A Tale Of Two Dragons (Dragon Kin 0.2)(36)

Addolgar grabbed the one who’d attacked him by the snout and easily shoved him to his knees and held him there. The other Lightning raised his own spear to fight Addolgar, but Braith caught the weapon. The Lightning tried to rip the spear from her grip, but she held on. She wouldn’t let them hurt Addolgar any more than they already had. The Lightning pulled again and, annoyed, Braith tore the weapon from his grasp. She pointed the spear at his face.

“You’re no warrior,” the Lightning snarled at her.

“I know,” Braith replied before she rammed the spear through the Lightning’s eye. Unlike Addolgar, he did scream.

Addolgar, taking her cue, gripped the other Lightning’s jaws and yanked them apart and kept yanking until the bottom part tore away from the Lightning’s face. He dropped the gurgling but dying dragon to the ground, and Braith turned to where she’d last seen her father. He still stood there even as her brothers and the other Lightning dragged Lady Katarina away.

“Treacherous female,” Emyr hissed.

And, in reply, Braith lifted two talons and flicked them at her father.

Braith’s brother Meical returned to grab hold of their father’s forearm and pull him away. They’d hit the skies soon.

“Go,” Addolgar told her. “Go after them.”

Braith shook her head and faced Addolgar. “I’ll not leave you.”

“Braith—”

“I’ll not leave you. In fact”—she crouched down and looked at the spear jutting from his leg—“I need to get you to a healer before you bleed to death. I think an artery was hit, Addolgar.”

“But your father—”

“Can wait to face his death. You’re more important right now.”

Addolgar sighed. “Gods-dammit.”

“What?”

“The old bastard.”

“My father,” she assumed as she put Addolgar’s forearm over her shoulder and helped him step over the bodies of the Lightnings.

“No,” Addolgar corrected. “Mine! The old bastard was right. I need to pay attention to what’s going on around me at all times. I can’t let a good set of legs and a pretty smile distract me.”

“Yes, yes,” Braith complained. “Katarina has very nice legs.”

“I don’t mean Katarina, brat. I’m talking about you.”

“Oh.” Braith worked hard not to smile, considering the current situation they were in. “Well, then . . . we definitely have to get you to a healer so that I can continue to enjoy these sorts of compliments.”

“I don’t know any healers in the Outer Plains, Braith.”

“If I can get you over the border . . . I think I know those who can help us.”

“You don’t look very happy about it.”

“Only because I know they have no desire to see me. But that means nothing to me right now.”

“Uh . . . shouldn’t we take this spear out before we head off?”

“We take that spear out, Addolgar, and you’ll be dead before we get out of this passage.”

“Oh,” he replied softly. “All right. Guess we’ll leave it in then.”

Chapter 14

Braith practically had to hold him up the last few leagues of their flight. He could feel his life ebbing from him as every mile passed. But Braith wouldn’t let him go. She wouldn’t allow him to keep telling her to go after her father, or for her to go on ahead of him. Instead, she kept him steady and kept talking to him. He’d never known she could be so chatty before. Then he realized that she wanted to make sure he didn’t pass out.

“Here,” she yelled over the wind they were pushing against. “We’re landing here.”

Addolgar nodded, not in the mood to say anything. They landed in front of a cave opening buried deep in the woods a few leagues from the Southland borders. With his forearm still around her shoulders, Braith led him inside.

“You can rest now,” she said, helping him to a boulder and pushing him against it until he could relax and slide down to the ground.

“I’ll be right back, Addolgar,” she told him, clinging tight to his front claws. “You hold on for me.”

“I have to. I refuse to die with this stupid spear sticking out of my leg.”

She nuzzled his cheek and stood, releasing his claws. He watched her walk off down a passage. And, a few seconds later, he watched several dragons covered in fur from head to claw silently follow right behind her.

Addolgar opened his snout to warn her, but one of the dragons stopped, focused on him, and waved a single talon at him.

At that point, all Addolgar could do was wait. As far as he was concerned, it was the strangers’ funeral pyre because he knew what they would be facing.

Braith hadn’t gotten far from where she’d left Addolgar when she knew that someone was behind her. She sensed the presence because she heard nothing. Felt only the air move as a weapon was brought down toward her.

She followed her instincts and dropped into a crouch, spun with her tail lashing wildly behind her. The one right behind her was tossed onto her back, blue hair tumbling out from under a fur cape, bright green eyes glaring up at Braith. The female never lost her weapon, though. Nor was she alone. There were three others. All young, female, armed, and ready to fight.