Blood Rider [Alonia's Queenslayer #1]

23

It was funny, in a really morbid and absolutely hopeless kind of way , how an organised army sure of victory could turn into a startled flock of birds so quickly. In a flash, soldiers who were bravely charging with confident smiles on their faces had those same smiles now twisted in horror and desperation, and those who weren't immediately mowed down by the dragon fire were running for their lives, the morale of their enemies returned and monsters on their heels.

Eli was stunned, unable to move as the world fell around her, as her allies burned and monsters devoured soldiers alive, as human stabbed human and as chaos took over.

Luckily, Ejder managed to keep a clear head. He grabbed Eli's wrist and pulled her along while pushing the rest of her friends up front, away from the midst of battle and towards the side. Eli's legs felt like they were made of lead, and she tripped on loose rocks and dirt, unable to focus on one thing and unable to look away from the horizon, where another army of monsters and queen's men was coming to overwhelm them.

"You three listen to me. You're going to the council, now. Eli knows the way. The queen has won this battle."

Something snapped in Eli's mind, and she was grounded once more and emotions passed in and out of her mind until she could think clearly again.

"No," she said, pulling her wrist from Ejder's grasp, who in turn sent her a stern look. "Something's very wrong here, Ejder, this wasn't the plan, I think she sent the entire army here. There's no chance for us to win this!"

Elan put his hand on Eli's shoulder, his gaze resembling Ejder's. "That's exactly what he's saying. We need to get out of here, get help. The elves are working with us, we just need to warn them, they'll come to help us."

"It'll be too late. Look, I bonded with a dragon," Eli said, feeling the presence of Avilith in the back of her mind. She knew her dragon was close. "We just need to hold on for a bit longer, and she'll be here. We need to help the others while we're here!"

Ejder seemed to consider her idea. He shared a look with Elan, who seemed to have become Ejder's right hand in Eli's absence. Meanwhile, Teoh looked like a lost puppy, with eyes full of fear and Eli could see that his hands were visibly shaking.

"Okay, Eli. We'll stay away from battle until your... dragon arrives," Ejder decided. He had brought the group to a small hill occupied by a single tree, and they were relatively well hidden from the enemies.

"How the hell did you bond with another dragon? I thought that was impossible?" Elan asked, shooting anxious glances towards the battlefield as he spoke.

"Well, maybe cos she's a girl? Or she's not even a rider, she could be a witch like the queen, who knows? Since he- no, she- is full of secrets, apparently," Teoh jumped in bitterly, frowning at Eli. She grimaced, trying not to get angry.

"I understand your frustration, but if I told anyone, I'd either be killed on experimented on. I was planning on telling you, but then you ditched me and replaced me with Blaed, so boo-hoo."

Teoh looked away, but Elan was grinning. "There's the Eli we know and love! You'd gotten way too serious."

Ejder cleared his throat. "As happy as it makes me to see you bond again, now's not the time. We're getting overwhelmed, we need to move further back before we're noticed."

The group followed Ejder down the hill, and they couldn't see much of the battlefield anymore. When Eli looked up at the sky, she saw the dragon riders' dragons circling and desparately trying to attack the queen's massive, dead-and-ressurected dragon, but it either dodged every attack, or the attacks didn't do much to stop it. Meanwhile, Eli noticed that there was one less friendly dragon in the sky, and when she looked towards the backline of her army, she saw that it had had to land, and mages were probably healing it. Eli was unfamiliar with how healing dragons worked, but Tanya said it was the most complex creature to heal, where even attempting to heal one required years of training.