Dragon Temple 3 - Forged by Fire by Cross Janine

Author:Cross, Janine [Cross, Janine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0451461282
Amazon: B001G8WRMO
Publisher: Roc Trade
Published: 2007-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN 123

In the gloom of twilight, the dragonmaster and I flew over the jungle. A fast, fine rain was falling, the kind of spitting shower that soon escalates into the pelting torrents of a squall. Far below us, foliage looked indistinct in the gloam ing, as if frond and vine were made of beads of water that were blending with the rain and twilight.

We flew steadily, and as inky darkness enfolded us, we left behind the loamy, crushed-leaf smell of jungle below. Gradually the smells of savanna began wafting up to us through the pitch-black: the scent of parched soil, of sunbleached grass, of termite hills and heat-cracked stone and the expansive smell of endless rolling miles. And, too, we left rainfall behind. On the plains, wind and black, depleted clouds taunted the dry land below. No thunder rumbled. No stars were visible through the mantle of cloud.

The flight seemed both long and condensed, like a enor mous snake curled tightly around itself. Every nerve in my body thrummed; we had to get to the myazedo before they attacked. The escoas weren’t making progress; we were suspended in darkness, held motionless in ebon wind. My hands locked tight around the wooden rungs of the saddle and I ground my molars anxiously.

Then ahead of us, in the black: a splotch of gray bobbing in the darkness. Xxamer Zu’s temple domes.

“The Clutch!” I cried.

“I’m not blind,” the dragonmaster growled against my ear. We were both astride Toadhunter, with Warthog teth ered behind. Neither of us would risk having me ride Wart hog alone, in case she broke free of her tether and flew straight on to the byre.

Moments later we landed on a grassy hill, several miles from the Clutch. The myazedo was gathered on the lee of the hill, dark shapes lying upon dry grass, blending with crushed weeds, poised to slip over the hill and lope across the prairie miles to the Clutch that was visible as a patch work of various blacks in the near distance. Xxamer Zu’s temple domes leered in the dark.

The escoas were with the myazedo, four shadows of musky animal bulk that snorted and clawed the earth with impatience. In the darkness, their folded and bolted wings looked like great spiked parasites quivering on their backs.

I slid from Toadhunter’s back as a small body came hur tling toward me, legs pumping.

My heart constricted painfully as I scooped Savga up and held her close. She smelled good, like trust and small, grubby hands. I wanted to hold her forever . . . but I put her down. I had no time to spare.

“Where’s your mother, Savga? I have to speak with her now. It’s very, very important.”

She turned and gestured; Tansan was walking toward us, all dusky curves accented by the spear she held. She came to a stop several feet away from me, calm, balanced, the straight, strong flare of her shoulders squared perfectly with her hips. The gruesome scar that ran along her chin glistened in the dark.

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