Warfire | Broken Time Series: Book Two

Chapter 28

It took a bit of shuffling to get all dragons in an optimal position. Kint and Bizo, the larger dragons, sat at the back corners while Ravi and Gossamer, the smaller ones, sat at the front. Ivisian, the strongest out of the dragons, guarded the door. A shimmering barrier stood between them and the barn, and the same sheen wrapped around their bodies as they stood like statues. When dragons stood to protect their "hoard," their barrier was near-impenetrable as long as they stayed there.

The teens were instructed to stay within the barrier along with the supplies, but that was including the prince and Blaine.

"We need to look for them."

Gath looked Carthadeus straight in the eyes as he said that. It wasn't common for the older boy to be so serious. He was fine with staying in the background, letting the only other sixteen-year-old and someone two years younger than him take the lead, but at that moment, he was not taking a no.

"We were told to stay here," Carthadeus said back, but it was as if he was trying to convince himself to do it.

"I-I-It-t w—on't-t-t b-be l—long," Aitor offered, stepping between the older teens as a way to keep the peace.

Carthadeus let out a deep sigh. "Ok. But we only look at the outskirts and don't step foot into town. If they are in town, someone would've brought them here by now."

"Y-You d-d-d-don't th—ink-k they're—re dead-d-d, r—ight?"

"I...don't know." Carthadeus motioned for them to move. "But let's move. Best case scenario, they're hiding somewhere outside the village."

Nagan took the lead as they made their way along the outskirts, weaving between homes and fields. If they heard someone nearby, Nagan would scout ahead to look for the best route before giving the others the ok to follow.

They were losing hope fast as they neared the forest where they had been not even an hour earlier. Nearly all the way around the village, and there were no signs of the prince and his attendant. Nagan almost motioned for the squadron to head further into the village, not wanting to be caught near the field for too long, but Az suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Do you hear that?"

The teens stood and listened, at first hearing nothing more than shouts and the sounds of a fight progressing in the sky, but above the din floated the sound of a faint, child's cry.

"L-Left!"

With less grace and stealth than before, they all bolted in the direction of the cries. All protocols were abandoned when they saw the scene before them.

Three raiders hurled strike after strike at a dome barrier. The barrier cracked and groaned under the pressure, and inside sat Blaine, one arm clutching Georgivus to his chest while his other hand clenched around a black figurine, whispering prayers to the gods. Georgivus howled at the bright flashes around him.

"Sor!"

"Drae vak!"

The chime of a bell and a rich red light arched in the air before hitting one of the raiders in the chest. A second spell and a dark green strike hit another. Nagan winced as the two raiders broke out of the spell due to impact, but he pushed on as the teens quickly got into a formation.

Equal feet away, Gath, Az, and Aitor crouched low as a wider, stronger dome barrier surrounded them. Carthadeus and Nagan stood near back to back with only Blaine and Georgivus between them. After the third raider was knocked away after taking a vine to the face, Nagan released the time spell completely.

They were quick to realize that the raiders before them knew very few spells, almost exclusively limited to strikes and shields. But they were powerful ones. Effective and unknown. If it weren't for three Dragonmages on a single barrier, their shield would've been shattered in an instant. Whatever magic crystal Blaine had activated to protect him and the prince, it was a strong one.