A LEGACY OF LIGHT

RUNE

RUNE

"Tilla!" he cried. "Tilla!"

He had seen her! Stars, she flew here in the battle!

"Tilla!" he shouted again, seeking her. He had only glimpsed her white scales, and she was gone, drowned in this sea of fire and blood.

Was it even her? Did he truly fly in battle against Tilla, his best friend, the woman he loved?

"We have to turn back," he whispered. "Stars, we can't kill Tilla." He raised his voice to a howl. "We have to fly back!"

But it was too late. Nobody heard him. The battle raged. Dragons fell all around, returning in death to human form. Three legionaries charged and flamed a resistor; when the dragon became human again, the legionaries bit and tore the body apart. Two other dragons slammed into each other, and claws ripped down one's belly, spilling blood and organs. The trees below turned red. Smoke hid the sky.

This was slaughter. This was carnage. And Tilla was somewhere here in this sky... or lying upon the forest below.

"Tilla!" Rune shouted again and whisked between the battling dragons, seeking her.

"Rune, get back here!" Kaelyn shouted somewhere below. "Rune, fly among us..."

Her voice faded. Rune ignored her. He snarled and darted between the battling dragons, seeking Tilla. He crashed between legionaries, barely dodging their claws. He dived under a falling body; it thudded against his back, then rolled off and kept tumbling. Rune rose higher.

"Tilla!" he shouted.

Shadows hid the sun. Blue wings unfurled. A great dragon cackled above, spraying drool and blood from her jaws.

Shari Cadigus.

Two smaller, metallic dragons flew at her sides, wearing helms topped with blades.

"The pup!" Shari said and laughed. "The vermin child! Slay him."

The two metallic dragons bared fangs, plunged down, and spewed fire.

Rune snarled and soared toward them.

He swerved right, dodging one stream of fire. The other jet crashed against his shoulder. Rune screamed, his scales cracking in the heat.

Shari--the woman who'd murdered a girl in his hometown, who'd taken Tilla from him, who'd crushed the empire under her heel. Rage filled Rune.

I will kill you, Shari.

Screaming, he rose higher and slashed his claws. Blood showered from one metallic dragon's face. Rune howled and blew flames, bathing the other with fire. He drove forward, shouting, and clawed madly. Scales rained like coins from a cut purse. Rune blew his flames, lashed his tail, and the two metallic dragons screamed.

They lost their magic.

They tumbled, two men in cracked armor, and crashed into the forest below.

Rune looked up, panting.

Shari still flew there, a hundred yards above, her blue wings wider than his own. She laughed, mocking him. Her eyes burned. Bits of flesh dangled from her maw, the remnants of men she'd killed.

"Relesar!" she called down to him. "Tell me, has my sister spread her legs for you yet? How much did you pay her? Or was it the other way around?"

Rune snarled and soared, roaring fire.

Laughing, Shari swerved and dodged his flames. The blue dragon snapped her teeth at him, forcing him back.

"Who was the man who adopted you again?" Shari asked, eyes shining with amusement. "Wil Brewer, was it not? Was he close to you? I enjoyed burning his flesh."

Rune snarled. "Now you will burn, Shari."

He blew his flames.

Shari laughed, flapped her wings, and rose higher. She spewed her own fire.

The inferno crashed against Rune.

He screamed.

He fell.

His scales cracked in the heat, Shari laughed above, and Rune tumbled. He righted himself just in time to see Shari swoop. He raised his claws but was too slow. She crashed atop him, her fangs bit his neck, and his blood spilled.

"Yes, scream, whore!" Shari said and laughed. "Your father screamed the same way when we killed him."

He fell through the sky. More of her fire rained upon him.

I can't win this, he thought in a haze. I was wrong, Kaelyn. I was wrong. I should have listened to you. I've led us to death.

He blinked, gazed through the fire, and saw Shari charge toward him. No more amusement filled her eyes. She opened her maw wide, and her claws lashed.

"And now, Rune," she said, "it's time to die."

No, Rune thought. No. He could not die today. He could not let Kaelyn fall here, and Valien, and all the others. He had to save them, and he had to save Tilla.

Her flames crashed down.

Rune beat his wings, drove forward, and dodged the blaze. He soared. He flew past her. He spun and swooped, the sun at his back, and rained fire.

The blaze crashed against Shari and she screamed. Welts rose across her wings.

Rune slammed into her, lashed his claws, and tore through her wing. It ripped like leather under a blade. Air whistled through it.

Shari shrieked. She bucked. She lashed her tail, and its spikes drove into Rune, but he ignored the pain. He kept tearing at her wing, widening the rent.

"You will die!" Shari screamed and blew flame over her shoulder.

Rune shut his eyes. The flames roared across his back. The pain nearly broke him. He felt more scales crack across him. He clawed and bit madly. Blinded with smoke and fire, he felt the joint where her wing met her back.

He bit down hard.

He tore through cartilage.

He pulled back, ripping her wing off, and spat.

She tumbled below him, screaming, a dragon with one wing. The severed appendage caught the wind and flew away like a sail torn from a ship. Shari roared. She flapped her one wing uselessly.

Rune rained his fire. The flames crashed against her.

With a howl that sounded far too young and afraid--the cry of a hurting girl--the blue dragon returned to human form. Shari Cadigus fell screaming, a woman with blood on her shoulder, her armor shattered.

Rune dived after her.

"Shari!" he screamed.

Dragons flowed between them. Rune crashed into one, shoved the beast aside, and kept diving. Shari tumbled. Rune reached out his claws. He had to catch her, to kill her before she could escape. Another dragon shot between them. Rune cursed and slammed against scales. He leaped off, pulled his wings close, and roared fire. He kept swooping. He saw Shari below. He could almost catch her. He reached out his claws--

A white dragon streaked below.

Rune howled.

The white dragon caught the tumbling Shari, flapped wings, and flew westward over the forest.

Rune stared, heart freezing.

Stars no.

"Tilla," he whispered.

He hovered in the sky. His eyes burned. His wounds blazed. Then a dozen dragons charged toward him, roaring fire.