Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter fifteen: Dogfight

Blaze was slower than their pursuer. Lukas was certain that even without having to carry all the extra weight, they wouldn't stay ahead for long. They had to find a way to slow the one chasing them, and quickly. Of his companions, Vayle was untrained, and Jenna seemed ill; she'd passed out again when they'd taken off, her skin was going an ugly grey colour, and she was mumbling something too soft to hear over the rushing wind. 'I guess it's down to me and Jonah, then... though, I can't do anything from down here.' He clung to one of the talons wrapped around him and squeezed. Blaze released him a fraction, just enough so he could extricate himself from her claw. He climbed into the saddle.

"Jonah!" He yelled. "We can't outrun this!"
"I told you, Lukas, I won't let you jump off this dragon to go down in a pointless blaze of glory!" He turned back to glare at him, righteous anger burning in his eyes.
"That's not what I meant. We need to slow them down, and that will be much easier if we're working together."
Understanding dawned on his face. His mind rushed back to their lessons in Discipline. They had been taught to fight side by side with anyone and everyone – on dragonback or the ground. He nodded and turned in his seat.
"I'm thinking glass traps." Lukas suggested.
Jonah nodded fervently, then added, "And stonewalls – if we're trying to slow them down, those are perfect."
Lukas thought of their supplies and grew doubtful. "I only have twelve spears... do you think that'll be enough for glass-traps and stonewalls?"
Jonah hadn't stopped nodding, "Well, if you think about it, you don't need many glass-traps; either they work – and that's chase over – or they don't – in which case having more won't help. Use one spear for those, and keep the rest for walls. If you need more, we can drop to the ground for you."
Lukas' face grew thoughtful for a few moments, while he considered. "That's a good point, let's do that." Then he sat, straddling Blaze's tail so that he was facing their pursuers and threw over his shoulder, "Follow my lead?"
He didn't need to see it to know Jonah had made the little mock bow that he let loose every time Lukas asked that question. As usual, it was followed by a quick, "Always, Sir!" Lukas in turn acted as he always did: he just sighed and got back to the task at hand, shaking his head slightly at his friend's inability to recognise when wasn't the right time to make jokes.

He unlimbered a spear from his back and broke off a small chuck of stone, which he ground down to a fine sand. Using his mind, he suspended that sand in a square before him. Jonah did his part by letting fire lick from his outstretched hand onto the sand, melting it into a glowing red square of glass. The pane cooled rapidly in the rushing air; once it was solid, Lukas clamped it lightly between his legs. They repeated the process until they'd used an entire spear – it made them ten panes. Next, Jonah removed two small jars, each containing a candle that had burned about halfway down. In the bag on each side, there was a hole that was the exact size and shape of that jar. Jonah jammed them into the holes before lighting the candles. Lukas checked he could control the panes, and made Jonah do so too – now that the elements within the glass were mixed, they should both be able to control them. Their power over the panes was clunky, but it was enough to spring the trap. Finally, he turned to Vayle. She was twisting as far as she could in her belts, her wide eyes flitting between Lukas, Jonah, and the dragon in the distance. "When we start throwing things, I want you to face forward and keep your head down." Lukas ordered. When she shakily nodded, his voice softened slightly and he added, "We'll protect you, okay?"
Concern mingled with the fear in her eyes. "But who's protecting you?" He turned back to their pursuer, who was rapidly eating up the distance between them. He took a second spear into his hand and snapped off the tip. While they waited, he rolled it around in his hand, comforted slightly by the feeling of stone rubbing against skin.

They didn't have to wait long. The moment Lukas decided their chaser was within Jonah's range, he made a shrugging gesture and a fireball sailed over his head. It easily swerved around it, but the light passed close enough to it that the two of them could get a good look. The breath froze in Lukas's lungs. The beast chasing them had scales made of shadow, their translucence allowing sight of the black stone-like skin they covered. Its wings were thin and sinewy, but the muscles connecting them to its back were bulging. Its eyes glowed a piercing green. It was Lukas' worst fears come to life – probably all Rider's fears, for that matter. The dragon had been turned. On its back rode three more turned. Squinting hard, he could just make out that there were two with purple eyes, and one with red. Lukas pushed out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. 'No brown-eyes... this fight might actually go to plan for once.' Then he frowned, as the red-eye would make Jonah's job more difficult.