Wild Rider (Dragon Castaway Book 1) [Complete] {2018 Wattys Longlist}

Chapter 27

Jake's ears perked up as he felt his dragons become more alert, he instinctively knew that his new friends were nearby. As if to confirm his suspicions he felt his arm tingle and rolled up his sleeves to see the tattoos glowing brightly even at the height of the day.

"Probably trying for an ambush and there's no shortage of places around here" he thought warily glancing to the ground below. They had chosen their site well, as he'd moved further south the terrain had become more like southern Italy. A large number of caves and alcoves peppered the rocky terrain below, if he hadn't had some unknown advantages, they would've have had him dead to rights.

Not that they might not have him anyway. He looked at the sky then the ground beneath him again, but there were too many blind spots for him to be certain where they were hiding. He knew his dragons were much bigger and more powerful than the competition, but they still badly outnumbered him, especially if they'd called for backup and the element of surprise was always an equalizer in any situation.

"Maybe it's time to try some old-world fighter tactics and see what they make of it" he thought as his eyes continued to sweep over the ground beneath him. Until he knew exactly where  his pursuers were he wanted to put some distance between himself and the potential ambush sites below. He increased his altitude slightly and kept on the lookout for potential problems.

Settling into a defensive formation, he and Valkyrie took the lead with Ragnarok flanking them closely.

He froze as he caught a glimpse of movement below. It might be them, but he couldn't be certain that he wasn't just jumping at shadows.

Suddenly an idea occurred to him, if he and the twins were indeed linked together, then maybe he could see what the dragons saw. Reaching through the link, he gingerly tried to plug himself into Valkyrie's senses. He mentally tried to hold on to his sense of self as his consciousness began to rapidly expand, melding with the dragon's own before he abruptly pulled out, unwilling to risk going further. It had been brief, but he'd seen them clear as day before he felt the the sensations rapidly fade away. Two of his pursuers were in an alcove just ahead with two more further down the canyon. No one else appeared to be present and he relaxed as he realized that the group chasing him hadn't yet gone for reinforcements.

Playing stupid, he moved closer to canyon while staying on course, hoping that he could be close enough to spring their trap, while being far enough away to maneuver out when they emerged.

"Just a little closer" he thought willing the dragons to hold their formation and keep steady in the face of an obvious threat. "We need to draw them out of their hidey holes.

As if on cue two dragons shot from beneath him just as two more emerged from ahead. They formed up to block him but Jake was ready. He dove underneath them, plunging into the canyon.

Flattening himself against Valkyrie's back the twins furled their wings as they shot through the narrow gap and reemerged on the other side. Pulling up he came out behind the group and began to speed away.

"If you think I'm just gonna cut and run this time you're out of your mind." Jake thought as he decreased his speed, hoping that they would continue to come after him. As expected the group came about, formed into a wedge, and began to pursue him.

"What kind of flying do they teach at this academy? It's like they never trained in aerial maneuvers at all" Jake said incredulously, but he suspected that he already knew the answer. If he considered the fact that they were Knights with a code of chivalry like in Earth's past, and the only exposure to aviation the locals had were the dragons themselves. Then it was highly likely that the locals thought of dragons like armored horses rather than fighter jets. To them dragons were meant for smashing into opposing lines and one on one jousting, rather than aerial dogfighting, even when other dragons were involved.

The thought made him grin involuntarily, he only had a passing knowledge of aerial combat maneuvers from TV documentaries, before the network had begun to suck, but they would be sufficient against people who'd never even heard of a dogfight before. "Alright kiddies, flight school is open, time for lesson number one"

He brought Ragnarok beside him as the group continued to close and projected an image of his maneuver to the twins. "Ok guys, this trick is called a Thach Weave, but don't start until they get close enough and I've got them away from each other."

Pulling out one of his steel tipped arrows he aimed high and let loose over Valkyrie's hind quarters. As he'd hoped, their formation was disrupted and they spread out into pairs again to avoid being an easy target.

Falling back a little further he looked and saw that the red and bronze dragons had picked up his tail. "Hook, line, and sinker" he thought fighting a smirk as he waited for just the right moment.

As the pair closed to within seventy-five yards he made his move. The twins banked towards each other, as they passed Jake looked back and was relieved to see that both riders had continued to follow him. They were so focused on following him as he turned again came back around that they didn't realize that Ragnarok was now coming straight at them.

Ragnarok slammed into the pair from the side, throwing them into complete disarray. They veered off course before heading swiftly towards the ground to check the damage to their mounts. "Two down, two to go" he thought as he zeroed in on the flight leader. If anyone was going to know anything, it would be him.

The scales now even, he brought the twins about and charged straight at the pair. He focused as he drew back his bow again.

"Gotta put this one just right" he thought aiming carefully for the saddle as Ragnarok forced the other rider to break away. He let his arrow loose and cursed as it flew higher than intended, impacting the flight leader in the shoulder causing him lose control and fall from his saddle.

"Damn it" Jake thought frantically as he brought Valkyrie into a steep dive. "The dead make for poor interrogation."

The ground raced at him as he willed his mount faster and faster. Trying to reach the falling man before the rocks got him. Jake reached him just as he plummeted into the canyon. Valkyrie closed her claws gently around the man and pulled out of the dive just before they reached the bottom. Ragnarok rejoined them as they rose back into the air, before the remainder of the group could recover, he was cruising away at breakneck speed.

Jake breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back and saw that he was no longer being pursued. His good mood was interrupted however as he remembered his unfortunate passenger. His errant shot shouldn't have been lethal, but he still needed to treat the wound before it got infected and he could no longer get any information from his new captive.

Moving deeper into the mountain range Jake scanned the area below him until he found what he was looking for. In the shadow of one of the mountains there was an alcove big enough for them to take shelter.

As Valkyrie deposited their new companion Jake looked and tensed as he saw that the man was unconscious. He hoped it was just from the shock of events, but he couldn't be certain that it wasn't due to blood loss. If that was the case then he'd have to move fast or the poor bastard wouldn't make it.

Moving quickly, he pulled some bandages from his bag and began to remove the leather armor. He felt a wave of relief wash over him as he realized that the steel tipped arrow hadn't penetrated like the dragon bone would have. The armor had done its job, so the wound would be shallow and easy to treat.

Setting the armor off to one side he pulled his knife and began to cut off the wounded man's tunic. He gasped in shock as the man's shirt fell away. This guy wasn't a guy at all.