The cool wind rushed through Valex’s ears as she plummeted through the sky, her eyes squinted to allow her to see. Contrary to what one would expect of a person caught in freefall, she did not panic. She instead felt euphoria flood through her body, a transcendent joy as she imagined that this must be what it was like to fly. As the wind rushed past her face, ice-cold in its embrace, she curled her body and slowly began to spin.

 

All around her was a pure blue, open sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, and the sun shone brightly over a vast plain, where a light breeze blew, ruffling the sparse trees and high grass. Though she could not see them, she imagined that there was a multitude of small animals scurrying down there somewhere, unmindful of the elven woman falling towards the ground at an alarming speed.

 

She’d enjoyed doing this ever since she was a child. She first discovered the joy of freefall in her home of Jyrok, where the sheer coastal cliffs were thousands of feet high, and a magical force created a strong updraft, allowing her to float for hours on end, feeling the force of the wind hold her safely as she experienced the joy of unassisted flight.

 

But, she reminded herself as she saw a large shadow flit upwards past her and the ground racing up to meet her, this was not Jyrok. Nor was she a little girl anymore. Sighing to herself, she straightened her limbs once again and stopped spinning. Kiora! The thought was almost shouted in her mind as the ground raced up to catch her. She sensed, rather than saw, the shadow turn round and dive towards her. 

 

Less than a hundred meters from the ground, she felt a sudden jarring as she landed on the back of her lifelong companion, Kiora. The black dragon flared her wings out, ending their plummet with a gentle glide, the very tips of her wings just brushing the tall grass as she curved upwards, beginning once again, to ascend. The dragon showed no sign of displeasure at how close she had caught her rider but turned her head to look back at Valex with her bright violet eyes, letting out a low growl of pleasure to see her friend safe.

 

Valex leaned forward and patted Kiora’s head, feeling the warm black scales under her hand. “Good catch, Kiora! I knew I could count on you!” Kiora shook her head in pleasure, reminding Valex of a dog shedding water, which elicited a high-pitched laugh from the elf. She continued patting Kiora, rubbing behind the short horns in the way she knew the dragon enjoyed. “Alright friend, let’s rejoin our teammates.”

 

Kiora obliged, jumping further higher with each beat of her powerful wings. Together, they were masters of the sky, answerable to no Lord or King, free to do as they pleased. Or so it felt, but Valex knew better. She was on a mission, and she had broken protocol with her sudden jump off the dragon’s back. Back when she was still in training, her mentor had always scolded her for such antics, but she knew the others didn’t mind. They were riders themselves, and so understood her joy in flight, and the powerful bond between rider and dragon.

 

As she rose to meet her two compatriots, they wore looks of a resigned patience, even slight amusement. They shook their heads as she came level with them, and the older of the two, Trian, shouted above the wind at her.

 

“One of these days, you might break your neck doing that Valex. Kiora isn’t perfect, you know.”

 

Valex rolled her eyes in mock horror and called back. “Oh, but of course, I forgot you were riding Bahamut, the only perfect dragon in the world.” It was an intentional dig at the sense of pride each Dragon Acolyte felt when regarding their draconic mounts. His brief scowl, which he tried very hard to conceal, made her laugh once more.

 

Truth be told, she understood very well how much he admired and cared for his friend, Korath. The red dragon was also the oldest of his companions and was a stickler for rules. Sure enough, Korath’s yellow eye turned to behold Valex, where she sat atop Kiora, a mischievous grin stretching from ear to ear.

 

How many times do I have to tell you to stick to the mission, young Valex? Leisure is not a luxury we have at the moment.

 

Kiora snorted in faint annoyance but quieted down as Valex patted her once again. Then she turned to regard Korath with her grin still firmly in place.

 

If I listened to every order you gave me, I’d never have any time for leisure.

 

The red dragon snorted in his turn. If you listened to me at all, you’d be a better soldier for it.

 

She laughed at him. Are you saying that I’m not a good enough soldier already? The thought was heavy with her amusement, and Korath scowled, in so far as a dragon is capable of scowling.

 

You have skills, little one. There is no denying that. If only you had some discipline.

 

The young monk on Trian’s other side laughed aloud. “No amount of discipline will improve her skill. She’s already clumsy as it is.”

 

Valex rolled her eyes at him. “Says you, Ehran Stonefoot.” It was a nickname she’d discovered for him during their training days when he would trip over every imaginable object in his way.

 

Ehran flushed. It was still a sore spot to him, even though it happened over three years ago. He retorted at once. “Tough talk for someone who barely scraped a passable dive. That barely looked like three hundred meters from the ground.”

 

Now Valex was offended for real. “It was under a hundred! And what would you know? You’ve yet to beat me in a dive. Maybe you’ll trip over the enemy today, and have a proper fall.”

 

Ehran opened his mouth to reply furiously, but Trian held up a hand, the look on his face saying all too plainly that he was losing patience. The two younger riders fell silent at once, Ehran fuming silently, and Valex smirking. Then she followed Trian’s gaze to see what he was looking at, and her smirk faded quickly.

 

Down on the plains below them, a forest stood, a darker blot of green against the smooth landscape. Just emerging from the trees was a body of troops. There looked to be about fifty of them, and more were coming out. Once they were in full view, Trian looked to Valex with his eyebrow raised. She had the sharpest eyes out of all of them.

 

“How many are there Valex? What’s their weaponry looking like?”

 

Valex shook her head, gathering her focus and peering down at the group of armed men thousands of feet below her. At this distance, they looked like specks.

 

Allow me, Kiora’s voice sounded in her head. She opened her mind to Kiora’s influence and felt her senses sharpen. The sound of the wind faded away as she zoned in on their targets down below. It was an ability she had learned just over a year ago when her bond with Kora had reached another level of strength. She could now, with a bit of effort, look at the world around her as if she had her friend’s senses. Her ability to see, smell, and hear all skyrocketed, and reached such a finely honed edge that she could even count blades of grass on the surface below.

 

When she’d first tried this, she’d become nauseous. A dragon saw, smelled, and heard this way for all of its life, but it was a shocking new experience for her. Even as an elf, her senses were nowhere near this sharp. Having everything suddenly magnified had overloaded her senses, and she’d fallen unconscious. Those days were far behind her now. It was still a strain to share senses with Kiora, but she was more accustomed.

 

Her sharpened eyes switched between the figures below with a rapid pace, as she noted their numbers and equipment. She frowned slightly as she spotted two large siege engines that were being dragged behind stocky horses. It seemed that their intel had been on the mark, she thought. She pulled away from her connection to Kiora and turned back to Trian.

 

“Seventy-eight men, including one commander, and four officers.” She began to reel off. She’d noticed the different outfits the five men wore, marking them as a higher rank. One had exceptionally fine armor, which made her think he was the nominal leader of the force. “They have a ballista and a trebuchet. Looks like the trebuchet is rigged to throw nets, not boulders.”

 

Trian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Valex and Ehran could pretty much guess at the thoughts running through his mind. The ballista and trebuchet were serious threats. They could dodge the ballista easily enough if they kept track of where it was, but the net hurler was a different story. If that threw a net, it could easily entangle any one of the dragons and bring it down. He nodded to himself and spoke.

 

“Very well. We’ll go in fast, land in the middle. That should make them less likely to use the siege weapons.” He turned to face Ehran. “Ehran, you dive first and strafe. Give it two passes, no more, then land. That should give us enough time to catch up and engage.”

 

Ehran nodded his understanding. It was a fairly standard method of engagement, one that they’d practiced countless times during training, and later on their missions. He pulled his facemask up to protect his eyes from the wind and the glare from his impending attack as Trian turned back to Valex.

 

“I’ll land before you, Valex. Circle for a bit on Kiora there to draw their fire. Try to get them to fire the siege weapons and give us a bit more time. Once that’s done, land, and support us.”

 

Valex nodded in her turn and pulled her facemask up higher. These face masks were made of thick fabric, and covered every inch of the face except the eyes and mouth. They were matte black and served three main purposes. The primary purpose, used most often by Ehran, was to protect from the glare of a dragon’s breath, and any other non-magical blinding effect. They were also decorated with the insignia of their unit, detailed embroidery of dragon’s fangs, bared to strike. It had a vaguely fiendish look to it. Finally, they protected their identities. When they weren’t on a mission, the members of Valex’s unit tried their best to live normal lives, which would be complicated if they were to be recognized. Only especially famous riders did that. Or glory hogs, Valex thought to herself.

 

Ehran patted his own dragon’s neck and hopped up so that he was crouching on it’s back. “Thirty seconds, Shera!”

 

The silver dragon growled agreement and watched as her rider and friend plummeted down. Despite her teasing, Valex admired his grace as he fell. He kept his arms locked to his side, preventing himself from spinning as he dropped like a rock. When he was about two hundred meters from the ground, his outline glowed red suddenly, and two large silver wings sprouted from his back.

 

When they had started training, there were three different schools for them to choose from. Dragon’s Aspect, the school that Ehran had chosen, had focused on taking on different attributes of a dragon. By the time that Ehran had completed his training, he could sprout wings and breathe fire like a dragon. He could also see like a dragon permanently and was more accustomed to the feeling than Valex was.

 

Trian had chosen the Dragon’s Fury school. It was a combat-heavy class, which taught its students to channel raw draconic power through their bodies. This allowed them to gain hard scales, and strike with massive strength. 

 

Valex meanwhile, had been interested in the Dragon’s Will school. Her training was just as harsh as the others, though it featured very little combat. Pupils of the Dragon’s Will school focused on establishing a deeper connection with their dragon, to infuse their magic capabilities with the power of their dragon companions. Valex could share Kiora’s senses, speak with all the force and charisma of a dragon, and bind herself to Kiora for some fantastic abilities and survivability.

 

Ehran had come within range now, and even from this distance, they heard the dull roar he let loose, as flames erupted from his mouth. He flew down the line of men, spreading his terrible white flames as he passed.

 

“Let’s go, Valex!” Trian shouted, pulling his own mask into place. Both Kiora and Korath dove, pulling their wings in tight, dropping towards the ground like missiles. At the same elevation, just over a hundred meters, both dragons flared out their wings. Kiora darted to the left and began her circling path. Korath glided lower and opened his maw, letting loose a stream of fire that scattered the enemy. This also gave Trian clearance to land, which he did. He leaped off of Korath’s back, rolling to absorb the shock of landing amongst the group of startled and surprised soldiers just as Ehran streaked by, once again breathing destruction onto the ranks.

 

The young monk landed beside Trian and flared his wings out as he roared a challenge. Kiora circled around as Valex pulled a scroll from the saddle pack in front of her. She opened the rolled parchment with a flourish, and a ball of fire appeared in her hands. Below, Trian and Ehran dove at the enemy soldiers. The older warrior swatted the weaker men aside as his young companion darted around, punching and kicking. Ehran was a whirl of limbs and wings as he circled his ally, dealing with any threat that popped up where Trian could not see. Ehran’s sharp eyes missed nothing, and as he dashed back and forth, archers cried out in pain as they tried to fire and were stuck by the monk.

 

The few arrows that did get loosed before Ehran could deal with them skated off the scales that now grew over Trian’s body. Together, the two fighters held their position as the enemy swarmed. Valex noticed a group of mages towards the rear begin to charge a spell, their instincts catching up with the surprise attack. She hurled the fire in her hands at them. Kiora passed by close enough to allow her to heal Trian a bit, but had to pull up sharply as arrows flew dangerously close to her wings. She snapped her teeth at the archers and spat out a fireball, but was moving too quickly to aim accurately. Out of the corner of her eye, Valex saw the ballista swing to face her and fire.

 

Drop Kiora! She screamed in her head, and Kiora pulled her wings in, falling below the three-foot heavy projectile just in time. Valex actually felt the passage as it ripped through the air where they’d been only an instant before.

 

“Skyfiends!” One of the officers shouted as he drew one of his javelins from the tube on his back. It was the term that the armies of Attos had coined, and it was an apt word for how their unit would drop from the sky suddenly, wreak havoc, and disappear before reinforcements could arrive. Valex enjoyed the prestige that came with the nickname, and couldn’t help but feel pride at the reputation created by riders before her.

 

Vines shot from her hand to grapple the officer before he could react further, and with a sudden jerk, she sent him flying to the side for a few feet. She then unleashed a barrage of magical bolts amongst the mass of troops, hearing cries of pain as they struck. She paid for her lapse in concentration then, as a massive net, thrown by the trebuchet, flew out of nowhere and wrapped itself around her and Kiora. One of Kiora’s wings was trapped in the snare, and they crashed to the ground. Kiora slid for about thirty feet, trying desperately to get her feet to prevent herself from rolling and crushing Valex. When they finally came to a rest, Kiora angrily burnt the ropes away and slid off of Kiora’s back.

 

The small army, seeing one of the fierce dragons felled, surged forward for the kill before their enemy could recover. As Kiora was still struggling to her feet, Valex saw a dozen arrows fired at her and her companion and only just managed to summon a transparent shield of energy to deflect the arrows. Then, without warning, there were two yelling warriors in her face, swinging wickedly sharp blades as they pressed in, preventing her from retreating to the sides.

 

Valex ducked under the first blade, hastily drawing the long dagger in her belt, a plain weapon she had almost no experience with, and tried to parry the second strike. Unluckily, the warrior she faced was considerably more experienced and switched to a savage jab at the last second. Valex felt the blade slice into her arm and dimly heard Kiora roar in pain and fury behind her, as their deep connection caused some of the pain to transfer to her friend.

 

Suddenly, the ground between the two warriors and the archers was filled with bright white fire and the bone-chilling savagery of a dragon’s battle roar. Shera had landed at last, smaller than the other dragons, but still wickedly fast and fierce as she darted forward, her talons tearing through the archer’s armor as easily as if it were made of paper. The brief screams from the warriors were silenced as they fell, and the two warriors facing Valex had no more time to try their attack.

 

Kiora had gained her feet at last, and she moved quickly to defend Valex. Her black tail whipped around and slammed into the fighters. Though it lacked the deadly foot-long spikes that covered Korath’s tail, it still struck with brutal force, hard enough to break ribs. The two startled warriors flew to the side, skidding nearly ten feet before sliding to a stop, ominously still.

 

In the absence of Valex’s support and suppressing magic, Trian and Ehran were not faring well. Their aggressive entrance had given them a good foothold, but they were now hardpressed to defend themselves as a combination of blades, arrows, and magic rained down on them from all angles. Trian was breathing hard as he’d taken the brunt of the damage so far, and there were small cracks starting to show in the hard dragon scales that covered him. Ehran for his part had several small cuts, including one that was on his brow, half blinding him as a smooth sheet of blood flowing into his eyes. He swiped at his forehead quickly to try and clear it, but the action gave one of his enemies an opening.

 

Dragons they may have been, but Kiora and Shera were still young and inexperienced in battle. Shera tried to dart to Ehran’s aid but was too late as a spear flashed out, thrust deep into his uncovered ribs. The warrior who had wounded him let out a yell of triumph, an emotion short-lived as Shera’s jaws clamped down on his torso, cutting off all sounds as the dragon’s teeth crushed him. She swung claws and tail, temporarily clearing a space as Ehran fell to his knees, grimacing in pain and trying to staunch the flow of blood with his hands.

 

Valex rushed forward. As she ran, a small cloud of spikes formed in the air around her, surging forth and peppering the small horde as more vines flew out of Valex’s left hand, pulling Ehran to her, out of the range of more blades. Not wasting a second, she summoned more spikes to keep the enemies at bay, slowly dragging the young monk over to Kiora. As she fended off another volley of arrows with a transparent shield again, she became vaguely aware of Kiora shouting a warning in her head.

 

Get down, Valex! Too late, the elven woman looked up from Ehran to see the ballista, which she’d been sure had been disabled, fired another massive bolt, aimed straight for her.

 

The bolt would have struck her if not for Kiora. Just as the machine released the giant projectile, she surged forward to intercept the missile. She reached out with a talon-covered paw, but missed by inches, feeling the three-foot oak shaft, with a sharp metal tip, pierce her shoulder, sinking in nearly entirely. Much like how Kiora had felt Valex’s sword injury, the elf girl now cried out in pain as she felt the pain of the ballista bolt. Her vision blackened slightly, Valex let out a shout of fury, and lightning cascaded from her fingertips. Nearly a dozen tines of raw energy flashed out, splitting in every direction and striking the enemy around her.

 

The bolts of lightning did very little damage but stunned the fighters and mages around him for several seconds, which gave Valex time to toss Ehran onto Kiora’s back and grab one of the stout spikes on her friend’s spine. The black dragon leaped into the air, jumping clear just as Korath strafed over the nearly defeated horde, picking Trian up in his claws. Shera joined them as they rocketed into the sky, the silver dragon looking at Ehran with concern.

 

He’ll be fine. Valex assured her. She cast a quick healing magic, just enough to stop the bleeding. Ehran muttered his thanks, looking more alert. Seeing Shera circling below Kiora, he jumped onto her back, settling himself into the saddle there and crouching low.

 

Valex knew they had one more part to their mission, which must be completed if it were not to be considered a failure. With a sigh of resignation, she directed Kiora to veer back around, and dive towards the army once more, searching amongst the depleted mass of soldiers for their target. She spotted the enemy commander almost at once, and Kiora changed direction slightly, snatching the startled man up in her talons and returning to the sky with lightning speed. The man was unarmed, and let out a shout of shock. 

 

Remembering the trebuchet that had brought Kora down, Valex turned back, pulling arcane energy together with the help of her companion. A glowing red bead appeared in her palm, then shot forward at high speeds. Right as it met the large siege instrument, a massive sphere of fire expanded, shattering the wood limbs of both massive weapons. She felt a surge of satisfaction in the knowledge that their retreat was ensured, and turned to face forward just as Kiora caught up with the others, the enemy commander still struggling pointlessly in her clutches.

They landed at the base of a nearby mountain, where they were protected from view by a small grove of trees. Ehran slid off Shera’s back with a grunt and spread out on the smooth grass. Trian, who landed seconds after on Korath, climbed down as well, his expression exhausted but pleased. He offered a sympathetic smile and clapped Ehran on the shoulder as Kiora landed, at last, dropping the prisoner in her claws the last ten feet to the ground. 

 

The man grunted again as he was dropped carelessly, but recovered quickly and began to scramble to his feet. Unfortunately, he was not as fast as Trian, who took a step forward and held the blade of his sword to the man’s throat, stopping further movement. Valex ignored them for the moment, and focused on removing the heavy wooden bolt from Kiora’s shoulder. The black dragon held perfectly still, holding her breath as the deadly projectile slid out and was tossed to the side. Then Valex, who had winced the entire time in shared pain, cast her most advanced healing spell, not stopping until Kiora’s flesh had been knit together, leaving no sign of the injury except the exhaustion that they both felt.

 

It was a short matter then to fully heal Ehran. Though the spear thrust had looked deadly, the wound was not that bad and had vanished in a matter of seconds. All the same, Ehran still heaved a sigh of relief and gratitude as the wound closed, his breathing becoming much easier. Then the two of them smiled at each other and walked over to where Trian held the enemy commander at bay.

 

Trian had waited patiently for them to join him, knowing that the injuries they’d sustained were more important matters. He nodded silent thanks as Valex tended to the one long shallow cut on his cheek. The scales on his body had absorbed the great majority of the damage though, and he was unharmed apart from the small slash.

 

Their injuries tended to, Trian his two young teammates gathered around their captive, who looked up fearfully at them, unable to see anything but their eyes, as their features were still concealed by the thick linen masks they wore.

“What are Attos’ plans?” Trian snarled, his eyes flashing crimson.

 

“I do not know!” The man cried, his eyes wide and fearful. “I’m just a simple captain, leader of my small battalion! I do not know his plans!”

 

Trian stared down at his victim for several seconds, seeing the truth of the words in the man’s eyes. He snorted in disgust and sheathed his sword. He signaled to the other two to mount up once more, and it wasn’t long before the three dragons were up in the air, carrying their riders back home. The enemy commander watched them leave, keeping his eyes on them until they were no longer visible, until he was sure they were gone.

 

“Skyfiends.” He murmured quietly, as a combination of shock, exhaustion, and battle fatigue caused him to faint.