Inkway to Albreton

Chapter Ten

Kur spat another ice ball at Jasmine and Ellindris. It was the size of a horse and whizzed past Ellindris' wing like a comet. Screaming, Jasmine clung with white knuckles on Ellindris' feathered mane as the dragon twisted midair to avoid the ice and then plummeted in a nose dive like a hawk on its prey. The ice ball crashed into the side of the icy mountain below with a boom. The indentation it left was twice the size of the ice ball itself and splintering at the edges. The setting sun's light refracted against the embedded ice ball in hues of oranges, yellows and reds, all of these colors emphasized by the semi-translucent blue tone of the icy mountains themselves.

Ellindris reopened her wings to full span, catching herself on an updraft just before she and Jasmine would have plunged full-force into the frozen river that wove between the icy mountains, the same river that Jasmine had traversed to get to the dragon's land in the first place. Needless to say, it was unrecognizable to Jasmine at the moment, seeing as she was gripping Ellindris with everything she had, squeezing her every muscle flat against the purple dragon's feathers and scales as the landscape zipped across her vision like a fast-forwarding movie.

Kur was relentless. He was driving the both of them into a corner and Jasmine had no way of knowing if Ellindris had a plan or not. She tried to calm her breathing but the adrenaline wouldn't allow it; her ears were pounding, her blood was pumping and her fatigued muscles erupted in a second wind. She clamped her thighs tighter onto the base of Ellindris' broad neck and dug her fingers deeper into the dragon's scales, feeling unbearably hot despite the steam that each of her quickened breaths exuded.

"Why is he attacking us?" Jasmine screeched at Ellindris once she found her voice.

"That is not my husband," Ellindris said, her voice somehow sounding fiery. It was as if this was how dragons should sound, as if she had toned down her vernacular for Jasmine's sake up until this point but had no concentration to do so anymore.

Jasmine felt the words rumble deep within her, emanating with a primordial power that was enough to assure her that the both of them would survive no matter what else not-Kur threw at them. Calmer now but still rushing with adrenaline, Jasmine yelled over not-Kur's ice attacks, "Then who is it?"

Ellindris dodged a spray of frigid air that splattered the river below in icicles and snow and then answered, "It is a wizard."

"I thought dragons were immune to magic!"

"If you will recall," Ellindris stated, cork-screwing so that Jasmine had to pin her head against the back of Ellindris' neck so as not to become dizzy, "I told you it depends on the type of magic."

Jasmine lifted her head against the force of Ellindris' maneuvers to yell, "Well what type of magic is this, then? And how do we get him to stop?" The motion made her neck cramp but she ignored it. If there was a way out of this, a way to make Kur cease his onslaught, then Jasmine didn't care if she got a stiff neck later for asking.

An icicle struck Ellindris' wing. She roared, landing hard on the frozen river, her claws piercing through the sheet of ice covering it as if it were tissue paper. The water splashed high enough to drench Jasmine, who scrambled to regain her grip on Ellindris' neck after sliding down a few inches. Ellindris sloshed through the half-frozen water in wide dragon strides, backing up until her rear was touching the icy mountain wall, and then she curled her tail into a question mark shape and crouched. Jasmine gulped as Ellindris' breathing slowed and deepened. Kur was encroaching, hovering just above the river, his mighty wing-beats echoing throughout the gap in the icy mountain range, so prevalent that Jasmine could feel the sound pounding against her bones like a gigantic bass drum.