Page 27 of Realm of Wind and Vines
The soldiers, still in their human forms, stand motionless as they glance between Draven and their clan leader. Rin, in her dragon form, has her black eyes locked on Draven. Rain pelts her orange scales, but she barely seems to feel it. She is much smaller than Draven, and in a one-on-one battle between them, there is no question about who would win.
Unfortunately, though, this is not a one-on-one battle.
Rin lets out a roar.
Black smoke begins exploding across the large square as all the soldiers start shifting as well.
Swinging his massive head in our direction, Draven lets out a deafening roar of his own.
We lurch into motion.
With a flick of her wrist, Isera forms a crude staircase of ice that leads right up to Draven’s back. Before it’s even fully formed, we sprint up the steps and towards the spikes where Draven’s neck meets his shoulders.
Rin attacks.
I gasp and throw myself desperately the final few steps up. Winds rip at my body, trying to throw me off, and my boots slip on Draven’s wet scales. Diving forward, I barely manage to reach that spot where his neck meets his shoulders where there is space for someone to sit.
Draven lunges and swipes his claws out to force Rin back. I grab the spike in front of me with both hands right before Isera crashes into my back, almost knocking me off again. Another jolt shoots through me as Orion slams into Isera’s back a moment later.
All around us, orange dragons appear in clouds of smoke.
A deafening roar splits the air.
Then my stomach lurches as Draven abruptly shoots up from the ground.
Isera wraps her arms tightly around my waist to keep from sliding off. Thankfully, Orion’s back seems to be braced byanother spike at least, so I don’t have to carry the weight of them both.
The ground rapidly disappears below us as we shoot up through the rain-soaked sky. Rin and an entire host of orange dragons follow us. Thunder rumbles in the dark clouds and winds rip at my body. I cling to the wet spike in front of me while rain hits my face like tiny arrows.
Draven rolls in the air.
My stomach turns and my breath gets stuck in my throat as the world spins around me. Isera’s arms tighten around my waist, and Orion curses from behind her.
I scream as a pair of orange jaws snap shut in the air right next to us. Draven roars and levels out again as Rin and the other orange dragons swarm us.
“Help him!” I scream over the rushing winds as Draven breathes a torrent of fire like a long barrier to stop our attackers.
Isera starts shooting blocks of ice at the dragons behind us while Orion focuses on the ones to our right. Twisting to my left, I shove my magic towards the dragons there while Draven fends off an attack from Rin.
Only one of the dragons on the left feels fear, but I latch on to it and increase it to such an awful degree that it lets out a screech and speeds away through the lashing rain.
“Watch out!” Orion snaps.
I don’t even have time to turn my head before I feel Isera’s body disappear from behind me.
Then a shout of agony rips through the air.
Whipping my head around, I find Orion holding Isera on the left side of Draven’s spine. The claw that would’ve torn through her body now slashes across Orion’s thigh instead as he shields her with his body. Pain blooms in his eyes and he gasps in a breath. I quickly help set Isera back down on Draven’s scales right before he swerves violently in the air. Isera’s shocked face disappears behind my back once more.
I grip the spike before me hard as Draven rolls in the air again to evade three orange dragons. Rin lets out a screeching call.
All twenty dragons around us attack at the same time.
Another deafening roar rips from Draven’s chest, making his entire body vibrate from the force of it.
The dark storm clouds around us grow darker, thicker, more violent. The wind thrashes so hard that I’m almost tossed off Draven’s back. Lightning splits the air in furious flashes, aimed at the orange dragons.
Isera shoots massive sheets of ice at the dragons that are closing in on us. Two of them appear to have lost their vision as Orion blinds them with his magic, and I manage to force another four of them to flee in fear with my own magic. But the other fourteen keep coming.
