them. It was one that grew bigger and bigger and with each time, I wisely took another step backwards, fearing that I hadn't given them enough space.
Then, just before the vortex could drop, a great and mighty beast flew up from its centre, roaring in a boom of sound as it did. I gasped the second it was out of the top before the magic that had been around them could vanish, dropping down to the ground like a dissolving wave hitting the shore. Their combined dragon rose in an impressive display of raw power, and the deafening roar of its fury echoed along the landscape. This was amplified by the mountain range that surrounded us and made the treeline shake.
A sound escaped my lips that wasn't just shock, because I had seen this before, but more in utter awe of seeing it once again. They were incredible and not a sight that anyone would ever get used to seeing, for it would literally take anyone’s breath away!
It was also a sight that was strong enough to stop the small army in their tracks as they too had obviously never seen anything like it before. The dragon swooped low after circling the men, roaring with all three heads before rising back up the hill to fly straight at me. I sucked in the shuddered breath through my teeth as I forced my feet to stay where they were and hold my ground as I knew the beast wouldn't hurt me.
I felt the ground shake beneath me as the beast landed, and I was left looking up at the underbelly that was a combination of fur, feathers and scales. It opened up one of its large, clawed feet that I knew belonged to Vern, telling me silently to get in and hold on for the next part of the journey, because Trice had been right, they had waited until absolutely necessary for them to shift so we may have some hope of escaping any trouble that may arise. One look at the barbaric soldiers that were shouting out in some anger fuelled war cry and banging their weapons on their shields, and I knew there was no better time than now.
So, I ran the short distance to the clawed foot and gently lowered myself into its clutches, trying to get as comfortable as possible. This was somewhat of a challenge, but I managed it and clung on to the thicker part of his talon that curled around me as gently as it was capable of doing. Then I let out a small yelp as three sets of mighty wings above me started to manipulate the air around them. Now using it as a force to lift their large body from the ground and take flight once more.
We circled around, and I swallowed hard trying to ignore the pit in my stomach that threatened to bring up what little food I had eaten, especially seeing as the small mouthful of root water mead I had drunk was now churning in my stomach as if it had been a drop of acid I had taken.
“Just hold on, Fae, nothing to do but just hold on,” I told myself, hoping this little mantra of mine would work in calming my bodily functions. The last thing the shifter brothers needed right now was me losing my big girl bladder or being sick on them.
I looked below, thankful at least that I wasn't afraid of heights unlike my mother, and saw the barbaric bandits congregating together and hiding something in between the centre of them, as they seem to be working frantically on something. That’s when I started to have a really bad feeling about what was to happen next.
“Now, what the hell is that?” I questioned, squinting, and trying to see if it would help in discovering what was going to be thrown our way next. Of course, by the time I could actually make out what it was, I was too late, as it was just that… something being thrown our way as…
The trap was being sprung.
5
When the Mighty Fall
After this, everything happened so quickly that I barely had time to scream in warning. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who noticed when the glowing net was fired from what looked like a handheld mediaeval cannon. The McBain brothers had seen it for themselves, which wasn't totally surprising considering they had three heads, so you would expect at least one of them to have