Aurora (27 page)

‘It has been a long time coming, Segun,’
she replied eagerly.
‘Let’s go! Climb onto my back so we can usher in the new Age of Dragons together.’

‘Here they come,’ Barnabas called over his shoulder to Jack. ‘Dead ahead. Ugly lot, aren’t they?’

To Jack, looking past Barnabas and the rising and falling head of Wiseheart, the huge black smudge rising into the sky from the mountains looked rather like an enormous flock of birds, or a
swarm of insects. The only difference was the scale involved.

He looked around at the orderly flights of dragons he had arranged. In contrast to the swarm of night dragons launching ahead, the day dragons were flying in tight ‘V formations of three.
Each three-dragon ‘V was in turn grouped into a larger formation, made up of five sets of three dragons. Ten of these groups made up the bulk of the force. The remaining dragons were flying
above them, to act as spotters, each tasked with coordinating a particular group. Barnabas and Jack were operating in this role.

The dusk dragons had already camouflaged and were flying wide on the flanks, working in five pairs. The final pair of dusk dragons had been tasked with accompanying Fang, who was carrying both
Kira and Elian on their bid to deliver the last two orbs. Aurora and Shimmer were flying above and behind the rest of the dragons. Nolita and Firestorm, together with another day dragon and her
rider, were flying alongside the two dawn dragons to protect them against any night dragons that broke through the main lines.

‘Good Lord!’ Jack said. ‘This is going to be the mother of all dogfights!’

‘It certainly looks that way,’ Barnabas replied. ‘Who knows, we may even end up trading blows with Segun himself shortly.’

‘Oh, I hope so,’ Jack whispered, cupping the butt of the Lee-Enfield rifle strapped across his back with his right hand. ‘I do hope so.’

‘They look impressive, don’t they,’ Elian said, glancing across and up at the orderly formations of day dragons.

‘Let’s just hope that Jack’s tactics work,’ Kira replied, not looking around. ‘Personally, I think he’s out of his depth when it comes to dragons.’

‘He’s spent a lot more time in the air than we have, Kira. Don’t let your one bad experience with him blind you to his abilities. He’s been fighting in the air for years.
He’s a survivor. None of the dragonriders has his experience. Look! The night dragons are rising to meet the day dragons. It’s working just the way he said it would.’

‘Segun won’t be foolish enough to commit all his forces,’ she pointed out. ‘We’ll still be outnumbered when we reach the Oracle’s cave.’

‘I’m sure you’re right,’ Elian agreed, not wanting to annoy her further. She was focused on getting her orb to the Oracle. He wished he could be so single-minded. Being
separated from Aurora did not help, but the day dragons needed her abilities now. He scanned the sky looking for her. She was too far away for him to reach her with mental communication, but he
could just about see his dawn dragon above and behind the main body of day dragons.

‘Fly safe, Ra,’
he thought, attempting to cast the message across the gulf of space between them.
‘Don’t do anything foolish.’

‘Do you think Pell made it without being detected?’ Elian asked Kira the question that had been on his mind since Pell set off alone earlier.

‘I hope so,’ Kira replied, shaking her head. ‘He’s brave, that’s for sure; let’s just hope his plan works.’

‘It does makes sense,’ Elian insisted. ‘Jack said that an enemy is like a snake – cut off the head and the body will die – let’s hope Pell can get to the
night dragons’ head.’

As Elian concentrated again on the scenery around them he saw the mountains were looming close, and their chosen pass towards the Oracle’s cave was ahead. It would take them a long way
around, but they were determined not to draw attention to their approach.

‘There’s a night dragon on the right side of the pass,’ Kira warned. ‘We’re going to climb and go above him. He’s less likely to notice us that
way.’

‘And so it begins,’ Elian muttered.

‘There they go,’
Pell observed, peering out from his hiding place under the thick pine trees.
‘Just as Barnabas predicted. Let’s wait until
the majority has passed before we launch. Can you make out Widewing amongst all those dragons?’

‘No, not yet,’
Shadow replied.
‘ But I imagine he will be towards the back of the main force. Segun likes to direct from a point of safety, rather than lead from
the
front.’

‘Barnabas read Segun perfectly,’
Pell added.
‘I thought the old day dragonrider might attempt a parley, but he was sure Segun wouldn’t want to talk. He
predicted Segun would launch straight into a full-scale attack. He was right. There’s no way they’ll avoid a fight with that many dragons in the air. Do you think Jack’s
other-world tactics will work?’

‘They are novel enough to give the day dragons the advantage of surprise early on,’
she said.
‘But the superior numbers, size and sheer momentum of the night dragons
will break them. The day dragons have ever been brave, but their attempted show of strength is about as clever as a human taunting a lion with a bleeding haunch of meat. The end result will be
ugly.’

Pell was not quite so sure. Having seen the result of Firestorm’s unorthodox tactics against the night dragon in the mountains ten days earlier, he could see how Jack’s tactics would
prove devastating if executed well. If the day dragons could inflict enough damage in the first few moments, the momentum could change very quickly.

He continued to watch as black wings darkened the sky above. Finally he judged the time to be right.

‘Ready?’
he asked.

‘It is time,’
Shadow confirmed.

Pell ran to her side, leaped up into the saddle and hooked his arms and legs through his newly fitted fighting straps. No sooner was he settled than Shadow started to move towards open ground.
Even before she had fully emerged from the cover of the green canopy, she began to accelerate into a run. They burst from the trees at speed and within a few more paces, Shadow had extended her
wings and they were in the air and climbing.

As Pell had expected, none of the night dragons, or their riders, noticed them climbing up to join the throng from beneath. Everyone was focused on the incoming lines of day dragons. They
powered up amongst the other night dragons without attracting any attention to themselves, but Pell knew all too well that this was the easy part of what they were trying to do. Somehow they needed
to single out Widewing quickly, preferably before the two sides clashed, though that appeared unlikely. At current closure, Pell could see that, at best, they had a couple of minutes before the
fighting began. When that happened, he and Shadow would be in danger from both sides.

Once amongst the huge flight of night dragons, the noise was incredible. The
whooshing
sound of a dragon’s wings had been special to Pell from the first moment he had experienced
it. Flying in formation with Fang, Aurora and Firestorm had added a different dimension to the sound, but this . . . this was like a raging ocean in a hurricane, though even that comparison did not
do the sound justice. It was awe-inspiring to think that he was flying into the midst of what was possibly the most dangerous force on Areth.

Aside from the sound, the air was choppy with downdrafts from the wings of dragons above them, and turbulence from the passage of dragons ahead. They bumped and jostled through layer after layer
of dragon wings, weaving and dodging to work their way ever higher.

‘I see them,’
Shadow announced suddenly.
‘Widewing is ahead and slightly to the right.’

‘Great,’
Pell replied.
‘Let’s get into position to strike.’

Chapter Twenty-Five

‘They’re still climbing!’ Segun muttered, his thoughts spilling from his lips. ‘What’s Barnabas up to? He must know the day dragons can’t
outclimb us.’

The night dragon leader looked at the mass of night dragons ahead, below and all around him. His superior force was moments away from combat and he could feel his heart rate accelerating.

‘Are you ready?’
he asked his dragon.

‘I am,’
she replied confidently.

Suddenly, a brief flash of light from above and behind the approaching day dragons drew her attention. Segun was looking to his right and felt, rather than saw, it. What had caused it? He
narrowed his eyes against the wind and tried to force his focus out beyond the approaching formations to see if he could pick out the source. Without warning, he found his eyes dazzled by the most
intense, burning light he had ever known.

To the night dragons and their riders it was as if twin suns had suddenly exploded into being in the sky ahead. The glare was incredible and the timing, crippling. Just before the combat began,
two flares in the sky blinded almost every night dragon and rider. Segun and Widewing were no exception. The flare burned fierce and bright for several heartbeats. Even through his eyelids, Segun
could not totally block out the light. Then one, followed shortly afterwards by the other, died away to nothing.

Hands over his eyes and trying to rub away the flash spots that were dominating his vision, he began to swear and curse. Even as he did so, a dragon crashed into them and Segun suddenly found it
was all he could do to stay in the saddle as Widewing was dragged into steep spiral dive. The world spun and the wind roared in Segun’s ears as they accelerated. A sharp pain erupted in his
lower back and he felt further brushing collisions as they fell together through the layers of dragons beneath.

It took several moments to realise that the pain in his lower back was actually Widewing’s. His back was uninjured, but he was experiencing her pain through their bond. They were being
attacked! For a brief moment he thought it must have been a dusk dragon that had used its camouflage to get in close, but then he caught sight of the dragon grappling them in his peripheral vision.
It was most certainly another night dragon.

‘Widewing!’

‘It is Shadow and Pell,’
she replied, her voice strained and thick with anger.
‘Hold on tight. I’m going to dislodge them.’

Had Widewing not warned him, Segun would have almost certainly been flung from the saddle. He instinctively grabbed for the straps and a couple of quick twists of his wrists secured him in place
just in time for Widewing’s desperate manoeuvre. With stomach-wrenching abruptness, she lurched into a spiral dive.

Shadow had sunk her talons deep into Widewing’s tail and was biting at her flank and lower back. Folding her great wings in tight to her body, Segun’s dragon made herself a dead
weight. At the same time, she twisted to strike at Shadow’s exposed neck. The twisting motion whilst they were already spinning threw Segun to the left so hard that for a moment he felt as if
his arms were being pulled from their sockets.

Widewing’s tactic succeeded in dislodging Shadow, but the pain remained. Pell’s dragon had penetrated Widewing’s armour with her talons and teeth in several places. Segun had
never known his dragon to feel such anger. They continued to freefall for two or three heartbeats before Widewing extended her wings again and swooped up to meet her opponent.

Shadow was ready for the move and the two dragons met with talons raised and mouths open, poised to strike. For a moment they both hung there, wings beating hard to maintain the hover, talons
raking and great teeth biting, each trying to get a hold that would give an advantage. The moment passed. Neither dragon could hover for more than a handful of wing beats.

Pell’s dragon was first to break away, diving suddenly underneath Widewing and racing off in the direction of the mountains.

‘The Oracle’s cave!’ Segun called out aloud. ‘After him! He must not be allowed to reach it!’

‘Now!’

Shadow broke from her hover and dived underneath Widewing. Pell ducked and felt the talons of Segun’s dragon whistle through the air just above him. They were clear. He looked over his
shoulder. Sure enough, Segun had already wheeled Widewing around and they were in pursuit, just as he had hoped.

Overhead the night dragons were having a terrible time. Many were spiralling out of control towards the ground with great smoking holes in their wings. Jack’s tactics appeared to be
working exactly as he had said they would. There were a few night dragons grappling with day dragons, but in the main, the day dragons were using their fire to make effective hit-and-run attacks.
By aiming their attacks at the one weak point of the night dragons – their wings – the day dragons were causing havoc, sending them spiralling to the ground in large numbers.

It had been Elian’s idea to use Aurora and Shimmer to blind the night dragons and their riders. Jack had talked about keeping the sun at their back to make it difficult for the night
dragons to see, but Elian had pointed out that this would not be possible when approaching from the west, as they were. The surprise factor of having two sources of incredibly bright light in the
form of the dawn dragons was even better.