Page 22 of The Dragonrider and the Void
“We need to end this,” Nix said, materializing at their side. “You can’t keep trading blows with him forever.”
Lark nodded, her mind racing. They’d drawn Barrik far enough from the sanctuary that he wasn’t likely to return, but he wouldn’t give up the chase easily.
Unless...
“White Eye,” she said aloud, the plan forming through their bond.
He roared in approval.
They carved off toward a bank of clouds, Killaborden still close behind. They entered the clouds first and before Killaborden broke through, White Eye pulled up sharply. Instead of continuing to fly straight through the clouds, he arched back, turning toward in the direction they’d just come from. When they emerged, Barrik had just enough time to look up in surprise before White Eye’s tail whipped down, catching Killaborden across the snout. The larger dragon reeled, his wings faltering.
“Now!” Lark shouted.
White Eye’s wings snapped wide, and they sped south, adding a burst of speed that Killaborden couldn’t match. When she looked back, she saw him still recuperating from the impact. He was working his jaw and groaning in pain.
“Did you break his jaw?” Lark asked in awe.
White Eye roared with satisfaction. His tail had hit with all the strength he could muster while Killaborden flew straightinto it. Lark had seen White Eye and Killaborden fight during their training together in Skol, but that was always as sparring matches. This was their first real arial combat since he and Lark defied the rule of Nordraven.
Barrik’s shouts faded as Killaborden slowed in their meager effort of pursuit. The dark pair drifted farther behind, dropping lower in elevation with each beat of the huge dragon’s wings. Lark let out a victory cry alongside White Eye’s roar. Without the brismil arrow in White Eye’s shoulder, Barrik wouldn’t be able to track them as easily.
They flew hard. Lark didn’t allow herself to relax until Barrik and Killaborden were out of sight. As she looked forward once more, Lark spotted a winter storm moving slowly over the ground below.
“If we want to lose them for good, you should drop down into that storm,” Nix said, her flame steady now that the immediate danger had passed.
“The visibility will be too low for us, too,” Lark argued.
“Killaborden will recover quickly once Barrik can heal him. They saw us head this direction. If we drop down into the storm, they won’t be able to see us or any sign of where we went,” Nix said.
Lark considered her idea. If Killaborden caught up with them, they’d need to fight them off again and Lark’s energy was severely depleted at the moment. They didn’t have any Yogo Sapphires for her to infuse herself back to full strength, which was something she’d only recently learned she could do. Lark discovered it by accident with Venrick, Hardin and Ezra. It wasn’t a practice that Nordraven riders used. But for now, the brismil was keeping her upright. When she took it off, however, she knew the rigors she’d put her body through would catch up with her.
Ahead, the winter storm crawled across a wide swath of land as far as she could see. White Eye sent her an indication that he was willing to brave the conditions to ensure their escape.
“We’re still somewhere over the western edge of Fjern, but once we go down there, we won’t have any landmarks to guide us. We’ll by flying on instinct alone. It will be dangerous,” Lark said.
“We’ll know where we’re going. The firestorms building over the forest have immense power. We know which way is south,” Nix said.
“You can sense them this far away?” Lark asked. Her answer came from the distant hint that tugged on both of her bonds like a faint wind chime barely heard across a Keep’s expansive grounds.
Lark nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “Let’s do this,” she said, patting the hard sides of White Eye’s neck. “Let’s disappear and work our way south. Once we’re in the forest again, we’ll find Venrick.”
White Eye angled southwest, toward the storm and the Everburning Forest beyond. Lark’s heart quickened at the thought of seeing Venrick again. She visualized his sharp green eyes that had always seen the best in her. The hard angles of his face that softened for her. She missed the quiet strength in his shoulders, the way he could communicate volumes with just a slight tilt of his head. But mostly, she’d missed how steady he made her feel, like an anchor in a storm. Right now, after the discovery of the sanctuary and rediscovering who she was, more than ever she needed a steady companion to share intimate moments with.
The hope of seeing him again kept her going as they dove into the blizzard.
8
REUNION
“This way to the caverns,” Cheyanne called over the wind.
The winter storm blanketed everything in a sheet of white. A line of Morsythians led the fleeing crowd into the alabaster void, disappearing into the blizzard. As Venrick followed, he noticed a dark gray shadow forming in the whiteout.
A mountain side, a cliff?he considered. His grip tightened instinctively on Yarla’s waist as he helped her through the drifting snow.
The shadow moved against the wind, growing larger as it took shape. Venrick’s heart sank as the dark serpentine outline formed two wide-spread wings.
“Dragon!” Cheyanne’s warning carried over the shrieking wind. Morsythians scattered, their hulking blue forms seeking cover among the exposed slopes beyond Haven’s Edge.
