Chapter Fifty-Seven
Sophia rushed up to the wall of fire, flanked by the dragons. As she suspected, they couldn’t get closer than a few feet away before the flames urged them back.
“Wilder!” she yelled while trying to see through the wall of orange that burned her eyes from the smoke and hot temperatures.
Through the thick flames, she spied movement in the pit below. “I’m here!” he yelled, which made her heart skip.
“How are we going to get to him?” She looked between Lunis and Simi.
“I can fly over the wall of fire,” Simi stated with confidence.
“If it were that easy, then the dragonriders wouldn’t have used that method,” Lunis reasoned.
“He’s right.” Sophia’s pulse beat in her head. “They would know that Wilder’s dragon was around here, somewhere.”
“The netting and pit are magically protected,” Wilder called from the pit. “Even if you get over the flames, you still have to take down the wards. I can’t use magic from inside here, so I don’t know how to do it.”
Sophia sighed upon realizing that this made perfect sense. “Okay, we take down the fire first. Then we figure out the security measures.”
“If Evan was here, we might be able to use water to extinguish the flames,” Lunis reasoned.
“I think this is the first time that we’ve wanted Evan here,” Sophia joked and checked over her shoulder to where she could see the three waterspouts in the distance. They appeared almost alive as they wove in the air and snapped back and forth like a whip cracking.
“Wind,” Simi offered. “We could employ our wind magic to try and blow out the flames.”
“That’s a good idea.” Sophia chewed on her lip. “But I don’t think it will be quite enough. If it’s not a strong, decisive movement, then it could simply fan the flames and make them worse.”
“Yeah, and with your rider locked away, you’re limited.” Lunis sounded strangely serious.
“What if you two worked together to extinguish the flames as though blowing out birthday candles?” Sophia mused while working out the idea. “You could use your elemental magic, Simi, but Lunis could help by using his wings.”
“Yes, that could work.” Simi stood on her hind legs and extended her wings. “If we position ourselves in the right place and do it together, then it will knock the flames down, and we can work on the next step.”
Lunis nodded and quickly moved into place beside Simi, his leg not at all appearing to bother him. He rocked back on his hind legs like her and extended his long wings, then gave Sophia a determined expression.
“We can do this,” Lunis stated. “Ready when you are, Simi.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
The first waterspout dropped like a column of rock disintegrating. The rush of water fell from the sky and collapsed on the gray dragon and rider. They saw it coming but didn’t move fast enough, and it made them fly awkwardly to the side as they plummeted into the choppy waters below.
Evan hollered and streaked away from the yellow dragon and rider who had taken off after them. It was too easy to avoid their pursuits, so he slowed to keep them interested. The rider’s inexperience showed, and he fell for several attempts when Evan feinted one way, then changed directions.
It was an easy game of cat and mouse. The young dragonrider didn’t realize that he was being led straight up into the next waterspout’s trajectory. On the distant far side, the guy on the green dragon hovered in the air and gave Evan a calculating expression. That was the one who worried Evan. He was studying the way the Elite moved. Evan believed he knew what would happen to the yellow rider next, but he was allowing it—all so he could watch and figure out his strategy to approach the more experienced dragonrider.
“One thing at a time.” Evan swung around the waterspout, flew up the shaft, and watched as the naïve Rogue Rider followed.
Evan had slowed to let the guy get close to Coral’s tail. When the yellow dragon was nearly on him, he pulled away and shot straight outward and away. The newbie pursued but was quickly left behind. As before, Evan allowed the waterspout to collapse. It fell to the side and careened into the rider, then crushed him to the waters below where he and his dragon immediately sank.
He wouldn’t be dead. Neither would the gray dragon and rider. The chi of the dragon was too strong to be taken out that easily. However, they wouldn’t fly around for some time after the assaults either. Their best hope would be to float to the shore where they’d recover eventually after nursing their many wounds.
Evan swung around and faced off with the green dragon and rider. The remaining waterspout divided the distance between them.
“Just you and me, redhead,” Evan said in a low voice as he leaned down and tried to figure out how to throw a literal curveball at the last Rogue Rider in his way.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Sophia had seen many incredible things that dragons did, but watching the blue and white dragon work together was probably one of the most eloquent.
The way they moved, both standing tall on their hind legs with their massive wings held out, was simply breathtaking.
Their eyes shone, and there was grit to the expression when they pulled their wings back carefully as if nocking an arrow to a bow. With a silence that communicated so much, Simi gave the command, and in unison, both dragons rocked their wings forward in a swift and sharp movement. It was only one, but the force that followed howled through the air and sent a violent and impressive gust of wind across the wall of flames.
The fire extinguished exactly like a child blowing out candles on a cake and disappeared almost instantly.
If Sophia were the child blowing out the candles, she would have only had one wish right then as she rushed forward and looked down into the pit where Wilder stood. He stared up at her with relief and trepidation.
Chapter Sixty
Evan had one waterspout left and limited magic reserves. As he faced off with the last demon dragonrider, he knew that he had one shot to take this guy out with the waterspout, and he sensed that the redhead knew it as well.
The green dragon and rider hovered in the air some hundred yards away on the other side of the spiraling structure. When it came to dragons and flying, that was a breath away. Things could change quickly, especially when it involved fire and wings, and no one knew that better than Evan.
He hoped that the newbie dragonrider didn’t know that because it would work to his advantage. He needed to take this guy out and return to Sophia and Wilder. Evan might have been about the jokes, but if anything happened to Wilder, he wouldn’t forgive himself. That was his best mate.
The green dragon flapped its wings, somewhat a blur on the other side of the misty waterspout. They were waiting for Evan to make the first move. He didn’t like that.
This fight needed to happen on his terms. He considered his options as he and Coral hovered far off the ocean’s surface. The demon dragonrider had been watching him. He knew his tactics with the waterspout. However, he didn’t know all his moves. Evan reasoned that he could use this to his advantage by playing on what the guy thought he’d do.