Dragon Bound

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Chapter Twenty-Four

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For a single breathless moment, Lune was in a storm of wings. He was surrounded on all sides by the hurricane like noise of hundreds of powerful wings. Then Jason and Damian were urging him forward, their squad pushing to the front of the colourful mass to fly just behind the king. Out in front and flying off just behind Amphion, Lune felt his madly pounding heart slow.

In the far distance was the mountain range where Lune had been born, snow-capped and somehow more ominous than he had ever remembered. They flew over neat little patch-worked fields, winding dirt roads and busy little towns. The scenery was pretty, the day mild and the sun bright. It seemed impossible that such a serenity was about to broken in a few hours with the thunderous roars of warring dragons.

Lune couldn’t enjoy the flight like he normally would. His joy in finally being back in the sky was dampened by the dread he felt building inside his chest. He wasn’t much of a fighter. He was far smaller than most of the other dragon and had no armour. Jason and Damon had already determined to keep Lune as far from the fight as possible. Lune was to use his smaller size and agility to avoid combatants as much as possible and if that failed, they had agreed for Lune to use Amphion for cover.

Lune stretched all four of his wings to their fullest extent, feeling the cool wind through his feathers. Jason was keeping their link close guarded. He knew the rider was very anxious about the coming battle, anxious for Lune’s sake but also determined to keep the outward impression of calm. Damon wasn’t much better though there was no hiding the slight thrum of excitement in the large male. He, at least, was built for battle. The yoru would have spent many a year fighting rivals to collect fillies for his harem. To Lune, he looked strong and sure of himself.

Ahead the mountains loomed, getting closer and closer as the sun started to fade and the hours rolled onward toward late afternoon. Lune had half hoped that the king might land and order that his dragons and rider’s rest. It wasn’t to be. Clearly, he thought it better to fly on than camp in such large numbers out in the valley.

As they approached the base of the enormous mountains, there was a palpable change in the atmosphere. The temperature dropped in the shadows of the towering peaks, and the dragons of their Sun King’s army all began to feel the rising tension. The rhythm of many wings seemed to fall out of sync. The air grew heavier, wetter, and colder. Lune shivered. He could see the black dots that made up the start of the smaller cave systems.

‘Come closer to the front Lune. You’re our guide.’ Jason said coaxingly across the link. Lune huffed out a breath of frosty air and soared forward until he was right beside the Sun King on his gold dragon. The shadows had dulled Takara’s glittering pelt, but Lune was still ghostly white and very visible in the shadows of the mountains and taller trees. With a backdrop of scrubby ridges, grey shale, purple shadows and dark blue foliage, Lune led the army further into the Kaempe Stor Range.

He felt painfully aware of himself and the noise of the flying dragons. The noise would only be greater still in the confined space of the huge cave systems that tore through the hearts of the mountains. Just how well could most of these dragons see in absolute darkness? Some species had better eyesight than others. Lune had been born in a climate full of black nights, star shine and snowstorms. He could pick a silvery fish from a stream whilst flying overhead but… a massive earth dragon like Amphion who wasn’t built for aerial hunting?

Focus Lune. We are right behind you. Jason’s voice echoed pleasantly in his mind, steadying him. The rider could obviously feel his anxiety rising. Lune allowed an updraft to carry him along, his eyes scanning for the entry to the cave network.

It took some time but finally, as they passed a roaring waterfall that seemed to drop its bounty into a black fissure in the ground, Lune saw a landmark he definitely recognized. They were getting close. Lune saw Jason raise his hands and give a signal. That signal was picked up by the next rider and communicated back down the squad.

As they flew a little lower, the evening sun outlined a dark mouth of a huge cave cut deep into the rock. As they approached, they were caressed by an icy wind as though the cave itself was inhaling and exhaling. He was sure this was the entrance they were looking for. It was very large but even so, he couldn’t help but glance nervously back at Amphion. The massive dragon would be hard pressed. Stalagmites and jutting ridges would surround them as they flew through the caves with little to no light cutting in from the ceiling above.

The king did not pause.

He urged Takara forward, but the gold dragon actually hesitated. He stopped, his great wings beating backwards to keep himself aloft. Lune paused too. He squinted into the darkness. For one moment, he was so sure he had seen movement in the depths but whatever it was had stilled. The king raised a hand and the shining metal around Takara’s throat glowed. The dragon let fly a blinding fireball of white and gold light. It flew into the cave, illuminating its fathomless depth and revealed something horrific.

Eyes.

Hundreds of eyes of all sizes stared back out at them, blinking from the sudden light. There was a moment of suspended shock from both sides before the silence was broken by a war cry and dragons with their riders poured out of the caves.

It was obvious they had hoped the king would fly into the chasm and be at their mercy but with the game given away, they were now in danger of remaining inside the caverns themselves. Even as the foreign army flew out to meet them, Amphion, Damon and the others had already begun raining fireball after fireball into the hillside, cracking the rock and sending the ceiling of the caves down on their prisoners.

As the cave mouth began to collapse, dust and debris stayed high into the air like a cold volcanic explosion. As the earth rumbled and wings flailed, it appeared that many of the unknown dragons had not escaped the cave collapse in time. With any luck, the damage was significant enough to completely destroy the way through the mountains.

Lune had a confused view of blinding lights, thundering stones, terrible screeching and roaring. Then he was in the thick of it. The two armies collided in a flash of steely talons and snapping jaws. Arrows peppered them and Lune was called back to Amphion’s side, the stony wings of the earth dragon immune to the tiny arrow tips.

Lune felt his collar glow and the kindling of his inner fire. As a strange bony dragon with a black armored rider shot for Amphion’s underbelly, Lune let loose a torrent of blue flame. He hit his mark and the dragon flew off course, screeching in pain.

Amphion was like a huge battering ram. His massive club tail caught a stray Lapis male and Lune heard the bones in the beast’s head crack as the creature plummeted from the sky. All around them, riders were engaging in battle. Jason and Damon were close, locked together with a large red dragon. The dragon’s rider threw a spear. The tip of it clanged off Damon’s armored shoulder.

Before Lune could fly over to help, a shadow descended on him. Lune folded his wings and dove to avoid an enormous, clawed foot. The dragon attacking him was a breed Lune had never seen before. Dark navy in colour with powerful back legs and thin front legs that seemed to be fused with the huge spot patterned wings. It had an oddly flat head with a shark-like muzzle, teeth jutting out at ugly angles. The rider was an evil looking man with inky black armor that matched his black eyes. He kicked his beast forward and Lune was sent tumbling to avoid the claws.

Vaguely, as he dodged and rolled, he was aware that he was being driven away from his squad and from Damon. He had no idea what was going on in the rest of the fight. His four wings allowed him to turn tight circles that the beast pursuing certainly couldn’t and after a few breathless minutes, he had managed to lose the creature in the mayhem. Some silver glittered in the fading sun and Lune watched in confusion as something like glass rained down.

No, not glass. Collar fragments. He looked up.

Above him several dragons and riders were grappling. A black armored rider had leapt from the saddle of his mount and onto the back of the other dragon. The Sun King’s knight was trying to unstrap himself from the saddle but before he could twist around, the other had run him through with his sword.

With the rider dead, the man sent a blast of magic into the collar around the knight’s dragon. The collar shattered and the black rider leapt back onto his own dragon as they disentangled. Riderless and collarless, the dragon floundered for a moment and then fled from the battle. He wasn’t the only one.

All around the rogue riders were freeing dragons. Lune watched in amazement as Amara’s Lapis filly had her collar shattered. There was a moment of hesitation, the filly confused and frightened. For one heart stopping moment, she twisted in mid-air as though to throw her rider off, but Amara sat calm and quiet in the saddle and after a few frantic moments, the filly calmed under her mistress’s handling and the two sped back into the fight.

Others were not so unified.

Lune heard the scream and found the man who made it. Jouet had been freed of his collar. The green male hovered close by. Lune saw the madness in the creature’s eyes. Estevan was wrestling with the bridle, trying to turn his mount around. Jouet turned his snake like head around on his sinewy neck.

He met the eyes of his rider and Estevan’s face became ashen as he saw death in the reptile’s gaze. Jouet’s jaws closed around the man’s head as the knight tried to draw his sword. There was a sickening crunch and the dead man’s body fell from the saddle.

A grey filly, whose rider Lune didn’t recognise but who wore the Sun King’s armour was bucking and squealing. Her rider was cursing, trying to regain control but with her collar gone, he could not concentrate his magic enough to bind her. She set to the straps of her saddle with her teeth, ignored the knight frantically kicking at her snout. The leather gave and both saddle and human slid from her back and fell to the earth.

Another dragon and rider with the Sun King’s colours fell through the air, right in front of Lune, the animal screeching as a heavy chain net bound up his wings. The dragon had plummeted past him before Lune could even react and seconds later, he heard the sickening thud of its body hitting the rocky floor of the valley below. Fear and exhaustion had Lune spinning in mid-air, desperately trying to find Damon. Between the different coloured flames, beating wings, flashing metal and flying dragons, Lune felt utterly disorientated. He could only think of flying up to clearer sky.

As soon as he broke past the line of fighting dragons, Lune called out blindly for his mate, but his own call was nothing to the thundering roars of the battle. Before the Kagame could call again, the navy-blue dragon from before was after him and he was off flying, twisting and dodging. His breath was heaving in his lungs as he neatly dodged a spray of acid, a red fireball and a thick handled spear. A filly nearly flew into him, and Lune pulled up sharply. It was then that the navy dragon collided with him.

Lune was wrenched sideways. He felt the claws connect with his metal collar. The rider hollered in victory. Lune squawked in panic, trying to flick his tail around as he was jerked up by his neck. There was a cracking sound, a nasty jerk and then the glint of silver as the metal around his throat broke and fell from his neck.

The sensation was like emerging from underwater. His full magic came flooding back, the bounds of enslavement gone in a rush of sweet air. Lune’s head swam violently for a moment. Free. He was free! When his vision cleared, he saw the rider on his navy-blue dragon. To Lune’s surprise the man looked quite a stunned as Lune did, as though he hadn’t meant for Lune’s collar to break. Maybe he had intended to catch the rare Kagame for his own king.

Lune bristled.

His tail quills rattled, and blue fire licked at his tongue. He was never going to be a slave ever again. He blasted his flames towards the creature. It swooped left but Lune spun himself, flinging several thick quills into the male. One caught it through the wings, and it screeched in pain and disappeared from sight.

It was impossible to tell if the Sun King was winning. Though several dragons had abandoned their riders once freed, there were many that fought on. Vulkan was once again collarless and bellowing in rage as he charged, claws out to catch a black knight. They pierced through the human’s body and Vulkan flung the corpse away, Fredrik roaring victory through a bloody nose.

Damon. Where was Damon? Where was Jason?

It was then that Lune realised he couldn’t hear or feel them inside his mind. The bond the three shared was still there but with the binding collar gone, it was muted. With a sickening jolt he realized that Jason might easily interpret the sudden silence as an indication that Lune had been slain. Lune flew wildly through the battlefield, swinging and swerving around other beasts and their riders, searching blindly, desperately for his mate and rider.

He flew clear of two grappling males and emerged at the edge of the fight. There, finally, he saw a hint of black hide and glimmering silver armour. Damon was being pinned down by two enemy dragons. One had its jaws around his back leg, trying to pull him down as he scrambled to keep the second dragon from sinking its fangs into his neck. Jason was fighting furiously with a man who had climbed onto Damon’s back. Both riders were balancing dangerously, unsupported by their harnessing gear.

Lune snarled, his terror momentarily replaced by rage as these unknown dragons attempted to bring down his mate. Lune screeched, the sound high and wild. He dove forward and flung several quills into the back of the male who held Damon by the leg. The animal drew away with a shriek of pain. Before it could turn, Damon’s long spiked tail stabbed it in the neck. It jerked, its wings quivering, and then it fell from the sky, blood raining down after it.

There was sharp clang of metal as blade met blade. Lune watched anxiously as the two riders struggled for mastery. The man was taller than Jason and just as sure footed. As their blades met again, the man drove his shoulder forward and wrenched the pommel up, smashing it into Jason’s chin. Jason staggered but didn’t drop his guard, blocking the next slash. They traded precarious steps as their dragons scrabbled with brute force to kill the other. Damon wasn’t losing but he couldn’t seem to get his fangs into the flesh of the other dragon.

Lune couldn’t throw any quill this close without the risk of hitting Damon or Jason. He yowled helplessly, his wings beating hard. He was determined to stay close now that he had found them again. Damon gave a loud snarl of frustration, bashing his great crested head into the shoulder of his opponent. The other dragon fell back but only for a second before it came at him again, slashing madly with its front claws.

Jason brought his sword up and sliced through his attacker’s wrist. The man screamed and Jason kicked him, sending him back peddling. His foot slipped on the glossy scales and the black rider fell off Damon’s back. Jason turned, his eyes widening at the sight of Lune. Relief was clear on his handsome features, even from this distance. He grinned weakly at Lune, his chin split and dripping blood.

He was already a real mess. His leathers were blood stained and torn in places. He was holding his left arm stiffly, his sword gripped tight in his right hand. The man’s teeth were stained pink with blood. Even though the link was now muted, Lune could now feel that relief and joy. As Damon jerked under his feet, Jason rocked. He made his way back to the saddle, determined to free the Yoru from his current opponent.

It was then that Lune was able to understand the real danger. One rider and dragon were gone. The second dragon was still locked in Damon’s talons. Where was the second rider? Lune caught the glint of sunlight off steel, seemed to see it in slow motion. Jason looked up. He opened his mouth, but no sound managed to escape as at that exact moment, a long, thick arrow slammed into his chest.

Jason looked down, his expression faintly surprised, as dark liquids seeped into the leather before he fell backwards.

Damon let out a gurgling shrieking wail. He tried to disengage from the dragon he was grappling with but the other would not let him go. Damon could only watch as his rider fell through his outstretched claws. Lune’s heart stopped in his chest as he saw Jason’s pale face as the knight let go of his sword as he sailed down towards the unforgiving ground below.

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Lune felt as though his world was shrinking.

There was no light, no time and no sound that could reach through the panic and narrowing of his world in response to the falling body of the man who had captured him. Without thinking, Lune tucked all four wings to his chest, flattened all of his shimmering white and silver feathers and dove.

He dove with a speed that ripped at his second eyelids and blurred the outside world. The world rushed up to meet him with a silent looming acceptance. He urged himself to go faster, to be faster. His body hurtled toward the ground like some fantastic silver javelin.

He reached out, his claws finding the limp man. He closed his grip on an arm and chest strap. He spread his wings. The sudden deceleration ripped horribly at his joints and back, but Lune didn’t let go. Jason’s dead weight was awkward. Pain and fear made Lune beat his wings as hard as he could, trying to slow them as the ground got closer and closer. They touched down on a hillock, surrounded by craggy boulders. All around were the remains of other fallen dragons and their riders.

As the sunlight began to fade over the edges of the towering mountains, jackals and other scavengers were already stealthily making their way to the torn bodies even as the dragons still raged in battle above them. Lune tried to lay Jason down as gently as possible. He landed, his sides heaving and wings shaking with fatigue.

The knight lay on his back, his arm out at an odd angle. The arrow was sticking straight out of his chest. Lune snuffed at him desperately but could only smell the strong blood and wet leather. He whined desperately, calling for Jason or Damon. No one responded to him. The link was completely quiet. As the dark crept over the hillside and its still bodies, Lune stared down at the rider, willing him to move. He didn’t.

He just lay, silent and still as the blood from the arrow wound soaked deep into the grass.

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END

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