Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter fifteen: Dogfight

He waited until they were only a few dragon lengths behind before throwing the first stone shard slightly to their right. Instantly, he had another in his palm, freshly shaved from the spear in his other hand. Jonah didn't need words to understand the intention behind it, so drew a fireball from the candle and threw it slightly to the turned dragon's left. The darkness masked the flight of the chunk of stone, whereas the bright fire drew their sight. They swerved again to avoid it, and that was when Lukas expanded the shard into a thick rectangle of levitating stone. The dragon ducked below it instinctively, wings quickly folding in to avoid collision as its neck scraped against the underside of the stone. The three Turned on its back didn't get away with a close escape. They ploughed straight into the stone wall. Two rebounded and stumbled off the dragon they were riding. The other managed to grab onto the edge of the floating obstacle. Lukas had to admit, it had good reflexes. But even they couldn't save it when he released the stonewall from his grasp, so that it and its passenger plummeted toward the ground.

Now it was just the dragon. Lukas appraised the beast's wings again – they looked so thin that he could tear then with a blunt stick. 'The glass trap should be perfect, then.' He grabbed the top pane on the pile and threw it upwards. At its apex, he flexed his will to hold it still, while Jonah tried to expand it. The pane vibrated, conflicted about what to do. The vibrations built and built until it shattered, a single smooth pane suddenly becoming a collection of wicked shards. Instantly, the two men forced the shards down, aiming for the wings or eyes. The dragon folded in again, entering a dive to avoid the sharp rain. The two riders forced the shards down after it; as things were, the beast would either hit their trap or hit the ground, and Lukas liked the sound of either. Unsurprisingly, the dragon had other ideas. It opened its wings to kill its speed, then flipped over so that the glass shattered harmlessly against its scales. Righting itself, it pushed air into its wings, and continued chasing.

Lukas threw out another stone – Jonah readying a large fireball. This time, Lukas formed the wall, while Jonah waited to see which way the beast would swerve. When it tried to pass around the right-hand side, Jonah threw his fireball into its path. It reared back with a screech. It flailed in the air, so the Riders tried the glass trap again. This time, the shards didn't even come close. With a single beat of its wings, the dragon pushed backwards out of their path; as they adjusted their aim, it took a huge inhale. When it blew out again, its breath came like a gale – the shards blown back at their senders. Time seemed to slow for Lukas as he dropped another stone in front of them, already growing into a shield as it left his hand. He could see a shard levelled straight at Jonah's chest. As it inched closer, the shield grew to try and catch it, but it didn't grow quite fast enough. The shard scraped along the edge of the shield, redirecting slightly to imbed itself into Jonah's shoulder instead of his heart. He went down with a yell of surprise and pain. He would have tumbled if he hadn't grabbed onto the saddle with his remaining arm. Maintaining the shield with his mind, Lukas manhandled Jonah into a more stable position on Blaze's back. But the bleeding man shook his head, "We need you slowing that thing, or we're all dead, not just me."
"I won't be able to do enough on my own!" He yelled, the hopelessness of their situation starting to get to him.
"I don't need you to." Jonah grunted, "Just hold it off until I heal my arm."
Lukas was confused. 'How does he expect to heal himself without another Fire Rider?' Then his eyes drifted up to Vayle, who had sat there, head down against Blaze's scales just like he'd told her to. She was no rider, but she had power to spare. "Get Vayle to help you. I'll give you time." With that, he turned again. He pulled sharp spikes out of the edge of the shield and threw it, spinning, at their pursuer. It had nearly caught them, but was forced to dodge back and up, losing the progress it had built up.

Amid the enraged roar from behind her, Vaylerie heard her name. "Vayle! I need your help. Can you unbuckle yourself and get over here?"
"Unbuckle...?" She threw a quick glance over Blaze's flanks, at the ground so far below. She blanched. "I... I don't think I can..."
"Look at me, Vayle!" Came the pained yell from behind her. She listened to it, turning around to be fixed by those fierce amber eyes. "We will not let you fall."
She was still unsure, but she believed him. She set about undoing her harness, and then crawled over to him. There was a shard of glass about as long as her forearm sticking out of his shoulder, which was rapidly losing blood. "What do I do?"
"First, I need to you to control fire. Lukas said you did it before, can you do it again?"
"The other times I burned everything around me!"
Seeing her starting to panic, he fixed a reassuring grin onto his face and said, "The other times you didn't have me to guide you." Her eyes were still wide, but she nodded. "Okay, I need you to empty your mind of as much as possible – just ignoring things won't do, you need to remove them entirely. First, find a stable seat."
She jammed her knees beneath the saddlebags either side of her. "Good. Now close your eyes and take deep breaths." She did that, too. After a while, her shoulders started to relax. "Very good, Vayle – you're doing great. Now, focus on the sounds of your heart, your breathing, and my voice. Tune out everything else you can hear." Her forehead furrowed in concentration. Her breath rasped in and out of her lungs. Her heart beat loudly. His voice was warm and soothing.
"Now, without opening your eyes, I want you to find the candle."
"How can I—"
"Don't think about it. Just let its energy flow into your mind, and you will know where it is." She didn't understand, but she relaxed again. Deep, rasping breaths. Loud heartbeats. Warm, soothing voice. 'But he isn't speaking.' She turned her head to the right to follow the sound, and found a flickering red dot on the inside of her eyes. Reaching out to it, her hand brushed against leather before closing on smooth glass. "Amazing." Jonah gasped, "I've never seen anyone grasp that so fast... But, that's not all I need to teach you. Don't open your eyes, yet. Put that next to your right leg." She did so. "Now, find the fire on your left. This time, don't reach out with your hand. Reach out with your mind."