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“Oh, but I do. She calls to me. She has called to me since I was born. I have heard the song in my mind all these years and soon, this promise will be fulfilled. Soon, we shall be among the stars again and we shall return to our home planet. We will be happy,” Ilvar said, looking oddly like a child.
“Well, you’re going to have to find another way to get there. While we’re speaking my dragons are making sure thatyou can’t bring the ship here. Whatever you’re planning, it’s not going to work,” Mason said.
Ilvar snarled at him. “And you’re a fool for thinking you can ever outmatch my dragons. I know your kind, you’re weak, you’re pitiful. You turned away from the lessons our ancestors taught us. There is no hope for you. You might think you’re brave for coming here to stop me, but you’re just foolish. You could have spent your last moments in peaceful harmony, taking stock of the world. You could have watched in awe as we ascend to the heavens and in your hearts, you would be sated in knowing that the dragons will live on. Instead, you dare to come here and threaten me? Look,” he gestured to the dragons behind him, “soon this planet will awake again in all its fury. Do you really believe that you can douse our flames? Your soldiers outside are already dead. The ship will soon be in position, and then we shall ride this wave away from this planet and back to Drakon. There is nothing you can do about it.”
“That’s not true, not yet,” Mason said, and then he lifted his hand and called to the other dragons. The swarm of them appeared over the ridge in which we had been hiding and they went directly towards the dragons who were breathing fire. They stopped and turned, and in their moment of hesitation where they looked towards Ilvar for guidance, our dragons were able to attack. The fury of the fire was halted for a moment. Ilvar’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t anticipated this happening, but it also meant he was enraged. He cursed at Mason and then ran towards him. Mason was a step ahead, jumping off the plateau and shifting back into his draconic form. Ilvar was moments behind, turning into his huge, black dragon. His wings were as dark as obsidian, his scales as black as the night. I went to turn as well to help fight Mason, but then Jade ran towards me and grabbed my hair, yanking me away. I yelped in pain as I tried to get her away. She dragged me to the edge of the plateau and thendrove her knee into my stomach, sending the air rushing out of me.
“You can’t have him,” she said in a manic cry. “He’s mine. I’m going to be his queen. I’m going to give him everything you couldn’t.”
“You’re welcome to him,” I groaned. I was on my knees, and she was standing in front of me. She went to punch me, but I caught her fist and thrust my own back into her stomach. She doubled over and I rose, giving way to the righteous anger that burned in my heart. Ilvar was threatening the entire planet, the men I loved, and my father. I was never going to go to war with him for this quest to return to Drakon, but I could go to war when the cause was just. I would fight when I needed to defend the people I loved.
So, I felt the dragon rise within me. I felt the wings spread from my back. I tasted the heat in the air, and I feasted on it. It gave me strength. I roared at Jade, who was changing too, and then we took to the air. In this roiling, boiling pit of fire the dragons clashed for the sake of the world, and the sake of the soul of dragons. I could see the hatred in Jade’s eyes, and it was matched by the fierce determination in my own.
Chapter Thirty
Mason
I tried to not let his words seep into my heart. I tried to not think about the fact that his dragons were better at war than we were. I had to believe that Buck and Brett could do their jobs, and if they were going to succeed, then I needed to do my part as well. I couldn’t let Ilvar win. In the background, I saw Jade and Kadie squaring off. The fact that Jade, one of our own, had sided with Ilvar was a bitter pill to swallow. It didn’t seem right, and I wondered if anyone else would switch sides.
No, I couldn’t think like that. If I doubted myself now, then that was another weapon for Ilvar to wield, and he already had enough in his arsenal. He was bearing down on me, the biggest dragon I had ever seen. The span of his wings was gargantuan, and I had no idea how I was going to take him down by myself. The other dragons were locked in combat with his army, and for the moment at least, they had stopped fueling the volcano with fire. I braced myself for the impact of Ilvar’s strike. He first clapped his wings together and the torrent of air came rushing past. I went spiraling backwards, spinning out of control. He followed it up by crashing into me and sinking his claws into my body. I yelped in pain as my body arched. He dug his claws right in between my shoulder blades. When he swept them back, I noticed that my blood was dripping from his claws. I was already groggy, and I hadn’t laid a strike on him yet. He slapped me with a wing, and I went crashing into a rock behind me. The breath was shunted out of my lungs and my vision was blurred. He came towards me again, just a shadow moving inexorably towards me, and I could do nothing except brace myself and try to endure the pain. I had a feeling that he could have killed mein one instant, but he wanted me to suffer. He slashed at my body and my arms were always too slow to defend myself. There were crisscross marks on my scales where he slashed me, and I quickly became tattooed with blood. Maybe Buck was right, and he should have come here with Kadie. He was always the better fighter. Maybe I wasn’t such a good leader after all.
A glob of blood poured from my mouth, and I almost choked on it. I looked at him and I couldn’t see a way out. He beat his wings fiercely and I could see he was gearing up to ram me, to crush me against these rocks and turn my insides to mush. I waited and waited, and at the last moment I spun away, just managing to get out of the way in time. Ilvar’s great bulk went slamming through the rocks and debris fell, scattering and disappearing into the molten lava beneath us. The jagged rocks proved to be an ally to me, scraping against his scales and causing him pain. Even though I was hurt and just wanted to crawl away and nurse my wounds, I pressed the advantage. I flew towards him and used what failing strength I had to fight him. My blows were limp though. I did not seem to be able to summon the power I needed to do any true damage. He was just so immense. I didn’t know how I was going to defeat him.
And then he turned, and he swiped at me with his tail. It was like being hit by a tree trunk. The impact crashed against my ribs, and I doubled over. He then turned around and shot out his arm. His lips spread in a rictus, and I saw the blood pooling between his teeth. There was no humor in his eyes though. There was nothing but terror and I knew he had had enough of me. His fingers curled around my throat. His claws dug into my skin as he tried to crush my windpipe. I struggled to breathe. I used what little strength I had left to try and writhe out of his grip, but it was impossible, and soon I was just limp. He held me like a rag doll, and soon enough he would toss me away. I would be swallowed by the lava, and it would be left to the others to dealwith him. Darkness pressed against the corners of my mind. I wanted to tell them I was sorry. I wanted to tell Kadie that I loved her.
I wanted…
Chapter Thirty-One
Kadie
Jade and I tumbled together. She was so vicious. All she wanted to do was hurt me. I don’t think she expected me to fight back as willingly as I did, though. I was my father’s daughter. As a youth he had taught me how to fight. He had told me the stories of how dragons were powerful warriors, and like the others in our thunder, I had been through all the training. I had been prepared for war; I just didn’t like it. Jade was clumsy. Her strength was forged in anger and all her strikes were lashing out haphazardly. There was no skill, no strategy, so all I had to do was evade the pattern of her strikes. I noticed the way she moved and then I struck back, darting behind her defenses and dragging my claws down her chest. This only served to enrage her further, but it made her even more predictable. She seethed and screamed with anger, so all I had to do was use her momentum against her. I blocked one of her attacks and then kicked her with both my legs. I pushed her down to the ground and felt ribs crack underneath me. I then grabbed her tail and used all my strength to lift her over my head, bringing her body crashing down to the plateau. She groaned and twitched, but she was done.
I looked around me. To the left of me, the dragons were still locked in a clash. Fire spurted out in jets. Some of them were falling. It was hard to tell which side had the advantage. Then, as I looked to my right, horror filled my vision.
Ilvar had his back to me, but I could see that he had Mason by the throat. If it wasn’t for a slight twitch of his tail, I could have believed that Mason was already dead, but it was only a matter of time. There was a backdrop of fire. A river of lava ranunderneath them. The place was getting hotter by the moment. I could feel that something was wrong. I looked around. I knew I could never take Ilvar by myself, not without a weapon. The plateau was dusted with small rocks, but none of these would do. I looked up and saw a sharp, jagged rock hanging down. I flew up and struggled to pry it free. I strained hard, keeping an eye on Jade, who was still prostrate on the plateau, as well as Ilvar and Mason. So far Mason hadn’t been dropped, but if he was, I wasn’t sure he had the strength to keep himself aloft.
The rock wasn’t coming as easily as I hoped. I planted my claws against the surface and put all my weight into breaking it free. I gritted my teeth, and pain flared as I stretched my muscles to their limits, but quickly enough I felt the rock giving way. I heard it crack as I began to pull it away, and then it was in my hands, jagged and sharp. I bore the weight of it and turned around to glare at Ilvar. This man was the source of all the wickedness. The other dragons had fallen in line with him, but he was the one who had led them down this path and he needed to be stopped. Even if we prevented him from leaving on the ship, I’m sure he would still find another way to punish the planet. He might just destroy us all if he was so inclined.
I gathered my strength and then flapped my wings, beating away the hot air. I accelerated rapidly to my full speed, holding the rock in my arms like a lance. I pointed it in front of me and only at the last moment did Ilvar realize that I was coming towards them. Only then did he see his inexorable fate. It was too late for him to move. He dropped Mason. I slammed into him, feeling the squelch as the rock stabbed his gut. The sound he made was this sickly, violent squeal that made my blood curdle. The rock punctured his body, protruding from the other side. He clutched at it and fell down.
I looked towards Mason and darted down, watching him fall towards the fire. I stretched out my hands, trying to grow alittle bit longer, trying to reach that little bit farther, and I only just managed to get to him. I caught him in my arms and pushed upwards, taking us away from the flickering heat that sizzled against our feet. When I looked back, I saw Ilvar struggling to keep himself aloft, and eventually, he fell into the fire. The flames consumed him. His obsidian scales disappeared in the amber glow, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I took Mason back to the plateau and landed, shifting back into my human form. He did so as well, and he looked awful. He was bloodied and bruised. I put a hand to his cheek.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Been better,” he replied, and then coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“We need to get you out of here.”
“Not yet,” he wheezed. “We need to help the others. We can’t stop until we’ve made sure…” he trailed away, and his eyes became glazed. He tried to push himself up on his elbows.
“Stay here and I’ll take care of it. You just recover,” I said. I wasn’t sure I had the ability to carry him all the way back up the volcano again. I was about to rise to go and aid the other dragons when I saw Jade. She was stirring and trying to shake the stupor from her mind. When she regained her awareness, she looked at Mason and me. I was ready to shift again if she wanted round two, but she seemed to think better of it. She sprang up and headed towards the aperture, leaving us behind. At least, that was one fewer thing to worry about.
Then I turned my attention towards the other dragons. To my dismay, it seemed as though Ilvar’s army had the upper hand. A few of them were back to feeding the fire while the others were holding off our allies. I wasn’t sure I could make much of a difference, but I was sure as hell going to try. However, just as I was about to head towards them, I heard a rumbling sound. It sounded like thunder, yet it was deeperand more primordial than that. The heat was almost unbearable now, even for me, and then I realized what was happening.
The volcano was awake again. I roared in warning and then turned, knowing that if we stayed here, it would be our doom. I gathered Mason in my arms and rose, flying as swiftly as I could to the opening. I glanced back as the fire swelled, this molten core that had been awakened and now wanted to burn the world. Ilvar’s men had done it. They had brought life back to this barren rock. They had pierced the heart of the world and now all the heat within it was cascading out.
