The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(145)

Exodus looked up and nodded once. “He is about to engage them.” She observed softly. “So it’s too late to keep him out of the fight completely.” Nodding once more she stepped back and faded into the shadows of the palace. “I will do whatever it takes to ensure he does not die Finn. You have my word on that.”

“And you have my eternal gratitude for sparing me an eternity with Shade Morcaillo annoying me.” Finn replied as he shifted his attention back to the High Lords. And so it begins. He mused silently as he narrowed his eyes and watched as the first blow of the battle was struck by Shade. Shaking his head slowly he felt a smile form on his lips. “You have balls of solid stone Shade, I’ll give you that.” He whispered to the empty air around him and wondered if anyone below him would have had the courage to face two armies alone.





Chapter 22





Sanctuary





Metal screamed in protest as the Spell hawk that had broken rank to pursue him slammed into one of its sister ships in the process of turning about to fire on him. With a flick of his wrist Shade poured more magic into The Shade and sent her racing above the roar of flames that burst from the entangled ships. The flash of debris caught the edge of his vision and he reacted without thought even as he dodged under the sweeping strike of a dragon.

He could hear the steady fire of his ship’s guns but didn’t spare a moment of his attention to concern himself with Grim’s accuracy. It would be a fortunate coincidence if Grim managed to bring some of the enemy forces down with his shots, but it wasn’t required. All they had to do was distract the enemies and his chaotic flight through the middle of their ranks was succeeding splendidly at that.

Dark scaled forms rose below his ship and Shade reacted instantly bringing his ship hard to the right. His reaction speed was flawless when linked with his ship, but he doubted the Spell Hawk that had been heading toward him could say the same. If the other pilot didn’t manage to correct his course within the next breath he would be cuddled tightly with a rather unhappy dragon.

Shade’s gaze moved over the crowded stretch of sky and he calculated his flight with the precision of a dancer as he wove through their ranks darting from side to side like a hummingbird. He had no choice but to stay in the thick of them. If he broke away or rose too far above or below them he would be an open target for them to fire upon. They couldn’t use their ranged weapons against him as long as he was in their ranks without the risk of hitting one of their own.

The only concern he had for the moment was the Dragons, and they were more than enough of a challenge for him. Not only did he have to evade claws and teeth he had to worry about their tails which with the larger ones meant dodging a thirty foot whip that didn’t always seem to consider the proximity of its allies as a concern.

Bright flame filled the sky behind him and Shade had no choice but to climb as swiftly as he could to avoid the Dragon’s breath. True Dragon’s breath would melt his hull as easily as butter on a warm stove. The sound of gun shots filled the air around him and Shade spun his ship from left to right before diving again as he neatly evaded the dragonfire as well as the attacking Spell Hawks.

His breath caught in his throat as bright scales appeared suddenly directly in front of him and it was all he could do to evade the dragon that had appeared literally out of nowhere to attack. “Bastard.” Shade hissed as the telltale screech of metal screamed from the back of his ship as the dragon’s claws skimmed along his hull. “Invisibility is cheating.” He grumbled and felt his pulse quicken as he considered the implications of what had just happened.

It had to have been the Barllen on the front of his ship that had canceled the Dragon’s spell. He didn’t think the creature would have dropped its magic with such a brilliant ambush tactic. He only had Barllen on the sides and front of his ship though, which meant if one of the creatures was smart enough to attack from behind or below he wouldn’t even see the hit coming.

“Oh please don’t let them be that smart.” Shade mumbled as he turned his ship sideways to slide between two Spell Hawks that had been trying to maneuver to block his path. How long have I held them back? Shade wondered silently then pushed the thought aside as he dropped low to avoid the lashing tail of a large blue scaled dragon. It felt like an eternity, but he doubted it had been more than a few minutes since he had first engaged.

“Eight down so far not counting the two dragons.” Grim observed somberly and Shade grinned in response.

“Only about three hundred more to go if you count the Morcath forces. We got this.” Shade replied with a laugh and poured more speed into his ship to shake the Spell Hawk that seemed to believe it had a chance of catching him.

“Without a doubt.” Grim agreed dryly then fell silent as he returned to his role as gunner.

Shade smiled to himself before turning his full attention back to his own task. His mind went carefully blank as he allowed his instincts to guide the ship through the maze of enemies. He didn’t hesitate in any of his choices and simply trusted in the fact that his ship was superior and no one had his speed.

If it weren’t for the Barllen protecting his ship he would have never dared push her to her full potential. Every pilot learned of the dangers of mages when they were being trained, which explained the caution the other pilots were showing in pursuit of him. They were expecting him to use a force spell on them, and Shade was silently hoping one of the High Lords in the city below would do just that.