Now, when you're cornered by a warrior wielding a nasty-looking sword, your brain tends to freeze up a bit. His blood rushing in his ears and his hands freezing in the snow, Mathias gaped up at her, mouth open and eyes wide. The woman looked down at them and moved to swing her sword. Suddenly, Lukas screamed. It was such a loud, piercing noise that birds flew out of the trees like a storm. The warrior glanced at him for barely a second, but Mathias took the chance. He dived around her and started to race through the snow.
"Stop those kids!" The woman roared. He could hear the calls of the people in the camp.
"Lukas, hurry up!" Mathias yelled behind him as Lukas stumbled through the snow. He grabbed Lukas's hand and ran through the snow with them. The soldier was hot on their tail, her angry grunts sounding like thunder. Mathias's heart pounded in his chest as he ducked under a branch. They weren't going to make it. He heard the powerful roar of a dragon in front of them. Then the muffled thud of a tree falling to the ground drifted through the air.
"Eira!" Mathias yelled. The sounds of branches breaking and trees falling came closer. Suddenly he was covered in shadow.
"Duck!" Lukas shrieked and tackled Mathias to the ground. He fell face-down in the snow. Just behind them, Eira slammed down to the ground, her tail waving dangerously close to them. She growled at the swedish soldier. Mathias couldn't see what was happening but it sounded like the Swedish woman was running away to get reinforcements. He scrambled to his feet and ran to Eira.
"Thank god, I thought she was going to chop us in half…" Mathias breathed, patting Eira's back leg. He jumped onto her saddle and Lukas climbed on behind him. There was only just enough space for both of them on the saddle, and with Eira nervously pawing the ground Mathias had a hard time staying on.
"Settle down and get us the hell out of here!" He grunted. Eira galloped rather clumsily through the trail of destruction she had created in the forest. From behind them, Mathias heard the gutteral roar of a dragon.
"They'll never be able to evacuate the academy fast enough..." He said, his breath coming quick and shallow.
"We're going to die!" He cried, the reality of the situation hitting him. Eira spread her wings and they flew, Mathias urging her on as tears were tugged out of his eyes. Lukas rested his head on Mathias's back, his arms wrapped around his waist.
"It's going to be okay." Lukas whispered. Mathias closed his eyes and took a deep, ragged breath. As they flew as fast as they could towards the Academy, Lukas hummed. The quiet song soothed Mathias, his fluttering heart slowing and calming.
Everybody was sitting on their dragons being debriefed when Mathias and Lukas landed on the field. Behind them Arild was a growing speck. Beyond that Mathias could imagine the group of soldiers approaching.
"Mr. Galante!" Mathias yelled, trotting towards him. Mr. Galante was a rather meek man, and had a look of mild concern as Mathias and Lukas pushed through the circular crowd towards them.
"Mathias? What's going on?" Tino's worried voice averted Mathias's attention for a second, but there wasn't any time to waste. He took a deep breath, then looked Mr. Galante in the eye.
"There is a Swedish scouting legion, of around 30 dragon-riding soldiers, approaching the academy right now. We need to get the hell out of here." He said. Instantly the crowd exploded into murmurs and exclamations.
"Mathias, what the shit are you smoking?" Xavier's incredulous voice was the loudest.
"If we don't evacuate right now, our dragons are going to be taken from us!" Mathias snarled.
"And in a worst case scenario, we're all going to die!" He roared. The babble instantly shut up. Mr. Galante looked like a leaf in wind, trembling ever so slightly.
"Lukas, is this true?" He asked meekly. Lukas closed his glassy eyes and nodded solemnly.
"But it'll take us a good half an hour to evacuate the students in the sick bay!" Feliks yelled. The crowd exploded into chatter again, some kids panicking, others excited.
"This is Berwald's fault! He's an inside spy!" The accusation came from deep within the conversation, but all eyes instantly turned to Berwald. Sitting on his dragon and staring at the ground, the air grew dead silent.
"He wouldn't.."
"That's crazy. Right?"
"Swedish scum." Feliks snarled.
"Stop it!" Tino begged.
"We have more important things to do than fight amongst ourselves!" He cried. Suddenly, Lukas spoke.
"Everybody shut up. I have a plan."