Warfire | Broken Time Series: Book Two

Chapter 20

"Let's go help the others." Without another word, Ravi took off into the trees, switching between flight and climbing, knocking branches out of her way as she went.

It was pure chaos up above.

Dockard repeatedly dived into the bowl-shaped barrier below him, conjured by the dwarns and any other specialty proving to be useful in the task of keeping the desperate wyvern at bay. He could even see the weavings of vines and branches just above the trees as extra reinforcement, no doubt the work of the nature affinities. The barrier flickered and rippled dangerously after every collision.

Seeing his efforts futile, Dockard gave a terrible roar as he launched himself into the air, attempting to fly around it. He let out another roar as a dragon above blocked his path, and he whipped his head into its side, nearly knocking off the rider. The dragon retaliated as an instinct to protect its own rider, swiping a claw across the wyvern's chest, but the rider pulled back in time to cause no serious damage to the grieving wyvern. They did not want to harm Dockard, as he was only giving in to his impulse to protect his injured mistress.

"Circle around him!" Nagan heard Carthadeus shout above the chaos. "Don't let him escape!"

Nagan joined the crowd without a second thought, nodding in Carthadeus' direction to alert him that he was there. For a moment it looked as if Carthadeus wanted to ask him something, most likely about Milora's condition, but he only nodded in return and focused on the situation at hand.

As a collective unit, they all whirled around the near-feral wyvern, ducking out of the way of sharp claws and horns while keeping him isolated, although slowly herding him further from the area. The barrier remained below.

No one knew how long they had kept the formation, magic running low and dragons becoming fatigued, by the time Nagan caught sight of a large shadow above them. Professor Fai's lung dragon hovered above, white mane and sleek black scaled wavering in the wind. Not far behind approached two dragons; emerald green and burnt sienna, Ximor and Qentor. Nagan didn't have time to sigh in relief as a red blur flashed past him.

"Nagan!" was all Carthadeus said as he ascended up further into the sky, fully expecting the other to follow. He was not disappointed when he saw Ravi's deep purple wings trailing behind him.

They soon flew before Professor Fai and were joined by the other two Dragonmages, ignoring the slight confusion below to their sudden absence. Gath and Iridella were quick to regain order, encouraging them to keep blocking Dockard's path.

"What do we do?" Carthadeus asked, his desperation bleeding through his tone. In any other situation, Nagan would've stored that small break of character as blackmail, but he was sure he would've sounded the same if he were the one asking the question.

"Qentor had a tranquilizer on hand," Professor Fai said quickly. "What happened?"

Carthadeus shook his head. "No time. Nagan, do you have enough energy to freeze Dockard?"

"Ten seconds at best, two seconds if being realistic."

"Luckily we only need one, assuming the lieutenant's aim is good." He looked at Qentor who gave him a nod of confirmation. "Good. Get as close as you dare, freeze him, tranquilize him, and the professors can levitate him and hope that those able to are sharp enough to do the same. Does this sound alright?"

"Good enough for me," Professor Ximor said, immediately diving down to get into position. The rest soon followed.

"Keep formation!" Carthadeus called out to the rest, staying near Fai and Ximor while Nagan and Qentor inched closer.

Sensing what they were trying to do, Dockard rounded on Ravi and Nagan, twisting in the air to swipe down at Ravi's wing. She dodged to the side quickly, screeching and snapping at Dockard's chest. It was a few seconds before Nagan regained control, stabilizing Ravi enough to keep Dockard in his sight. "Sor vak!"