Dragon Racers: The Complete Trilogy, page 29
“He will do his best I am sure, dear.” His brown eyes were filled with fatherly concern. “Just remember there are some who would end us all if they get the chance. Some have the power to do so on a whim. So don’t let them get an advantage.”
Sharrah nodded, and watched him start off toward Cholt and the others.
“I thought he would never let us go,” Inula said, pushing her head out of Sharrah’s breast pocket.
“Nor I,” Sharrah giggled, feeling accomplished over getting the fairy past her father’s scrutiny.
Are we going to congratulate ourselves, or fly? Azure asked.
“Isn’t he grumpy,” Inula snorted.
“He is eager.” Sharrah was sure her smile was wider than her face. She pulled her goggles down over her eyes, and used a finger to tuck Inula back in her pocket. “You’ll want to keep down for the start.”
Azure took one jostling stride, then another. Then he was lifting them into the bright cloudless sky.
Sharrah half wanted to go start a race with Kin and Mala, but Azure carried them away from the others. As they circled over the estate to gain altitude, Sharrah saw the plump old woman who cared for the main house. She was standing in the front next to her cat. One hand was on her hip, and she was shading her yes with the other. Sharrah felt her watching them long after they were out of sight.
“This is grand,” Inula said, peeking out. “I wonder if I can ride with you when you race?”
“In a race I’ll need my full concentration,” Sharrah explained. “For now, we’re going to enjoy each other’s company. This day is far too glorious to do otherwise.”
Yesss, Azure sounded.
Chapter Twenty
Flying again was exhilarating. The wind passing through her hair, the force of the turns pressing her into the saddle, and the steady thump of Azure’s wing beats all worked to clear Sharrah’s mind. For a long time, even Inula was speechless, which was something.
Again and again the big blue dragon lifted them high and dove to skim across the treetops. Soon, even the haze rising from Piktalla was too far away to make out. They flew like that for a long while, just taking in the morning, but Sharrah eventually realized the course Azure was on wasn’t random. He was taking them somewhere.
Where are we going? Sharrah asked with a thought.
You’ll see, little one, the dragon responded.
Not much later her mount threw out his wings and descended into a small clearing in the forest.
“Oh my,” Inula squealed from Sharrah’s shirt pocket. “I can sense Zizzy and Dabra. Are we—Are we near the—“
“Shhh,” Azure hissed both aloud and into Sharrah’s mind. Some things are better left unspoken.
Did you hear him, Inula? Sharrah asked with her thoughts.
I heard the old grump, the fairy answered.
Once he landed, Azure urged Sharrah to dismount. There is a herd near, the dragon explained. You will be safe here until I return. Do not wander off, and enjoy the company.
Before she could protest, Azure leapt back into flight.
“It’s here Sharrah,” Inula exclaimed. “The Qilin and my friends from Master Luumin’s conservatorium.”
“Where?” Sharrah asked, but even though she couldn’t see them, she sensed their presence.
Inula wiggled out of her confines, fluttered about for a moment, and then came to a hover before Sharrah. “Look.” She pointed. “There and there. Come now guys, it is just Sharrah and I. We won’t harm anyone.”
Sharrah was dumbfounded. Not only did a handful of doll sized fairies and a pair of gnomes show themselves, but the strange Qilin eased out of the forest, revealing its single spiraled horn and shimmering essence.
The majestic scale covered unicorn had a rope loosely tied around its neck. One of the squat frog skinned goblins Sharrah had seen in the Otherworld was holding the other end. He and a few more of the knee-tall greenies were armed with little bows, but none of them had bothered to unshoulder their weapon, much less nock an arrow and take aim.
Sharrah felt the Qilin studying her. It enchanted her father and his crew once, and forced them to bargain for release, but it only seemed to be taking her measure. There was something else going on, though. These fae were worried. A fleeting glimpse of an army of giants pushing war machines through a portal came to her mind’s eye. A horde of goblins and gnomes, all being driven by whip wielding trolls, were at their feet. Sharrah remembered seeing the same sort of thing when she stepped through King Hotei’s portal from the Otherworld into this one.
Her vision blurred, and for a few long moments time flashed by around her. When she regained awareness it felt as if part of the afternoon had passed.
Looking at the trees and the fact that none of the fae were present anymore, she knew she’d figured correctly. Oddly, she felt Inula stirring in her pocket. Whatever transpired had affected both of them. Then as if on cue, Azure came back flapping his way down into the clearing. There was no doubt he had an urgency about him.
Come, little one. He spoke into her mind. We must hurry.
What is it? Sharrah was still trying to figure out what happened with the fae folk and the Qilin, but Azure’s response grabbed her full attention. Meifeng and Flame are coming, and something is chasing them.
Oh my, Sharrah thought, as she climbed back into the saddle.
Bootlocks, Azure reminded. Loops.
She barely had time to fasten her riding boots in place before he leapt straight into the sky without even a step. Within a few heartbeats they were diving from a height Sharrah didn’t think she’d even been before. She’d flown fast though, and she used a hand to make sure Inula was far enough down in her pocket that she wouldn’t get swept away by the wind streaking past them. She shook her head because she didn’t remember her fairy friend returning there.
They flew over heavily forested terrain and then, after a passing a stripe of sugary white sand and rolling waves crashing into the shore, everything below turned a deep brilliant shade of translucent blue.
The farther they went, the deeper the color of the sea became. When Sharrah looked back, the edge of the forest was just a dark green line, on the horizon.
Before she could see them, she felt Flame reaching out. Scorch and Sizzle’s mother was exhausted and hungry but determined to make it to land before making a stand against the creature following them. Through the dragons Sharrah called to Meifeng, but though she could sense her mentor’s presence, she got no response. Then she sensed the creature, and knew it was a creature of the Otherworld, and possibly what had scared away the Qilin and the fae who attended it.
What is it? She asked Azure, but it was Inula who answered.
“It’s a terradyn,” the fairy braved a peek out of Sharrah’s pocket. “King Grayscon has a whole flock of them.”
“Well this one is about to meet its end.”
Yesss, Azure agreed, before arcing off course so that they could approach from an angle that wasn’t head on.
She saw them. Flame was swerving this way and that, but using speed for the most part, to keep Meifeng out of reach of their pursuer. Meifeng was hugged to the saddle, her hands in the loops, and her boots locked in. By the way her head rolled limply about, it was clear she was either unconscious or so injured she couldn’t maintain her posture.
The terradyn was a quarter of Flame’s size, with wide wings and a long toothy beak. It was covered in grey-brown skin instead of scales, and looked to have a lighter, more avian frame than either dragon. It was pecking at Meifeng, trying to pluck her from her seat and looked to be having little trouble keeping up with the big red while doing so.
Sharrah went through the spells she knew, and was discouraged because none of them seemed appropriate. She chided herself for not studying more, and swore she would do better. If there was ever a time she needed to cast one, it was now, for the long thin creature missed Meifeng’s torso, but snapped one of her arms out of its hold. The bite severed the loop her hand was in, and left her limb bloody and flopping in the wind.
Defenseless, and now partially separated from the saddle, Sharrah knew the terradyn’s next attack on her friend would be devastating, if not fatal.
Chapter Twenty-One
Azure curved them upward. The terradyn was so intent on getting a hold of Meifeng, it hadn’t yet noticed them. They were closing so fast the element of surprise was surely on their side. In her mind, Sharrah could hear Flame and her blue scaled mount communicating, but she couldn’t understand the complex language the dragons were using. She did hear Inula’s tiny voice, though.
“Watch out for its tail,” the fairy yelled from her pocket. “It’s tipped with a venomous spike.”
Fear shot through Sharrah then. Looking closer at Meifeng, as they went swooping down, she saw her friend wasn’t just unconscious, she was extremely pale, and her veins were showing green and blue through unnaturally milky skin.
The tail is poison, Sharrah told Azure as they closed the last bit of sky between they and the strange creature.
The arrows of the mogwai rider, as well. Azure hissed back, before rolling out of the way of a tiny projectile Sharrah just now saw.
Without thinking about it, the words to one of her spells filled her mouth and the little dart went whizzing by, just wide of her body.
She saw him then. At least she thought it was a he. The mogwai, or whatever it was, wasn’t much bigger than Inula, with dark eyes set in an angry face framed by even blacker hair. A starkly crimson little mouth and lips looked like a blood stain on its pale mug, and it looked in a different scale, as she figured she must, a tiny rider on huge creature’s back.
Its attire was the same shade as the terradyn it was riding, which was why she hadn’t noticed it before. It raised a finger long thing against its mouth, which Sharrah didn’t understand until his cheeks puffed out and it blew another poison barb at them through the tube.
Sharrah didn’t have to avoid this dart, for Azure let loose a crackling blast of yellow lightning breath at the very same time Flame dove out of the way.
The dart and the terradyn were both engulfed by her mounts powerful breath. After shuddering for a moment or two, the creature stiffened then fell smoldering from the sky.
“That foul mog is getting away,” Inula shouted, but Sharrah couldn’t see it anymore, and was more concerned with Meifeng’s condition.
Azure pulled up before their downward trajectory carried them into the sea. The terradyn didn’t recover though, and it impacted the water with a splashy crunch.
When they caught up to Flame, Sharrah saw the cantaloupe-sized lump on Meifeng’s back for the first time. The terradyn must have stung her, or maybe the creepy little mog had gotten her with one of its blow darts. Either way, her mentor looked to be in terrible shape and probably full of poison.
As they sped across the wave tops, Sharrah reached out for her father using all the concentration she could muster. He never responded, so she asked Azure to try. Azure reminded her that her father and Flame were bonded, and only the massive red scaled wyrm could reach him over such a great distance. Azure assured her that Flame was doing so, so she let herself take a well needed breath.
“The mog got away,” Inula repeated. “It will tell them where we are.”
“Tell who?” Sharrah asked. “Can it fly like you? Does it have wings?”
“It has wings,” the worried fairy had to shout to be heard over the wind. “But it can’t fly across the sea.”
“It must be close then.” Sharrah wanted to go after it, but was certain she wouldn’t be able to find such a tiny thing in such a wide open space. “Can it make the shore?”
“It can,” Inula said. “But I fear it is too late. I can’t feel its evil anymore.”
“Maybe I can,” Sharrah recited the words to her detection spell, and like when she’d cast it before, the wealth of magic radiating from the forest they were about to be above, nearly over took her mind. There was no way she could pinpoint such a tiny creature in all the nauseating power overwhelming her. One entity drew her focus though. It was her father, and he was getting near so swiftly, his orange-yellow essence was a streaking flash.
Before she could gather herself, she felt Azure spread his wings and slow. Then he landed in the wide open area between the crashing waves and the tree line.
Sharrah was never so glad to see anyone, as she was when her father appeared in a flash of sparkles and smoke. No one had to explain the situation, for he went charging through the sand toward Flame to see about Meifeng. Sharrah saw his love for the older dragon racer in the expression on his weathered face.
She was glad the effect of his wild orange eyes was gone, but she wasn’t sure what that meant for him. His love for her revealed itself, too. “Go,” he shouted at her as he climbed atop the huge red dragon. “Get back to the barn immediately.”
“But there is a mogwai about, Master Luumin.” She said. “We will watch over you while you help her.”
“The mog is gone,” he’d gotten to Meifeng, and was so intent on what he was doing, he didn’t persist in trying to make Sharrah leave. Sharrah expected to see the powerful yellow glow of magic she’d seen him use in King Travvingto’s colosseum to heal the injured samura, but she didn’t.
Instead, he looked around in an utter panic, until his frantic eyes met hers.
“Come, then.”
Sharrah didn’t have a chance to think before she whooshed right out of the saddle and appeared beside him. When she saw the lump on her mentor’s back, she couldn’t help but retch.
“Are you going to heal her?” Sharrah asked as she got control of her stomach.
“It won’t do any good,” he growled. “She is full of poison. If I heal her, she will immediately be sick again.”
“What do we do?”
“I’m not sure,” he clenched his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Cast it out of her,” Inula said from Sharrah’s pocket.
“Bah!” Master Luumin looked at the fairy and then at Sharrah. “Were you not in her pocket Inula Ki, I would have thought you were the mog, and zapped you.” His expression shifted from anger and surprise to one of hope. “Can you cast the spell, Sharrah? The one you used to move the mug and silverware around at the feast table, back at Dragon’s Keep?”
“I can,” she responded, unsure of what he wanted her to do.
“I can isolate the poison, and once I do, you need to cast it away from us.” Her father started moving his hands over Meifeng’s limp body until they started to glow a soft familiar shade of yellow. “Focus on what you intend to move, girl. I don’t want to be missing an appendage when this is done.”
Luumin mumbled his spell words and Sharrah watched intently, while reciting her own. When he was ready, he said so. Sharrah then used her casting to send the glob of foul smelling pus and poison his magic had enveloped, off into the woods.
To their surprise, it worked, for Meifeng opened her eyes and stared first at Sharrah, then at Luumin.
“They are coming through the Deggari portal,” she whispered. “He wants to expand his kingdom into our world now. You—you--” Meifeng’s face broke out in a sweat and she rolled her head from side to side. She was so fevered Sharrah could feel the heat radiating from her body, or maybe it was heat from Flame’s fiery core? Either way, Meifeng’s words sent a chill through her because she thought she knew exactly who they were.
“You have to stop them,” Meifeng continued, first looking at Luumin, then into Sharrah’s eyes. “Stop them before it is too late.”
“We need to do it again, Sharrah.” Her father began casting his spell. “And maybe a third time, just to be sure. On my word, send the rest of the poison away, just like you did before.”
Part V - Wild wings
Chapter Twenty-Two
It took a few days, but eventually Meifeng recovered from the poison lingering in her body. She hadn’t yet gotten over losing her dragon She’en, though. She was given a bed on the upper floor of their new place, next to Sharrah’s room. Sharrah, Sir Grady, and Inula took turns attending her, but no matter how much better Meifeng’s health became, her spirits never seemed to lift.
Sir Grady was as kind as a man could be. He loved Meifeng and it showed in the way he cared for her. Meifeng loved him too, and Sharrah was glad when she walked in one day and caught them kissing. Any form of emotion her mentor showed, that wasn’t sadness or regret, was welcome.
Sharrah wasn’t sure why her father hadn’t been there as of late, but she doubted it was because of his old feelings for Meifeng. She hoped he was off dealing with the Deggari portal, and the war mongers coming through it, but she didn’t even know where Deggari was, and hoped she never had to find out. But it probably had more to do with the fact that King Travvingto, the old one, had been killed, now Prince Torrin, now King Travvingto II had put heavy bounties on all their heads. Luckily, his was a small kingdom, and without a longstanding record of paying such rewards. At least that was Master Luumin’s take on the news.
When she wasn’t attending Meifeng, Sharrah studied the Book of Spells, or rode on Azure’s back. They didn’t wander very far away from their new home, though. And not because Luumin warned them from doing so, but more so because Sharrah knew the dangerous little mog was out there somewhere, probably waiting for her.
The last thing she wanted was to be pricked by an unseen dart, or worse.
Kin, on the other hand, was preparing for his first wild wing race. On the practice course they’d set up, he was getting better at starting from a standstill in the middle of an endless banking turn. It didn’t look easy, and Sharrah didn’t envy him in this endeavor. Master Luumin encouraged Sharrah to watch him prepare. When she did Kin went out of his way to try and impress her. Sharrah’s father said that without someone to compete with, tricking him in to showing off was the best way to get him to push Mala to her limits.
_preview.jpg)
