Page 8 of Red Marked

Kill!

Two of the she-dragons fly back down the ravine to our camp. The rest fly toward the action.

We are all needed.

This is a Code Red.

The Draig females will join Koa in the caves, where they will be guarded. I don’t have to worry about them. I need to concentrate on the threat.

Code fucking Red!

We make for the ravine as fast as our wings will take us. It’s the only way to access this part of the mountain because going over isn’t an option. The peaks are so high, it’d take days in frigid cold to fly over them. In other words, it would be a death sentence for most. Those who made it would be in such a bad state that we’d finish them quickly. We’re lucky we quickly figured out how to make these mountains work for us, or we’d all be dead by now.

Feral males who wander this far always come the same way, funneled down that stone corridor straight into our ambush just beyond the bend. It’s why we’ve held this ground for years. It’s why every male who’s tried the pass has died for the attempt.

We take up position. Some of my females remain airborne behind the crags, wings tucked as tightly as possible while still gently flapping. Others drop onto ledges, bellies flat to the stone. Every eye in the ravine is trained on the bend below.

We hold like that for what feels like forever. Minutes crawl by, long enough that my lungs start to ache from breathing shallow.

There’s sweet nothing.

I feel more on edge and slightly better all at once.

A female on the opposite side of me grows restless; rocks clatter as she scratches on the ledge. I growl, and she stills.

We wait, and we wait some more.

I let the silence stretch a while longer before I give the call, one low rumble that carries down the line.

We need to head back.

Thankfully they didn’t give chase.

I heave a snort, taking to the sky. A handful of the group remain to keep watch from the high points. The rest of us turn back toward the camp.

The flight back doesn’t take long.

Our little settlement is nothing much to look at from the air: wood and brush with pieces of hide strung between the trees, everything built by hand.

We land and shift. One of the younger females stays in scale and flies off toward the caves, a low call rolling out of her throat to tell the ones hiding that it’s safe to come out.

“What happened? I take it that it was more than one. You sounded the worst alarm we have.” I turn to Scarlet, my second, before I’ve even caught my breath. “What did you see?”

“There were three dragons.” She’s also breathing hard.

“What?” I frown. “Together?”

She nods. “That’s not the worst of it.”

“We fled, but I hid and watched at the bend, and more came. There were two dozen, at least.”

“Shit!” My eyes widen in horror.

She pushes hair back from her face, which is pink from exertion. “They started to give chase and then stopped.”

“Thank scale.”

“I know. I thought they might be planning their next move, and so I called a Code Red, and we moved into position. You know the rest. They didn’t come after us.” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t make sense.” She frowns.