Jesika and Rowan arrived back in Querencia a few days later and Jesika flew her dragon towards Audric's manor, while Rowan made his way to the farmlands. As he landed, he saw that Darryn and Aquila had already started fighting the knights slaving the civilians, fighting alongside Rowan and Aquila's parents. Rowan ran to their side as a knight behind Aquila raised his sword to strike her back.
Rowan slid in front of him just in time, blocking the knight's sword with his own.
"You guys didn't waste no time, did you?" Rowan yelled at the two as he fought the knight.
"I can't believe she actually was able to tame the dragon!" Darryn yelled back.
"So proud of my girl. I, for one, knew she could do that!" Aquila added.
Rowan slit the knight's throat, turning to Aquila and Darryn. He flashed them a quick smile. "I'm glad you guys are okay."
They smiled back at him, Aquila knocking a guy back with her sword without looking. "Right back at you, Rowan."
They refocused their attention on fighting the knights, barely ever missing a beat. After an hour, they were surrounded by ten fallen Grumor knights. Without warning though, a knight came charging at Rowan, his sword raised. Before the knight could strike though, Kronos tackled the knight to the ground, ripping the knight's face with his sharp claws. Rowan looked away in disgust but felt a little bit of pride inside him at his brave beast.
***
Aethelinda easily set fire to Audric's manor and it wasn't long until the roar of another dragon filled the sky. Jesika rose higher in the air to see Audric on his own dragon, just as Rowan had guessed. Jesika and Aethelinda, circled the enemy dragon in the air, measuring the dragon up. The dragon was almost the same size as Aethelinda, only a little bit smaller. Jesika could tell from the red coloring of the dragon that it used fire. Good thing Aethelinda could use fire, ice AND water.
Audric and his dragon turned sharply on them as they finished circling him, fire coming out of the dragon's mouth. Before the fire could get anywhere close to Aethelinda, she met the dragon's fiery breath with water, dousing the flames midair. Jesika leaned forward and Aethelinda followed her physical command, swooping down on the dragon to swipe at its head with her talon-like claws. Audric's dragon bellowed its protest, whipping its head away. Jesika watched Audric tug his dragon's head, and his dragon complied, aiming its fire at them. Jesika shrieked as Aethelinda quickly dove, dodging the dragon's breath.
Audric and his dragon were quick in pursuit, right on their tails. Aethelinda turned sharply, opening her mouth to allow her icy breath to hit the dragon. The attack was effective, ice creeping up the dragon's wings, forcing it to lower in the sky. The dragon turned its head, blowing at its wings, easily melting the ice. Jesika huffed in frustration and swooped in to claw at the dragon once again, stopping the dragon's efforts at recovering. She noticed Audric glare at her a short moment, before the dragon rose, grabbing Aethelinda with all four claws, pulling her down a spiral towards the ground.
Jesika looked down at the ground quickly approaching, Audric's dragon still clinging to Aethelinda, clawing away at her scales. If I stay on, I'm going to have a head on collision with the ground, she thought to herself in a panic. She closed her eyes tight and made a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret. She let go of Aethelinda, allowing herself to fall the rest of the way to the ground. She had no idea how many feet she fell from, but she soon felt her body hit the ground with a painful thud that knocked the breath out of her.
She opened her eyes just in time to see Audric jump as she had and the two dragons crashed into the ground together, before rising into the air to continue to fight, nowhere near as affected by the impact as Audric and Jesika were. Still panting and feeling her muscles protesting, she forced herself to stand, using her sword to push her up. Audric hobbled towards her, his sword raised, his hands trembling. He was bloody and beginning to bruise and Jesika could imagine she looked no better.
