‘This stretch of trees?’ said Bel.
‘Yes, yes. Make a jump, throw lizard off. At night. Maybe he thinking we still go west, off he flies chasing nothing but the rabbits I not catch.’
‘Maybe,’ said Bel. ‘At least we’ll be heading in roughly the right direction.’ The Saurian’s idea was closer to a plan than anything he’d come up with, he thought grimly. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘Today we’ll find the point of the forest closest to Crystalweb. Then tonight, we make a dash.’
‘Good, good,’ said M’Meska. ‘Then go for army, put arrows in some heads, then no more shadow and no more war.’
‘One skip at a time,’ Bel told her, and M’Meska rasped a chortle.
The dragon’s baying sounded somewhere close, and both of them jumped to their feet. Quickly they made their way back to camp, where the others were awake, keeping low to the ground. Bel dropped down next to Jaya.
‘Where is he?’ he asked.
‘There,’ she whispered, pointing.
They were some hundred paces back from the tree line, and out upon the grassy plains, pacing back and forth, was Olakanzar. He did not seem to know exactly where they were, but instead addressed the wood in general.
‘I smell you!’ he howled. ‘I know you’re there, like many things …I know what taste the cloud tops are, know not to chase a falling star, and I know you’re there, I know you’re there! Many things I do not know, like how to count rain, or live without pain, but I know that you are there , this I know. You hide like the truth behind a mirror, like sparrows from me when I was small, before the itchy, when I was small, and I would chase them, and they would hide. What a fun game!’ Discordant laughter, thick and almost metallic. ‘I played it then, play it again, but no sparrow ever murdered my kin before, so I’ll not tire of this game! I shall play it forever, little sparrows!’
He swept his tail mightily and for a moment Bel wondered how he had ever dared to think he could defeat such a creature – but then Olakanzar staggered sideways with the force of his own weight, until it almost looked as if he would fall. Maybe fate sent me a crippled one to practise on , Bel thought.
As the dragon took off there was a collective sigh of relief.
He did not think they would be so relieved when he explained the plan he and M’Meska had made for that evening.
Night fell, and they stared apprehensively from the tree line. About half a league to the south stood Crystalweb, an island in the plains. Above, the sky was cloudy, and a few drops of rain were beginning to fall.
‘Maybe the rain will help?’ said Hiza. ‘It will be even harder for him to see us through it.’
‘Or maybe,’ said Jaya, ‘he will get distracted by trying to count it.’
‘Let us wait,’ said Bel, ‘and see if it gets any heavier.’
Soon the rain was falling hard and fast, while the air grew ever more humid. Bel worried that the grass would be slippery under their pounding feet. On the other hand, perhaps it would wash away their trail, and Olakanzar would not be able to smell his way after them.
‘All right,’ he said. ‘It’s now or never.’
‘Or later,’ said M’Meska matter-of-factly.
‘Now,’ clarified Bel. ‘Is everyone ready?’
Tense stares met his own, but there were dripping nods.
‘Everyone together then. One …two …three!’
They burst from the trees, moving as fast as they could. Their packs were light, for they had dumped everything but the bare necessities, but as the rain soaked through them they seemed to drag. Under their feet the grass squeaked treacherously – to Bel each squeak sounded as loud as an alarm bell, pinpointing their trajectory across the plain. More than once his foot sank into mud and threatened to send him sprawling, but each time he managed to use his momentum to carry him forward and keep going. Crystalweb loomed, spreading out across their field of vision.
‘We’re going to make it,’ said Hiza between breaths.
As if in answer to his optimism, an all-too-familiar roar came from behind.
‘Pick up your heels!’ shouted Bel, though the others needed little encouragement. He chanced a glance behind.
Olakanzar flew with flames building in his open maw, shining off broken raindrops that bounced from his back, waves of water shimmering away with each beat of his wings. He was catching up fast but not flying levelly …he was going to crash into them all.
‘Spread out!’ shouted Bel, and his companions raced off at diagonals around him. As his blood tingled with adrenaline, he felt his senses heightening: now he felt every raindrop that fell upon him, the air sucking through his nostrils. When circumstances change …but the path urged him forward, and he dared not turn and take a stand.
This is no special talent, hero , came a treacherous voice from within, to know that one should flee from an insane dragon bent on revenge.
There was a hiss of boiling rain as heat licked Bel’s thighs, and he knew he was just barely cresting the flames that sought to end him. The path veered off and he followed it, as the enormous bulk of the dragon rushed past and landed with a crunch that shook the ground. As Olakanzar thrashed to right himself, Bel dove under the heavy tail that went sweeping overhead.
Just keeping me safe , he thought. Not telling me to kill.
His companions were disappearing into Crystalweb, scant paces ahead of the dragon. Only Jaya stopped and turned, waiting for Bel just inside the trees.
‘Don’t stop!’ he bellowed, driving mud under his fingernails as he pushed to his feet. The sword at his side banged repeatedly against his legs, making him feel out of sync with the universe. He pounded straight past the dragon with feet barely touching the ground and Olakanzar snapped, but the pale trees rushed up to meet him. He blundered in, his speed almost sending him headfirst into the deadly carpet of broken crystal shards. He reached for a branch to slow himself down, and instead ripped it right off the tree. Leaves spun free as he dropped it, and he felt razor-thin shards cut him. To his left and right, his companions were now treading as carefully as they could, trying to balance on the white roots above the sharp detritus. He felt shards sink into his boots, prickling the soles of his feet and soaking the leather with warm blood. He scrambled onto a raised root, driving some of the shards further in, breaking away others. He did not yet feel the pain.
Behind them Olakanzar tried to smash into the trees, but found the thick white trunks sturdier than those of a regular wood. He wedged his body between two of them, trying to ram his way through, and an avalanche of leaves fell upon him. Bel realised that the dragon was, for the moment, stopped in his tracks.
He gathered his companions together. All were bleeding from multiple cuts.
‘Slow,’ he told them. ‘We made it. Catch your breath before we move on.’
At the tree line Olakanzar thrashed as shards spun at him, and his roars turned to a pained wailing. He froze for a moment, and saw them watching him. His rolling red eye shot a look of malice such as Bel had never seen. The dragon breathed a cone of fire at them but they were too far away. They felt the heat of it, though, and liquid glass ran down the trees. Olakanzar swept his fire back and forth at the leaves that came towards him, spattering his body with molten glass. Then, with an almighty push of his front legs, he wrenched himself backwards out of the wood.
‘We should find the path as quickly as we can,’ said Hiza.
The reason was obvious. In the storm, leaves all around were breaking free, a multitude of flashing blades spinning through the air.
They started to move, shaking, bleeding, trying to stay close together so that less of their collective skin was exposed. It was difficult, for while the roots they traversed were wide, they weren’t flat. On either side, rivers ran brimming with protruding shards, and a tumble into those might be as good as death. Threads of blood washed down their legs, staining the bark and diluting in the swirling streams.