Bunch, Chris - Dragonmaster 01 by Bunch Chris

Author:Bunch, Chris
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter Seventeen

Black Island, from about five thousand feet, looked exactly like that plaster model in one of the Adventurer's cabins, barring the cloud-scatter below Hal and his three fliers.

Clouds, and the moving dots that were two of the transports, landing soldiers on the horns that enclosed Balfe's harbor.

There seemed to be no other sign of life below them, and then Hal felt a surge of sickness, knew the Roche magicians were casting what spells they could bring up in time.

He scanned the town, saw nothing worth reporting, looked to sea, which was gray, speckled with white.

He motioned to Saslic to stay high on patrol, and pointed to his other three fliers to dive.

They shot down, dragon wings furled, across the northernmost point of

land, saw soldiers, in formation, trotting along a dirt road toward the settlement. Still lower, they saw two bodies sprawled outside a shack, couldn't tell if they were Roche or Deraine.

Hal led his flight in a sweep around the island, saw no sign of alarm.

They flew past a huge seamount, and saw half a dozen full-grown black dragons crouching, watching. Hal shivered at their size—fifty or sixty feet—far larger than the beasts they rode.

He kept his hand near the two crossbows hooked to his dragon's carapace until the wild dragons were out of sight.

They flew over Balfe, saw no dragons with riders trying to get in the air, but smelt the strong reek of the beasts from long roofed pens below.

Running toward the settlement, from the other point, came other Deraine soldiers, as the Adventurer and the other two transports hove toward the settlement's single pier.

The escorting corvettes stayed clear of the bay, watchful for Roche ships.

A handful of Roche soldiers ran out of a guardhouse, and either died or surrendered to Cantabri's soldiery.

The second flight of dragons came off the Adventurer, landed near the barracks to wait their turn in the sky.

Hal saw Garadice and his specialists disembark from the Adventurer.

The other transports unloaded bulky stretchers and small carts. Soldiers were detailed by Sir Bab's warrants to assist Garadice.

Then the craziness began, as dragons were taken out from their pens, and chivvied, coaxed or carried to the transports. Hal, swooping overhead, trying not to fall off in his laughter, counted more than fifty dragons of various ages, saw them snapping, trying to claw, and tail-lashing, heard shouts of pain, and squeals of rage from below. The soldiers trying to help Garadice may have been deadly warriors, but as dragon handlers they were bumblers.

Farren flew close.

"Glad to be out of that!" he called.

"Aye," Hal shouted, pointed up. "Relieve Saslic. It's cold up there."

"Bastard," Farren called amiably, and took his dragon upstairs.

The dragons went up the gangplanks on to the transports reluctantly, but they went.

Saslic's dragon flapped down alongside Hal.

"Nothing here?"

"Nothing," Hal shouted back. "No dragons anywhere but on the ground."

"Can't believe… Roche sloppy…" Saslic said, words torn by a gust of wind. But Hal understood.

He swept back and forth over Balfe, then it was his turn to freeze.

Hal kicked his dragon in the ribs, pulled on the reins.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.