his lips that he was asking the obvious,
and he mentally kicked himself. In her current mood, Kira’s reaction was predictable and instant.

‘What do you think?’ she snapped. ‘Do I look like I’m an old hand? If you must know, I first met with him about ten days ago.’

‘Then you
are
an old hand,’ Elian said, with a grin meant to disarm. ‘I only met Ra two days ago.’

Kira ignored his peace effort, her eyes going distant. Her voice was cold with bitterness as she continued. ‘I kept our bonding a secret for two days, but it couldn’t last.
Eventually Fang insisted I leave to find something called the Oracle. I was three days from home when Aurora called for help. I was surprised when Fang agreed. All he’d talked about was
getting to the Oracle quickly, yet as soon as Aurora called he insisted we come.’

Elian felt her accusatory gaze burning into him, but he did not want to show further weakness by looking away. Chance had brought them together. They were both facing similar challenges.
A
difficulty shared is more easily overcome,
his mother had always said. But above all, he needed a friend now he was a long way from home.