Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (40 page)

Loki cast a worried look at Merru’s smoking wing and reached out to him when the gold’s flight faltered.
“Are you all right?”

“No,”
came the strained return.
“My wing is severely damaged. We need to Slide.”

Regret flowed through the dragon bond. Loki understood. He didn’t want to leave his friends to battle on their own either, but Merru’s safety came first and everyone would understand.
“Slide then and hurry.”

A Slide spun open and tugged them in.

Kirynn turned at the sound of Merru’s roar. Smoke rolled of the gold’s wing as green flames ate at it. The shield around the town dropped and Merru disappeared into a Slide. That left only herself, Marcaius, and Nira for the moment. Kojen and mages closed on Welan. She held tight to the saddle while Syrakynn dodged shadow fire then engaged the dragon that had spat it at her. More Slides opened as Vaddoc, Sumara, Nolan, Jocelynn, and Varnen arrived to help.

While Syrakynn concentrated on fighting the Shadow Dragons, Kirynn hurled fireballs at their riders in-between releasing arrows from her bow. Satisfaction washed through her when they struck home. Flames sprang up on the ground as Sumara’s Keta unleashed wide swaths of fire into the ranks of Kojen and dark mages.

It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

“Kirynn, the village!”
came Syrakynn’s anxious sending.

Kirynn twisted in the saddle. Flames engulfed the entire village as Kojen cut through the remainder of Welan’s population. Her blood ran like ice when Lenya’s mother was cut down, the little boy in her arms dying with her. Lenya’s older sister, Tenyi, armed with her zahri fought with everything she had. Even with several months of practice, she wasn’t ready to engage in actual battle with multiple opponents.

“Syrakynn—”

“I know.”
The red banked sharply and dove for the ground. Tenyi fell with a soundless scream under the heavy blows of the Kojen, her blood spraying across the hard-packed dirt of the street. Syrakynn put more power into her flight, racing to get to Lenya before the Kojen that bore down on the screaming child.

There wasn’t time to land, and Lenya was so small it would be dangerous for Syrakynn to grab her with her claws. Kirynn let her bow drop from her hands. Picking up on her thoughts the red sent,
“Are you sure about this?”

“No.”
She ripped the safety straps across her thighs loose.
“But I’m going to do it anyway. The flames won’t hurt me.”

As Syrakynn shot in low over the town like a red arrow, Kirynn sent a brief prayer to the Fates and leaped from the saddle. Pain wrenched up her leg when she hit the end of the catcher strap. Fire whipped around her as she swung through it. The dragon held her just above striking range of the Kojen until the last moment.

Stretching her arms out, she reached for Lenya and grabbed her. The
whoosh
of a Kojen’s sword split the air where the child had just been.
“I’ve got her!”

Syrakynn flew higher to avoid the buildings while Kirynn smothered the flames licking up Lenya’s dress. Two Shadow Dragons dove toward them as Syrakynn soared over the river. It was impossible for Kirynn to climb up the strap to the saddle with Lenya in her arms, and no way the red could fight the Shadow Dragons with the two of them swinging at the end of it.

She held Lenya’s limp body tighter.
“Syrakynn, I hope we live through this. If not, I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Good luck, my rider.”
The red reached back with a front claw and severed the catcher strap.

Kirynn curled her body around Lenya’s as they plunged through the air toward the churning water of the flooded river.

N
ydara came through the Slide to the southwest of the volcano. A massive column of smoke and ash still rose from the crater as the restless mountain continued to roar its displeasure at being forcefully awakened. Hot embers drifted through the air, lighting forest fires further away from the summit.

A strong wind blew the noxious cloud south and east, away from Maleena and Nydara. To the north of where they flew, Maleena could make out Tellnox’s form. Shryden and Kellinar covered the area between them as they all searched the mountainside for the lost red and her rider. The sun crawled slowly toward the western horizon while they made long, low sweeps over the rocky terrain.

“We’re going to have to fly closer to the ash cloud,”
Nydara sent.

“Do what has to be done.”

The silver acknowledged by altering course ever closer to the suffocating rain of ash and embers. Below, pieces of broken and devastated forest poked through the gray dust like fingers trying to claw their way to safety. The ominous cloud hung above them, obscuring the sky as it continued to dump its destructive load over the entire southern and eastern slope, and further away, the remains of Calladar.

Falling ash quickly coated Maleena and gathered on the dragon’s wings. Nydara made a sharp dive for the ground.
“I think I’ve found her.”

Maleena pressed her scarf tighter over her mouth and nose in an attempt to keep out the ash stirred up by the dragon’s wings. She squinted through the swirl of gray, trying to see what caught Nydara’s attention.

The silver touched down, and Maleena released the straps to slide from the saddle. The ground shuddered without pause, accompanying the deafening roar of the volcano. She sank into the ash that reached well above her knees. Her breath puffed through the scarf as she slogged her way through it, doing her best to maintain her balance on the ever-moving surface. Nydara, her legs braced well apart to steady herself, reached her nose out and blew heavily. The action cleared away more of the ash and revealed the gray-coated head of Farynn.

Maleena stumbled forward until she reached the fallen dragon, sweat dripping down her face. The heat of the ash burned her skin as she used her hands to push more of it away. In her mind, she heard Nydara’s frantic calls to her daughter.

Maleena reached under her cloak and pulled out her small water bag. Uncorking it, she poured some over the scales on Farynn’s face. At first, the gray coating just turned to mud. It took several tries, along with wiping the ash away with her scarf, to see the color underneath.

Red. She bowed her head, a sigh of relief shuddering through her. For now, the pair was alive, unless Farynn had died before Belynn. Maleena reached for Nydara,
“Call Tellnox and Shryden in, we have to see if we can get Farynn out of here.”

While Nydara relayed the message and they waited for the others to arrive, Maleena floundered to where the saddle would be and dug through the thick ash with her hands. Belynn had to be somewhere close. But when she reached the saddle, all she found were broken safety straps.

Heedless of the burns developing on her arms and face, Maleena practically buried herself as she slid her hand along the catcher strap. It was pinned beneath the side of the dragon. She grabbed hold of the saddle and twisted around, struggling to get out of the hole she’d made as the hot ash collapsed in on her.

Strong hands gripped her wrists and pulled her up. Mckale’s gray-coated face greeted her in the murky light. Maleena clenched her teeth against the pain and twisted to sweep her gaze through the falling ash.

Mckale yelled something, but she couldn’t hear it over the mountain. How long would it continue to erupt? It had to quit sometime. She read the question in his mind and nodded that she was all right.

Together, Tellnox and Nydara managed to rouse the injured red. Maleena reached for Farynn,
“Do you know where Belynn is?”

The red blinked slowly, confusion and pain rolling off her. Finally after several long moments, the return came,
“Yes, she’s with me.”

The gray covering the dragon shifted as she lifted her wing. The crumpled form of Belynn lay close to the red’s side where she’d been protected from the falling ash. Maleena waded toward her fallen friend with Mckale and Kellinar beside her. They clung to each other for support against the constant shaking beneath their feet.

Under the shelter of Farynn’s wing, Mckale tilted Maleena’s chin and looked directly at her. She reached out and read the thoughts so clear in the front of his mind. Tellnox had already called for Miya and Serena.

Maleena sagged with relief and dropped to her knees next to Belynn. Ignoring the throbbing pain from the burns that covered her exposed skin, she reached out and brushed the gray-coated blonde strands from Belynn’s face. A gasp escaped Maleena’s lips. The entire side of Belynn’s face was covered in burns and blisters. Maleena pressed her fingers against Belynn’s throat and found a faint pulse. She needed Serena—now.

As if answering her unspoken thoughts, Serena stumbled through the ash and dropped to the shaking ground beside them. She placed her hands on Belynn and closed her eyes. Maleena watched the healing weave sink into Belynn. Time crawled while they waited to see if their friend could be saved.

The deafening roar of the volcano continued, grinding into Maleena’s ears and vibrating her insides. It felt like weeks since she’d walked the wall with Raylah instead of a few hours. Had Raylah survived? Had her husband, or any of the others on the Council of Nine?

Finally, Serena settled back on her heels, her chest heaving in a visible sigh. Unable to communicate, she simply nodded her head. Maleena sent a prayer of thanks to the Fates. Now they just had to get the deeply sleeping Belynn and her exhausted Farynn out of there.

Serena stood and laid her hands on the red and began healing the injuries to the dragon. Maleena glanced down at Belynn. By the small amount of scarring left on her face and hands, some of the burns came from shadow fire.

When Serena was finished with Farynn, Mckale lifted Belynn from the ground and they moved to give the red some space. The dragon pulled herself to her feet and flexed her wings, raining showers of ash down.

Maleena glanced toward the western horizon. The setting sun hung under the edge of the cloud. Its red light bled through the thick, falling ash but barely made a dent in the gloomy darkness. The sun had barely moved although it felt as if they had been there forever.