Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Cornered

Silver bit her lip.

Things weren't looking great.

Not only had her slightly tolerable teammate taken a tumble off a cliff, but now she was stuck with her idiotic teammate and they were up against a man who didn't seem to have any intention of backing down.

Personally, she doubted any enemy would just randomly surrender without a fight, but a small, cursed part of her hoped.

The man in front of them was above their paygrade.

She might've had a chance to slip past if she hadn't been paired with a hot-tempered blonde who'd decided it was apparently a good idea to glare at the guy.

Silver resisted the overwhelming urge to groan.

She kind of wished she was the one who'd gone over the cliff edge, just so she wouldn't have to deal with the idiotic being next to her. But she hadn't. Heck, they didn't even know whether Sora was still alive. She could've been a bloody smear on some rock face a little ways down.

"Come on, scaredy cat," Raelynn said, smirking at her. "We need to beat this guy."

It was official.

Silver wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

Her partner clearly had no sensory skills for the life of her, and silently she prayed blondie got some soon... well, on top of an actual brain.

It was no wonder she wasn't affected by Oz's hits, Silver mused. Couldn't lose what you didn't have – and that apparently included brain cells too.

"No, imbecile, we need to slip past him and find an actual adult," Silver hissed, trembling slightly at the sheer presence their newfound opponent gave off. It rivalled that of her eldest sister, and Silver could safely say her sibling was scary in that department.

"Oz?"

"One who isn't, you know, in the middle of a battle and can actually help us would be preferable!" she yelled, eye twitching at Raelynn's sheer confusion.

"Who the hell will be on the top of a mountain?"

Her hands clenched into fists, breathing laboured as she tried to calm herself down without laughing hysterically. "I don't know, but we are dragon riders, you know? Someone will hopefully be coming soon."

"All the more reason to defeat this guy then!"

Silver was on the verge of tearing her hair out. "He's beyond us, idiot."

Movement flickered in her peripheral, her eyes widening when she saw their enemy running towards them. Of course, Silver muttered internally, what were the odds of coming across a polite villain who would wait patiently for two idiots to finish their conversation?

Silver closed her eyes, calling upon her magic as quickly as she could, snapping her eyes back open as soon as she was done. "Get ready, idiot," she hissed, lunging forwards, nudging the silvery magic towards her feet as she'd been trained to do.

Control is key.

The words looped in her brain, teeth biting into her lip as she channelled her magic as slow as possible. It wouldn't do for her to overpower herself. That only ended with her injured and unable to do anything else.

Not an option.

Not for their current situation, at least.

Lightning sparked around her legs, and she moved as quickly as she could, ready to intercept their opponent. She couldn't let him reach that blonde idiot.

But, exactly like she'd expected, their opponent was way above their paygrade.

So the boot which slammed into her chest didn't come as too much of a surprise. Silver winced, magic fading as she lost her hold on it, her back slamming into Raelynn, sending the pair of them to the floor.

And he was still running towards them.

Silver leapt up, dragging the idiot up with her, hand outstretched, shoving her out of the way. A flash of metal raced at their hands, and she winced again, fully expecting the pain of an inured limb. When that didn't come, though, she blinked, looking down at her hands.

He was clever, she realised. Alarmingly so.

And also seemingly good at throwing handcuffs.

Silver nearly paused for a moment to admire the sheer skill it would take to throw a set of handcuffs and have them close around the targeted wrists – which just so happened to be one of hers and Raelynn's.

"Dammit," she muttered, diving to the side, eyes wide when Raelynn leapt the other way. "Idiot! This way!"

A fist crunched into her face, the taste of blood filling her mouth as she jerked back, Raelynn having no choice but to follow.

Fire crackled to life around Raelynn's hand, bursting towards their opponent, and Silver was mildly impressed. Her partner wasn't as inexperienced as she'd thought. Still, it didn't make up for her idiocy.

"Come on, Sil," she said, staring down at her. "We need to beat this guy up!"

Tears leaked down her face. "There's no point."

"What?"

Fires raged around them in a large circle, forming a flaming wall of sorts, and Silver knew it'd protect them for a while... but not forever.

Sooner or later he'd get through, and then it'd be over.

All over.

"Don't you realise it, imbecile," she hissed, fighting to reign her tears back in. "If this keeps up he'll wind up killing us... even if he is deliberately taking his time."

"And?" Raelynn stared down at her, face oddly blank.

"We could die! Get wiped out of existence! Smited—"

"And that prevents you from getting up and fighting back because...?"

"What are you on about?" Silver glared at her, wiping the tears out of her stinging eyes, tugging on the chain locking their wrists together. "We don't stand a chance!"

"So we die fighting," Raelynn said, a wide grin pulling at her lips.

"How can you talk about it so casually?" Silver hissed, fists clenched, ignoring the throbbing in her nose. "I don't want to die..."

"I doubt anyone wants to," she continued, that wide grin still plastered on her face. "But I'm not afraid to..." Her gaze softened. "Besides," she said, shrugging, "wouldn't you prefer to die fighting?"

"As opposed to...?" she trailed off, staring up at her idiotic partner, her stare fixed on that blinding smile on her lips.

Her smile was beautiful.

Silver bit her lip, shaking her head. She didn't need those thoughts.

"Dying on the ground, whimpering like a coward."

Anger surged through her, and she rose to her feet. "I'm not a coward," she muttered, glaring at their opponent as the flames around them started to fade.

Raelynn smirked. "Of course not."

"I can't use my magic from here on in," Silver warned. "I only know how to use lightning... and I'll electrocute you if I use it thanks to this." She pulled at the metal chain.

"I've got my fire... and a few other tricks up my sleeve."

"Good," Silver mumbled. "I have a feeling we'll need them."

"You can count on me."

She scowled. "Oh, and just for the record," she grumbled, glaring sideways at her, "you suck at motivational speeches."