*** “There is no time to waste.” Lord Eldred had come up behind me, seeing the same thing I saw out the window. “You have to get as many people out as you can. Take them east, through the forest. Lead them away from here so you can rally them together and eventually win this war.” “No.” Liam said. “You’re coming with us. You can lead them yourself.” He was trying to drape his father’s arm over his shoulder to support him. Lord Eldred pushed him away, and threw a meaningful look at me before addressing his son once more. “I have my own ways to get out of here. I’ll be right behind you.” “But-” I took Liam’s arm and lead him away. “No time. If he says he has another way, then he has another way.” I said, continuing the lie Lord Eldred had started. “You’re faster on your feet right now and speed is what we need. You helped save most of the people here once already. It’s time to do it again.” I expected Liam to put up a fight, but he didn’t. Perhaps he knew the truth being spoken behind the lie. Regardless, we had a job to do. Once we were back in the training yard, I called to Thunder, who was supervising the dissection of the assassin Scoots was still tearing at. Both dragons turned and came over to us. In a few seconds, we had out plan. Liam and Scoots would go forward to the wall and tell the guards to retreat through the back gate. Meanwhile, Thunder and I would do what we could for the town. As Liam and Scoots ran off, I turned to Thunder. “You sure you can do this?” He gave a low growl and flattened himself to as low to the ground as he could. I climbed up onto his back. With some effort, Thunder flapped his wings and we took to the sky. Riding a dragon was very different from riding a horse. It was almost all I could do just to hold onto my sword and Thunder’s neck at the same time. We reached the town mere seconds before the other dragons did. Up close, I could see they were smaller than Thunder, but they were still a major problem. They were already setting fire to the fields just beyond the town and coming ever closer. I had Thunder put me back on the ground, then reached up to pull his head close to mine. “You can't fight them all, but you can still help. Get their attention and fly away. Distract them. Buy me as much time as you can, but don’t get yourself caught.” Thunder gave a low hiss, then took off again. I raced through the streets, yelling at everyone I saw to run. Many people had realized the danger before I arrived and were already running away or grabbing weapons to try to fight. I was nearing the far edge of town when the buildings behind me started going up in flames. The dragons under the King’s command had realized Thunder was no threat to them and had turned their attention back to the town. The distraction hadn’t lasted long, but it had been enough to get most of the people out. As Thunder and I fled toward the forest, I looked toward the gate for some sign that Liam had been successful. What I saw made me shout to Thunder and change direction. Liam stood in front of the gate, flanked by several soldiers. Scoots sat a few feet away, gazing fixedly at an object being held aloft by
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