Blaze fled as fast as her wings would carry her. She tried to remember the direction she'd come from but the whole desert looked the same to her! Panic seized her when she caught sight of her five SandWing pursuers gaining quickly.
To her immediate relief, she spotted a familiar silhouette just ahead. It was Dust! He saw her and took flight to meet her. "What's going on?" he asked. "Did you get lost? You look flustered."
"No time," Blaze managed between breaths. "Blister's army survived. Right behind me. Got to warn Thorn!"
Great coherence there, little sis, Blister's mocking voice said in her mind. Blaze was too tired to retort.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, your Highness," Dust said, trying to make sense of what she had just said. "Blister's army?"
"I was trying to find my way back but I walked into one of their camps! They're planning to attack the SandWing palace!" Blaze said quickly.
Dust saw the five figures closing in fast and said,"Get behind me, your Highness." Blaze didn't protest.
The first SandWing landed a few feet away and lunged, jaws agape. Dust skillfully dodged around him and jabbed his tail barb into his attacker's eye. Blood spurted all over as Dust tugged his tail free. Some landed on Blaze and she shrieked.
The attacking SandWing dropped dead but his comrades arrived. One of them, a little too eager perhaps, tried to breathe fire at Dust. Dust swept sand into his eyes with a flick of his tail, blinding him.
As the blinded SandWing was stumbling about, trying to get his bearings, Dust attacked. He dashed up to the SandWing, yanked his jaws open and blew a stream of his own fire.
The stricken SandWing choked and fell on the sand, thrashing about, smoke billowing from his mouth as the fire burned him from the inside out. Blaze felt the urge to throw up violently. Eventually, the SandWing was still. Dust stared down the remaining three SandWings.
The largest SandWing nodded at the others and they advanced simultaneously. Dust glared at them, weighing his odds. Blaze knew Dust was good; he'd just killed two fully-grown dragons, but even he couldn't take three at once!
Suddenly, Dust swept his tail, raising a cloud of sand and grabbed Blaze. "Come on, your Highness. We've got to get out of here!" Again, Blaze didn't argue.
Dust flew fast and Blaze struggled to keep up. Whenever she felt her stamina flagging, Burn's voice would remind her that she still had three angry SandWings behind her.
Dust led her all over the place to try and to lose them but they didn't look like they were going to give up anytime soon. Then Blaze saw something that make her heart leap into her throat.
"Dust!" Blaze called urgently, pointing. Dust turned to see a massive sandstorm on the horizon.
"Perfect," Dust said. Tugging her along, he said, "Come on."
"Towards that?" Blaze asked, panic making her voice rise an octave.
"Sorry, your Highness, but we have to lose them," Dust said. "Between them and the sandstorm, I think we'd be better off taking our chances in the storm."
Blaze still wasn't convinced and it must've shown because Dust told her quickly, "Don't worry, Princess. I've been through sandstorms before. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine, I promise."
Blaze mustered whatever courage she could. It's just sand, she told herself. It's just sand, it's just sand, it's just sand. She held on tight to Dust's arm and they flew towards the swirling vortex of sand.
Behind her, she heard the vague shouts of, "Get them!" and , "If they make it into that sandstorm, we'll never find them!"
Blaze forced herself to go faster. To her surprise, she overtook Dust in no time. Now she was dragging him along.
"Slow down, Blaze," Dust said, exhaustion making him forget his words. He took hold of her and wrapped his wings around her. "Hold on," he said. Before she could ask what he was doing, she felt herself descending.
She realised they were doing exactly what the SandWing who'd robbed her had done. They were going to hit the sand! And Dust was shielding her with his own body! That's sweet, Blaze thought as a sudden impact jerked her to a halt.
"Close your eyes and hold still," Dust instructed as sheets of sand began to cover them. Blaze forced herself to be calm, thinking of nice things like home and her room. When that didn't work, her mind instinctively went to the SandWing who was shielding her with his wings.
A warm feeling spread through her chest and she managed to calm herself. With the thought that Dust was here to protect her, Blaze held tight to him and waited for the storm to end.
