“Higher,” Pollux urged him again. This time, Adrissu shook his head.
“No,” he said. “Even if he does sense me, I’ll know. I’ll sense him too. I need you awake and alert for this.”
Pollux muttered something, but his words were lost to the wind. It was true—Adrissu needed him at full capacity. If he went any higher, he might risk the elf losing consciousness, which would be a far worse complication than Tyrsun noticing their approach too early.
“More to the west,” Pollux called, and Adrissu veered west gradually until he added, “Yes, it shouldn’t be much longer now.”
They lapsed into tense silence once more, Adrissu remaining keenly alert for the telltale prickle up his spine. Part of him worried that the sensation would be nearly indistinguishable from the nerves roiling in his belly, so he focused as much of his awareness as he could manage to his scales, his spine, the burn of his wings carrying him and his mate through the air, until—
The shock of it was unmistakable. Electricity shuddered across his entire body, painfully conscious that he was now in another dragon’s territory.
“I feel it,” Adrissu said, flapping his wings harder and speeding them through the clouds.
“You’re going to see a clearing,” Pollux said, barely audible behind him. “It’ll be quick. It’s a fissure in the ground, hardly visible down there, but it should be easier to see from above—”
“I see it,” Adrissu growled. All his instincts were screaming at him—to run, to turn away, to flee from the other dragon’s home—but still he forced himself to surge forward. When they were directly above the dark crack in the ground far below, he tucked his wings into his body and nosedived. Pollux’s breath became rapid and fearful, his arms and legs squeezed Adrissu impossibly tight, and the wind whistled around them like a scream.
A distant roar broke through the air, coming from far below. Tyrsun had noticed them, rousing him from his sleep. Adrissu imagined he had waited to see if this strange dragon would turn and retreat—enraged now that it had done no such thing. This was the only exit or entrance that Pollux could find, so even if another existed far off in the surrounding mountains, Tyrsun would surely come to meet the challenge here; but he could not truly expect that another dragon would plunge headlong into his lair, nor imagine the extent of their preparations.
Sure enough, as they plummeted, Adrissu could start to make out the faint red glow coming from deep within the fissure. Tyrsun’s face appeared, fearsome in its wrath and rage at first; but his expression quickly morphed to one of surprise, even fear, as he saw Adrissu about to crash down atop him. He saw Tyrsun breathing in, embers glowing around his teeth—Adrissu closed his eyes, and he felt Pollux shift, positioning the shield in front of him. Together, they were bathed in the dragon’s fire; but he could feel Pollux holding firm, and his own scales protected him. It was uncomfortable, but fire could not truly harm a dragon. Another moment, and Adrissu was atop him, arms extended to claw into him as their bodies collided.
“Fucking filth!” Tyrsun thundered, slashing at him as they tumbled back. They were still falling, but Adrissu could feel the passageway of the cave narrowing around them. “Who do you think you are?! This is my lair!”
The cave around them opened up suddenly—the antechamber Pollux had described—and Tyrsun half-flew and half-scrambled away from him in the open space. The red dragon rounded on him again, and this time he seemed to finally clock Pollux on his back. Yellow eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in suspicion.
“You,” he spat, recognizing Pollux as the one who had injured him all those years ago, and his entire demeanor seemed to change, his teeth flashing in a snarl as all his thick spines bristled with rage.
“Now, Pollux,” Adrissu hissed, and he slashed at the leather straps that tied them together. They fell away easily, and Pollux leapt down from his back; before Tyrsun could react, Adrissu lunged at him again. Tyrsun leapt away, fearing his claws, but it was magic that poured from Adrissu’s outstretched limbs. With a growl of exertion, Adrissu condensed the air around Tyrsun as much as he possibly could, slowing him and making him struggle to breathe.
“What is this?!” Tyrsun snapped, confusion obvious on his face now. “Who are you? Working with a mortal—”
His words were cut off with a snarl, though, as Pollux’s heavy chain whistled through the air and clung to Tyrsun’s wings. Adrissu grinned cruelly at the way Tyrsun tried to snap them by extending his wings, only to shout in pain when the chains didn’t break.
“Sleep,” Pollux said, reaching a hand out to touch Tyrsun. Adrissu could feel the magic take hold, and Tyrsun’s head drooped forward; but his mouth twisted in a growl as the dragon forced himself awake and inhaled heavily again.
“Shield, Pollux!” Adrissu exclaimed, but Pollux was already in motion. The column of fiery breath struck, splitting perfectly around Pollux and shrouding him with the ensuing billows of steam. He took advantage of Tyrsun’s distraction to lunge at him again, wrenching at the red dragon’s long neck to divert the stream of fire.
Tyrsun snarled wordlessly, jaws snapping as he tried to bite back at Adrissu; but he was too slow, and Adrissu dodged him deftly. He struggled again against the chains—against the thick air that slowed him, keeping him from reaching Adrissu—and roared in impotent frustration.
“Sleep!” Pollux repeated, his voice trembling with adrenaline. Again, Tyrsun’s head lowered limply, but he was motionless for only an instant, before rousing himself once more and snapping at Pollux. Adrissu’s magic still slowed his body, but he was close enough that Pollux had to lift his sword to parry the strike. Tyrsun hissed, blood gushing from his mouth where Pollux had struck him; and for a moment he was frozen in shock—the sword had not only hurt him, but slashed deep into his scales and drawn blood.
Adrissu could sense the shift in his demeanor almost instantly, going from enraged and territorial to focused entirely on survival. The antimagic sword was terrifying, especially to one ignorant of its true nature—no common blade could pierce the magical scales and skin of a dragon, so Tyrsun’s fear toward this instrument of destruction was all too easy for Adrissu to understand. The red dragon recognized Pollux as a genuine threat now; he turned and screamed out another stream of fire at the elf. Pollux could barely lift the shield in time, and Adrissu heard him shout in pain, as some part of him must have been struck by flame.
“Stop!” he snarled, wrenching at his neck again. The fire broke off suddenly, as Tyrsun pivoted to snap into the thick muscle where Adrissu’s shoulders met his neck. He hissed, pain sparking from his arm into his chest as he tried to pull away.
“Adrissu!” Pollux shouted. Tyrsun’s body shuddered against him as he released Adrissu from his jaws to howl with pain. Adrissu pulled away to see the elf’s sword buried to the hilt in Tyrsun’s side. When he pulled it out, a thick stream of fiery blood poured forth onto the cavern floor.
“You—You—” Tyrsun panted, scrabbling to get away. His yellow eyes were tiny pinpricks now, wide with horror at the sight of his own blood, something so rarely seen by dragons.
“Damn it,” Adrissu hissed—such a piercing wound could be a problem, so they had to end this as soon as possible.
“Sleep!” Pollux tried again.
“Sleep!” Adrissu added his magic to the command.
Tyrsun stumbled, and he could feel his magic seep through the red’s scales, spidering through his veins and into his mind. Tyrsun shuddered as he struggled to fight against the order, but Adrissu’s magic took hold, far stronger than Pollux’s; and with a growl that faded to a hiss, Tyrsun slumped to the ground, his eyes rolling up into the back of his head.
For a second, they both stood there panting with exertion, then Adrissu shook himself into action.
