Free 6.0 - Raptor by Lindsay Buroker Page B

far? Ridge’s head swiveled, scanning the horizons. The clouds limited visibility.
    Forty miles , Jaxi said. I can sense him now.
    Which direction? Ridge must have also heard her comment. Maybe we can avoid him.
    He’s to the east. Which way are we going?
    East.
    Ah.
    Will he be looking for us for any reason? Ridge asked. Or will he see us as insignificant?
    He won’t see me as insignificant. Jaxi sniffed.
    Sardelle? Ridge asked, apparently wanting a second opinion.
    I’m not sure , Sardelle said. He’ll definitely sense that we have a soulblade, and he may be able to tell that Tylie and I have dragon blood, at least when he gets close. He may also be attracted to her.
    What? Why?
    I’m not sure exactly, other than it would have to do with her gift, but he spoke to her earlier, when he came for Phelistoth. Tylie said he wanted her to come with him.
    Wonderful. Well, let’s do our best to avoid him. If we can get to the crystal mines first, we’ll at least have artillery weapons to shoot at him. I don’t have a lot of faith that bullets will damage a dragon, but maybe cannonballs.
    Sardelle didn’t have faith that either weapon would bother Morishtomaric, but she kept the thought to herself. If they had to face him, she also would prefer to do it with the assistance of a couple hundred soldiers and their weapons. If nothing else, cannonballs might distract the dragon so that she and Jaxi could come up with something else.
    Like what? Jaxi asked.
    I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
    “Duck,” Ridge said over the crystal. “Drop down in elevation. We may have a dragon up ahead. We’re going to hug the ground and hope the contours of the land keep us out of sight as much as possible.”
    “I thought the other team was supposed to be hunting the dragon,” Duck said.
    “It is. Little did they know they should have stayed with us. That reminds me…” Ridge switched to broadcast mode with the crystal as the flier dipped in elevation. They were passing the last of the cleared farmland and would be cruising over a forest of deciduous trees. “General Zirkander to base. Lieutenant Salvant, are you still in range?”
    From the back seat, with the wind whipping past and the propeller buzzing, Sardelle always had to listen closely to hear the responses over the crystals, but this time, the response was so broken up that she could barely make it out. Someone had responded to Ridge, but only every third word came out, and they were softer than usual.
    “Can you repeat that, L.T.?” Ridge asked.
    Even fewer of the words came through.
    “Sardelle?” Ridge called back. “Is that because we’re at the edge of the range, or is something else going on? I haven’t heard the crystals do that before.”
    Sardelle hadn’t, either, and even though she had designed them, she wasn’t positive what was going on.
    I think the dragon is getting closer to us and that his aura might be strong enough to affect lesser magic , Jaxi suggested.
    Jaxi thinks it might be something to do with the dragon , Sardelle told Ridge, but I don’t remember having trouble before when Phelistoth was nearby, so I’m not sure. It is true that Morishtomaric is more powerful and might exude even more of a magical field of energy. But we’re just guessing.
    All right. Thanks. “To Lieutenant Salvant or whomever might hear me,” Ridge said, “Wolf Squadron has encountered the gold dragon between Prinvale and Triumph Mountain. Please relay this message to the king’s airship team.” The king said something about setting up Tolemek with a lab on that airship , Ridge added silently. I hope he’s busy creating dragon-destroying potions.
    So do I. Sardelle did not know whether Tolemek could come up with something that would be useful against a dragon, but if anyone could, he could.
    She lifted her gaze toward the sky ahead of them. A faint pressure was building in her head, the same type of pressure she had experienced when they had first come