53. She Asked, He Answered
Agadart takes her place...
The Queen’s Aerie is a MMF fantasy romance (romantic fantasy?) in 57 parts that I serialized throughout 2023/2024! If you are just now joining the story, you can catch up by starting here. Full story ToC here.
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Previously: Mani fought for his life...
Agadart was completely helpless as she watched her vile enemy grab her mate. The enemy could barely fly, unbalancing with each flap of his wings, her mate clutched in one of his hands. Mani’s fear was an overwhelming emotion crowding every other thought in Agadart’s mind, blinding her to the immediate danger around her as she lunged futilely in his direction, caged in by dozens of dragons trying to peck and claw at her.
Her enemy did not go too far, landing with an ungainly wobble on a massive ship that had been curving in close to the fake island. With her enemy on board, the ship turned away as the fake island broke apart and started sinking, sending large waves out from its demise.
She did not see what else happened to her mate at that point, too busy lashing out at her attackers. Her own dragons were down to three and they fought viciously around her, pulling other dragons away by wings and tails. She was the center of the battle, though, and every enemy she faced at that moment knew that defeating her was their only priority.
There was a lance of bright, clear light through her fury and anguish.
Come to me; regroup and lead us to battle!
It was her other mate, the flier, the one with the golden eyes. Her king. She yelled at her own dragons and shot straight up into the air, going for a high arc to send her in the direction of her king. He was almost to them, she just needed to outpace her pursuers by seconds to get to him and the massive numbers of dragons behind him. She swooped down at full speed and when she broke through the cloud layer again she finally saw her own people spread out in a massive array on the water and in the air.
Her pursuers tumbled after her, trying to slow down or simply spin around to go back, but it was too late. A least five flights, numbering possibly two hundred or more dragons, dashed up to meet them in bloody battle. Agadart left them to it, instead slamming into her king and tumbling with him, legs and tails intertwined as their wings worked in unison to send them back up into the high atmosphere. She nuzzled him, tasting old blood and pain and medicine, but his energy flowed strongly through her.
Part of her wanted to steal him away, but they both felt the tug of their missing piece, of Mani still held captive by their enemy, driving her to fury and madness. Her king growled and pushed away to roar in anger as she shared her memories with him, his red-gray of fury bleeding through their connection.
She was no warrior, she knew that, but her king was. She asked, and he showed her in glorious detail his plan, unfurling it wordlessly in her mind almost like a picture book.
Together they swung around back to the head of the massive attack column, where a grizzled older dragon cawed at them. Family, her king sent to her. Sister; leader; warrior.
She took her place out in front, her king and his sister by her side, and with every breath in her lungs, with all the magical power of her realm and her people to aid her, pushed herself to fly faster to rescue their beloved.
