Frost on the Grasslands | Shelha Series 1 | ✔

Underground

Sethral felt like all the air had been sucked out of the rocks around her. This could only mean one thing: that Winter had anticipated the renegades' arrival and was already prepared. They had walked straight into a trap.

A flicker of motion caught Sethral's attention. She could have sworn she'd seen something step between the rocks.

There it was again.

There was a creature in the rocks.

Maybe a head taller than Silversand, a creature like a small Coppertail settled in a hollow with the grace of a hunter. Sethral found herself frozen by a piercing golden gaze. She let her wings rise slightly. The creature rose to a crouch again. It cast a flicker of a glance towards the Drakons, then stepped very deliberately away. It was going to move crosswind from the tunnel: a speed attacker's position. This was a Drakon attack. It was also leaving the air downwind—the Drakons' escape route—completely unguarded. Sethral shifted her position for a quick lift-off, suddenly smiling. That look was an invitation, or she was a Royal. A team attack with a Drakon hunter? Yes please.

But a Drakon hunter? What was that creature?

The sun was still climbing up the sky, and the temperature rose perceptibly with each passing heartbeat. Sethral was about to wonder if the twins and Jay had gotten held up underground when a shout rang from the tunnel.

The Drakon-hunter attacked. Drakons screamed as a copper shape streaked through their ranks, sending them whizzing for the sky. Sethral leaped into the air. Taz, Fletch and the Coppertails burst from the tunnel. More Drakons poured out after them. A storm of wings and noise blotted out the sky, and dust stormed the ground. The Coppertails scattered.

The Drakons were panicking. Sethral flew at them and they plunged, got hit by the Drakon-hunter and shot skywards again. Two were dead on the ground. Sethral grappled another Drakon, spun and flung it groundwards. It crumpled in a copper flash. Sethral had barely whipped another flyer down when six Drakons massed and dove at her hunting partner. The blow was sickening. Suddenly, cries cut through the panic, lords screaming orders and flights regrouping. Sethral was seized from behind and plunged to the ground. Stunned by the impact, she lay still while ropes appeared about her wings, paws and muzzle.

Drakons to her left swarmed back as the six-flight retreated. The Drakon-hunter lay limp in a scarlet stain, his chest heaving. Drakons danced in and back, claws clutching ropes but lacking the courage to put them on. A lord screeched angry orders. One Drakon bolder than the rest got a rope around the creature's neck, then pinned him down. Another cinched a locking noose around his muzzle. The Drakons relaxed, chattering in relief. Several leaped forwards to bind the creature's paws, and the muzzle and neck nooses were tripled. The creature did not fight back.

It struck Sethral suddenly that she had not seen Jay with the twins. A lump she did not like thudded into the pit of her stomach. This had been a trap, after all, and Drakons had clearly ambushed the escapees underground. Where was the Northlander?

Claws seized the ropes tying Sethral's body, and she was yanked into the air. The Drakons flew back to the tunnel-rocks and flung both her and the Drakon-hunter to the ground in the ring of spires. Sethral played unconscious.

A young Drakon sidled up to the Drakon-hunter. Reaching out, it nipped the creature and leaped back again. A second youngster took interest. It repeated the nip, then also dashed to safety. Both were chatter-giggling. A wing poked Sethral's back. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to stay motionless as mouthpart tips stabbed her fur. The urge to clobber the Drakon was overwhelming.

A buzz of wings made the youngsters scatter. One of Winter's messenger-Drakons landed on a spire and rapped out a message. Drakons massed to it. When every guard had been gathered, the messenger gave another order. The cloud splintered into flights and zoomed in every direction. The tunnel-rocks were left empty. Sethral opened her eyes and made sure the coast was clear before starting to wriggle. Her satchel was trapped against her side, but she had her knife in there. She sucked in her ribs, feeling the bag slide down her side. A pebble rattled into the hollow. Sethral leaped in of her skin as a creature dropped after it.