Chapter 8 #4
Kaia flew hard, and Yara came into view, her left wing partially collapsed but still moving.
Taitia was underneath her, supporting Yara’s weight as she battled to stay in the air, while Jassy swung freely underneath the younger drakkon’s neck, attached by the rope clamped onto her harness.
Rua and Hannity were circling above them all, providing lookout and protection.
Which left Kele....
I couldn’t see her. Not in the air, not in the sea, but the air here was thick and dark, the sea turbulent, and unless she flamed, I wouldn’t.
She wasn’t flaming. Maybe she was unconscious....
Kaia dove sharply, and after a moment, I spotted her—a small, tumbling blot of humanity dropping too fast toward the angry ocean.
Can you grab her? I asked.
Try.
Don’t try, I snapped , do.
Her mental snort filled the link between us, but she didn’t otherwise reply, all her attention on the small dot that was Kele.
Closer and closer we got, but she was closer still to the waves, and if she hit them at the speed she was going, it would break every bone in her body.
The sea was not a forgiving master at the best of times, but from height, she would be deadly.
White caps reached for Kele, spraying foam across her features, bubbling across raw patches of skin.
She’d been hit by acid... I gulped, trying to contain my fear, my heart in my mouth as Kaia banked and reached for her.
Her first grab missed; her second didn’t, but we were close, so damn close to the sea now that a massive wave hit us, sweeping Kaia sideways and down.
How in Vahree’s name she maintained flight against its force, I’ll never know, but she did, and we were soon rising again.
I leaned forward, water sluicing from my hair and clothes, trying to see her, trying to judge Kele’s condition, but Kaia had tucked her claws—and Kele—closer to her belly in an effort to protect her from the wind’s buffeting.
I sucked in a breath and released it slowly in an effort to calm the fear and urgency, then said, Kaia, how’s Yara?
Hurt. Angry. Want to kill all birds for hurting her kin.
A need I certainly could get behind. What does she say about Kele?
Not hearing. Face pain.
The latter no doubt being the acid burn I’d seen. Hopefully, between the rain and the wave that had almost washed us out, most of it had been removed from her skin. Any other hurts?
Not know. Just heard scream.
I swore and rubbed a hand across my eyes. We need to get her to Esan as soon as possible, but we can’t leave the others out here alone. Not with Yara injured.
Yara says save kin.
It’s no good saving Kele if the fucking gilded riders attack and take her and everyone else out, Kaia.
Know.
I sucked in another useless breath and tried to calm down. Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.
Know.
I smiled, though it felt pained—tight—even to me. How bad is Yara’s wing? Is it broken or just torn? Can she fly anywhere approaching full speed?
She say she good.
She would. Fly up next to her.
She obeyed. Yara was still being supported by Taitia, and though Jassy couldn’t remount, she was no longer swinging violently from the rope but was instead clutched in Taitia’s front claws.
Two of Yara’s phalanges had broken, the bones stabbing through the torn membrane with each and every sweep of her wing. As long as she maintained an even flight, she likely wouldn’t tear anything too much further, but it had to fucking hurt having two phalanges broken.
We fly home, Kaia said. Other kin fix Yara. You fix Kele.
That’s a plan.
We go?
Yes. Tell Aarvi and Cansu to fly up front, Rua to keep watch from on high. I paused. Tell Taitia not to push her strength—we don’t want her rupturing that wound. Aarvi and Cansu can take turns swapping out with her.
All we could do was hope no other surprises were lying in wait up ahead, and that we all made it back to the aerie in one piece.
We flew on, our speed by necessity half that of what we needed to get home before the moon rose to its peak. The storm no longer clouded the mountains, and the skies were clear and bright, which at least meant we would see any incoming forces before they got close enough to fire their weapons.
We didn’t see them. Not at all, and that only increased my tension. If they weren’t chasing and attacking us, then what the hell were they doing? Why set up such an elaborate trap and then not follow it through to completion?
Or had they thought the six riders who’d been waiting for us at the tower would be enough to take out whoever had escaped their main trap? It was more than possible, given luck and bad weather was all that had saved us.
We were closing in on the aerie when Kaia suddenly said, Kele weakening. Yara worried.
If Yara was worried, then I was fucking petrified. Can she and the others make it to the aerie?
Yes.
Then peel away and head directly for Esan. I’ll message that we’re coming in fast and to have medics waiting.
She immediately dropped a wing and banked away from the rest of them. I tugged the tablet and quill free, hunkering down behind her spine to ease the force of the wind, and quickly sent a message.
Be wary came the reply. Riders in sky.
I swore and wearily rubbed my forehead. This fucking disaster of a day was never going to end, was it?
But at least we now knew where the bastards had gone instead of chasing us down.
Maybe they believed we were dead... and if our five weren’t so damn weary and—at least in Yara’s case—in desperate need of repair, I would have ordered them into the attack and shown them otherwise.
What about Mira and Halka? I sent back. Are they in the air?
The attack only started half an hour ago, not long after they’d finished their evening flyover. We sent a quill message, but they were coming back down from the aerie. I ordered them to return but haven’t yet heard from them.
Half an hour would have been about the time of the riders’ attack on us; hopefully that meant the ones over Esan weren’t yet aware it hadn’t been successful.
Kin at aerie came Kaia’s thought. Mounting now.
Have them meet us at the top of this peak. They can provide protection as we dive into Esan.
Will.
Kaia increased our speed, and we rose up the mountainside fast, the silvery moon washing coldness across the peaks and silvering a few patches of early snow. There was no sign of the riders yet, but that would no doubt change the minute we arrowed down toward Esan.
As we neared the top, Lura and Kiko swept in from the nearby peaks that held the aerie. We soared over the mountainside in a line and dove down the other side.
To discover Esan was on fire.