The sudden pressure of air made the team wobble. Tirys yanked on the neck rope, but no man was strong enough to right a crashing dragon.
Salvani’s right wing hit the water first. The dragon cried out and twisted to gain height, but it was much too late. They slammed into the lake in an awkward sideways position. Salvani struggled, wings flapping to stay afloat, forgetting all about the rider strapped to his back.
Tauran’s vision swayed like he was on a boat and he released the air burning in his lungs. People ran past him to the water, but Tauran didn’t hear their shouts. All he heard was his own breath in his ears and the drum of his heart. She cried all the way down. Until the sickly sound of her skull crushing against the cobblestones left everything quiet.
“Tauran!” Catria’s voice sounded far away, as if submerged in water. “Tauran! Emilian, give me a hand.”
Someone stepped in front of him. When Tauran looked up, Emilian’s stern gaze met his. He had his hands on Tauran’s shoulders.
“Let’s go sit for a moment,” Emilian urged, leading Tauran to the tent with a firm grip on his upper arm as if he feared Tauran might collapse if he didn’t keep him upright.
“I’m fine,” Tauran said, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. A dragon cried, and he wasn’t entirely sure if it was Salvani or his imagination. A quiet roar that sounded like Valeron followed.
Emilian pressed Tauran down by the shoulder, forcing him to sit on a stool.
“I’m not the one who’s hurt,” Tauran said, waving his hands at them both like they were buzzing flies, but his voice came out hollow and breathless.
“You are,” Catria said, in a tone that bore no disagreements, and pressed Tauran’s glass of water against his trembling hand. To Emilian, she said, “I told Falka he shouldn’t have invited him here. Are you all right?” She rose and touched Emilian’s arm, and he nodded silently.
Tauran wanted to see what was happening, wanted to see if Tirys and Salvani were all right. He also wanted to get out of there as fast as he could. The two urges warred and kept him where he was. “I’ll be fine,” he said. He raised the glass to his lips with both hands to control the shaking and drank, the water cooling his overheated insides and settling some of the nausea.
Emilian and Catria said something to each other Tauran didn’t hear, then Emilian left the tent. Catria took a seat beside him and rubbed Tauran’s forearm.
He listened to the sounds from outside. Tense voices, the quiet rumbles of a distressed dragon. Tauran looked up. Falka passed by the tent, holding a lead rope. Behind him came Salvani, eyes wide and jaws parted. His pale gray right wing hung low.
Catria squeezed his arm. “He’ll be all right,” she said, following Tauran’s gaze as Falka led Salvani into the shade. The dragon medical experts followed close behind, sliding bags of first aid kits off their shoulders.
“And the boy?” Tauran asked, relieved that his voice sounded mostly normal.
“Emilian is checking on him.”
Tauran stroked the back of his neck and emptied his glass, setting it by his feet. “I guess we’ll skip the feast,” he said, to distract his mind from images of death and broken bones. Suddenly, all he wanted was to see Kalai. Wrap himself up in his blankets and listen to him translate the endlessly dull weather report documents over mugs of tea.
Emilian reappeared in the tent opening. He looked between Tauran and Catria. “The boy is alive,” he said, but his expression wasn’t one of relief. “We will transport him back to Valreus for treatment.”
“How bad is it?” Tauran asked and rose.
“The physicians won’t say until they can examine him properly. He’s unconscious. They’re strapping him onto a stretcher.”
“Why don’t you and I ride ahead?” Catria asked and smiled at Tauran.
Tauran knew why she offered. To give Tauran some distance from the broken boy on the stretcher reminding him of when he’d been rushed to the hospital with a shattered leg. He wanted to refuse. He wanted to be stronger than that. But he wasn’t. “Sure.”
Emilian gave Catria a small nod. “I’ll see you at the grounds,” he said, quietly. She grazed his arm when they passed.
The ride back to the city was tense and silent. Tauran parted ways with Catria at the guard stables. She was hesitant to leave him alone, but Tauran assured her he wouldn’t be, and she