They spent the rest of the night at the ruins of the castle, but Glaive cautioned Rynn and Ebontyne that Navaros knew the Horn of Drakaur had been sounded, and thus he'd know where they currently were. It would be wise to relocate as quickly as possible.
It turned out they should have moved earlier than that, as they were attacked just before dawn. Through the morning fall of snow came no less than ten ebon dragons, their high-pitched screams ripping over the ruins and icy breath blasting large chunks of ice into the already frozen ground.
"Fly!" Rynn shouted to Arokh as she grabbed magic arrows from her quiver and nocked one to her bowstring. "We'll attack them from the ground!"
Arokh nodded and leaped into the sky, roaring his defiance at the attackers. Morghus, Nashiva and Kang-shi followed his lead and split up, drawing the fire of the ebon dragons in different directions.
"Spread out," Star shouted, drawing his own bow. "If we stand together, one lucky breath of ice will take us all out at the same time!" He ran through the snow for a broken section of wall and climbed atop it, already looking for a likely target through the swirling sleet.
The other humans divided and Rynn, now by the scanty cover of half a portcullis, aimed up at one of the black dragons, made sure it had the pointed, upturned ears of its breed and wasn't Morghus, then fired, instantly drawing another arrow and pulling back her bowstring for another shot then loosing again. The two glittering shafts sliced upwards through the snow leaving a trail of blue and gold light it their wake and a faint shing sound. The ebon dragon, too concerned with trying to freeze Nashiva, barely saw them coming. It swerved, plunging away, but the magic arrows followed its evasion and streaked after it. It was faster, and the two arrows' magic wore off before they could strike. They flew on in a slight downward curve toward the ground.
The ebon dragon, however, and another whom Ebontyne had shot at and also missed, headed for the humans on the ground with screams of rage.
Rynn scrambled away to look for a safer place to shoot and almost got squashed by the half-roasted carcass of an ebon dragon that had been falling from the sky. She crouched near it and fired at the dragon tearing towards her. It ducked its head and the arrow flew over it. It opened its jaws, spread its foreclaws wide to rip her head off, breathed ice. Rynn fled, jumping to one side and vaulting over a segment of wall half her height. She crouched behind it and felt it wobble as ice struck it and sent the topmost bricks flying.
"Take this!" Rynn shouted, casting her bow aside and sending a magical stream of flames into the winged reptile's face.
It shrieked in pain and retaliated with another breath of ice, which struck Rynn in the chest and threw her to the ground, a thick mass of frozen water covering her middle and pinioning her. Dazed and winded, Rynn choked to catch her breath and could only watch as the ebon dragon shook its burnt head wildly, hovering almost directly above her and so close that the wind from its wings brushed her cheeks.
"Arokh," Rynn croaked, and a second later the red dragon dropped from above and thrust the ebon aside, his fore- and hindclaws digging into its back and shoulders, his sharp teeth closing around its neck just below the head. The ebon was slammed to the ground under Arokh's weight and both dragons thrashed in the snow as they fought to the ebon's inevitable death.
Rynn tried to summon Fire, failed, angrily tried again and called up a blaze strong enough to melt through the ice trapping her. She got up, shivering uncontrollably, and retrieved her bow as Arokh tore himself free from the ebon dragon's limp left wing. "Thanks," she said.
He glanced up at the sound of her voice then replied, "Rynn, get out of the way!"
Rynn threw herself into the snow again as her Bonded breathed fire over her head. She rolled over to see another ebon descending on her, one wing trailing streamers of Arokh's flame. With hardly a thought, she added her own fireballs to the red dragon's barrage and directed them at the ebon's chest. It shrieked at the onslaught and faltered, then flew head-first into the ground and lay still.
"More are coming!" Kang-shi trumpeted from above. She wheeled over the ruins, looking for Glaive and again shouted, "More dragons come from the west!"
"Let's get out of here," Arokh roared, and Rynn hastened to climb astride his back. "Are you unwounded, Rynn?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "A few bruises is all. Yourself?"
"The same." He sounded almost fiercely proud, as though happy to be in the air and fighting again. Beating his wings, he lifted off and waited for the other Bonded to rise.
Then several winged shapes swept in from the north.
"The north!" Arokh shouted urgently. "They come from the north as well!"
Morghus, Nashiva and Kang-shi rose with their riders and Arokh flew over to them at Rynn's directions.
"By the time we kill them the ones from the west will be here," Ebontyne shouted over the noise of the dragons' wings.
"Split up and draw them different ways?" Star suggested.
"I think that's the best," Rynn agreed, eyeing the approaching foes carefully. "Meet at the Belltower in the Islands. Can everyone get there?"
They nodded and immediately veered off.
"We're going west," Arokh said to Rynn. "Hang on!" And he flew straight for the cloud of dragons coming their way from that direction...