The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (68 page)

“The Lord’s forest,” Sovann said from just
behind her. Pushing his horse forward he gazed down at the trees
for a long moment then looked over to her. “If not for the trees
you could see the walls of the city, Jala. We are less than a day
out now.” His voice was quiet and his gaze returned to the forest
the moment he had finished speaking.

“Are you all right, Sovann?” Wisp asked, her
voice filled with concern. It was no secret that the Fae had grown
very close with Sovann and Jala was amazed the two weren’t already
sharing a tent with the way they acted.

“My mother and sisters are in the city,”
Sovann said softly.

“Will they fight us?” Valor asked from Jala’s
other side. The knight had been riding beside her all morning and
though there hadn’t been much conversation between them, his
company alone had been enough to keep Jala’s spirits up.

“My mother and sisters?” Sovann asked in
shock, and then quickly shook his head. “No, they don’t fight. My
little sister is only ten, and my older sister has never fought a
day in her life,” Sovann explained quickly.

“Then there is nothing to worry about. If
they don’t fight. We won’t kill them,” Valor assured him, though
Jala doubted the words did much to ease Sovann’s concerns.

“Can you form a mind link with them and tell
them to get out of the city?” Wisp asked hopefully.

Sovann shook his head with a frown on his
face as they continued down the slope at a slow walk. “My mother is
a ward of House Avanti. She wears a slave chain because the High
Lord didn’t trust her to obey him when she arrived. She can’t leave
the city or he will kill her with it. My father tried to sneak her
from the city once when they were young, or so my mother says, and
she nearly died from the punishment.” Sovann let out a harsh breath
and shrugged.

“That explains why your father serves House
Avanti. I had wondered about that,” Jala said quietly, her eyes
moving to the forest once more. She wished she could offer him some
solace, but the memory of how many she had mistakenly killed during
the attack on Sanctuary kept her mouth closed on the matter. Less
than a day and she would break House Avanti. Less than a day and
Sovann might watch his family die. Shaking her head at the thought,
she resisted the urge to gaze behind her to where her own family
rode in the supply wagons. Her mother, her little brother, and her
son all as safe as she could make them. If she were in Sovann’s
place, could she still fight, knowing those she cared for would die
if her spells brought down the wrong building.

You think too much
, Marrow scolded
gently.

Jala smiled faintly and her attention turned
to the two Bendazzi that were ranging in the field beyond the
horses.
I don’t think I could do it
, Jala admitted through
the link.

The ones that truly matter to Sovann are
riding beside him. He may love his mother and sisters, but he loves
Wisp and his friends more
, Marrow said firmly.

Jala glanced to her side long enough to watch
Wisp take Sovann’s hand as they rode and smiled.
You may be
right
, she told Marrow and let the mental link fade between
them.

A deafening roar rose in the distance ahead
of them, sending birds scattering from the forest ahead. Jala
pulled her horse to a stop beside her friends and looked over to
Valor. “What the hell was that?” she asked.

Valor frowned, his eyes on the distant
horizon. Lifting one gauntleted hand he pointed toward the distant
sky. “Dragon,” he answered quietly.

Jala stared in the direction he indicated and
frowned at the tiny dark shape in the sky. “Are you sure that’s a
dragon? Surely we couldn’t have heard it that loudly when it’s
still that far away. If that little speck is a dragon it must be
thirty miles from us,” she objected, then turned in her saddle at
the sound of quickly approaching horses behind them. She recognized
Nigel in the lead of the small group of riders, but the others she
had never gotten a chance to meet. His small group had hid
themselves among the camp followers in the guise of merchants and
she had never sought them out personally.

“Dragon,” Valor repeated with a wink as she
turned back in her saddle to stare once more at the quickly
approaching threat.

Nigel pulled his horse to a stop beside the
company of knights that rode behind her small group and Jala
watched him dismount and casually toss his reins to one of the
Arovan. Walking forward he stopped beside Jala’s horse and smiled
up at her. “I believe this will be an issue that would best be
dealt with by me and mine,” Nigel said with a tight smile.

“Margundrak,” another man said as he
approached, his eyes on the distant sky. He was dark haired and
tall with broad shoulders. The black suit he wore nearly matched
Nigel’s fine clothes in appearance and looked more appropriate for
a fine dinner in the city than riding to battle. Like Nigel, he
wore the dark sunglasses to hide his draconic eyes. Raising a hand
slowly to his jaw he ran a hand across his neatly trimmed beard and
glanced over his shoulder. “Girls, I believe this might require
your help as well. Vosha, you may stay and wait with the High Lady
in the event that there is trouble here.” He spoke with calm
authority and at his words, three beautifully gowned women
approached. Jala stared in amazement at the jewel toned dresses
they wore and wondered how they had managed to stay so perfectly
clean.

Nigel let out a long breath and patted Jala
on the leg lightly. “I was afraid something like this might happen
when I fought at the last battle. I was hoping to keep the element
of surprise until the actual attack on the city. Don’t worry
though, this shouldn’t take long.” His tone was light despite the
serious expression on his face.

“Do not underestimate Gun, he has served
House Nerathane for a very long time,” the older man scolded
gently.

“Of course,” Nigel said with a note of
apology as he began to pull his jacket off. “Milady, might I
introduce Lord Dresharn the Traitor,” Nigel waved a hand toward the
dark haired man as he tossed his coat to the side and began to
unbutton his vest.

“Well met, Lord Dresharn,” Jala said, her
voice a bit off as she tried to fathom why exactly Nigel was
apparently stripping by the roadside. A gasp from one of the
knights drew her attention and she turned in time to see the three
beautiful women shedding their clothes as well. Eyes widening she
turned back in her saddle fully expecting to see Dresharn naked as
well.

Dresharn smiled up at her and shook his head
gently. “It saves on wardrobe replacement to shed the clothing. I
have enough gold that I prefer to keep my dignity. I’d prefer we
had more time for introductions, but there is a very large, very
dangerous dragon winging his way in our direction.” His voice was
low and held the tones of one well educated as he spoke. With a
slight bow in her direction Dresharn walked forward well ahead of
the horses and stopped.

Within moments, the others joined him. Nigel
was bare to the waist and the three women stood in nothing more
than their small clothes apparently not the least bit shy. The
small group spoke quietly for a breath and then parted each moving
a distance from the other.

“It won’t take them long to shift and then
Gunny will wish he had never left Nerathane.” Jala looked down at
the unfamiliar voice and stared in disbelief at the boy beside her.
He barely looked over thirteen by human standards. His sandy
colored hair was cut short and was tousled as though he had just
crawled from bed. Unlike the other dragons he was not garbed in
rich clothing and wore a simple linen shirt that hung on him in
loose folds. His rough spun trousers were stained and patched at
the knees and the boots he wore looked ready to fall apart.

“You are a dragon too?” Jala asked hesitantly
and wondered if Dresharn had left his groom behind to guard them
rather than another dragon as she had assumed.

“Name is Vosha, and yep,” the boy answered,
his eyes on his comrades.

Jala nodded slowly, giving Valor a look of
disbelief as she turned her head once more to Nigel. At first it
seemed as though he was just standing there. Then Jala began to
notice the muscles in Nigel’s back bulging. He stretched his arms
straight out to either side of him as his back rippled once more.
Jala was about to ask Vosha what was going on when the skin on
Nigel’s back burst open. Pale shreds of flesh fell to the ground as
Black scaled wings unfolded behind him. Jala stared open-mouthed,
her words utterly forgotten as Nigel’s body twisted and grew at an
alarming speed.

“I was in love right until this moment,”
Noble mumbled from the ranks of knights behind her.

“Looks painful doesn’t it,” Vosha said with a
smile as the dragons before them shed the last of their humanity
like a snake shedding its skin. The entire transformation had taken
less than five minutes.

Jala nodded, her gaze still locked on the
very large black dragon that sat where Nigel had stood such a short
time before. Swallowing heavily, she glanced at Valor. “I’m so very
glad I’m not a dragon,” she whispered.

“Me too, I’d hate to watch you do that,”
Valor returned with a smile.

“That would severely fuck up your naughty
dreams about her,” Neph added with a snort of amusement.

“Look, Margundrak is close enough that you
can see his spikes now,” Vosha said happily beside her.

“Spikes?” Jala asked in confusion and turned
her attention once more to the sky. The boy spoke truthfully. The
dark shape that had been no more than a speck minutes before was
much larger now and she could barely make out the ridges that must
be the spikes that Vosha spoke of. Her attention returned to the
dragons and she studied them with fascination. The women had taken
on scales the same color as the gowns they had worn, emerald,
sapphire, and a deep ruby with tinges of silver tracing their
scales. All three of them seemed petite and graceful compared with
the towering giants Nigel and Dresharn had become. Both of the male
dragons were black in coloration, though Nigel had gold tracing
across his wings and neck while Dresharn was simply black.

“Now things get good,” Vosha said eagerly as
the three smaller dragons moved forward at a sprint and took to the
air, their wings beating fiercely to gain altitude. “The three
sisters are nasty mean,” he informed her with a wide smile.

Nigel and Dresharn took to the air next,
their massive wings raising clouds of dust across the field. The
approaching dragon loosed another roar as he spotted his quarry and
Jala clamped her hands to her ears at the volume of the cry. Her
horse snorted and danced back and she could hear the knights behind
her struggling to keep their own mounts under control.

“If he is as mean as he is loud, we are
screwed,” Neph said dryly as he fought his own horse back under
control. “Damn, I hate horses. I would give anything for a snow cat
right now instead of this useless bag of steaks I’m sitting on,”
Neph snarled as the mare continued to prance, her eyes rolling.

“Probably not the best idea to call a horse
'steaks' while sitting in front of a company of armed Arovan
knights, Neph,” Sovann said softly.

Jala shook her head at the banter but kept
her eyes fixed on the dragons as Nigel and Dresharn closed on the
larger dragon. There was no sign of the three jewel colored dragons
and she wondered idly if they had some sort of camouflage such as
Marrow did.

“And now!” Vosha crowed beside her as three
bright colored forms dived from the air above Margundrak. The
emerald dragon struck at the head while the sapphire and ruby each
hit a wing. The attack was blinding in speed and Jala watched
hopefully as Margundrak seemed to falter in the air. The three
smaller dragons scattered before their adversary had a chance to
retaliate. Then Dresharn and Nigel were on him.

Margundrak reared back his massive head,
rising in the air as Nigel hit him head on. The two dragons locked
together in mid-air, raking and snapping at each other as Dresharn
hit from the side, knocking Margundrak back with the force of the
blow. Nigel quickly broke off his assault, his wings pumping
frantically as he tried to regain altitude. Pivoting in the air,
Margundrak spread his jaws wide as a blast of fire erupted from his
mouth to bathe Dresharn in flames. Tucking his wings Dresharn dove
as he tried to escape the worst of the attack. Within a breath of
the flames, Nigel was on Margundrak once more forcing the larger
dragon’s head up and away from his quarry.

Movement from above the two dragons drew
Jala’s eyes and she watched in silent awe as the three sisters dove
for the attack once more. With a deafening roar Margundrak knocked
Nigel back away from him and spun in the air, his tail lashing as
he faced the jewel toned dragons. The smaller females twisted in
the air trying to avoid Margundrak as he turned his fury on them.
His tail caught the sapphire hard with a crack that seemed to shake
the trees below them and the smaller dragon plummeted from the air.
With screams of anguish the remaining two sisters launched
themselves at Margundrak, their claws tearing at his wings and
back.

“Not good,” Vosha said sadly. “They are in a
frenzy now.” The boy shook his head and his earlier excitement
seemed to evaporate.

“Do they seem to be getting rather close to
anyone else?” Sovann asked quietly.

“I think we should move back, Jala,” Valor
said in agreement as the fight above them continued to rage.

Another screech split the air as Margundrak
wrapped his massive claws around the ruby dragon. With a snarl the
larger dragon shook her savagely and threw her toward the trees
below. The ruby dragon tumbled twice, frantically beating her wings
as her body crashed into the forest. Trees snapped beneath her as
her body plowed a path through the limbs before disappearing into
the forest below.