Read Online The Confliction (Book Three of the Dragoneers Saga) (Dragoneer Saga) by M. R. Mathias - Free Book Online
Authors: M. R. Mathias
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turned his head to seek out another Sarax to attack, but he was suddenly ripped from his seat. Skin-puncturing claws gripped him tight, and he was taken down to rocky ground so hard that he felt his legs snap when he impacted.
Jade landed easily. Jenka was limp and slipping from his seat, and he knew it, but it was all right because he was only inches from the deep, drifting snow the green dragon was wallowing in. When he slid off, Jenka was shocked back into full consciousness by ice falling into his collar. His lower gut was open, but his gizzards had only ballooned out a bit because the slice was vertical, from just above his button to the bottom of his cage. He unshouldered his sword belt while lying mostly submerged in powdery fluff. He held the hilt and used the power of his blade to try and knit the wound closed, but he couldn’t do it.
Rikky was the healer.
Not for the first time, Jenka’s ears were ruined. They throbbed with the thundering beat of his pulse. He hated that he couldn’t hear anything other than that infernal, buzzing drone. He wanted to reassure Jade. He wanted to hear Jade’s reassurance, too.
He pulled the sheath from its belt and held it in his teeth as he cinched the buckle tight around his middle. Once he’d recovered from the pain, he stood with his sword drawn and found a small band of trolls, some with antlers, some not, trudging toward Jade through the snow.
Jenka took out an ivory-antlered creature with a blast of emerald Dou from his sword, but then he was in close combat, swinging. He diverted a surely lethal claw, and then he hacked deeply into a troll. All the while he feared spilling his insides. Jade’s roar sounded like it was coming from a hundred leagues away, but Jenka still heard it. He ran another troll through, but was knocked aside when Jade thrust his head at one of the vermin. Jenka didn’t see it coming at him from the side, but his dragon saved him.
A filthy clawed foot raked across Jenka’s middle, causing him to cry out. He whirled with his sword and sliced one of the already wounded trolls open, but another of them rained a trio of powerful hammer-fist blows into his face. Jade latched onto the troll with his teeth and slung it away.
Jenka looked up with just enough time to see a knot of hungry Sarax converge on Rikky and Silva in the sky. That view was eclipsed by an open maw full of bloody razor teeth. As those jaws snapped shut in a steamy whirl of alchemical breath, something yanked hard on Jenka’s leg and dragged him down into the snow. The loose powdery fluff caved in over him as he went. Jenka couldn’t believe the Sarax missed him. With his arms outstretched and dragging behind him, all he could see when he opened his eyes was pure white snow.
Rikky felt Silva lurch from the pain of the first bite and he cried out in anguish over it. He’d had his leg eaten by trolls, and he was trapped in a cloud of worse things now. He didn’t want to die, nor did he want his dragon maimed, but there was nothing either of them could do. There were dozens of Sarax. One of them got a hold of Silva’s neck. Rikky threw a blast of Dour magic at it. It let go, but there was a semicircle of dashed gashes left. They instantly started spilling blood.
A claw raked Ricky’s back. As he leaned forward and hugged his dragon tightly, he felt Silva shudder again. Then they were falling, not flying. The next think Ricky knew, something spewed freezing cold liquid all over him. His dragon was suddenly writhing in the sky like a hurled snake. Rikky found himself plummeting from a great height toward the mass of massacred rangers below.
He didn’t fall far. Claws gripped him hard and he felt the air being squeezed from his lungs. He wasn’t about to crash anymore, but his situation was no less bleak. Then he saw something that sank his heart so far into his guts that he didn’t care what happened next.
There was Herald, near where the low protective wall had been
Jade landed easily. Jenka was limp and slipping from his seat, and he knew it, but it was all right because he was only inches from the deep, drifting snow the green dragon was wallowing in. When he slid off, Jenka was shocked back into full consciousness by ice falling into his collar. His lower gut was open, but his gizzards had only ballooned out a bit because the slice was vertical, from just above his button to the bottom of his cage. He unshouldered his sword belt while lying mostly submerged in powdery fluff. He held the hilt and used the power of his blade to try and knit the wound closed, but he couldn’t do it.
Rikky was the healer.
Not for the first time, Jenka’s ears were ruined. They throbbed with the thundering beat of his pulse. He hated that he couldn’t hear anything other than that infernal, buzzing drone. He wanted to reassure Jade. He wanted to hear Jade’s reassurance, too.
He pulled the sheath from its belt and held it in his teeth as he cinched the buckle tight around his middle. Once he’d recovered from the pain, he stood with his sword drawn and found a small band of trolls, some with antlers, some not, trudging toward Jade through the snow.
Jenka took out an ivory-antlered creature with a blast of emerald Dou from his sword, but then he was in close combat, swinging. He diverted a surely lethal claw, and then he hacked deeply into a troll. All the while he feared spilling his insides. Jade’s roar sounded like it was coming from a hundred leagues away, but Jenka still heard it. He ran another troll through, but was knocked aside when Jade thrust his head at one of the vermin. Jenka didn’t see it coming at him from the side, but his dragon saved him.
A filthy clawed foot raked across Jenka’s middle, causing him to cry out. He whirled with his sword and sliced one of the already wounded trolls open, but another of them rained a trio of powerful hammer-fist blows into his face. Jade latched onto the troll with his teeth and slung it away.
Jenka looked up with just enough time to see a knot of hungry Sarax converge on Rikky and Silva in the sky. That view was eclipsed by an open maw full of bloody razor teeth. As those jaws snapped shut in a steamy whirl of alchemical breath, something yanked hard on Jenka’s leg and dragged him down into the snow. The loose powdery fluff caved in over him as he went. Jenka couldn’t believe the Sarax missed him. With his arms outstretched and dragging behind him, all he could see when he opened his eyes was pure white snow.
Rikky felt Silva lurch from the pain of the first bite and he cried out in anguish over it. He’d had his leg eaten by trolls, and he was trapped in a cloud of worse things now. He didn’t want to die, nor did he want his dragon maimed, but there was nothing either of them could do. There were dozens of Sarax. One of them got a hold of Silva’s neck. Rikky threw a blast of Dour magic at it. It let go, but there was a semicircle of dashed gashes left. They instantly started spilling blood.
A claw raked Ricky’s back. As he leaned forward and hugged his dragon tightly, he felt Silva shudder again. Then they were falling, not flying. The next think Ricky knew, something spewed freezing cold liquid all over him. His dragon was suddenly writhing in the sky like a hurled snake. Rikky found himself plummeting from a great height toward the mass of massacred rangers below.
He didn’t fall far. Claws gripped him hard and he felt the air being squeezed from his lungs. He wasn’t about to crash anymore, but his situation was no less bleak. Then he saw something that sank his heart so far into his guts that he didn’t care what happened next.
There was Herald, near where the low protective wall had been
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