Dragon Bound

Chapter Twenty-One

--

Chapter Twenty-One

--

Lune had taken up Damon's old track, pacing up and down the stall. The feathers along his spine were on end again. He couldn't quite explain the deep-set worry that had grown inside him over the course of the day. The link he shared with Jason and Damon had gone quiet which usually happened once the yoru and rider were far enough away.

It wasn't the same as having no link at all. It was an unnatural quiet inside his mind, empty where the other two should be. It was uncomfortable, like an itch he couldn't scratch or a memory he couldn't quiet recollect. As the hours of the morning dwindled on, he knew for certain that he hated this sensation.

He lay down on his bamboo mats. Not even Gabe had been able to come and visit him though the morning meal of a goat had come to the stable with a single sugar cube on top. It was a nice to touch to let Lune know the old rider was still keeping an eye out for him. The stronghold still seemed to be in a state of instability. Everyone from servants to knights were still on edge. Lune could hear the restless of the other dragons in the stables and wished, not for the first time that morning, that he had some company.

He rested his head on his fore claws, thinking maybe of trying to sleep until they got back. Before his eyes were even closed, he heard the sound of boots of cobblestone. He lifted his head. Having been in the stronghold for months, he thought he had a pretty good idea of what each visitor usually sounded like. George was light footed but wandered side to side as though always distracted. Gabe had a heavier footfall then the one that approached.

Uneasy, Lune sat up, his tail quills beginning to rattle together in his nervousness. He growled, claws biting into his mats as the massive door shifted on its hinges and moved to reveal a tall man in the doorway.

A man with a bone crown on his head.

--

Jason had a fleeting glance of with metallic before there was a sharp whistle and several arrows came raining down towards them. Damon divided, tucking his wings, and skirting out of range of the projectiles.

Kyril and Nibui and flew upwards, the thin dragon able to wing his way between the raining arrows. Vulkan let out a bellowing roar, staggering mid-flight to expel a massive ball of flames. Named well, Vulkan was the best fire breather in the Sun King's stable with a range three times as long and twice as wide as any of the other dragons. The four incoming dragons were forced to scatter. Damon zeroed in on a small beast which had its spiny little body aimed at Nibui who hadn't yet seen it.

Jason leant forward in the saddle as Damon flew towards the smaller enemy dragon. Jason relaxed his hold of Damon's collar, allowing Damon to call on his dragon fire. Damon let out an ear shattering roar. At close range, the small spiny actually dropped several metres, its rider floundering and slipping sideway in the saddle. Jason unsheathed his sword as Damon flipped sideway.

Jason braced, locking his knees in hard against the horns of the saddle as his sword arm connected with the rider. He felt the splatter of blood and the rough vibration of the blade hitting meat. The enemy rider, now decapitated, slipped completely from the saddle, and fell to the earth far below.

The spiny dragon, now free of its burden, flapped about uselessly for several moments, obviously confused by the sudden lack of weight on its back. Damon caught it full in the face with swipe of a massive foreclaw. It to plummeted out of the sky after its dead rider, blood blossoming like a morbid rain cloud as it fell.

Damon was puffing hard, his great lungs like a huge bellows working to give him more lift as he struggled to get back into the larger fight. Vulkan was taking two on at once. He was bleeding from the shoulder and one wing was lagging in its beats. Jason squinted, seeing that it was entangled in a net.