Free Firestorm by Mark Robson Page B

been cut. No dragon could do such a thing. This was the work of a human accomplice.
    ‘This way,’ Kasau said softly. ‘Be ready. There’s another dragon nearby.’
    ‘How—?’ Tembo began.
    Husam signalled his friend to silence and they moved to follow Kasau. From behind them a sudden flare of light blazed, dividing into slices of golden fire through the trees. An instant later
there followed cries of pain and dismay from their fellow hunters. Husam and Tembo instinctively turned. By chance, they were both in the shade of trees as they looked towards the light. Had the
tree trunks not shielded them, they would have been temporarily blinded. When Husam checked to see if Kasau had been less fortunate, he was amazed to find that the strange man had not stopped. The
quiet hunter had kept his focus ahead and was still moving forwards.
    ‘Just inhuman!’ he marvelled as he and Tembo did their best to catch up with Kasau’s silent charge through the trees.
    They reached the edge of the woods and for a moment Husam thought he was witnessing some sort of powerful witchcraft. The young dragonrider was floating in midair behind a girl of similar age.
Beneath them the air shimmered like a heat-haze as they accelerated away from the stand of trees.
    Kasau did not pause. He ran forwards and launched his spear in a mighty throw towards the escaping prisoner and his rescuer. It arced high into the air, almost seeming to hang in the sky before
slowly dipping point downwards and plummeting towards its target.
    The spear missed the two human figures, but struck the hazy blur beneath and behind them. A mighty roar of pain split the air and a charcoal-grey dragon materialised from the haze. The spear was
stuck firmly in its flank. The two riders turned and looked down at the spear. Even at this range, Husam could see the horror on their faces. It was not a mortal wound, but the spear had penetrated
deep through the dragon’s scales.
    They were airborne and climbing now, well beyond spear range. Kasau turned and made eye contact first with Husam, and then with Tembo.
    ‘Why are you still holding spears?’ he asked, his soft voice dangerous and his strange eyes flashing with anger. ‘We could have brought that dragon down there and then.
Don’t you want to be rich? The stakes just increased. Instead of one rare dragon, we’re now hunting two.’
    ‘But the dusk dragon has a rider . . .’
    ‘As does the dawn dragon. Did that stop us? Are you blind? The dusk dragon’s rider is also very young. The dusk dragon enclave is thousands of leagues away. What are the odds that
she’s already been there and back? Virtually nil. That means both riders are unknown to their enclaves. The risks involved in hunting two dragons are little greater than in hunting one. What
were you thinking of?’
    Neither Husam nor Tembo answered, but both had similar thoughts. Yes, the stakes were greater, but so was their unease with Kasau’s leadership. He was hiding something. How had he known of
the second dragon? Was he a shaman or a wizard? What was his secret?
    Is it too late to pull out? Husam wondered to himself. But they had restrained the young dragon-rider with a view to killing his dragon. That alone was a capital offence. Now Kasau had wounded a
second dragon that had a rider. They were committed. It would be best to make the kills quickly and move on before anyone discovered the truth.
    The dusk dragon turned and flew back towards them, meeting up with the dawn dragon overhead, way up out of reach of any weapon.
    ‘Go and gather the others,’ Kasau ordered, his eyes following the path of the two dragons. ‘We need to break camp quickly. They’re heading north. There’s nothing in
that direction but open savannah. The dusk dragon won’t fly far with that wound. If we ride hard, we can end this tonight.’
    Fang’s roar of pain and his loss of camouflage sent fear deep into Elian’s heart. When he looked back and saw the