When they neared the end of that passage, and the night sky was easy to see in the distance, Braith landed, with Addolgar right behind her. He placed one raised silver claw to his snout and Braith nodded.
Moving silently, they headed down the last of the passage until they reached a natural ledge jutting from the mountain. They both eased to their bellies, drew their wings in tight, and crawled to the end of the ledge. They peeked over the side and that’s when Braith saw her father, along with both of her brothers. Lady Katarina stood next to Emyr and looked upset, busy wringing her claws while Braith’s father talked to a dragon she did not recognize. A purple dragon. A Lightning.
Braith turned her head to see if Addolgar had realized what this situation had just become when a flash of steel from the corner of her eye caught her attention. But before she could scream a word of warning, the tip of the spear rammed into the ankle of Addolgar’s back claw. Blood gushed from the wound and Braith expected to hear a scream of pain from the dragon, but all Addolgar did was grit his fangs and turn murderous, glowering eyes on his attacker.
There were two Lightnings standing behind them with grins on their faces. But those grins faded when they saw Addolgar’s expression, and then watched the silver dragon stand to his full height, the spear still jutting from his back leg.
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.”