Requiem's Song (Book 1) (20 page)

Tanin
screamed as the beak drove into his shoulder, chipping his scales.
Claws slashed at his belly, tearing through skin. The fire engulfed
him, so hot he closed his eyes for fear of them melting. Blindly, he
clawed and bit. His teeth sank into flesh, and he was horrified to
find that it tasted like delicious, savory fowl. He spat out a chunk,
whipped his tail, and clubbed the beast. The flaming roc tumbled down
like a comet, leaving a trail of fire.

"Maev!"
Tanin shouted, mouth full of the animal's blood. His own blood
dripped from his belly. "Get out of here!"

He
spotted her fighting ahead, blowing fire in a ring around her. A
dozen rocs surrounded her, daring not approach. Their riders shot
arrows. Most shattered against her scales, but one drove into her
back, and she bucked and roared.

"Hello,
nephew and niece!" The cry rose above, high-pitched and raspy
and thick with mirth, a banshee cry. "Fly to me. Fly to your
favorite uncle."

Tanin
looked up and growled.

Zerra.

His
uncle flew there upon a massive roc larger than any dragon. The
chieftain wore a cloak of buffalo hide and bore a long, scrimshawed
bow. Yet he no longer looked like Jeid, his twin. Years in the
wilderness had weathered the chieftain, turning him into a lanky
strip of a man. Half his head looked like melted wax, hairless and
grooved and sagging. His left ear was gone and his eye drooped,
peering out of the scars, blazing with hatred.

Dragonfire
did that,
Tanin
thought, and hope sprang through his fear.
There
are other dragons.

"You
die now, traitor!" Maev shouted. She blasted fire and soared,
knocking past two rocs. She seemed to barely feel their talons, even
as those talons tore into her legs. "You betrayed your own
family. Now I will burn the rest of you."

She
blasted out a jet of flame.

Zerra
kneed his roc and the bird banked, dodging the inferno. He soared and
aimed his bow. His arrow flew, capped with metal, and sank into
Maev's back.

She
cried out.

Suddenly
she sounded very young—no longer the gruff warrior but the
frightened girl fleeing her town.

"Maev!"
Tanin cried out.

He
flew toward her through a rain of arrows. He howled as one scraped
along his head. He blasted fire, aiming at Zerra, but his uncle
banked again. Tanin swung his tail, driving its spikes into Zerra's
roc. The oily bird screeched, its stench overwhelming, and fell back.

Tanin
grabbed his sister. "Fly, damn you! Show me your speed."

She
panted and growled. "I will kill him."

"Not
tonight! Not like this. Tonight we flee." More rocs flew toward
them, and more arrows whistled. "I have a plan. A plan to trap
him. See if you can fly faster!"

He
turned and darted forward, motioning her to follow. She blasted
flame, scattering rocs, and dashed after him.

A
dozen of the rank birds flew toward them, eyes blazing and talons
gleaming. Twin blasts of flame sent them scattering. Tanin and Maev
shot forward, claws lashing, teeth biting, tails clubbing the
vultures aside. Talons drove into Tanin's flank, and he howled as his
scales cracked. He torched a roc, cursed as an arrow hit his left
horn, and kept flying.

They
broke past the last defenders and entered open sky. They beat their
wings madly, flying faster than ever. Tanin's wounds ached and
sticky, black roc blood still filled his mouth. When he looked over
his shoulders, he saw the horde following. Zerra led them, sneering
as he drew another arrow. Tanin ducked and the projectile whistled
over his head. He answered with a blaze of fire, turned back forward,
and kept fleeing.

"What
is your damn plan?" Maev shouted at his side. Her fangs were
bared, her eyes narrowed. Blood seeped from the wound on her back;
the arrow still thrust out of her flesh.

"Save
your breath and keep flying!" he shouted.

In
truth, he had no plan—that is, other than hoping they were faster
than rocs. Fighting these creatures meant death. Running through the
forest would offer no sanctuary; the beasts' sense of smell could
pick out a hare in its burrow a mark away. All Tanin could hope for
was to outfly them.

He
rose higher, so high his ears ached and he could barely breathe. He
entered the cover of clouds. Maev joined him and they flew through
the vapor, blind. Behind him, Tanin heard shrieks and knew the rocs
were following. The wind gusted and he spun, nearly lost his balance,
but managed to right himself and keep flying. Lightning pierced the
clouds. Behind him a roc screeched, and Tanin glanced over his
shoulder to see the animal burning. It tumbled down and vanished.

Another
lightning bolt flared. The stench of seared meat rose. The wind
gusted again, and Maev spun and knocked into him. Tanin tried to keep
flying forward, but he could barely tell left from right, up from
down. He could see only several feet ahead, and more lightning
blasted. Rain slammed into him, and the wind beat his wings like a
man beating dusty rugs.

"Damn
it!"

A
roc rose ahead of him, then another, their eyes yellow, their beaks
opened wide. Tanin blasted fire. He burned one, and another barreled
into him, talons scratching. Lightning flashed again, searing the
bird, and Tanin screamed; the energy passed through the roc into him.
His scales crackled, his teeth rattled, and his ears buzzed.

He
dropped from the sky.

He
tried to beat his wings but they were too stiff, too hurt. He
tumbled.

"Damn
you Tanin!" Maev shouted above. "Fly!"

He
could not. He fell. He managed to stretch out his wings, to catch an
air current, to glide, but the rocs surrounded him again, and arrows
flew, and somewhere his sister screamed.

Is
this the end?
Tanin
thought.
Do we die
here, far from home, two more weredragons for them to hunt?

He
tried to summon fire, but only sparks left his maw. He was too weak,
too weary. He dipped again in the sky.

And
then he saw it.

"There!"
Tanin shouted, pointing his claws. "On the mountain below!"

A
cave. It looked too small for rocs. Summoning the last of his
strength, he narrowed his eyes and swooped.

The
wind roared around him. He pulled his wings close to his body, his
head pounding at the descent. Maev dived at his side, blasting out a
wake of smoke. The mountain rose below, a shard of stone piercing the
night sky. Tanin clenched his jaw as the wind shrieked and the plunge
hammered at his skull. He leveled off and shot toward the cave. The
entrance was no larger than a doorway.

An
instant before he would slam into the mountainside, Tanin released
his magic.

He
tumbled into the cave in human form. His knees banged against the
craggy stone floor, and his teeth knocked together. Behind him, Maev
shouted as she shifted back into a human. She too entered the cave,
slamming against his back with a curse.

"Run
deeper!" Tanin said. He pushed himself up and raced down the
tunnel.

He
could see nothing. Somewhere in his pack he had a tinderbox and an
oil lamp, but he had no time to rummage for them. He moved as fast as
he could, holding the walls for support. The tunnel was just wide
enough for him to walk.

Maev
moved behind him, holding his shoulder. "You're leading us to a
dead end!"

Behind
them, Tanin heard the rocs shriek. When he spun around, a flash of
lightning illuminated the cave entrance. The great vultures were
clawing at the stone, trying to enter, but were too large. A second
bolt revealed the riders dismounting and climbing into the darkness.

Maev
growled and drew her sword. The broad, leaf-shaped blade gleamed when
lightning flashed again. "I'll kill them one by one."

He
grabbed her arm and tugged her deeper. "Keep moving! I told you
I had an idea. Come on!"

The
shouts rose behind him, echoing in the chamber. An arrow whistled and
slammed against the cave wall by Tanin's head. Another sliced his
hair. He winced but kept running. Torches blazed behind, filling the
cave with red light. Dragging Maev with him, Tanin rounded a bend an
instant before arrows clattered into the wall where he'd just stood.

The
cave became so narrow he had to stoop, then crawl on hands and knees.
Icy water trickled beneath him. Maev crawled before him, cursing as
she went.

"I'm
not a damn worm," she said. "Let's fight them, Tanin."

He
shoved her onward. "Keep crawling unless you want an arrow in
your backside."

The
shouts rose behind them. "The weredragons are trapped. Find
them. Burn them. Slay the diseased creatures!" Men cursed,
grunted, and spat. One burst into a rude song about buggering dragons
with his spear. His companions laughed, and another shouted that he'd
grab the female and thrust into her with the spear between his legs.
That incurred more laughter from the men—and a fresh stream of
curses from Maev.

"That's
it!" she said, stopped crawling, and tried to turn around. "Get
out of my way, Tanin, or I'll kill you before I kill them."

Tanin
growled. "Keep moving!"

He
gave her a mighty shove forward . . . and she vanished.

He
blinked.

"Tanin,
you sheep's wormy bladder!" she cried, voice distant and
echoing.

The
torchlight grew nearer behind him. When Tanin leaned forward, he saw
that the tunnel opened up into a great, round cavern. Maev slid down
the smooth, bowl-like slope until she toppled over in its center. She
looked no larger than a bean dropped into a goblet. A single hole,
roughly the size of a heart, pierced the ceiling, letting in rain and
a blast of light when lightning blazed.

"Slay
them!" rose a shriek behind him—Zerra's voice. "Slay the
reptiles!"

Arrows
whistled. One scratched along Tanin's shoulder. He grunted and leaped
into the sloping chamber.

"Skin
them!"

"Shatter
their bones!"

Arrows
flew.

Tanin
slid down the clammy stone slope, summoned his magic, and shifted.

He
beat his wings.

He
spun around, rose back toward the tunnel, and stuck his head into the
opening. The corridor was so narrow his horns banged against the
ceiling; he felt like a man trapped in stocks. His wings flapped
behind him, keeping him afloat.

The
hunters were close now, crawling forward with their torches. Another
bow fired, and the arrow slammed into Tanin's cheek, shattering
against his scales. He sucked in air. He blew his fire.

The
jet blazed through the tunnel, a shrieking inferno of heat and light,
white-hot, spinning like a typhoon of sunfire.

The
hunters screamed. A few tried to crawl back, withering, dying in the
blaze. Others farther back rolled as they screamed, trying in vain to
extinguish the fire, only for new waves of the inferno to crash over
them.

Tanin
pulled his head back long enough to look over his shoulder.

"Maev,
see the opening in the ceiling?" he shouted down to her. "Claw
a way out!"

She
leaped, shifted into a green dragon, and flew up toward him. "Move!
Let me into the tunnel. Let me kill them."

"You
claw us an exit, I'll hold them back. Go! Widen that hole!"

She
growled. "I'm not escaping. Let me through!"

She
grabbed his tail, but he shoved her away. More hunters were racing
down the tunnel, crawling over the remains of their burnt brethren.
Tanin returned his head into the tunnel and blew more flames.

When
his fire died, he heard Maev shout behind him. "All right, I
carved your damn escape route. Come on!" She tugged his tail.
"Hurry."

He
pulled his head free, leaving the tunnel full of corpses, and saw
that Maev had widened the hole in the ceiling—it was now just wide
enough for his human form. He beat his wings, scattering smoke, and
flew toward the hole. He grabbed the rim with his left claw, released
his magic, and dangled as a human.

"Maev!"
he shouted.

The
green dragon still flew by the wall below. She was now blowing her
own fire into the tunnel. Smoke blasted out and heat and light bathed
the chamber.

"Burn,
you bastards!" Maev shouted, and her eyes were red when she
pulled her head back. "Burn in the Abyss, you goat-shagging
clumps of shite." Tears gleamed on her scaly cheeks, and she
blasted more fire. "I will burn you all."

Tanin
pulled himself through the makeshift opening, emerging onto the
mountainside. Rain fell and wind beat his hair and tunic. When
lightning struck, he saw the rocs farther below upon the mountain.
Riderless, they did not yet see him.

"Maev!"
he shouted down into the hole.

She
sent another blast into the tunnel, beat her wings, and rose toward
the opening. She too grabbed the rim, shifted back into her human
form, and crawled out onto the mountainside. They stood side by side
in the rain.

"There
are more in the caves." Maev balled her fists and her legs
trembled. "We'll get them from the other side. We'll burn them
all. We'll—"

He
placed a hand on her shoulder, hushing her. He spoke softly. "They
still have rocs down there. We can't fight them all tonight. We hurt
them. We killed many. Now it's time to fly south." When she
opened her mouth to object, he hushed her again. "Prince Sena
needs us. Another Vir Requis. We can't save him if we die here."

Maev
spat and cursed, and her tears mingled with the rain. "They
killed Mother. They poisoned Requiem. I hate them. I hate all of
them."

Tanin
closed his eyes, seeing that old memory.

Kill
the creature!

Father,
kill him!

Forever
would his old beloved fill his mind, he knew. Forever would Ciana's
words wound him.