Silver Basilisk - Zoe Chant Page 0,82

a defensive desperation while the mythic shifters were prevented from taking their powerful form, so that Cang could pick them off from above while they were suitably weakened.

Cang’s got no backup! Jen’s voice reached Rigo’s inner ear. He’d experienced shifter mind speech once or twice. It was always startling.

He began climbing with powerful strokes of his wings as he carefully formed a thought: Wants the fun of taking everyone out himself. Or maybe he’s too arrogant to let anyone help. I’ll show him how wrong he was—

Cang was on him.

Was almost on him. Rigo flipped up one wing, whipped his tail, and Cang shot past.

One thing he’d learned early when finding his basilisk in trouble, don’t let the enemy get the drop on you.

He skimmed high over the water, racing out to sea to lure Cang away from Jen, and at the last second, flipped his wing up and did a barrel-roll as Cang tried again to dive-bomb him. Cang’s velocity buffeted him, he was that close. The red dragon whipped around, furious—

And that’s when Rigo landed on his back, claws extended.

One claw ripped into the red dragon’s back, but Cang snapped his tail around in a lethal arc and struck Rigo spinning.

He pulled his wings in tight to let gravity add to his own velocity, then snapped them out, banking hard as the wind screamed past him. Then he pulled them in again as he arrowed at the dragon, hissing through the air, eyes locked on the dragon’s face.

But Cang kept his gaze averted as he whirled in for another try at Rigo. Bank. Flip. The dragon’s own tremendous length worked against him, and this time Rigo snapped beak and claws out. He got in a hard bite behind Cang’s head, and scored deep scratches through the dragon’s scales before the long tail once again came around.

But Rigo knew it was coming.

He eluded the strike, whipping his own much shorter tail around to smash against a loop of dragon, the sharp protrusions slicing before the dragon snapped free.

By now the dragon had lost all his extra speed from his overhead dive. He was still formidable—deadly, if he got his body around Rigo to crush him.

Rigo took a split second to check on Jen, who had flown lower. Rigo saw shapes rising from below. These had to be flying shifters mentally summoned by Cang, but they would have to get past Jen, who flew close to the first, and sent out a beam of light, no more than a glint.

The minion—an eagle—let out a shriek and spiraled down, tail feathers singed. Followed by another, then a third. Rigo banked, wheeling. He trusted Jen to keep the minions off his back.

This was his duel.

Cang came at Rigo again. Sweep, strike. Swoop, dive. Rigo fought to get at least one claw into the dragon, as the dragon fought to get his long, snapping body around Rigo.

It was a lethal dance of attack and evasion. Rigo had to concentrate everything he had on the fight, leaving Jen to handle Cang’s reinforcements. He kept his hot gaze on the dragon. It would take only an instant.

But the dragon’s head lashed back and forth, avoiding Rigo’s gaze. Rigo fought on, sensing an internal pressure building in his head at the effort to sustain his laser vision. His fights had never lasted this long—basilisks were strongest at quick strikes. He was vaguely aware that the battle had taken them over the land again, though he’d meant to keep them far out to sea.

What now? His head panged sharply. The dragon was trying to get at his thoughts, or someone was, at his command.

Rigo snapped at the dragon, ripping claws under his belly as Cang twisted away. No. Keep the red dragon from flying over land, which would endanger living beings below . . . among them his—

And the home instinct reached for his mate—

MATE, Cang’s thought battered Rigo’s mind. AH, THERE.

Chapter 19

GODIVA

A block away from the bakery, Godiva saw a couple of running figures. Had they come from the bakery? She peered in the direction where they were heading, and a flicker overhead caught her attention.

She looked up, and cold horror surged through her.

A silvery-gold basilisk with elegant overlapping armor plating fought against a blood red eel-shaped dragon that was at least four times the basilisk’s length.

“Rigo,” Godiva whispered, and began to walk faster, ignoring the twinge in her hip, and the echoing twinge in her knee.

Well, Godiva, what can you do against that thing? was