Chapter 48 – The battle of the Changing Weather
Kayla could feel the Shade's thoughts inside her, a thousand different voices screaming at her all at once. Yet she drowned each of them, twisting its ugly head until it was nothing more than the faint whisper of the wind, all the while watching the Shade writhe in pain.
Before long, wyrm and Shade were falling down, towards the sharp rocks below, and Kayla exhaled loudly and closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath and free herself from the dark thoughts she had encountered. When her eyes opened again, she realised her hands were shaking.
Aiedail growled in concern which only brought two shadow wyrms closer, but at least only one had a rider. The she-dragon flew higher but her movements were slow and measured, the mail plate weighing her down. In three quick strokes of their wings, the wyrms were at level with them.
The purple dragon growled loudly once more and ejected a long stream of flames, but the wyrms moved to the other side avoiding the burn. The sun still shone brightly and fell on every inch of Aiedal, making her sparkle. Oftentimes Kayla had to shield herself from the sun as well.
And that's when the idea hit both her and the dragon. She flew towards the sun and the wyrms followed, but slower than before. Kayla looked back and she could see that they were blinded.
Smiling, Aiedail flew higher and then lower, all the while keeping level with the sun. Kayla turned backwards from the saddle and faced her enemies. The wyrms were ejecting jets of black liquid, but none hit home due to the range of protective spells placed around herself and the dragon. It was her turn to attack. Kayla looked around her, weighing her options on how best to use her energy.
Only, that just then, clouds started gathering fast around them, shielding the sun and their cover. Kayla swore loudly and Aiedail growled as the shadow wyrms caught up with them. Cold rain droplets fell on her face and Kayla brushed them away.
Then she paused, holding one of the rain droplets in her fingers, while the Shade was shouting commands to the wyrms, but they appeared unwilling to cooperate.
"Adurna moi, yauna du froman abr thringa" she whispered and then felt the tendril of energy inside her coming to life as she commanded the air's moisture to bundle together and form rain droplets, small, big and then bigger, engulfing the two shadow wyrms and Shade.
There was only one way to kill a Shade and that was by piercing their heart, but as Kayla snapped her fingers together and the water returned at once into its previous form, the pressure was enough to erupt the creatures' bodies inside it. When the rain fell into the sea only a dark shape remained from the previous shades and wyrms.
Pleased with herself, she turned around to face her next enemy only to find that they were being attacked by two fronts. She had felt the drain of energy when she had used the spell, but she had not suspected that it was also due to the sustained attacks that Aiedail was trying to fend off. The spells protected the dragon both from attacks of magic and fire but also from arrows, blades and other dragons.
And there was a dragon attacking them now, one of dark black colour, dark like midnight. The dragon was gigantic, with a size ten times that of Saphira's. Both herself and Aiedail gasped at the monstrosity of the creature.
Other riders were trying to attack the dragon. She saw Idel landing a blow on him but the black dragon seemed not in the least bit concerned with that, with a reaction befitting an attack of a fly on a human.
That of annoyance and nothing more.
An ancient dragon, I am, oh yes, the black dread whispered silently into her mind and made the hairs on her arms rise.
The rain would have come nonetheless, but the water that fell on her skin then, chilled her to the core. She watched the other dragon's jaws opening and shutting mere inches from where Aiedail had been. The purple dragon had been wise enough to climb above.
A game of chase we play is that what is it? I like such games, the dragon repeated and with an agility which did not match his size he turned around and started chasing Aiedail.
Despite the protective spells placed around her dragon, every time the black's tail swung in their direction, Kayla had to hold her breath and hope that they would keep. The loss of energy she felt with every attack of black's, was greater than what Kayla would have liked.
Blood. Bones. Crunch, the dragon whispered into her mind and Kayla stared at him, unsure as to how the dragon knew. But it knew. And this fact made her want to run away and scream and cry. She wanted to hide under her pillow and pretend that the danger was not there now, that it never was.
Aiedail's snort brought her back and she dug her nails into the inside of her palm.
I have a plan. If we manage to go below him he will never see us, the she-dragon said and Kayla nodded, following the plan, but unsure if she would be able to attack the creature when the time came.
The white dragon killed your father. If you do not kill the black one he will kill more of your loved ones, until none is left. Do you want to let him do that?, Kayla thought to herself.
With what little energy she had left she turned the rain droplets into daggers and attacked the creature. She expected the black dragon to wince in pain, but he gave no response other than a faint growl.
Is that the best you have?, he asked and just then, from the boy's hands on his back, a sea of dark arrows exploded.
Black magic, Aiedail said and Kayla agreed as both parties felt the coldness of it and watched as the arrows rebounded back from them, leaving Kayla more exhausted than before. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably now and she felt ready to faint. Her eyelids half closed, but she watched as another black dragon descended upon the larger one and bit his tail, again and again.
The larger dragon growled irritated, while Laer came to attack the Shade on its back. Even though the Shade on the Dragon's back appeared to be young, his skill in battle was that of centuries and Laer had a hard time keeping up with him.
Kayla noticed that Laer had his own blade, a sword which could be wielded with one and two-hands depending on the situation. Its blade was thick and long with serrated edges on the sides. Laer's blade reached the boy and suddenly she heard a cry and the boy was fighting weakly as if he had no power at all. Laer drove his blade inside the boy's shoulder. For a second, a sense of protection for the boy engulfed her, wanting to fight for his safety but knowing that he was a shade she dismissed this thought.
She looked away while Laer prepared to make the final blow, but the boy slipped from the dragon's back and started falling towards the ground. Would he die? Only if his heart was somewhat pierced. Kayla wanted to go after him and finish him off, or save him she did not know which of the two, but the black dragon bit at Aiedail's tail, missing it only by a few inches and the thought of the boy-Shade soon left her.
If she paused to feel guilty of all the deaths she might have caused, they would never win.
The purple dragon joined Onyx and soon Vertigo and Mars were with them all looking deadly serious and attacking the dragon.
Flies. You are only flies, the black dread said and swung his tail again, almost knocking herself and Adrian off the saddle. She kept her hold on her saddle, while Aiedail spoke to her, sharing vivid thoughts and trying to keep her awake. The purple dragon even gave her some of her energy and only then did the shaking of her hands stop somewhat.
A wyrm appeared to her right and before it was able to attack her, Aiedail span to its direction and grabbed the creature by the neck, shaking it around and clawing at it until it was dead, falling to the sea.
Kayla returned her attention to the black dread, but the three dragons were taunting the older one. Rikon and Fiord joined the game and as Fiord was rounder around the belly it made for a better target than the previous ones. Black dread targeted him instead and all Kayla could think about was that Fiord was not fast enough. Adrian dove two daggers inside the black dread's neck hoping to severe it, but it barely even scratched the surface.
The black dragon shook his massive head and Adrian slipped but dove his two daggers into the dragon's skin holding on from them.
Oh, young riders. You stand no chance in defeating me, the old dragon said with a knowing tone.
This is not so, Kayla wanted to reply back, but she saw Gwen approaching atop Saturn, her copper dragon; Idel, in mail plate that appeared dark grey under the clouds, and her dragon Osphynx who had a pale green colour; Octavian with his massive beast Lenor, of scale colour similar to his rider, that of dark ebony wood; Mirin came last, all clad in mail and with his sharp sword shining even under the faint light of the morning sun.
Out of the Masters of Training only Maud was not present, but then again she did not have a dragon to ride and participate in the aerial battle.
Octavian attacked the beast first, thrusting his weapon - a spear of thick body, slim and sharp blade, clad in iron mail – on the scales. He thrust it hard, his arm muscles coiling at the impact and the blade hit home as the dragon growled loudly. The battle seemed to lean on their favour as Octavian and Lenor attacked again, the smaller dragon biting a chuck of flesh off the larger one. Only, they had not taken into account the changing weather.
Whereas before there was a constant and light stream of rain this soon turned into a downpour of water which fell on Kayla's face. This, however, was nothing compared to the strong gusts of wind that shook riders, dragons and wyrms alike. Nevertheless, the wyrms seemed to be having an easier time flying than the dragons and pressed on with their attack. Lightning bolts were also common with one of them striking mere inches before the black dread.
If only it had fallen on the dragon. Then the battle might have not looked so bad, Kayla thought as she tried to hold onto Aiedail's saddle more tightly.
The purple dragon growled as she fought against the wind and Kayla could do nothing to help her as they were not fighting against arrows, blades and creatures where magic might have been an advantage, but against the weather itself.
The Shade that attacked Kayla from her left took her completely by surprise as her sole focus had been on fighting the weather elements. Aidedail was the one who noticed the wyrm first as it fell on them.
As the Shade's attack pressed on, Kayla used Hûthvír to defend herself from the dark blade, fearing the worst as the weapons connected. Only later did she understand that there had been no reason to worry at all, as the staff-sword did not break and the blades at its edges managed to slice the Shade's elbow. The shade was a youth, no older than twenty years, his hair dark red, the colour of blood. He screamed in pain from the impact and Kayla held her breath as dark almost black blood fell on them.
Not even a single droplet of blood touched either her or Aiedail, her protective spells forming a barrier. This time she went to slash at the shade first, but heavy rain descended on her from the skies, clouding her vision and soaking her to the core. She clenched her teeth angrily as her dragon dived to the right just under black dread, trying to move from a strong upward gust of wind. Tristan joined forces with the other riders, Laer, Adrian, Gwen and the masters of training as they attacked the black dread. However, no matter the number of riders, the dragon seemed to take no notice of them.
She watched Vertigo flying around the black dread descending on him quickly just as his rider let out sharp silver arrows. Despite the weather's element the arrows never failed to miss their target. One fell on the black dread's left eye, barely scratching the surface; the other two at the soft skin between neck and lower body where usually a rider sat and the final three at the beast's belly.
His tail swung quickly at all sides, managing to hit Rikon, Fiord and then Idel, who would have fallen to the rock, but for her left leg which was still strapped on her saddle.
No one taunts the ancient dragons, the old beast whispered in the riders' minds and Kayla had to hold her head from the pressure of his mental attack.
Hold on!, Aiedail growled in response and she grabbed onto the beast's lower belly. It made no difference as the dragon moved his legs trying to remove the purple dragoness but without prevailing.
The Shade and wyrm that had been following them only moments ago, went to grab at Aiedail's tail, but she descended to her right falling down quickly and the Shade attacked the black beast instead. An upward wind, however, brought both girl and dragon higher and Kayla felt her stomach clenching as they gained altitude quickly. She went to grab at the ancient dragon's chest, but the vibrations from his chest threw them off balance.
A dreading feeling settled over her; the realisation of what was to come dawning upon them almost simultaneously. The dragons moved quickly, flapping their wings fast, going upwards, fighting against rain, strong wind and lightning.
Yet it made no difference. When fire exploded from the black dread's chest, it burned through rain and wind, reaching them quickly. The jet of flame was wider and longer than any Kayla had seen and as Aiedail raced away from it, she started feeling the heat of it on her face.
She turned back to look and gasped in response. Onyx and Laer were a black spot mere inches away from the jet of flames, but as the dragon moved his head from side to side, rider and dragon were engulfed in its flames. Kayla had no time to think about what had just happened. She was horrified, yes, but her need to survive and save her dragon, were at the moment greater than anyone else's death. Sweat was running down her brows and she thought the flame would reach them, but instead it went around them as the protective barriers placed, still held. Her energy, however, did not.
Her fingers started shaking, palms sweating, her body, weak. Aiedail dived down, escaping the flames and Kayla relaxed, realising she no longer had to use her energy. She did not know for how long the black dragon breathed flame, but when he stopped, wyrms approached them. The smell in the air was one of sulphur, fire, smoke and rain.
She coughed.
Despite the amount of heat and fire, the rain kept on coming stronger and stronger. It felt as if a waterfall had been situated right above them and Kayla felt weak. She was now using her dragon's vision to see, but even so, everything was blurry.
She looked for her brother then, trying to distinguish a blue shape, but she could see none. Aiedail was barely flying upright, fighting desperately against the weather. Kayla looked for Laer as well but she could not see him and she feared for the worst.
Where was everyone? The only thing she could make out was the black dread. She wanted to cry, scream, as Aiedail's breath became louder and louder from the effort of staying upright. Just then she distinguished a silver-blue slim dragon coming her way and she raised her hands in the air.
Tristan! She thought extending her mind to the consciousness of the rider.
She watched as the dragon came her way climbing upwards and then down again with a grace that astounded both her and his opponent, a wyrm without a rider.
Her brother responded.
I have an idea, he said.
I don't know if it will work, she confessed. But we have to try.
,...
But we have to try, Kayla said in Tristan's mind.
He could hear her but her mental voice was faint as if there was too much distance between him and her. Which was not the case, as he could see her atop her starlight dragon.
What is the girl thinking?, Vertigo said curiously and itched closer only to pull back, sniffing the air suspiciously.
A wyrm was still at their heels and he turned around quickly, letting out a big jet of flames which was met by the wyrm's black liquid.
Vertigo growled annoyed and bit the wyrm's tail and then rose higher into the aIr.
The purple dragoness has the same blood flowing through her veins as her rider has with you. And I am afraid they are both injured, Vertigo said perplexed and sniffed the air again.
Only, I can smell no blood or see any wounds, he added as an afterthought.
Tristan fired and arrow which hit the wyrm under his right wing. He looked at his sister and the purple dragon again and knew well enough where their injuries lay. He had voiced his thoughts to Kayla and she had agreed although he doubted that she would have the power.
Maybe, he shouldn't even have suggested this.
A blur caught his eye and he turned his attention to the left, where Adrain was working with Laer still, trying to kill the massive beast who had decided that he no longer want to idly watch. He often fired jet of flames and moved around, but Tristan and vertigo both knew that he was moving slowly.
They are alive!, Tristan exclaimed in Vertigo's mind as he had been certain that the smaller black dragon and his rider had been lost in the flames.
Only… They were.
When he approached, he saw Laer and Onyx both engulfed in fire. He blinked, using Vertigo's vision to make sure that what he was seeing was real and he was not dreaming or had his thoughts controlled by an external force.
But no, Laer was there, holding a massive two handed thick serrated blade and he jumped from Onyx's back and onto the black dread stubbing the beast's right eye. The growl that escaped the dragon was so loud that the whole island rocked with it. Flame was running down Laer's arm, on his sword and into the dragon's eye. Laer did not stay long to see the black dread's reaction. He returned atop Onyx and flew to Tristan's side alongside with Adrian and Mars.
The black dragon fainted to the side and for a moment it appeared as if they had stopped the massive beast. Or rather stalled it.
Has anyone seen Grohn and the twins? We need to notify then. Quickly, Laer whispered to the other two riders.
It was Adrian who used his abilities to find out where the other riders were.
There, he said pointing with his finger and Tristan had to blink again.
Grohn was attacking the twins with viciousness, trying to drive his axe down Cyclops, but the white-grey dragon dodged his attack.
May or Maya - Tristan could not tell - jumped onto Grohn's dragon Haifen. Grohn pulled the straps from his saddle and drove the blade into one twin. Blood splattered and the riders watched what was happening with open mouths.
The twins betrayed us! Gorhn shouted in their minds.
Adrian attempted to reach the twin's mind who was alive but she had left the battleground, gazing back with malice and a wicked smile.
All on land, Gwen said when she saw more clouds gathering. Soon, flying will be impossible.
Before long the riders had gathered together and Tristan was looking at Kayla's exhausted form.
She will not be able to do this, Vertigo said.
She will, Tristan insisted and with no warning Vertigo started spiralling upwards.
Onyx and Mars were on his heels.
Do not lose a turn, Vertigo warned and the dragons kept climbing higher and higher despite Gwen's constant cries.
Tristan could not pay any attention at her. They only had one chance at this. Black dread was looking at them with his left eye curiously and started following suit. Mars let out an irritated growl but Tristan smiled knowing that the black dragon had fallen in their trap. They climber higher and higher, losing themselves amongst the clouds, all the while spiralling and Tristan could feel the air around him changing.
Thunders were more common now but none touched them. Magic and electricity were present in the atmosphere and Tristan's hair on the sides of his face had risen. His plan was to subdue the dragon mid-air, but something else was happening something he had not planned.
Vertigos scales were alive with magic, pulsing with electricity and energy. Tristan was afraid to touch them directly. His dragon was doing something, what Tristan could not tell and so was Onyx and Mars and down below Aiedail and Fiord and countless more dragons that at that moment he could not name.
The air was spiralling upwards with his movements, faster and faster. Sea water and rain started spiralling upwards as well, Vertigo and Tristan in the middle of it lying untouched with the other riders following suit.
A tornado, Tristan realised and gasped as another lightning struck, closer to him than the one before.
Follow me, Vertigo advised and the other dragons followed him, passing the rain clouds, reaching a place where whatever happened was well below them. Air there seemed somewhat different and his head felt lighter.
Before the riders lost consciousness Vertigo dived to the other side of where the tornado was heading. When he turned his head back, Tristan was happy to realise than the black dread was no longer following them.
The tornado began with a simple thin dark grey spiral on the shores of Dis Atilan. As it gained speed and altitude, swallowing mud and debris on its wake, the tornado changed colour to a dark brown. The dragons and their riders were located on the North West part of the island while the tornado was ranging at the Southern part of it.
Tristan caught a glimpse of black dread as he tried to get away from the tornado, but the old dragon was too big, his legs too stiff and slow for him to move fast enough. The tornado swallowed him whole as he had previously done so with the trees and rocks of the shores.
The cries of the young riders and dragons echoed throughout everyone's minds.
We have done it, Tristan thought in awe and patted Vertigo's back. How did you do this?
I know not. At the moment it just felt … Right, the grey-blue dragon said.
The storm was still ranging yet the weather seemed to no longer affect them in the same way. Vertigo was gliding through the gusts of wind as if he had been made to do just that.
When a wyrm approached them, Vertigo was fast enough to follow an upward rift and the gust blew on the dark creature causing it to change direction, giving enough time for Tristan to fire an arrow. The blade pierced the heart and the creature descended quickly.
He gazed around him in awe as he realised that almost all of the wyrms had died.
Strange, the dragon said in his mind, sharing his opinion.
Maybe so, yet I am glad that none of us died in the process, Tristan said.
The greatest of Dragon Riders should against the Shadow wyrms and perished. Yet, we, as mere students were able to defeat them. Strange, Vertigo repeated.
And that's when he saw it.
A shape appeared from within the clouds. It was not a dragon but a shadow wyrm, only it was larger than any Tristan had faced. It flew swiftly and bypassed them in seconds, landing on Dis Atilan.
Tristan warned the riders and headed towards the ground, his heart beating furiously inside his chest. Before Vertigo had landed Tristan had jumped from his dragon's back only to find the rest of the young dragon riders present.
They were not alone, however.
The shadow wyrm had carried no less than 10 Shades on its back. Without warning they jumped from the Shade's back and started attacking the dragon riders. Tristan fired five arrows, one after the other, but none of his shots managed to land on his targets.
He swore under his breath and Vertigo went to flow fire but Tristan stopped him.
You will burn the riders as well, he said and the dragon nodded.
Instead he went to claw at the wyrm but dragons were weak on land. It took four dragons before they were actually able to cause any real damage on the wyrm and even so the creature snapped Fiord's neck in half.
The dragon died with a pained growl and Rikon fell to his knees, dropping his sword. Tristan had seconds before the Shade attacked his friend and he fired an arrow. The blade pierced the Shade's arm but it did not kill him. Just in time Rikon picked his sword and dove it right into his attacker's heart.
When he was done, the dwarf fell to his knees and Tristan tried to get to his side but a Shade attacked him and he dodged. His sister threw a bolt of water towards his attacker and he nodded at her direction before she faced her next enemy.
A Shade. A young Shade.
They are all so young, Tristan realised and wondered why that was.
Then, he realised why. When the boy who had rode the massive black dragon attacked him, Tristan paused but he was a second too late. The bow rocked from the impact of the strength the Shade had used and Tristan had to clutch his teeth to stop them from shaking.
When the next attack came Tristan could only dodge once more, trying to move away from his attacker. Even though the boy was young he looked as if he was an experienced fighter.
The fact that he had a young boy's face though made it even harder for Tristan to want to attack him. Not that he could. He was too close to the Shade to be able to fire an arrow and he had never been one for sword fighting.
His feet pushed against the dirt as he tried to stop the Shade's attack but his muscles were shaking, his arms and legs trembling.
"Don't resist it" the boy said but his voice sounded ancient, at least two centuries old.
His gaze was calculating, cold, distant.
"Why?" Tristan managed to ask but all the boy did was attack again.
Tristan felt the cold touch of the blade, his reaction a second too late. Not able to comprehend what was at play he looked down to see blood spreading from his chest. He gasped, trying to take a breath of air but blood came to his mouth instead and he fell.
He could hear the distant echo of a dragon growl, he could see the figure of a blue-grey shape and a female scream piercing the air.
Tristan never felt the pain only what came afterwards.
…
Adurna moi, yauna du froman abr thringa = Water change, take the form of rain
A/N: Don't forget to leave reviews! Also HowtoBook101 recently drew some of the major characters in ROTD. If you want to check out her drawing it can be found here (just without the gaps): ht tp : post /129992412806/kayla-tristain-gwen-laer-and-adrian