67. Aurora
AURORA
Just after lunch time, a ragged villager came riding up to the Receiving Bowl. I didn’t see him but one of the little Browns who was sunning himself in the huge, curved stone surface did and told L’eesha, who informed me.
The villager had ridden his horse nearly to death. It was blowing and foaming as he dismounted. And he was shouting the same thing that Chud Larson had been saying,
“They’re coming! They’re coming!”
The visitor described seeing hordes of black things flying overhead and some of them dropping down to bite the unprotected people below. But according to him, they were only a day behind him.
“I got word from another rider who came from the Village of Ashcroft,” he told the Head Master, who was still pale with grief. “He told me they were just behind him, so I got a bit of a start. But they were close on my tail, Sir! They’ll be here tomorrow morning at the latest—maybe before!”
Finally, the Academy lurched into action. With yet another eyewitness account of the Madlings streaming towards us, the Head Master was at last forced to believe.
Everywhere, people were trying to get ready.
The wooden closures for all the entrances of the caverns were found and pushed into place.
Only one opening was left—the largest, which was big enough for three Gold-wings to come out at once, would be kept open and guarded by two of the older dragons who were too old to fly but still able to flame.
The rest of the Academy was locked up tight.
The kitchen ladies were working overtime too, getting plenty of on-the-go food ready, especially the precious yerba rolls which could be eaten in mid-flight to give a burst of energy.
The dragons were all fed well so they would have energy to fly in the morning and then the massive herds of sheep and goats were herded into the lower caverns where they would be safe from Madling attacks.
Professor Zephyr sent word to the nearby villages for everyone to prepare and to stay indoors during the battle. Even one bite could mean madness and death spreading to an entire village if they weren’t careful.
“Remember, don’t ever touch a Madling victim,” her message to them read. “Once bitten, a person is beyond help or hope. They must be sequestered until they expire from the Madling venom.”
And while all this was going on, the more experienced Wings were flying and drilling, running formations and hoping to be ready for the coming attack.
“they’re a sorry sight,” was L’eesha’s point of view, when I finally had time to go and see her. We were on the Flight Terraces watching, since the First years hadn’t been grouped into Wings yet and didn’t have any experience flying in formation.
I had to agree she was right. The Wings were used to working independently but when they tried to fly together as a unit, they were sloppy at best. It had been years since they had practiced all together—mostly because everyone thought the Madling threat was over.
For years, the Wings had only practiced for the Academy’s internal competitions, where each Wing flew separately and tried to outdo the others with their individual style.
It was the worst possible foundation for getting all of them to work together as one, I thought.
But that was what was needed if the Madlings were coming—and we knew they were.
“those flag things are hard to see up there,” L’eesha pointed out, nodding to where two of the Wings were wheeling in a very sloppy formation as they tried to fly together for the first time.
“i could tell them how to fly, if only they would let me,” she added, and I could feel her frustration rubbing me like a hard-bristled brush.
“I know you could. But remember, Professor Humbolt doesn’t want you to do that,” I reminded her. I had already gone to the professor to ask if L’eesha could help, but his answer had been a resounding “NO.”
“I won’t have some female dragon telling my Wings where to go and what to do!” He’d snapped at me, when I offered her services. “We have our signals and they work just fine!”
“But—”
“Enough, Lysandra!” He’d said, making a shooing gesture. “Get away before I fail you once and for all!”
And with that answer, I had to be content, though it was incredibly frustrating. I wasn’t even going to be allowed to fly in the battle because L’eesha hadn’t been part of the North Wing long enough. So we were going to have to watch from the sidelines as everyone else fought the Madlings.
Ryse is fighting, though, whispered a little voice in my head. What if something happens to him?
It was a question I didn’t want an answer to. I put my arms as far around L’eesha’s long neck as I could—she was now so large that circling her neck completely was out of the question—and breathed in her burnt cinnamon scent to calm myself.
I just hoped we would be ready for the battle next morning…but I desperately feared we wouldn’t be.