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A shrill screech rent the air as the raptor tumbled from the skies, his entire body in flames, not just from his own feathers but from the lava lances that the Dark One had commanded the volcano to release.
Immediately thereafter, the entire mountain groaned in fury like an ancient god. It shook and sputtered, spewing more lava and rocks into the sky, accompanied by clouds of dark ash.
Zai beat his wings hard and steady, angling his body upwards. He had to climb quickly above the mushrooming ash clouds or be swallowed by the dark mass and suffocated in the process.
Ben and Sin coughed continuously in hacking, lung ejecting spasms. Somehow, they managed to keep their seats; he could feel their fingers digging into his scales like claws.
Finally, Zai broke through the outer reaches of the ash cloud into clean, unpolluted skies. They, all three of them, inhaled deeply for the first time in many minutes, dragging much-needed fresh air into their burning chests.
“We have to go back and look for Sol!” Ben shouted in a hoarse, gritty voice, coughing on every other word.
“He’s still down there! He might still be alive!”
It is impossible that anyone would have survived that,Zai pointed out, however reluctantly.You must have seen the lava spears shooting him down.
“I don’t care!” was Ben’s stubborn, frantic reply.
“We have to find him! I know it!”
Then, with sudden quiet and calm, as if someone else had overtaken his body, he said:
“I will guide you, dragon. I can feel him. Sol is still alive. I can find him.”
Zai could do naught but obey the boy.
It was as if he couldn’t help himself; he felt compelled. Hewantedto. His trust in Ben was as inexplicable as it was unwavering.
And so, into the dark grey ash clouds he dove.
Neither Ben nor Sin spoke. Zai assumed they were holding their breath or covering their faces with their arms against the suffocating, scalding ash. Ben told him where to go with subtle pats and squeezes of his hand upon Zai’s scales.
For long moments, he circled above the surface of the volcano, high enough to avoid errant shots of lava, low enough to reach ground within seconds if he needed to.
Suddenly, Ben’s fingers clawed into his back as the boy’s thighs squeezed hard.
Blindly, Zai dove, letting his instincts guide his descent, keep him from crashing into a ground he couldn’t see.
His back claws scraped the earth when he dipped low enough. And then, one claw snagged onto something—a leather tunic.
He curled his claw to grasp onto the deadweight attached to the tunic and pushed up once more, stretching his long neck toward clean air, keeping his eyes tightly shut as he climbed.
When he finally broke though the ash cloud again, his riders took a deep, gulping breath the same time that he did.
“You got him, Zai!” Ben croaked brokenly.
“You got Sol.”
What now?he asked of this young, mighty mortal.
“Let’s find a safe place to hide away for now. I don’t have much time left, I can feel it.”
A pause. Then—
“You can feel it too, can’t you, Zai?”
Zai felt Sin turn to statue on his back. The Beast had heard their entire exchange, hanging on every word, astonishment and disbelief flooding him in equal measure. Zai could feel what he felt through their link.
Aye, he couldn’t deny.
