Page 143 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

Three days since I’d left Benji in the valley and told him to return to the castle with a message for Gil and Voski, to return home with them. Three days without equipment or rations, we’d been pursuing Ruin and Carnage—three days of clusters of wild dragons being sent back to thwart us, and Kgosi slowing our pace, wheeling to avoid conflict while he reached into their minds as gently as he could to speak, to explain—to show them the freedom they could enjoy.

They were young, and scared. But he now had over a dozen trailing us. Each a small victory against this godawful assault on the minds and hearts of young dragons. Each yet another small delay, forcing Kgosi to hunt more, rest again, as he flew and fought, single-mindedly, to save as many as he could.

The dragons were unaccustomed to people, fearful of me, and a couple had left Kgosi as well, though he’d given them complete freedom. He hadn’t forced them into a herd link.

‘They have been controlled and used enough in their young lives,’ he’d told me darkly, that first night, when the first of the pair who’d joined us, left as the sky turned red with the sunset. ‘I will not be another iron fist on their minds.’

I agreed with him. Of course, I did. A man shackled to service was a slave, not a comrade. I’d never force a man to fight for me, and didn’t see how anyone could be trusted who had. And yet... The niggling fear that these dragons may have been set up to lull us into a false sense of security… That they might be flying off to inform, or to follow from a distance and attack at an inopportune time, would not leave me.

Kgosi had very little patience for that.

‘One of these days, Donavyn, you will learn to trust my judgment of such things,’ he muttered bitterly, the second night, when I’d expressed concern about the second dragon leaving us, while eight more remained.

‘I do trust you, Kgosi. It’s them—and Ruin and Carnage—I don’t trust. How can you be sure—’

‘Are you certain your yellow-belly belongs to you?’

I gave him an unimpressed look. ‘Considering possible plots is not cowardice,’ I snapped back.

‘And pointing out the obvious isn’t clever,’ he returned. ‘I am certain these poor creatures will not attack us, and they won’t return to Carnage. You will have to trust that I can know that. Our energy is better spent elsewhere.’

Now, we had a dozen dragons flying with us—following, though they kept their distance from me whenever we landed. And we were facing a new foe: A large dragon. Older than the others, though Kgosi was certain it had also been afflicted by chains on its mind.

This one flew alone—likely a strong male who would seek his own herd soon. He was fierce, and angry, and ruthless.

Kgosi claimed he couldn’t break into his mind without breaking it completely. ‘My choices are to kill his identity by stealth, or kill his body face to face,’ Kgosi rumbled unhappily. ‘I know that I would rather die with my wits intact.’

I agreed. And so, we fought.

Wheeling, banking, screaming—Kgosi tried again and again to reach the male, but he would not waver, and his attacks became increasingly violent—and Kgosi’s pleas increasingly desperate. The young ones who followed us shrieked and flew nearby, but would not intervene in a challenge between leaders.

Kgosi tried, again and again, to convince the poor creature that he meant no harm, but it had been ordered to attack him until death.

I felt the moment Kgosi gave up and accepted that he had to kill the adversary.

‘Strap in, Donavyn,’ he sent reluctantly. ‘I will have to flame him.’

I pulled up the hood of my leathers, tightening the chin strap to keep the dragonhide tight to my skin. It covered my ears, which I hated, the wind of flight thundering against it and deafening me to any but the loudest calls from the dragons. But if Kgosi measured it necessary, I wouldn’t question it.

I tightened the safety strap with knots again and leaned forward, hooking my heels under his wing ridges, and wrapping the neck straps around my arms, clamping the ends in my fists so there was no chance of being thrown free.

And then, Kgosi dove.

It was like riding a mountain. Ascents at such speed, my ears threatened to shatter before they popped. Descents that sent my stomach into my throat, and all the blood out of my limbs. We whipped and turned, dodging darts of flame and ruthless talons, Kgosi defying the weight of his bulk, and turning on a wingtip to face the dragon when it dodged past after a head-to-head challenge.

We chased that fucker down, and under normal circumstances, I might have cheered—the soldier watching a foe to be vanquished. But Kgosi roared, and flapped on, gaining on the beast, who looked over his shoulder and snarled defiance.

‘You have to take him, Keg.’

‘I will—but his mind is cracked, and I hoped…’ Kgosi drew his head up—slowing his flight, but the trailing smoke from his nostrils a sign he prepared fire to flame this asshole out of the sky.

To my shock, the dragon arched, diving, twisting, curling himself into acrobatics nearly as agile as Kgosi’s, until he flew under us in a blink.

What the—

My body shrieked as Kgosi dove after him, twisting and rolling in the sky, in a move that would have sent me plummeting to earth were it not for the straps. I clung as desperately as I could, praying he’d find the angle—the dragon was now flying straight for the young bucks that followed us, as Kgosi roared a final warning.

When the other dragons scattered in flight, the new brute ascended abruptly. I was shocked when Kgosi slowed his flight, then breathless as the dragon rising ahead of us twisted, mouth open and talons extended, turning to face us in the same moment my dragon arched, backflapping so aggressively, we almost stalled in the air, and his back legs and tail followed through, curling him almost into a ball.