“Augh!” she yelled. There was a popping sound, and sharp waves of pain exploded down her arm. She dropped the knife into the lake.
The second head aimed for her again, but Hiyyan saw and spun them around, whipping his tail at the Dwakka. He missed the head, instead swatting at its neck. It was enough to put the two-headed water dragon off balance.
“Again,” Sagittaria Wonder said to the injured Dwakka head.
Dark-blue blood dripped down the side of the cut on the Dwakka’s face, and from its mouth. Silver couldn’t tell if all the blood was the Dwakka’s, or if Hiyyan’s blood was mixed in. Her Aquinder’s neck was bleeding badly, and her own neck throbbed with pain.
And now Silver didn’t have a weapon.
Except for her body.
Silver pulled herself to her feet, standing on Hiyyan’s back with shaky legs. This could be the most reckless thing she’d ever done. If she missed, she would land in the lake. So she couldn’t miss. That was the only option.
When the Dwakka head sailed close to Hiyyan, Silver let loose a battle cry and launched herself into the air. Surprised, the Dwakka pulled back suddenly. Silver gasped as the gap between her and the fearsome dragon grew. She reached her one good arm out as far as she could and managed to catch her fingers in the Dwakka’s neck fins. The sharp scales at the edges of the fins sliced into her hands, but she held on, gritting her teeth, until she could swing herself onto the Dwakka’s neck.
“Aaaaiiieee,” Silver cried.
The Dwakka flung its head side to side, trying to dislodge her. She wrapped her arm around the neck and held on tight.
“Get off my dragon,” Sagittaria Wonder yelled.
Ferdi held back as the Dwakka kept swinging Silver around. He must have known that if Hoonazoor rammed again, Silver would get flung off into the water. Silver closed her eyes and squeezed tighter. She just had to hold on until Kirja was free. Her head swam with so much dizziness she thought she was going to pass out. But she held on. Just a little longer. She opened her eyes. That’s when she saw Brajon at Kirja’s tank.
“It’s locked,” Brajon shouted.
Ferdi rushed over to help. Sagittaria grabbed Silver’s ankle and pulled.
“Come here!” the great water dragon rider said as she yanked Silver down the Dwakka’s neck.
Instead of fighting, Silver let go. She slid down so fast she surprised Sagittaria Wonder, knocking her sideways in her saddle. Silver placed her boot on the champion’s side and shoved. Sagittaria slid until she was hanging from the saddle by one foot, her head skimming the surface of the lake.
“Hurry, Brajon,” Silver yelled.
She snatched the Dwakka’s reins and tugged its heads back. They fought her for control, tearing the leather ropes right through her hands, leaving burning red marks across her palms. They lurched for Hiyyan again.
“I’m trying,” Brajon said. His teeth were clenched. The lock wouldn’t give.
Back on her Shorsa, Mele pointed. “Help him, Luap!”
The smallest of the water dragons in the cavern sped past the Dwakka and smashed into Kirja’s tank. The glass held.
“Keep it up,” Silver yelled. A hand gripped her calf. Sagittaria Wonder was using Silver to pull herself up, and Silver now tipped to the side. Sagittaria’s jaw was clenched, her eyes furious slits.
Silver reached for the reins again, but they were too far away. Sagittaria pulled her down, and Silver fell. Her fingers scrambled and wrapped around the saddle, trying to keep herself on the Dwakka as her body stretched under Sagittaria’s weight. She kicked her legs, but Sagittaria held them tightly.
“You. Are. So. Annoying,” Sagittaria Wonder said. She pulled.
Silver yelped. One of her hands slipped off the saddle, and she dangled over the lake.
“You can’t swim,” Sagittaria said, and she laughed. A terrible sound that bounced around the cavern. “What kind of dragon rider doesn’t know how to swim? I take back everything I’ve said. You don’t deserve that Aquinder. You’re nothing but a dockyard rat.”
Silver’s face burned. Her whole body groaned with the strain of holding on. But she was no rat.
She was a desert fox. Quick, clever, and capable.
Silver caught Ferdi’s eye and let go.
FORTY-NINE
The water greeted Silver Batal and Sagittaria Wonder with a mighty splash. Sagittaria flashed a terrible smile. Silver let out a trail of bubbles as Sagittaria pushed her even further down with her boot. Silver sank as Sagittaria propelled herself back up to the surface.
Right as Silver was about to run out of air, Hoonazoor appeared. With relief, she grabbed the Glithern’s tail, and they headed for Kirja’s cage. As she got closer, she saw that the thing she’d suspected was true.
She’d realized, as she watched the poor Decodro bang against the glass, that there had to be some way to access the dragons without opening the cages fully; one swift move and a dragon could escape. But tunnels—like burrows—were useful. And every glass cage had a small tunnel below the water surface. Not big enough for the dragons to get through. Not even big enough for most adults. A place to deliver food, most likely.
And a place to deliver a small rescuer. The tunnel hole was barely big enough for Silver to squeeze through, but once she was in the tank, Kirja helped her bob up to the surface.
“How did you swim in there?” Sagittaria said. She had fallen for it. “Get out!” The dragon racer furiously worked the puzzle on the lock, and the door clicked open.
Brajon sat on Hiyyan’s back, waiting for the right moment. “Go, Kirja!” he yelled.
Kirja grabbed the back of Silver’s riding suit in her teeth and shot out of the cage. Hiyyan and Luap joined forces, shoving Sagittaria and her Dwakka into the cage. Ferdi slammed the door behind them and secured the lock.
Water dripped off Silver as she sat on Kirja’s back. She watched Sagittaria Wonder pound on the holding tank, her angry screams muffled by the thick glass. The dragon racer was too big to escape through the tunnel.
“I’m sorry,” Silver said. She meant it. Sagittaria wasn’t just the cold standoffish woman Silver had first met in Jaspaton, nor the loyal servant of the queen, nor a fellow racer. She was all of that, including Silver’s hero.
But she was an ugly kind of champion, someone who’d let her drive consume her. Silver would never let glory change her or destroy what she loved. She thought back to Jaspaton, to her father. She had things to mend.
“If you had run, I would have fought for your freedom,” Sagittaria said. “Now?” The great water dragon racer shrugged. “Good luck, little fox. You’ll need it.”
“She doesn’t need luck. She has us,” Brajon called out.
Silver grinned and turned toward her friends. For the first time, Brajon looked somewhat comfortable holding on to Hiyyan’s mane. Mele sat astride Luap; Hoonazoor had collected Ferdi; and Kirja and Hiyyan were nuzzling each other affectionately.
“Mele,” Silver said. “How do we get out of here? There are hundreds of guards at the palace.”
“We can go upriver to the well openings. You can fly home from there.”
Silver started. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
“My place is here, near Luap.” Mele shook her head. “I won’t leave her, and I won’t steal her. I’m not a criminal.”
“Like me?” Silver pressed her palm against Hiyyan’s neck. The bond they shared was greater than some human-made law.
“We have to hurry,” Brajon said. “Look!”