Chapter 183 - Not Leaving You!

Peter reacted as soon as he saw us starting to move. He urged Big Red into a quick ascent so that he could catch us before we reached the tower. But we dropped from the sky too quickly for him to react before we were in range for my dragon's fiery breath to bathe the tower's roof.

The guards on the rooftop saw us coming, too. They wanted no part of what was coming, so they practically dove for the stone stairwell, racing away from the immolation coming their way. The half-built pieces of the ballista were not lucky. Those, we scorched.

We broke off, angling toward another tower. While Tenebris did the flying, I kept my eyes on Peter. Fast as Tenebris was, in a straight line Big Red was faster, and he was gaining on us rapidly.

Could we evade him by weaving through the towers again? I wasn’t sure we could try the same trick twice and make it stick, but we had to try something, or Big Red was going to catch us for sure. Tenebris dipped his left shoulder, which sent us swooping downward between two of the towers. Big Red followed as we flew a weaving path between the structures, managing to stay ahead of the larger, less nimble red dragon chasing us.

We couldn't keep this up forever, though, because eventually the guards on the other towers would get their ballistas assembled. Then we'd be dealing with a big red dragon and multiple nasty siege engines shooting spears at us. Either was a threat, but together they’d be a nightmare.

We needed another option. Quickly.

I was running out of ideas, though. What I really needed to do was get Peter to chase us above the towers so that I could smack him with another Lighting Bolt. But so far, he'd been too smart to do that. One of the more dangerous things about Peter was he hadn’t proven quick to anger. A calm and collected enemy was always more dangerous than an out of control one, but Peter hadn’t as easy to piss off as I’d hoped.

If I couldn’t get him to fly higher, the only other way I could be certain to land the spell would be if my target was practically on top of us. If I waited until Big Red was so close that I could hit her with a baseball, then I could probably land the shot.

It wouldn't be easy, even then. I’d be firing from an airborne moving target at another airborne moving target! But if I couldn't figure out any other way, that might be what we had to try.

"Let's see if we can convince him to chase us higher," I said.

He didn’t chase us last time, Tenebris said.

"I know, but it's worth a shot."

We shot skyward again, rising towards the clouds. At first, Peter followed, still close on our tail. For a moment, I hoped that maybe he’d forgotten about my spell in the heat of battle. Maybe he'd throw caution to the wind and continue the chase.

But no. He broke off soon after we crossed the tops of the towers, sinking back so that he could soar in a figure eight patrol pattern at almost exactly the same height as the tower tops. At that height, I’d be much more likely to blast a tower than the dragon.

We went up another hundred feet before I had Tenebris stop and shift into a glide instead. Below us, the other ballistas were well on their way to completion. Those guards were moving fast; I figured they must have had plenty of practice. Big Red probably burned more than a few of the weapons during her attacks. They had built bunches of spares, and constructed them so they’d be easy to assemble quickly. Now they were using the same tactic against me, instead of her. It made sense; defending against one fire-breathing dragon couldn’t be that different from defending against another one.

We needed a way to change the rules of the game, somehow.

"Okay, I don't know if we have a choice anymore. We need to do something about Big Red, the towers, or both. And we're running out of time."

What do you have in mind? Tenebras asked.

"I think we need to engage them up close, so I can shove a lightning bolt up Peter's ass sideways," I replied. "You game?"

Always!

How best to handle this? Peter wasn't stupid. If we just went rushing straight in at him after struggling for so long to keep our distance, he'd smell a trap for sure. We needed him to think he was trapping us.

"Here's what we're gonna do..." I said.

A few minutes later, my plan was underway. We dove down again, pretty much the same as last time. Tenebris made a beeline for one of the other towers. If Peter didn't react, we'd take out another ballista, and the one we were aiming for was mostly put together, so he'd be forced to react.

Sure enough, Peter had Big Red fly toward us, maneuvering to intercept us before we reached the tower. Of course, that was part of the plan! Instead of allowing the interception, we shifted our approach sideways to another tower. For Tenebris, it was a simple matter of shifting his wings, and suddenly we were aimed at an entirely different destination.

I knew Peter had to be swearing by then. Once he'd committed to blocking our approach to the first tower, he couldn't stop us from reaching the other, so he didn't try. Instead he veered straight toward our new target. He wouldn't get there before us, but he'd arrive immediately after.

We'd take out the weapon. But then he'd be free to pounce.

That was exactly what I wanted, so hopefully he hadn't figured that part out yet!

We bathed the tower-top with flames, turning the siege engine into a very expensive torch. As soon as the weapon was alight, Tenebris shifted away from the towers entirely, then diving back into their midst again before shooting out the other side.

Peter didn't hesitate. He gave chase, coming straight on after us.

We raced through the air, Big Red steadily gaining in spite of everything Tenebris could do. Our course took us just past the inner walls, and Peter was still right behind us.

Another minute, and the red dragon would have us in her claws. She was so much larger than Tenebris, and much higher tier. I had zero doubts who'd win that wrestling match, but I didn't intend to fight fair.

Peter had Big Red climb just a bit above us. It wasn't much, but when he attacked, he'd be dropping down on us, which was to his advantage. Except we'd just gotten far enough from the towers that I really didn't have to worry about hitting anything else, anymore.

I pivoted my torso around so I had a clear shot, raise my hands, and prepared the spell.

The moment when Peter figured out what was about to happen was clear as day. We were close enough I could see his face, and the expression of alarm when he saw my hand gesture was easy to spot. He had Big Red dive straight toward us, claws extended, ready to tear us apart.

"Turn!" I shouted as I cast the spell.

Tenebris whipped his wings back and twisted his torso, pivoting in mid-air so that his claws faced the enemy dragon. At the same time, my spell fired, ripping through the air from my hands toward our foes. The boom from the Lightning Bolt was epic, echoing through the night air. Brilliant light flashed and crossed the gap between us so quickly it was almost instant.

Electricity tore into Big Red, coruscating across her chest, neck, and wings. The red dragon screamed, a roar of pain and fury almost as loud as the thunder. Her scales smoked and cracked. Peter wasn't unscathed, either. He was jolted back, almost thrown from his saddle. Smoke rose from his body as he sagged against Big Red's back.

But they kept coming at us.

Tenebris pivoting meant he could brace himself for the impact and defend himself when the two dragons collided, but it also meant we'd lost our forward momentum. Big Red closed the small gap between us in seconds, and the impact almost tossed me into the air. If I hadn't been tied to my dragon's back, I would have lost my seat for sure.

As it was, I managed to hold on to both consciousness and my death-grip on my dragon's spinal column. Big Red and Tenebris were in a clinch, each of them using claws to hold on to the other while they raked at their foe's body with other claws and tore into one another with their teeth.

Big Red was injured, but was also worlds stronger. I didn't know how this battle was going to end. Wind whistled past my ears, and I realized we were all falling. Both dragons beat their wings, trying to remain aloft, but with them holding each other in place, they couldn't keep us airborne.

We were going down.

"Tenebris! Can you break free?"

No. You need to fly clear!

"Not leaving you!" I shouted. I cast Drain Life on Big Red, which shook her and made her lose her grip with one claw. Then I hammered her with Dark Pulse, and that almost tore us free entirely, but it wasn't quite enough.

She clung to Tenebris with a death-grip, bearing us all toward the ground together.

Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, Peter decided to prove me wrong. As I watched, he unclipped himself from his saddle and then raced up his dragon's neck before jumping from one dragon's back to the other.

He landed right about where Tenebris's neck met the rest of his body, staggered and almost fell, but then grabbed a bone to keep himself in place. I blinked, barely able to believe what I'd just seen. The man didn't have a flight power! If he'd missed, he'd have just fallen the rest of the way to the ground, and we were still a good fifty feet up!

Balls of steel, that man. He was a shitty human being, but I had to admire his guts.

Peter drew his sword with one hand, still clinging to Tenebris with the other, and grinned.

"Miss me?"