Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns: An Epic Fantasy Dragon Novel (Dragonia Empire Book 1)
Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns – Chapter 44

Ayla circled around a dragon as its flame swirled behind her. Once away from the danger zone, they turned back around. Devarius’s heart dropped. One of his men and his wyvern had been burned. Devarius watched helplessly as both man and wyvern plunged to the ground. He clenched his teeth as they circled back around. Ayla blew ice at the dragon’s backside, but it turned just enough that the ice only hit its tail. It began to freeze, but the dragon blew fire once more and coiled its tail into the flames, successfully dispelling the ice.

They circled around for another pass, and Devarius saw another wyvernrider speeding toward them. It was a red wyvern, and from the arrogant approach, Devarius could only assume it was Paedyn. Devarius didn’t like the swift approach, especially if it was Paedyn … it meant he had something foolish in mind.

“Fly, Ayla! Whatever Paedyn has in mind, I don’t believe we should be caught in the middle of it.”

Ayla glanced up and saw Paedyn’s wyvern approaching fast toward the dragon’s upper flank. She recognized the danger Paedyn might start, and curved her flight. Another wyvernrider near them had the same suspicion, and sped along with her. The wyverns flew side by side as they fled the dragon.

Devarius glanced behind him. He saw the dragon open its mouth. “Evade!” he called. “Dragonsfire!”

Ayla and the wyvern separated briefly, Ayla dipping to the left, the other to the right. They held positions for a brief moment, trying to convince the dragon to breathe his fire between the two for the most effective attack. As the dragonsfire escaped the creature’s mouth, Ayla and the other wyvern crossed flight patterns and angled straight up. The fire missed each of them by inches, instead blazing through the air to strike another dragonrider, who was fending against two wyverns. The wyvernriders saw the flames in time and sped away, but the dragon couldn’t maneuver as fast, and its entire body was encased in flame. Its rider screamed and fell of the beast, but the dragon, besides being mildly irritated, was mostly unharmed.

The riderless dragon turned on Ayla, its eyes blazing red with rage. Before it could move to attack, two gold wyverns sped in from behind, a bolt of lightning coming from both wyverns into each of the dragon’s wings. The dragon lit up as electricity filled its body. Its wings were charred black, then it fell out of the sky.

Devarius exhaled, relief overcoming him at the chance to catch his breath and re-evaluate the battle. He glanced over just in time to see Paedyn over the dragon they had just fled from. He dropped a vial, then the wyvern readjusted and blew flame toward the vial just before it hit the dragon. The vial exploded in flames, sending the dragonrider flying and screaming. The dragon was knocked off course and dropped a hundred feet, charred, injured, and angry. Paedyn and his wyvern, Pyro, dipped down to follow the dragon. Once they were close to the top of it, Paedyn dropped another vial. When it shattered, the dragon convulsed like being electrocuted, then a bolt of lightning came from the clouds to zap the dragon out of the sky. It was finished. The creature had no more energy, and spiraled toward the earth.

Devarius watched as his wyvernriders defeated three more dragonriders. He made a quick count and realized only three dragonriders remained. His face split in a grin, but then he paused as he counted again. He had lost eight wyvernriders.

“We need to finish them,” Devarius growled. “Before they kill any more wyvernriders.”