Page 49 of Mirror of Malice
Penn grabbed the sword strapped to his back and rolled with it across the ground. He popped up onto his feet, stabbing the dragon in the leg. The creature roared, rearing back, then swiped a clawed foot at Penn. Its talon sliced at Penn’s stomach, just missing the thief as he jumped in the air and sent a flurry of leaves slicing at the dragon’s face like sharp discs.
I’d never seen someone fight with so much skill. His movements were so smooth, so refined. For every move the dragon made, Penn had a countermove ready to go. I’d seen countless Elwen soldiers fight and train with their earth magic, but Penn could’ve beaten them all. And he was doing it in the fire court, where earth magic was weaker, not as strong as it was in our home land. Still, Penn couldn’t defeat a dragon on his own. Jasper told me it took at least ten warriors to bring one down.
“We have to do something,” I said to Shadow.
“That’s not the plan,” Shadow said. “I need to get you out of here, and Penn will join us later.”
Not if he’s dead.
I pushed away Shadow’s hand. She groaned. “I told him you weren’t going to come quietly.”
Penn rolled underneath the dragon’s belly, shoving the sword up at the creature, but the sharp metal just glanced off its hard scales. Dragons were not easy to defeat, and you needed special weapons to injure them, weapons forged in the fire court. We had to create a distraction and then run for it.
A pile of boulders sat up on a ledge hanging over the mesa. I scrambled to them, ignoring the pain in my hands and the ache in my body as I climbed.
“Get down here right now,” Shadow whisper-yelled, but I ignored her, continuing to climb until I sat atop the boulders.
“Hey!” I yelled at the dragon and waved my hands.
Its head snapped to me, those yellow eyes blazing.
Penn got up from the ground, glaring at me. “You’re not even supposed to be here!” He looked at Shadow, who just shrugged.
“You’re welcome,” I shouted as the dragon stomped toward me, nostrils flaring.
Spirits below, this thing was intimidating.
“What is she doing?” Penn asked, and once again, Shadow just shrugged.
“No idea, but she is determined.”
“Fucking blood and earth,” Penn muttered.
The dragon came to a stop in front of me, then let out a blaze of fire. I jumped from the boulders, the fire missing me by a hair. The dragon let out an annoyed grunt and swung its tail at the mountain wall. Here went nothing. I leapt down from the wall, and the dragon’s tail smashed into it.
I ran toward Penn, grabbing his hand and pulling him. “We need to get out of here,” I shouted.
The dragon turned, sucking in another big breath, ready to burn us alive, but just then the mountain rumbled. Rocks began to rain down over the mesa from the wall the dragon had just hit. Penn, Shadow, and I ran for the stairs, and the dragon tried to follow, but heavy boulders fell onto its shoulders, its tail. Rocks fell onto the stairs, blocking our way down the mountain. There was only one direction to go: up.
The dragon thrashed its head, roaring out in frustration as we dashed up the stairs, none of us daring to look back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We didn’t stop until we’d reached the top of the mountain, which was covered in spindly trees with bare branches and had very little life. Gilraeth spread out below, and from up here I could see the rolling dunes, the rock formations, and cacti dotting the ground and the bright oranges and yellows of the desert flowers.
I collapsed onto the ground, Shadow falling down next to me, Penn standing over us, a frown on his face.
“Why would you do that?” he asked, irritation lacing his voice.
“Rescue you, you mean?”
He crossed his arms. “If memory serves me right, I believe we were rescuing you.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that!” I shot back.
“No, you forced us to. You lied to me about the Huntsman, about wanting revenge. Your plan the entire time had been to run. And now, thanks to you, we don’t have a clear path down the mountain.”
Even though my legs shook with fatigue, I still managed to stand, facing Penn. “I didn’t ask you to come after me. I didn’t ask you to fight a dragon. I didn’t ask you to kidnap me in the first place. So if you’re going to be mad at anyone, maybe it should be yourself.”
