That was more than the Green Dragon could tolerate. His shoulders bulged as every muscle in his body tightened. The Green shot a Human-sized glob of acid spit at the dragonet. Flicker zipped out of the way. Direct hit! Two soldiers who had been creeping down the stairs behind him collapsed, screaming as their clothes and flesh hissed and boiled. The metal grating sagged as the powerful acid devoured the metal.
Oh, Lia was definitely his fire-eyes again! How cunning … Flicker performed a celebratory aerial somersault as Hualiama thrust at the Green Dragon’s eye, but her stroke only pierced his cheek. The Green Dragon’s paw blurred as he struck! Flicker gasped, but Lia twirled on the axis of her body, her blades lashing out with fantastic speed. Two of the Dragon’s talons spun into the air, surgically amputated by the venom of her strike. As the Green reared, bellowing his pain fit to bring down the mountain, a higher, whistling sound registered on the dragonet’s ears. The bravest Humans, cowering at the edge of the tunnel, were treated to the spectacle of Grandion’s stunning strike. The Tourmaline Dragon smashed into the far larger Green at a staggering velocity, his hind paws crushing his opponent’s neck against the tunnel’s edge. Bone cracked sharply.
Of course, Grandion could not resist striking a brawny pose atop the Green Dragon before its dead weight slithered back into the shaft. Flicker sniffed in annoyance, but was rather less annoyed when the Dragon’s paw snapped out to rescue Lia from an incipient attack.
“Over here, Princess of Fra’anior,” he said.
Vile green acid splattered the rock where she had stood.
“Allow me to deal with this ill-mannered lout,” Grandion continued, flicking Lia in one direction while he dodged to his left paw. Another Green smashed into the platforms where the Tourmaline Dragon had stood but a heartbeat before, roaring in fury and pain as he missed his strike. Grandion was in no mood to return the favour. Lightning flared. His fangs closed on the Green’s wing and with a ferocious bite, Grandion ground his fangs against the bone near the second wing joint.
The huge Green Dragon lunged, his jaw gaping so wide that he engulfed his opponent’s entire left shoulder in his mouth. Flicker shuddered at the power of that mauling. But Hualiama’s hands blurred into motion. She bent the Haozi bow so hard it creaked audibly, and suddenly an arrow leaped out to bury itself up to the fletching in the Green Dragon’s eye. The creature convulsed. It smashed Grandion against the tunnel wall before shuddering as it broke away, thrashing the cages like clanging cymbals and tumbling into the shaft.
The Tourmaline Dragon shook himself with the air of a wet hound. He rumbled, “Perfect shot, Hualiama. Thanks. Now, your Dragonship awaits. There is but one, a cargo vessel.”
“It will be enough,” she replied, smiling at the Dragon.
“One more matter,” said Grandion, thumping forward with all the arrogance of a victorious Dragon. Lia skipped out of his way. “These stairs must be cleansed of vermin.”
A Dragon’s fire roared up the stairwell.
Chapter 27: The Flight Home
HUALIAMA HUNCHED OVER the Dragonship’s controls, gazing out into the Island-World night. Grandion shadowed them upon the starboard beam, his scales lustrous in the moonlight, wings outstretched to glide at the slow speed of a Dragonship with a minimal expenditure of energy. Four more days to Fra’anior if the following wind kept steady, she thought, raising their overall speed to six or seven leagues per hour. King Chalcion had just finished shouting at her for her ‘familiarity’ with the Dragon and stormed off to his cabin. If he only knew … she gritted her teeth. She had enjoyed no word of appreciation from the King bar a grudging acknowledgement of their rescue effort. And a lecture.
Talking to her father was like trying to squeeze prekki juice out of a stone.
Flicker flew with Grandion, leaving Lia alone with her thoughts in the navigation cabin. She glared at the crysglass windows as though they supported Ra’aba’s regime. To her, the transparent panels symbolised the barrier between her and her draconic friends. Not very visible, but undeniably present. What Lia would not have given to be out there, with the scents blowing in her nostrils and the warm winds ruffling her hair …
Hearing the tread of someone stealing up behind her, Hualiama sighed. “I know it’s you, Mom.”
Queen Shyana said, “My Hualiama departed a girl, and returned a woman. What has wrought this change, daughter?