Now that the Patriarch’s wings were not creating those typhoon-like downdrafts, there was no resistance in Raenelir’s climb. The incredibly fast wyvern managed to reach the ridge in time to break forward and shoot straight into the path of the advancing dragon riders.

The Elites pulled up short, but Raen did not hesitate for even a moment – he flew directly toward the first of them, turning up at the very last second so that he crashed claws first into the side of the dragon. The battle-scarred drake latched on to Raenelir with his four clawed feet, but he was too surprised to do much more than that as the Highborn twisted his long neck around, snapping his jaws shut on the its neck.

Valen drew his sword, the one he had taken from one of the other Elites the night they had snuck into their encampment, though he did not know what he could do with it in this situation. He needed the lightning sense if he was going to be any help to Raen, but it was not coming no matter how hard he tried to reach for it. The fact of the matter was, he did not know what drove it to activate. By the Four, he didn't even understand what it was.

Just because he had come up with a name for it, did not mean he knew anything more about it except for the fact that it happened. It was a powerful weapon when it would work, but what was the point if it didn't come when he needed it most?

He held on for dear life as Raenelir thrashed around, gouging deep wounds into the neck of the dragon he had latched onto. The beast let out a cry of pain, flames shooting in weak puffs from his mouth before there was a crunch. Suddenly the dragon’s wings stopped moving and the Highborn let go, letting dragon and rider fall to their deaths in the gorge below.

Yet the other three were upon them with a vengeance. It was all that Raenelir could do to bring in his wings and twist out of the way of their attacks, falling into a dive for a few seconds before extending his wings once more to pull out of it. He glided back up in a half loop around so that he would come out of the maneuver above the dragon riders.

Valen had never seen Raenelir fly so well. Now that the initial shock of Agrathor's arrival had ended, his fear had been replaced with anger, an anger that he felt resonated with Raenelir’s own. Wyvern and rider alike were done with this.

'This ends today!'

As Raen dove again, this time between the three other riders, Valen instinctually swung out with his sword to the right. His instincts were rewarded with a cry of pain from one of the dragons as his swing took the tip off of one of its wings.

The wounded dragon faltered in the air for just a moment and Raenelir snarled in response, whipping around with so much force that the sword went flying from Valen’s hands.

He did not have any time to curse his luck, though, as the Highborn latched on to the wounded dragon. His claws began digging into its underside as he his jaws went up and around to the rider on top, snapping shut too quickly for the woman to do anything as Raenelir ripped her from her saddle and cast her out into the open air.

As she fell to her death, Raenelir used the momentum of his flight to yank the dragon around, releasing his hold at just the right moment so that the wounded dragon crashed into another of the drakes. Both went spiraling through the air, the one remaining rider between them struggling to avoid getting thrown off..

However, at that point the fourth Elite and her dragon came crashing into Valen and Raenelir. Now it was their turn to go spinning through the air, except that Valen had no saddle to hold him in place. He leaned forward and held on with his arms and legs as tight as he could to keep from getting flung away and falling to his death, but he felt his stomach beginning to groan in protest as it happened. Valen felt himself beginning to lift from Raenelir's back but just before he did the Highborn managed to kick off of the dragon to get some space.

Raenelir had earned a score of small cuts to his underside in the quick clash, but managed several slashing blows of his own, accompanied by a whip of his tail that hit the dragon on the snout as he pulled away. By now, though, the other dragon and rider that had gone spinning off when the wounded drake had hit them had managed to recover as well. Valen and Raenelir were once again facing two riders at once.

This time, they didn't have a sudden surprise attack to steal the early advantage. The riders they were up against were Elites, the best of the best in the Blackscale Knights. They were terrible people, certainly, but also fearsome warriors when they had the space to prove it. Normally, Valen would never have been able to face them and had only managed to take on some back in the Imperial encampment due to... whatever it was that was happening to him when the lightning sense came.

He had largely avoided talking about it with anyone, even Layne, who had actually seen him in action those times it took over. Yet right now he would give almost anything to be able to pull it out and use it against these dangerous foes.

Raenelir roared a challenge, a reminder that Valen did not face these enemies alone.

“Come on, Raen! You can do it!” he shouted. The Highborn responded by bringing his head back on his long neck, forming what looked like an S as he spread out his wings, catching an updraft for a moment that made it feel as though Valen and Raenelir were floating.

Then Raen cut his wings in and shot forward, spinning to the side and letting them fold back out just in time to avoid the reaching claws of the dragons as they flew between them. His own clawed feet reached out to grasp the tail of one of the dragons and then used its weight to bring their momentum to a stop, twisting about to bring his teeth snapping down on the rider’s arm and nearly wrenching him from his saddle.

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The dark-plated warrior let out a cry of pain that quickly became a shrill scream full of fear as his dragon tried to pull away while Raenelir still had his teeth around his arm. The hold of the wyvern proved stronger than the hold of the warrior's saddle straps. He was ripped from the back of the dragon as his mount winged away, but he was held suspended in the air in Raen’s jaws for a few moments longer before the wyvern whipped his head around and send the man flying over into a cliff face.

He slammed into the rocky terrain, scrabbling to get a hold and failing before careening backwards and tumbling down to another path far, far below, where he struck with a clang loud enough for Valen to hear all the way up here... a clang that marked the end of his screams. Valen might have been sick again as he thought about the other people he and Raen had just killed. Then he glanced to the side, seeing the flames that engulfed the ridge where Hedrick and Samorr had died and the trees beyond it, and something inside of him hardened in the face of such evil.

Valen regretted their deaths for the lives they might have lived, but he could not afford to show remorse for taking the lives they had chosen instead, full of death and destruction. Not when that meant being unable to devote himself wholly to protecting those he cared for.

One opponent was left, and she waited for him with spear in hand, having finally brought out her weapon from where it had been strapped into the large saddle of her dragon. She held it and raised it in challenge to Valen, though he had nothing to raise in return. It seemed as though she was acknowledging their ability as drake and rider, though for the most part Valen had not been very useful just yet, relying on the wyvern to do almost all of the fighting

Regardless, he had no desire to acknowledge her in rerurn.

So he dug his heels into Raenelir’s side, the Highborn let out a roar, and they shot forward. The dragon and rider were ready, flying to meet their charge. The rider angled them to fly by with her spear extended, looking to catch Valen in the stomach as she passed. He managed twist aside and Raen brought his wings down with enough force to fly up and over the attack. Barely a moment later the two drakes wheeled around to come at one another once again.

This time, when they came in close, wyvern and dragon slammed together in a storm of claws and teeth, trying to inflict as much damage as they could manage in as short a time as possible. Raenelir took some hits but he dished them out as well, and since the enemy rider could not bring her spear to bear from their current positions it became a contest of strength between the two drakes.

Finally they broke apart, but not before the dragon lashed out with one last swipe of his claws, scoring a deep wound in the Highborn’s underbelly. Raenelir cried out in pain but kept them aloft, blood trailing away in the wind. Valen and Raen both knew that their upper hand in agility had finally been taken from them with that one blow. That wound would keep the wyvern from moving to the best of his ability, which could very well be a death sentence.

It would seem, then, that the riders were no longer interested in taking prisoners. They were here to end things. Valen’s mind raced as he tried to think of what they could do to win this aerial duel, knowing full well that there was still the far more dangerous opponent of Agrathor and likely Velitarii waiting nearby.

Apparently the dragon rider was not going to give them any time to recuperate, as suddenly she and her dragon were already moving again. Raen whirled out of the way, avoiding their next attack, but Valen could feel the strain in the Highborn’s muscles as he did so. His wounds were hurting, and badly.

Valen look around wildly, trying to pick out anything that might be able to help them turn this around… and then, looking back to the ridge and the trail that led to it through the mountains, he saw two cloaked figures rushing along the road, the hooded figures instantly recognizable to him.

Layne and Bardus.

It seemed as if they had noticed him, as well, because they stopped and looked out through the sky towards Valen and his foe. Immediately, he knew what to do. He rested a hand on Raenelir’s side, turning and pointing towards the rangers.

“Raen, go! You can make it buddy!” he cried out. Raenelir looked back, saw where Valen was pointing, and immediately turned and shot through the sky towards the ridge. It was the only place he could comfortably land while wounded without somehow getting past the dragon rider. Thankfully, it also lined up the woman up with the bows of the rangers, as she flew directly after wyvern and rider without even noticing the others down on the trail.

She was too focused, unaware that another threat might be close by after facing a single enemy for as long as she had.

They flew past the rangers on the trail, sticking close to the side of the mountain. Behind him he heard the angry roar of a dragon and looked back to see their enemy rapidly closing the distance. Raen was slowed down too much by his wounds, and could no longer outrun this enemy.

Thankfully, it seemed they would not have to. He looked back again just in time to see the first of the arrows find their mark, taking the dragon in the neck and left eye, partially blinding it. The drake let out a surprised squeal of pain and the woman riding it twisted in her saddle, trying to see who was responsible for the attack… and taking an arrow right in her neck, in the space between helm and chest plate. She slumped immediately on the dragon’s back as more arrows struck the drake, some doing more damage to its neck and others bouncing off the stronger scales of its body.

Yet the threat was enough, combined with the sudden loss of its rider’s direction, to finally drive it off. It roared in pain and confusion as it fled, fear driving it into the mountains.

Their fight was over.

Valen was so distracted by this fact that he was not ready when Raenelir suddenly hit the stony earth of the ridge overlooking the road down into Midaras, hitting far too roughly for either of them to make a graceful finish to their adrenaline fueled flight. Valen fell from Raen’s back as they hit the ground, rolling a couple of yards before he finally came to a stop. He groaned in pain as every inch of his body ached and complained. It certainly didn't help that the trees all around them were still in flames, the heat making him even less comfortable.

Raenelir lay on his side nearby, struggling to get back to his feet. Eyes widening in horror, Valen realized that the Highborn’s wounds were worse than he had realized. Pushing himself unsteadily to his feet, he stumbled over to the wyvern’s side to get a better look. That was when he saw why Raen was so effected.

There was a deep puncture wound in his chest, and from the loud wheezing coming from the hole it had damaged a lung. At some point in their frantic fight, the rider had managed to hit Raenelir with her spear... and it had done its work only too well.