The Order of Dragonfire

Chapter 28

With a thud the two of them hit the ground and the Soul rolled aside.

"You fool, I nearly had i-" Lucian gasped, trying to climb to his feet

"No, you nearly got yourself killed, you idiot!" She snapped and slapped herself down to make sure the dragon's fire hadn't caught, prompting Lucian to do the same. Considering his ungrateful outburst she wasn't particularly sorry that he had the harder task thanks to his ornate robes rather than her sensibly designed armour.

The dragon screeched again as flames continued to fly towards it from the mages. Strong gusts of wind knocked the group backwards as the dragon starting to beat its wings, rising slowly into the air.

"It's getting away! Stop it!" Booker shouted. Yet more fire and bolts flew towards it, most narrowly missing with a small few finding their target, but despite their best efforts it was of no use. They could only watch helplessly as the beast disappeared into the skies, getting smaller each second as it rapidly escaped their fiery wrath.

Alex stood solemnly for a moment. She sighed and tried to come to terms with the extent of their failure. A dragon had been unleashed on the world again. The consequences could be unimaginable. Would the Edge still protect the civilised world from it? She could only hope so, but the Order would be prepared to take it on if it did appear. They had been remarkably unfortunate; a single dragon shouldn't have been a difficult foe, but they were caught unaware. Dragons hadn't been seen for centuries after all. She took some comfort in the fact that if it were to attack Serpensbane, or any city for that matter, they would be able to fend it off. Serpensbane itself was one of the cities built to repel dragons from the empire, after all.

"Ava?" Alex called out. Ava would know what to do now. She looked around to see if anyone was injured. Everyone seemed all right, but there was no sign of the commanding soldier. It was only now that Alex noticed the full extent of the damage the dragon had caused. Trees and shrubbery all around her were ablaze, and only a few silhouettes could been seen through the smoke and fire. Lucian stood beside her, but he was the only person she could make out in any great detail.

"Ava!" She called again. To her right one of the figures came closer, walking a small distance from the flames. A few seconds later a few others appeared behind, following the leader towards them.

"Alex? Lucian?" The figure called out. "Thank the gods, I saw the beast target you and feared the worst. We need to regroup and get out of here as quickly as we can. The Council must be warned immediately." Booker told them.

"Is Ava with you?" Alex squinted at the blurry figures approaching them.

"...No. Most of us were able to stay together. It is only the three of you we were searching for."

Panic gripped Alex again after her brief respite. Ava was a skilled and powerful soldier, surely nothing had happened to her.

"She's probably just been cut off by the fire." Alex said, more to herself than anyone else. "We'll find her soon enough."

"Of course." Booker nodded. "Alex, Lucian, assist me in searching for her.The rest of you, gather the horses and make your way to a safe distance. Wait for our return, we should not take long to find her."

The three mages edged around the growing inferno as close as they dared to go. Their armour afforded them some protection but it didn't make them invulnerable. The same would apply to Ava. 

"Ava, can you hear us? Where are you?" Alex called out again after a short while searching. There was still no response, but the roaring blaze would be covering up any shouts anyway.