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Chapter 12 - Dmitri
He let the strongest winds catch under his wings, sailing slowly higher, aiming for a cloud coverage in the not too far distance. He’d stay below it. It would hide them from the satellites. Might not do much for the military radars, but at least then they’d only unidentified blips, not grainy images.
He couldn’t deny that it felt good to be out of human form. It had been months. It felt even better knowing he was about to make Gregor fall out of the sky like a shooting star. He had no doubt he could take the other dragon blindfolded and with an injured wing. The fact that he was neither blindfolded nor suffering any wing damage made him think the other dragon was as good as dead.
If an airborne fight was what he’d wanted all along, then that was what he was going to get, and by the end of it, he would know exactly what it meant to be heir to a ruling head. The training that went into accepting a seat at the head of the table. Gregor was about to rue the day he ever let his ambitions get the better of his grasp on reality.
Also, Gregor had just tried to murder Alina.
The thought made Dmitri turn in the sky, making a dive before flaring his wings so he could hover in the same spot for a moment, riding the wind. He spotted Gregor the following moment, climbing out of the clearing.
Dmitri let out a soft growl, tucked his wings and dove straight toward the other dragon. Gregor shifted position onto his back, letting his enormous claws be Dmitri’s greeting when the two finally clashed.
Dmitri felt a sting on his arm. Gregor had gotten in a deep gash.
Dmitri opened his jaws, baring his fangs at the other, who mirrored the expression with equal threat of death and ruin. Dmitri stretched his neck, jaws open wide, aiming for Gregor’s throat. Gregor scratched him across the cheek with his right paw. Dmitri had to break away to flap his wings before they both hit the ground.
Gregor did the same, both climbing higher again.
The world turned into a map, spread out at their feet. The horizon bending softly, dawn lining it the lightest blue. A new day. It felt like it should be a new year.
Dmitri took his gaze off the beauty before him to the ugly beneath him, tucking his wings again, diving to meet the other’s attack. This time it came in the shape of Gregor’s strong tail, whipping into his chest, sending him careening in the opposite direction. The blow reverberated through his chest cavity, his breath knocked out of him, but he slowed his descent down, beginning to climb again.
Gregor wouldn’t get in another blow like that. Dmitri promised himself that much.
His men were watching from the ground. He’d given them strict instructions not to come to his aid. The last thing they needed was a dance of dragons captured on photos and spread across the internet, let alone the fight between the two. He wanted them to see him victorious. He wanted them to know they’d chosen the right side. Or for those that hadn’t, that they’d chosen wrong.
He neared Gregor again, who was ready for him. Gregor rolled over on his back and met the attack without much pause. He was annoyingly confident, but Dmitri saw an opening, and took it. His jaws closed around Gregor’s throat, biting down hard. Gregor sputtered, his body bucking, his claws finding Dmitri’s chest and digging in so hard it made Dmitri give a roar, letting his hold go.
It was disappointing, but Gregor was bleeding from a deep wound. This was satisfying. Gregor attempted another tail swipe, this time at Dmitri’s head, but Dmitri was too fast. He ducked aside, then swung around to hit Gregor with his tail instead. Gregor didn’t duck quite as fast, and the end of Dmitri’s tail hit him square in the jaw. His head bucked back, and he began to fall.
Dmitri felt the triumph swell his chest, but the next second Gregor had unfolded his wings and was gliding slowly along the surface of the lake. Regrouping.
Fuck.
Dmitri drew a wheezing breath. Something had been broken with the blow to his chest. A rib. He didn’t have issues breathing, but the noise every breath made didn’t sound promising. Didn’t matter. He was going to sink the other dragon if it so cost him his life.
He dove again, straight for the lake. Once the surface was close enough to smell, he unfolded his wings, dipping his paws into the water as he skimmed along it.
Where was he?
He couldn’t see any sight of him.
Had he gone into hiding?
Doubtful. Gregor didn’t seem the type. If anything, he was waiting to pounce. This thought made Dmitri slow his flight, quietening the sound of his wings until he was in complete stealth mode. He slipped over the nearest treetops and then, before he could be ambushed, he climbed high again, affording him the view he’d been needing because he immediately spotted Gregor. He was standing on a boulder and had no clue Dmitri was directly above him.
Dmitri stayed in stealth mode, gliding down slowly, approaching Gregor from behind while Gregor expected him to come from the side of the lake. Just as Dmitri was reaching out sharp claws for Gregor’s head, thinking it would look so much better without a neck attached, Gregor heard him, and ducked aside.
Dmitri let out a roar of frustration, coming about to charge the other again, but was met mid-air by a powerful tackle that sent them both shooting through the tree line, tearing up pines with the roots as they went.
Dmitri felt the damage the fall did to his body and once he came to a rolling stop he knew that one of his wings was broken. The irony was far from lost on him.
Then there came the sound of a familiar roar.
And a corresponding roar, though he didn’t know who it belonged to.
It was a greeting and a war cry. The two dragons were on the same side. One of them was his father, the other…
