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In the first blast, those closest to the fire were consumed by it, and then this torrent of heat poured through the volcano. I could feel it on my heels and my back. Mason shifted into a dragon and used what last shred of strength he possessed to propel him forward. Behind us the other dragons followed, but I had no idea how many were going to survive.
I wasn’t even sure if we were going to survive.
We ducked through the tunnels and surged upwards, reaching a point where we could see the stars again. But the flames were licking us, and we still had miles to go. We were fighting against gravity, against time, and it started to feel like a battle we could not win. I flew close to Mason, knowing that if this was where it all ended at least I wouldn’t have to die alone.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Brett
I had been under the ship for a long time. I wasn’t sure how long. I didn’t know whether my allies were still fighting. I had no idea where Buck was or how Mason and Kadie were doing, but I couldn’t think about them. I had to focus on myself. My mouth was filled with this disgusting tangy taste that I just wanted to spit out. It only grew worse and worse the more I gnawed on the cable, but there was nothing else I could do about it. At least, I was making progress. The thick steel cables were now held together by strands. I knew it was just a matter of moments until it broke apart. I kept fighting through the pain of my aching jaws and made the final cut. The cable split apart, and both ends of it slithered across the surface of the hull, whipping around. I moved to the next one.
There were three in all. I braced myself against the awful taste again, but this time I wasn’t able to gnaw on them uninterrupted. When the first cable had broken loose, the other dragons had realized that something was amiss. Now two of them came at me, one from either side, seeking to stop me from preventing their manifest destiny from happening. I chewed for as long as I could before I let go, dropping down and flying back up to the other side of the ship. It had been hard enough to fight one of them, let alone two. Now that I had dealt with one cable, the ship lurched at an angle. The dragons were still trying to pull it towards the volcano. We were closer than we had been before. I checked the sky, but did not see any sign of Buck.
Fuck, I hoped he was alright.
The ship had inert bodies of dragons draped upon it. Whether they were dead or merely unconscious I did not know. Icouldn’t spare a thought for them yet. The volcano was looming closer, and I was running out of time. I needed to stop this ship.
We didn’t seem to be having much luck. Other dragons had the same idea as I and were trying to chew through the cables, but it was taking too long. We had to attack the ones who were holding the cables. It was the only way.
I turned to the one nearest me. I flew towards him and slammed into him, wresting the cable from him. I flew around him, wrapping the cable around his neck and tightening it, choking the life out of him. He struggled and writhed and tried everything he could to break free, but it wasn’t going to work. The two dragons who had followed me under the ship had now emerged and were coming straight at me. As soon as they got close, I relinquished my grip and the body of the dragon I was holding dropped like a stone, along with the cable.
The ship lurched again. Now the other dragons had more pressure on them, and they were straining to keep a hold of it. The ship looked as though it was going to fall, and the dragons who were free had to swoop under the ship to bear the weight on their backs. The ship leveled, but it meant they couldn’t attack us.
It was the shift in momentum that we had been waiting for.
I roared at the others to attack those holding the cables. We swarmed over them, batting them away. We didn’t necessarily need to kill them, we only needed to get them to let go. As soon as we had the cables, we could pull the ship back in the other direction. It was hard though. The dragons held onto those cables as tightly as they clung to life itself. We had to hurt them, and we had to wound them but, eventually, we got control. However, the enemy dragons then flew down and joined their brethren on the ship. They decided that if they couldn’t pull the ship by cables then they were going to struggle and strain tocarry the ship on their backs. I had to admire their dedication and their determination.
In the distance, I could hear a rumble. It sounded like thunder.
I directed the other dragons to attack under the ship. We swooped down and crashed into those dragons underneath like skittles, sending them flying. Their claws scraped against the hull as they tried to gain purchase, but it was already too late. They had lost control of the ship. It angled backwards, the heavy engine section unbalancing the ship. We flew away, letting it fall, the other dragons went after it, still trying to save it. I watched with relief as this huge ship went careening to the ground and flattened the forest. Metal crunched and the thunderous sound echoed in the air until the ship came to rest.
There was no way back to Drakon now. We had done it. We had prevented the other dragons from leaving.
But that didn’t mean the fight was over.
Mason and Kadie were still in the volcano with Ilvar. Buck might have joined them. Ilvar’s dragons swooped down to try and lift the ship again, but I knew they weren’t going to succeed in time. The battle was drawing to a close. The curtain was almost falling. It was time for the final act.
Mason, Kadie… please say that you’re safe.
There was another rumble that drew our attention. Now that I was out of the frenzy of battle, I could tell that it wasn’t thunder at all. It was rising from the bowels of the earth. If Mason and Kadie didn’t get out of there soon, then it was all going to be too late. I signaled to the other dragons, and we all rushed towards the volcano as fast as we could. I spat, trying to get rid of the acrid taste in my mouth. I also tried to ignore the pain that blazed in every damn part of me. The volcano beckoned. I could see the mouth of it, but the rumbling was growing louder, and the world seemed to tremble. Then therewas a huge jolt of fire as the lava bellowed out. The plume of flames rose high into the air, illuminating the night sky as though the sun had just fallen to the earth. Sparks danced and the molten heat licked the sky before trickling down the side of the volcano, rushing towards the forest that would surely burn aflame.
I stopped suddenly, halted by the sheer wall of heat that rushed towards us. I turned my face away, my heart sinking because surely nothing could have survived that?
But then, from nowhere, dark shadows appeared against the fountain of fire. I almost dared not hope, but then Kadie and Mason came limping back to us. They were wounded, their bodies charred. Other dragons came with them, although not as many as had descended into the volcano. We would have to mourn our losses later though. For now, we could celebrate our victory. We had just saved the world. The volcano had awoken, but with no ship to power there was no blast that would tear the planet apart, and the dragons would not leave for Drakon.
I embraced Kadie and Mason, stretching my wings around them. We had been through so much together in such a short time, and all I could think about was the future we had in front of us now. There was something missing though…
Buck.
A horrible screeching sound filled the air. It was like a clash of bells. We all turned to face the direction in which it was coming from. To my horror I saw a dark shadow emerge from the flames. Its wings were alight. It looked like a phoenix. It was a writhing mass of a thing, burning from the inside, convulsing in agony and violence, and it could only have been Ilvar.
How he survived that fire I did not know, but he was flying towards us. His wings were tattered, his body limping. I could only assume that he had survived on hatred alone. His plans had been thwarted, but he was still seeking vengeance.
We were drained from battle, but we all knew it was not over yet. With the volcano still spewing out fire in the background, we took the fight to Ilvar. Even in this state, he was a formidable warrior. Perhaps he was even tougher because he had nothing left to live for. The only thing he could do now was try and take his hatred out on us because we were the ones who had stopped him.
He breathed fire all around, a great unending stream of heat that burned almost as fiercely as the volcano itself. He beat his wings and lashed out with his limbs. He tried to sink his teeth into us and even though we all swarmed around him, it felt like we weren’t going to be able to subdue him. His tail slammed against us, sending us flying away. Fire licked every part of the island, turning it into a huge pyre. If we allowed Ilvar to break free, then I had no doubt that he was going to turn his hatred towards the world. He would fly across every country, burning every single city he came across. He would be a specter of death and the humans would not be able to defend themselves, because by the time they realized what was happening, he would already be gone.
So much had happened during the night already. We had all been pushed to our limits and now we were fighting on our reserves, and they were being depleted. Ilvar just wouldn’t go down. He wouldn’t submit. He was going to fight until the last breath, and part of me wondered whether there was any way we could actually defeat him. I saw other dragons hurtling backwards as they were struck by his powerful blows. The island was practically a sea of lava now as the volcano kept spewing out its hot fire. Ilvar’s body smoldered and every time he hit us, we tasted fire.
