Firestorm by Mark Robson

Author:Mark Robson [Robson, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471116575
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Chapter Fourteen

The Fight

Tying Nolita onto Elian’s saddle was no easy task. The poor girl had spent a most uncomfortable night, much as Elian had in the dragonhunters’ camp. She came to as they were tying her up and struggled fiercely until Kira quieted her by threatening her with a knife. They did not make Nolita’s bonds quite as painfully tight as Elian’s had been, but they took every precaution to stop her escaping.

As soon as she realised what Elian and Kira intended to do, and despite having her hands tied behind her back, she fought like a wildcat – kicking, biting and spitting the entire time. It was only Ra’s intervention that made it possible to get her into the saddle. Twisting her head around on her long neck, Ra gave Nolita a close-up view of her impressive rows of teeth. Two heartbeats later she had passed out again.

‘Thanks, Ra,’ Elian grunted gratefully, heaving the girl’s limp body up and into position.

‘You’re going to have to hurry, Elian. We don’t have a lot of time until dawn. We only have a very narrow window of opportunity.’

‘I know, I know! Kira, give me a hand here, please? Ra’s chivvying me up, but I can’t do this on my own. Here – I’ll hold her and you tie her in position.’

Kira did the best she could. The result was not very elegant, but Elian doubted he could have done any better. Kira looked at her handiwork and shook her head.

‘You’re going to have trouble if she starts to panic,’ she said doubtfully. ‘Are you going to be all right with her like this?’

‘I don’t exactly have a lot of choice, do I? It’s almost dawn. Ra tells me there’s no time for my softly softly approach. We’ve got to go, so let’s get it over with.’

‘Good luck,’ she said simply.

Elian watched her as she made her way across to Fang and climbed up onto his back. Kira was still an enigma to him. Her parting words had sounded as genuine as any he had heard her say since they had met, but he still felt she had little regard for his opinion or his abilities. What would it take for him to gain her respect?

Nolita stirred in front of him. Elian put his arms around her and pulled her into a sitting position. Aurora’s leaping run forwards snapped Nolita awake in an instant. Her first reaction was to scream and struggle to break Elian’s hold.

‘Don’t be a fool!’ he yelled in her ear as Ra continued to accelerate. ‘If you fall, you’ll spend the flight dangling upside down. You’re tied on. I’m not. If I feel us slipping, I’m going to let you fall so I can hold on. Is that what you want?’

Nolita tensed in his arms. She stopped writhing, but continued to scream. Every fibre of her body felt taut to breaking point as they launched into the air. He did not have to hear the terror in her screams to feel her panic and fear.

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