“Okay, your red swoops in low and fast. Then what?”
“He takes the head off the sitting green on the first pass if we’re very lucky. Dragons on the ground are slow and cumbersome. If it’s a surprise, he may win with the initial attack. Then he destroys the eggs and escapes.”
Tanner glanced at his long bow.
Carrion shook his head. “I thought of that, too. An arrow into each egg would be good, but I think attempting it would cost our lives.”
“We’d be too close if your red loses.”
“Or if he wins. The two greens will return and search for you and me. They’ll fly over and examine everything. This blind will be torn apart by first light. Before long we need to pull back as far as we can, to a place where you can barely see the green hen roosting. After the attack, we’ll run like hell before dawn.”
“All night?”
“Well, you’re in charge and can stop whenever you feel safe. Then you can try to catch up with me tomorrow, but I’ll be far down the road.”
Tanner threw him a scalding look intended to bring the older man to his knees, but as if anticipating it, Carrion turned his head back to watch the green dragon. Later he said, “Those two people are finally leaving, I think. Sneaking out like one of the King’s triads searching for Dragon Clan. Slow and careful so their prey doesn’t see them and take them down.”
“You’re going to let them put some distance between the green before calling in your red, right? If those two people were not here, you’d have already attacked. You wanted to attack this morning, but waited.”
“That’s why the family council put you in charge, Tanner. You see a set of circumstances and put all the pieces together in the right way and come to a logical decision.”
“Make fun of me,” Tanner said, “but we both know you should be the leader.”
“I’m not the reliable sort, and you know it. Half the time I’m not even living with the family. I’m out wandering the world and chasing skinny women with long black hair. I drink too much and gamble any coins in my purse. They only sent me because I’m expendable.”
“You’re also the only person bonded to a dragon that I know of.”
“Well, yes, there is that too.”
“Are you scared of attacking the green?”
Carrion pursed his lips and hesitated. “Have you ever heard of another bonded Dragon Clan member ordering an attack on another dragon?”
“No. It seems wrong. It is wrong.”
“That’s what I thought. A man of the clan with high morals wouldn’t direct such an attack. It’s not the green’s fault they cannot feel our mental-touch. Horses and pigs can’t either, but we don’t kill them for it. The difference is that these greens are somehow vile. Corrupted. I can’t put it into words.”
Tanner said, “It’s not the greens. It’s the others, the people with them that make them that way, but the fact remains, they’re like rabid dogs and they kill our dragons. We can’t show mercy.”
“Okay, the two from the clan have gone far enough. It’s time for us to move back too, and prepare an escape route, and a hole to dive into, just in case.”
“There’s no hole out here that will save us if we don’t put enough distance between that green sitting on the eggs and us. I was looking behind us a while ago, and there’s a place on that third mountain where we can still see this valley. We won’t see details, but I think we’ll see your dragon. He might be small, but we’ll see what we can through the smoke and fog.”
“And through the eyes of my red. I’ll relay what I can, but you know I can’t remove my concentration or the red will want to remain after the fight to feast, assuming he wins. It’ll take all my willpower to make him leave after a victory.”
“Then we’ll follow the two people from the Dragon Clan into Shrewsbury.”
Carrion said, “And try to help them without their knowledge, if possible.”
“After that, we’re going to the Marlstone Islands?”
“And beyond.”
CHAPTER TWO
Carrion was unable to talk or describe what was happening because he was in the trance-like state he entered when communicating with the red dragon. His attention was solely on what he was doing. . . And what the dragon was doing.
Tanner remained quiet and watched it appear from over the sea. He caught a glimpse as it made a wide turn and began the attack. Carrion’s body went rigid as he controlled the fight. It swept between the mountain and volcano, low and fast, unseen by the green and guided by Carrion’s eyes. Tanner drew in a deep breath. This was the moment where discovery could cost the red’s life. Its wings beat as fast as Tanner had ever seen, and it flew to the nest from the side.
At the last moment, it dived, front talons extended. The female on the nest sensed the danger and snapped her head around. As she looked up, the red dragon attacked with a fury unlike any Tanner had ever experienced. It used the full weight of his body and the speed of falling from the sky to strike, rip, tear, and claw so fast Tanner couldn’t follow it all in the distance and fog, and doubted he could have if he stood beside them.
The anguished screams of the green mixed with the reds. Without conscious thought, Tanner backed a few more steps and checked over his shoulder for a clear path to run. His heart pounded as if he was in the fight instead of the red. He fought the rising fear of unknown battles.
The green had been knocked from the nest in the initial attack. Now Tanner saw a wing shattered and gouges streaming blood. The green was mortally wounded. Her upper body so large Tanner could see the blood staining the black rocks from the slope of the mountain, even from where he hid with Carrion.
The fight continued, with more screams curdling the air. They rolled on the ground, claws raking, teeth snapping, but the red had the initial advantage and used it to pin the other as its claws raked the flesh of the green. The red suddenly leaped into the air and pounced on the green, knocking the air from its lungs. The red remained on top, Biting and slashing.
After killing the green by ripping out her throat, the red emitted a cry of victory so loud and long that it stilled the blood in Tanner with the primal announcement of victory. It stalked to the nest and crushed all three eggs with its forefeet before taking flight. Carrion’s eyes sprang open and tears flowed. He stood and turned his back on the scene as he walked away, shoulders slumped.
Tanner had only watched Carrion enter the mind of the dragon a few times. He usually lay down on his back and closed his eyes. His mental link placed him in the mind of the dragon, seeing through the dragon’s eyes, hearing through the dragon’s ears. Laying down prevented him from falling over, but his concentration and mind were one with the dragon. A rogue chipmunk could defeat him as he lay there, so normally another of the Dragon Clan was present.
The fight with the green had only lasted long enough for Tanner to hold a single breath, but at the end, he wanted to puke. The taste of bile filled his mouth for a long while, and he wondered what it must be like for Carrion, who felt and lived every part of the attack.
They eventually followed the same path the other two Dragon Clan had. Carrion knelt to check the age of the footprints, making sure he and Tanner didn’t overtake the pair. They made excellent time, the path descending and reaching further inland. At a place near the road, they found a jumble of boulder larger than huts or houses, looking as if some giant god had thrown a handful to pile on the almost flat plain.
Carrion pointed, “Over there.”
Tanner followed as Carrion used one boulder to climb on and reached up to a higher one for a better view. On the ground, Tanner checked out the nearby area for a safe place to spend the night. He found one almost surrounded by boulders, almost like a cave with no roof. Someone in the past had stored firewood beside rocks ringing a pit.