The Dragon Chase: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 24: Mathias

"Good!" Tabitha shouted in encouragement, as the Dragon drew close. "Hold until it closes, fire on my mark!"

As it drew close, the Dragon screamed, a deafening roar that Mathias could feel more than he heard, and a flash of pale-blue flame broke through the air.

Mathias blinked in confusion, and barely had time to shout "Hold!" as five other Valkyries howled in unison, and the dragon vanished behind the brilliant fires.

"Too early," Mathias muttered.

"Reload!" Lieutenant Keates shouted frantically, dashing towards the nearest gun.

Mathias stared out at the Dragon as the Valkyrie's fires faded into small puffs of smoke, and the beast finally flew into range. As it neared, it stopped, throwing its wings forward to stop barely a hundred yards from the ship.

Bright red flames dripped from its mouth as it reared its head back.

None of the Valkyries would be loaded in time.

Desperately, Mathias dashed to one of the guns and seized one of the glass canisters. "Tabitha!" he called out, relieved to see the Crafter had followed him.

"Clear the deck!" Lieutenant Keates shouted as understanding dawned on his face. "Get away from the rails!"

"Throw it!" Tabitha ordered, and he slid on the deck to the rails and swung the shell into the air with everything he had.

Mathias had just enough time to drop to the deck and cover his neck with his hands as Tabitha reached the railings. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her gesture with her hand, before something hit him like a train.

People tense up when something's about to hit them. It's a natural and normally sensible reaction. When something like a person strikes, tensing makes you heavier and can injure the attacker instead.

Shadows spend years training to overcome the instinct. A skilled Crafter hits like an oncoming train. Tensing up only makes the injuries worse.

So when Mathias was knocked more than halfway across the deck by the force of the explosion, he was on his feet again before he stopped skidding, in time to see the wall of bright-blue flames punching through a sea of red, that seemed to surround half of the ship. He took a gentle breath, and was relieved that the worst pain he felt was a rib that might be broken.

Mathias stepped closer to his charge, making a note of the brilliant orange glow in her hair. His hand lingered on his knife, and out of habit, he picked three places to bury it, should he need to.

The swirling mass of flame lasted a few seconds longer, then began to fade as the Dragon fell below, opening its immense wings and flying away from them.

Mathias grinned, sighing in relief. Tabitha retained enough of herself to keep them alive, at least for the moment. It wasn't only the Dragon's fire that could put them in danger.

Often, during a confrontation like this, the air is too hot to breathe for anyone who wasn't a Crafter.

"Chief, all ahead full!" Mathias shouted up to Dremora, who waved in response before moving the controls. In moments, the ship began to surge forward, leaving everyone aboard a moment to catch their breath.

He glanced at Tabitha, who was carefully slowing her breathing as the glow faded from her hair. Mathias glance around, to see if anyone else had noticed. As impressed as Mathias was with her self-control, it was a struggle the crew should not witness.

"Gunnery crews, load every Valkyrie! Engineering crew, make sure we didn't break the ship! Check propellers, railings, and the hull!" Mathias shouted, already annoyed by how much shouting he was likely to do before the night was over.