Page 56 of Crown and Dragon

“Damn all-powerful artifacts. Always ruining our day,” Tahlia said, the wind snatching at her words.

Marius slid a bit because Ragewing wore no saddle. He still had part of his reins on—a leather strap that reached across his back and joined under his front legs. Marius grabbed hold of thestrap. Flying higher, Ragewing left the cover of the buildings and rushed toward Durniad.

And straight toward the ballista.

Tahlia laced her arms more tightly around Marius’s waist. “I hope they take another ten minutes to reload that evil contraption.”

Men were pulling at the ballista’s twisted ropes while Durniad commanded them to hurry.

“Hold on to his spikes now, Lady Tahlia,” Marius said, allowing his training to kick in and drive his worry away. He became the cold warrior, the Shadow of the Shrouded Mountains. “You’re not struggling against the crown’s power, are you? I don’t want you leaping from Ragewing’s back when I least expect it.”

“I’ve conquered it. I can feel its influence, but I can fight it pretty easily now.”

“I love knowing that.”

He edged his way down Ragewing’s side, keeping one hand on the strap and dropping his other arm low to ready himself.

“You’re going to lift it right off his head?” Tahlia asked, laughter in her voice.

Gods, she was fearless sometimes. “Aye.” He longed to ask Ragewing to lift the man and drop him from the clouds, but killing Durniad wasn’t part of the mission unfortunately and they’d already broken enough of the rules to get themselves into a load of trouble.

Ragewing flew low. The men tipped the ballista and readied to fire. Durniad’s face purpled as he shouted to his men.

A wicked grin tugged at Marius’s lips. He leaned low on Ragewing’s side, then swiped the crown.

“Be glad I let you keep your head, Durniad!” he shouted.

Ragewing sped sharply toward the open sky, climbing so quickly that Marius’s breath caught. The twang of the ballista sounded.

Ragewing shrieked. The scent of dragon’s blood filled Marius’s nose and they began to tumble downward.

I lost her!Ragewing shouted into Marius’s mind.

The city’s structures sped closer and closer.

What?Marius whirled and his body went rigid.

Tahlia had disappeared. Blood flowed from Ragewing’s tail.

Chapter 27

Tahlia

Tahlia slipped through the sky end over end. Her view of Ragewing and Marius blurred, but the blood flecking out from the top side of Ragewing’s tail was unmistakable. The bolt wasn’t visible, but it had surely been the cause.

She hit the water hard. Cold enveloped her, but she couldn’t be mad. At least it was water instead of cobblestone or one of Bodwin Bridge’s spikey torch posts. Lungs burning, she swam toward the surface. She broke through at last, gasped, and looked up to check on Ragewing and Marius. They were no longer tumbling, and they had flown toward the city gates.

“Get her,” Durniad commanded from the bank side.

His guards did as ordered, splashing into the drink after her, but the people of Midhampton were less than thrilled with the day’s events.

The crowd shouted at Durniad.

“You tricked us!”

“We won’t be shoved about with dark magic!”

Some were simply confused.