The hedgerow was lifted with cloaks and steel,two dozen crossbows aimed at us and the rider with the token lowered his hand.
Alma's voice hit hard in my head with a Call him now.
"I don't know how."
"Push the mark,do it now or we all die."
The first volley snapped and Rhea stepped in front of me and knocked two bolts aside. Vesper's rings cracked and scattered grit and Selendra's tail smacked one bolt into the dirt. One bolt hit the hedge behind us and stuck with one slicing my arm.
Rhea didn't look back. "Eiji."
I grabbed the charm with both hands and pushed it. I remembered the dragon's eyes,the heat that didn't burn me,the way the ground shook when it landed and I forced all of it into the mark.
White fire ran up through me and shot into the sky and the clouds split. The field shook and orses screamed,men shouted and scrambled.
Wings tore down through the gap and the White Fire Dragon dropped like a hammer into the field beyond the hedge. Dirt rose and grass flattened,its throat glowed and its eyes locked on me.
"Anchor it", Alma said. "If you don't anchor, it leaves you."
I held the charm up with shaking hands and the dragon lowered its head until the heat filled my face and eyes and It waited.
"Mine," it said.
"Yours," Alma said. "Say it."
"My dragon," I said.
The charm flared and the dragon roared. Fire poured across the hedgerow and turned it to black. Men fell and bolts fell loose from strings,horses spun and broke loose.
"Move!" Rhea shouted.
We jumped the ditch and ran. Vesper tossed a ring behind us and it burst into dust. Selendra yanked me forward by the sleeve and Wind hit from the dragon's wings and It sent the men tumbling.
Kirin stepped through smoke like he had expected all of this. His cloak burned at the edge and he tore it free without looking,his sword pointed at me. "Take the host alive!"
The dragon slammed down between us and the line chasing from the rear. Fire cut the field, a solid wall but Kirin didn't flinch. He kept coming at an angle, fast and calm.
We hit the nearest fence, shoved through it, and sprinted for the tree line. The dragon leaped again and beat its wings. The wind threw the men to the ground again and their torches died.
Rhea didn't stop. "Under the trees,go."
We reached the shade and the field behind us burned in strips. Bolts still flew and one dug into the tree trunk next to my head,one took my sleeve but I kept moving.
We cut between oaks and slid down into a shallow run of water and Rhea waved us into the stream. "Get in,fast."
The cold bit through my boots as we ran in the water to hide scent. The dragon roared above, then moved off to the north,the sound faded and came back again as it circled.
We left the stream at a bend and pushed through thorn. The thorns tore at pants and sleeves. Rhea pulled us into a low hollow under roots and we crouched there, catching breath.
"Count," Rhea said. "Vesper?"
"i'm fine."
"Selendra?"
"Hungry."
"Eiji?"
"I'm here."
"Alma?" Rhea asked, eyes on the charm.
I touched it,it was hot and then cold. No voice,no joke,no hum I could feel with thoughts.
[Alma — HIBERNATE | 19% integrity]
My stomach dropped. "She fell again."
Vesper wiped grit from her cheek. "We use the time she bought. We keep moving."
Rhea nodded. "right,let's go south cut, leave no trail."
We left the hollow and moved low. We kept trunks between us and the burning field. We crossed a dry ditch and climbed a bank and the dragon roared again. The sound pushed through my ribs but I didn't look back.
At the top of the bank, Rhea stopped and pointed. A narrow farm lane ran east to west,there were cart tracks,old hedge on both sides.
"we go east,then south along the next line," she said.
We went east at a jog. My arm bled down my wrist and into my palm. Vesper handed me a strip of cloth without looking and I wrapped it tight.
The lane bent and a small stone bridge crossed a shallow cut. Rhea pulled us under the arch and made us wait in the shadow as a patrol ran past above. Ten men,two dogs,one handler but they didn't look down.
We moved again and the lane fed into a larger track. The track cut into an orchard,the trees were bare and the branches looked like hooks. Rhea stopped us in the middle and listened, we all listened but we heard only wind and distant shouting.
"Through here," she said.
We threaded the rows,alfway across, a horn blew close. Another answered ahead and soldiers stepped out at the far end of the orchard,four,then six with crossbows up.
"Back," Rhea said.
We turned and ran for the low stone wall at the near end,more soldiers came through a gap,four more,then eight and we were boxed.
Selendra grabbed my chin and turned my face. "Do not freeze."
Rhea pointed left,there was a small gap in the wall. "There!"
We sprinted as the crossbows fired. A bolt took Vesper's shoulder,she grunted and kept moving. Rhea hit the gap first and slipped through sideways. I went next and the stone scraped my ribs,Selendra slid, tail tucked tight and Vesper shoved hard and forced through. A bolt cracked on the wall above her back.
We fell into a cattle run and scrambled up fast and Rhea cut a rope and a gate swung open. We dropped down a slope into a low pasture with a wet ditch. We slid and tumbled and then ran again.
"Eiji," Rhea said without looking back. "Your signal…can you kill it?"
"I don't know."
"Try it."
I pressed my palm to the charm and tried to pull the line down. The HUD flickered and the word ACTIVE stayed. I pushed harder and it twitched and held still.
"I can't," I said.
"Then keep it steady," she said. "No spikes."
We crossed the pasture and slid through a gap in another hedge. A small granary sat ahead, raised on stones. Rhea waved us under it and we crawled into the dark space, pressed flat against dry earth and webs.
Boots moved along the road behind us. Men shouted and dogs pulled. The wind turned and brought our scent back toward them and one hound whined and pulled more.
"this is not good," Vesper whispered.
Selendra's tail tapped twice. "I can pull one dog off."
"How," Rhea said.
Selendra slid her palm across the dirt. The scent changed in the space around us. It went from dust and mice to blood and heat. The nearest hound stopped and yanked at its leash toward the empty field to our left. The handler swore and followed and two men went with him.
"you should do that again," Rhea said.
Selendra did it again and the second hound pulled the other way and two more men followed…the patrol split in two directions.
Rhea breathed slow. "We should move now while they are dumb."