Run!
They will strike at any moment. Warn your friends.
The astrid took wing.
"It's a trap!" Kendra yelled. She hurried to the top of the ridge and peered over at Gavin and Trask descending the far side. They had turned toward her in response to her shout. Several griffins had emerged from the trees below, including one ridden by the dwarf. "Dragons! Run! It's an ambush!"
The dwarf barked an order and the griffins took flight. At the same time, a pair of enormous dragons soared over the far ridge. One had green scales and a bony frill framing its angular head. The other was a monstrosity in scarlet, with lumpy knobs on its snout and a club-shaped tail. The red dragon swept low over the trees, a roiling inferno jetting from its jaws to set a long strip of pines ablaze. The green dragon wheeled out wide, curving and climbing to approach from a different angle.
The griffins scattered. Some fought to gain altitude; others stayed near the ground. They darted in every direction. The griffin with the dwarf snatched Gavin in one claw and Trask in the other. Wings beating furiously, the overburdened griffin flew up the ridge, depositing Trask and Gavin near Kendra and the others.
"We'll come back around," the dwarf promised, his words trailing off as his griffin carried him away.
Trask grabbed Kendra's arm and guided her down the back side of the ridge, rocks rolling underfoot. After a few steps, he dove with her into the lee of a boulder, shielding her with his body. Overhead a dragon bellowed. Heat washed over Kendra as a fervent downpour of flame scorched a field of scree off to their right.
After the dragon had passed over, a pair of griffins streaked low along the slope. Seth sprang out from hiding and a griffin snatched him up and angled skyward. The other one grabbed Tanu. Above her and to the left, silhouetted against the setting sun, Kendra saw the green dragon diving toward a trio of griffins, fire spurting, but the griffins split up and maneuvered aggressively to evade the larger predator.
The scarlet dragon seemed to have been coming back around for another fiery pass, but then it swerved away to follow the griffin carrying Tanu. The griffin dropped into the trees for cover as the dragon released a searing stream of fire. Below the wide, red wings, the forest erupted into a raging conflagration.
"Into the bag," Trask commanded, seizing the knapsack from Kendra. As she stepped inside, a charred, one-winged griffin crashed onto the rocks less than twenty yards down the slope. Kendra hastily descended the rungs.
Warren was propped up on one elbow. "What now?"
"There were dragons waiting when we went to meet the griffins," Kendra said, eyeing his new splint. "How's your arm?"
"Messed up, just like the rest of me. At least Tanu dressed it and gave me painkillers. Are we going to make it?"
"We'll see."
From inside the storage room, the battle seemed far away. Kendra heard the shrieks of griffins and the roars of dragons, but the stationary room remained otherwise unremarkable.
Dougan rushed down the ladder, followed by Gavin. A moment later Mara entered, but she stayed on the top rungs. "Trask found a griffin," she reported. Mara poked her head up through the mouth of the knapsack. "We're airborne."
Gavin sidled up to Kendra. "How are you?"
"I don't know."
"We'll be all right." Taking her hand in his, he offered a reassuring squeeze.
"The green dragon is tailing us," Mara called down. "It's gaining. We're swerving. We're plunging. We're close to the cliff! I think we might--" She flinched, ducking her head, then looked up after an instant. "No, we made it. This griffin can really fly!"
Staring up at Mara, Kendra and the others could see the wind whipping her long, black hair. "We're diving," she reported. "We're rising. I think I know where we're going. We're upside down. Now we're rolling. Rising. Oh, no. No, no, no. No! Trask is falling! We're falling!" Tugging the flap down, Mara tucked her head and clung to the rungs.
They all heard the knapsack slap against the ground. Mara climbed up out of the room. Grabbing a sword, Gavin followed, then Dougan. Kendra scaled the rungs as well.
"You could wait in here," Warren suggested.
"I have to see," Kendra said.
She emerged on a long ledge near the brink of a high drop-off. Behind her rose a sheer cliff. Above her, the green dragon glided high in the sky, chasing other griffins. The red dragon pursued a distant griffin heading for Stormcrag. Mara, Gavin, and Dougan were staring upward. "What happened to Trask?" Kendra asked.
"He's coming down," Gavin said, pointing.
It took Kendra a moment to catch sight of the ghostly shape of Trask slowly descending toward them, his body a swirling mass of vapor. "He swallowed a gaseous potion!" Kendra exclaimed in relief.
Trask was waving for them to go.
"He wants us to head toward Sidestep Cleft," Mara said.
"How close are we?" Dougan asked.
"Not far," Mara said, snatching up the knapsack. "I think the griffin was trying to make it there. A griffin would fit much deeper inside the gap than a dragon. And a person could fit in deeper than any of them. The cleft is our best chance. We should be relatively safe there." They set off at a brisk run over the rocky ground.
"What about Trask?" Kendra asked.
"He'll try to hide," Dougan said. "Going gaseous saved him from the fall, but now he can't move very fast. We have to leave him. Our presence would only draw more attention to him."
"Trask will find a place to hide," Gavin said. "He knows we have to make it to the cleft. He and Mara are right--the dragons shouldn't be able to reach us in there."
Heedless of the treacherous footing, Kendra raced along the ledge. The green dragon remained in view whenever she looked back, but it seemed intent on chasing griffins. She was surprised the dragon didn't swoop over and kill them. They were such easy prey on the ledge. Perhaps the dragon had failed to notice them.
"The cleft should be around this bend," Mara announced.
"Here comes the dragon," Gavin warned.
Risking a glance, Kendra saw the dragon soaring straight at them, still a good distance away. They picked up the pace to a full sprint.
"Should we put Kendra in the bag?" Dougan asked.
"No time to slow down," Gavin replied. "We have to make it to the cleft."
Mara pulled away from them, her long legs eating up ground like a track stat. But as she rounded the bend, Mara skidded to a stop. When Kendra and the others caught up, they saw why.