Chapter Twenty-three
Taron charges forward with no inkling of what lies ahead, and I follow after him like a complete and utter fool.
“Why are we going towards the sound?” I pant.
“Because the stone arch isn’t in the other direction,” Taron says.
He’s got me there. We’re hurtling through the narrow streets of the scorched village, the shadows of teetering buildings creating a canopy overhead as we wind between alleyways and leap across ruins.
My pulse throbs in my ears and my side stings, but I follow in his shadow, manoeuvring through the rubble in his footsteps.
Another thunderous roar erupts from the treeline beyond the village, reverberating through the ground.
It’s a primal noise, a deep, guttural growl that makes my hair stand on end.
We hurtle out of the village and down a winding, overgrown path, when Taron suddenly skids to a halt.
We’ve reached a clearing, dotted with more crumbling ruins.
A yawning gorge stretches out before us, with a wobbly rope bridge suspended across it.
The bridge sways precariously in the breeze. It looks fragile, to say the least.
Then, a flicker of flames. We’re not alone in the clearing.
Still on this side of the bridge, the red and green teams are engaged in battle, weapons clashing and talents colliding. And above them in the clouds…
I have to rub my eyes. There in the sky is an enormous white dragon. Its iridescent scales shimmer like icy teeth, and its eyes blaze with an intense yellow fury.
“Is this real? I thought dragons were extinct…” I breathe.
“Not this one.” Taron’s gaze follows the beast through the air.
The dragon unleashes another mighty roar, and the chasm quakes. The red and green teams persist in their brawl. Savannah and Kara retreat towards us, a shield crafted from sand deflecting a burst of flames from an opposing competitor.
When their opponent’s flames sputter and die, Savannah dissolves her shield and sends a cascade of sand at him, wrapping it around him and pulling him towards her as if by a chain. Kara impales him with a spear radiating light.
“It’s about time you got here,” Savannah snarls when she sees us. Her long black plait has come undone in wild strands that cling to her sweat-drenched face.
“Is everyone still alive?” I ask, scanning the chaotic scene.
“Incoming, six o’clock,” Savannah warns, tapping Kara on the shoulder.
She spins, her light sword at the ready, blocking a strike from an approaching competitor. The sharp whistle of light clashing against metal echoes across the clearing and, with a resounding crack, the competitor’s blade shatters into pieces.
“It’s nothing personal,” Kara quips, ready to deliver the finishing blow. But the dragon’s colossal form sweeps overhead, casting a shadow that eclipses us.
Another earth-shaking roar echoes, nearly drowning out Gigi’s voice coming from behind a crumbling heap of ruins to our left. “Take cover! Over here!”
We follow the rest of the green team behind the low wall, weathered and cracked. A scorched window frame is the only thing hinting at the cottage it once was. I don’t want to think about what must’ve happened to leave it in such a state.
Our group crouches low in the shadow of the old cottage, afraid to move, afraid to breathe.
We’re all here. Cyrus and Gideon. Mei and Rhius.
Even Xander and Cleo. From where I’m sitting, I can see two members of the red team near the bridge.
They lie motionless, hands raised in a final act of defence, faces frozen in fear.
Their skin looks charred and hardened. They’ve been scorched.
A dark silhouette cuts through the sunlight as the beast circles overhead. The dragon’s wings beat against the sky. It’s searching for its next target. When it sweeps past us, deeper into the village, the bridge is left exposed.
“It’s gone,” Mei heaves. “Should we make a run for it?”
“No,” Taron says, and his voice is stone cold. “It could be a trap.”
“But the trial checkpoint is right there.” Xander points at the stone archway, looming tantalizingly close on the other side of the gorge. “This might be our only chance.”
“No, wait. Wren could be right…” Kara tries, but Xander is already standing.
“Come on, Cleo!” Xander charges towards the swaying bridge, calling over his shoulder. “You want to get through to the next trial, don’t you?”
Cleo hesitates. “Xander…”
But she’s standing, too, starting to run. I watch uneasily.
“Hurry!” he shouts as he reaches the bridge. He begins to run across, boots thudding against the worn wooden planks as the ropes groan under his weight. The bridge sways more violently, the chasm below a dizzying drop into darkness. “Come on, before that thing comes back!”
Cleo follows closely behind. She runs on to the bridge, but then suddenly stops in her tracks. Stares at her feet. A shadow sweeps across their path, and Xander looks at the sky.
I follow his gaze, forced to bite back a scream when a deafening roar vibrates through the air. The dragon descends, molten scales glinting in the sun.
The entire bridge shakes as the beast’s massive wings send powerful gusts through the gorge.
Cleo stumbles and falls. Her form becomes hazy, blurring before separating into three versions of herself – an Astro projection.
Her state of panic must be affecting her talents, because her projected clones are flickering, staggering, struggling to stay on their feet.
“Cleo!” Xander screams, but it’s too late.
The dragon unleashes a torrent of flames from its mouth, and Cleo, attempting to shield herself, is engulfed in the searing wave.
For a second, she’s lost in the inferno, all three of her silhouettes barely visible through the flames. When the fire recedes, the three Cleos stand frozen, transformed into statues of solid black stone, each one of their expressions caught in a moment of terror.
“No, Cleo!” Xander wails. He lurches forward, but his cry is cut short as the dragon snatches him in its claws with terrifying speed.
Xander’s body jerks, his breath stolen by the sheer force of the creature’s grasp. The dragon lifts him high in the air before letting him fall. His body disappears into the depths of the gorge below.
I gasp. Bile rushes up my throat. Distantly, I hear Taron’s voice yelling, “Take cover!”
The dragon whips its tail in our direction, and the motion brings with it a barrage of molten scales, slicing through the air like a rainstorm.
I crouch low, squeezing my eyes shut. My skin prickles as one of the dragon’s scales whistles past us, embedding itself into the ground with a thud.
Cyrus deflects one of the scales with a blade of light. It ricochets into our group and shreds Mei’s uniform as it lacerates her arm.
“Cyrus!” she squeals. “We’re on the same team!”
“So, what? You’d rather I took one to the heart?” he protests.
“In an ideal world, yes…” Mei rolls her eyes, hand clasped to her wound. It comes away smeared with blood, but the laceration itself doesn’t look too deep.
“You’re both alive, so suck it up,” Savannah says in a clipped voice. She peers round the wall, and I do the same.
Two members of the red team have decided to make a break for the bridge. The dragon spots them and they retreat, trying to scramble back to their ruins. They’re too slow, and a torrential breath of fire engulfs them.
I shudder at the sight of one competitor once the flames subside. A blackened husk remains, eyes empty and skin flaking with ash.
His teammate screams, and her voice is shrill. She has conjured a protective shield of sand, managing to repel several of the dragon’s scales – but the force of the onslaught proves too much and she stumbles back, taking one to the heart.
“Man, this is turning into a bloodbath,” Gigi drones, wiping at their sweaty brow with their forearm.
Kara stares at the ruins opposite us as though she can see right through them. “At most, there are only three red teams left. We have five of us here. We outnumber them, at least.”
“Do you have a plan?” Mei asks.
“I think we have to work together on this.” Kara nods at the dragon. “Two teams distract the dragon, drawing its attention, while the remaining three work on restraining it.”
“What about the other red teams?” I ask. “We need to make sure they don’t make a break for it.”
“Good thinking, Maeve.” Kara smiles at me, but it’s a forced kind of thing which pulls oddly at her cheeks. “One team will have to keep the red teams at bay. What does everyone think? Sound like a plan?”
“Sure. No one’s got any better ideas.” Cyrus, with a smear of soot across his forehead, rises into a crouch. “It’s only fit for a prince to slay a dragon. I’ll restrain it – Savannah, you come with me.”
“Why Savannah?” Kara asks.
“If I’m going to risk my life,” he says, “I’d rather do it alongside someone with actual military experience.” He looks over his shoulder at Gideon. “No offence.”
Gideon shrugs as if to say, “None taken.”
“Fine. Savannah, you’ll work with Cyrus on restraint.” Kara yields. “Just remember to aim for the dragon’s key offence points – head, tail, wings. Try to sever one if you can.”
Savannah nods. “Got it.”
“I’ll focus on the red teams with Gideon,” Kara adds. “Wren, you and Maeve distract the dragon with Gigi and Gunther. Rhius and Mei, be ready to assist where needed. Is everyone fine with that?”
Nods travel around the group.
“Are you OK with this?” I whisper to Taron as we follow Gunther and Gigi towards the centre of the clearing.
“It beats standing around doing nothing,” he says. “Let’s just hope we can pull this off.”
Gigi and Gunther waste no time launching their fiery onslaught. As the dragon’s enormous form swoops overhead, blazing balls of flame erupt from their palms, drawn from the lighters in their hands. They aim at the dragon’s head, forcing it to flinch.
“Incoming!” Gigi shouts.