Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

Just then, another enemy rider flew in from the side. He brought his scythe down hard, but Trenna drove her steed out of the way. There were more of them than she thought. Every time she attempted to turn and shoot, several enemy riders attacked and forced her to evade. But Trenna was not to be outdone. She urged her dragon to fly right into the path of several enemies and then turned to run.

“Come on!” she cried, looking over her shoulder. When they followed, she smiled. Trenna’s dragon was far swifter than those of her enemy, but she let them close the gap. “You think you are going to get me!” she said, and then she turned her dragon and led them right past the southwest wall.

Nock heard the trumpet blast and saw the dragons come swooping down from over the castle. “There they are at last!” he yelled. “Archers, spearmen! Our dragons have joined the fray!”

Nock ran to the nearest tower and ran inside. He went to a huge cabinet and replenished his supply of Blackwood Arrows. On the way out, he saw that a siege tower had lowered its drawbridge. A huge warrior was coming across it. Nock fitted a shaft to the string and was about to fire when he realized it was Mallik and not an enemy. Nock ran over and greeted Mallik just as he stepped back onto the walls.

“Oh, hello, my archer friend!” Mallik said. “What brings you to my side of the party?”

“I almost put an arrow in your hide!” Nock answered. “What were you doing in that siege tower?”

“Oh, just fixing a few things,” Mallik said, a mischievous smile curling beneath his coppery mustache. “Watch!”

Mallik turned and took a mighty swing with his hammer, bringing it down on the edge of the drawbridge. The whole siege tower began to shake, and then it collapsed upon itself in a great cloud of debris.

“How did you do that?” Nock asked.

“Remember,” Mallik said, “we Blue Mountain folk are good at building things, but in the process, we learn how to knock them down!”

They laughed, but then Mallik turned and pointed. “A white dragon is coming this way. Is that not one of your kin?”

Nock looked, saw the chase, and called over two more archers. Trenna brought her steed down right in front of the archers with the enemy directly behind her. They let Trenna pass, but not the Deathreapers. The archers timed their shots perfectly and loosed their shafts.

When Trenna looked back, there were three riderless dragons following her. The technique worked so well, Trenna tried it again. The archers upon the walls picked off five more enemy riders. But eventually the Deathreapers grew wise. They had watched Trenna and knew what she would do.

Two waited in ambush high above the parapets for Trenna to soar in front of the walls. She did so exactly as before. And just as before, she looked over her shoulder to see if her pursuit had been eliminated, and then she started to wheel about. The two Deathreapers who had been lying in wait streaked down toward Trenna. She didn’t see them until it was too late. The enemy riders kept Trenna between them and swept down their scythes for the kill. In a split second when she recognized the threat, she tried to pull away. The blades missed Trenna but clipped both of her dragon’s wings. The loyal white steed tried valiantly to maintain control, but it could not generate the lift it needed. Trenna’s steed fell awkwardly about a hundred feet and slammed into the roof of a cottage.

“No, Trenna!” Nock had watched from the walls. “Come, Mallik!”

“Do you think there is a chance?” he asked.

“I do not know,” Nock answered grimly. “But we must try.”

F alon carved a bloody streak through Paragor’s forces. Aidan, Antoinette, and Robby, shielded by Falon’s enormous bat-wing ears, held on for dear life. Archers opened fire on her, and a strange horn rang out, but there was no slowing the mortiwraith’s charge.

At last, she came to the foot of the hill and began to climb. “Ready your weapons, young ones!” she called back to them. Huge guards were at the fence where the torches stood. They rushed down the hill swinging battleaxes and massive spiked clubs. Falon brushed them aside, incurring dozens of deep wounds, but still she climbed. She drove over the ring of torches and then slowed to a crawl. She held out her foreleg to let her riders down.

“It is best that you stand on your own two feet from here,” she said. “Stay close behind me, hmmm? I will shield you as much as I can, but be wary.” Falon clambered up the incline. Careful to avoid her giant footfalls, Aidan, Antoinette, and Robby followed right behind.

The top of the hill was a huge expanse, but in the exact middle was an enormous carriage drawn by a massive blackhorne. There was a warrior seated upon the front of the carriage. He was clad in shining black armor and wore a red cloak that flapped heavily in the gusting wind. At his side was a long sword, and in his hand was a heavy mace that swung like a pendulum when he stood.

“Hail, Falon firstborn,” said the warrior. His voice was rich and melodic. “After your efforts on behalf of Mithegard, I have so looked forward to our meeting.” Thunder rumbled and the storm clouds swirled slowly over his head.

“You have always known where I dwell, Paragor,” Falon replied. “I wonder why you never visited my little labyrinth. We could have had such fun… in the dark, hmmm? But it was kind of you to veil the sun and moon so that I could come to you.”

“And it was kind of you to do so much of my work for me,” Paragor said as he tilted his head to see the approach of Aidan, Antoinette, and Robby. “Very kind… you have even brought me back those I did not know I had lost. Antoinette, I take it you grew weary of the confines of your cell?”

Antoinette’s tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, and she said nothing.

“You will not harm these little ones,” Falon said, growling. “Your business is with me tonight.”

“Save your bluster, mortiwraith!” Paragor said, suddenly commanding. “My business is of my own choosing. If these three are of interest to me later, what is that to you?”

Aidan’s skin crawled and he stared at Antoinette. Robby looked at them quizzically.

Falon emitted a low, rumbling growl that shook the hilltop. She bared her fangs and hissed, “Paragor! You have stolen from these three as you have stolen from me-all in the name of a crown you will never wear! You owe us a price in blood, hmmm? And we have come to collect!”

“Enough of this!” Paragor exclaimed. He whirled his mace above his head, and suddenly it caught fire. The clouds above him swirled faster. A shriek cut through the wind.

“The Wyrm Lord!” Antoinette cried.

From the darkest blotch in the clouds a large winged shape flew. He dove right for Falon. She reared up like a cobra waiting to strike. Aidan, Antoinette, and Robby raced out of the way.

The Wyrm Lord crashed into Falon like a comet and the two rolled backward down the hill. They came apart at the bottom. The Wyrm Lord loosed a stream of fire at Falon, but she coiled away. Then Falon snapped her tail section like a whip, and many of her talons slashed across the Wyrm Lord’s armored chest. The Wyrm Lord shrieked but recovered from the wound faster than Falon expected. The firstborn dragon unleashed a horrible spout of fire. Overcome by the blaze, Falon rolled backward down the hill and lay in a heap.

“No!” Aidan yelled, and he drew Fury from his sheath and turned to Paragor.

But Paragor swung his flaming mace faster and faster. The clouds above began to funnel. They swirled down and engulfed the mace and Paragor’s arm. The flames from the mace spiraled up into the clouds. And Paragor began to laugh. “Leave them alive!” he cried. “We have business later!”