Dragon's Awakening (Heir of Dragons: Book 1) by Sean Fletcher

Author:Sean Fletcher [Fletcher, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The ravens. Dozens of them, hundreds of them, like a black tornado, tore through the Slag Heap, sending everyone into a panic. Tables toppled as patrons ran screaming from the onslaught of claws and beaks.

Kaylee watched in horror as a small flock of them swooped on some fleeing partygoers and pecked at their heads while they frantically tried to ward them off. Josh had shifted back and was looking at the chaos in confusion.

“What the heck is happenin—Eek!”

Kaylee tackled him just before two dozen ravens tried to spear him with their beaks. The birds circled around to come back. Kaylee whirled, summoning her draining reserves of magic. It sputtered, once, twice. The birds swarmed ever closer. She could see those glinting beaks; imagine them tearing into her flesh.

“Hurry up!” Josh said frantically.

“You could help, you know!” Kaylee snapped. But she waved her hand again and the magic obeyed. Ice shot forward and froze the birds in front, sending them hurtling to the floor where they shattered, scattering…

“Are those…gears?” Kaylee said.

“Head down, Kaylee!”

Jade leapt to defend her, brandishing a table leg like it was Excalibur. She swung wide and another three ravens went down with a mechanical crunch and a fizz of sparks.

“Stymphalian birds,” Jade growled, crouching beside Kaylee and Josh. “Those Slayers are such cowards they couldn’t even send their own men to do their dirty work.”

“Slayers?” Josh said. “There are Slayers here?”

“They’re probably not here in person,” Jade said. “They just wanted to scare us. Flush us out and shake us up.”

“Well it’s working,” Kaylee said. By now most of the warehouse had cleared. Damian was giving orders to a couple people still left on the catwalk before hopping down the stairs as a flock of birds chased him. He saw them.

“Everybody get out. That means you three. I don’t want to come back inside to find corpses I have to clean up!”

Most of the ravens had flown outside to pursue the rest of the partygoers. Faint cries of alarm and the occasional scream drifted through the windows, sending shivers down Kaylee’s back. She really, really hoped no one was getting seriously injured. Or worse. A small flock of birds still hovered overhead. Their piercing orange eyes—electronic eyes, Kaylee now knew—waited for any sign of movement to zero in on.

“It’s cool,” Jade said. “We’ll be fine.”

She gripped Kaylee’s arm, waiting for a break in the flock.

“On my mark,” Jade said.

“You aren’t serious?” Josh said. “Let’s just wait here until they’re gone!”

“Now!” Jade said. She and Kaylee broke away from their hiding spot a second before Josh cursed and followed.

Kaylee felt the air shift at her back, like the sights of a hundred killer mechanical birds locking on target. The hinge-creak sound of dozens of wings followed soon after. Kaylee kept her focus only on the door ahead, knowing that if they could just get through that they’d be fine.

Twenty feet. Ten. The press of razor claws on her neck—

“Jump!” Jade said. She leapt through the narrow opening, Kaylee right behind.

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