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"Usuallybeing the key word," I said. "Personally, I'm not having fun."
We dropped like a stone and passed under a particularly thick branch which would have knocked us right off Yard's back.
My stomach stayed a couple of metres above me before it slammed back into my body. I swallowed hard to keep from losing last night's dinner all down Yard's side.
I didn't think the Dragonesque would appreciate being covered in half digested dragon.
I grunted in discomfort, but it was better than a one way trip to the ground.
"The trees are thinning," Aisha said. "But we should outrun the—"
We slid out from the canopy into open air. Open, but not empty.
Three more of the modified balloons hung in the air like lions crouched and ready to pounce on their prey. If lions could float.
"Shit. This isn't good," I said. "How come no one told me the baddies had aircrafts?"
"This is news to me too," Knox said. He sounded troubled. "Hang on."
We dropped like four rocks toward the ground.
We skimmed just above the grass and headed for a space between two balloons.
Above us, someone shouted. "Load! Fire!"
The earth behind us exploded in a shower of dust and rocks.
I ducked my head down and closed my eyes. Without thinking, I drew power and threw a shield over Aisha, Knox and me.
With a hard sucked in breath, I drew more and extended it over the top of Yard. Our underside was vulnerable, but I couldn’t do anything about that.
Another ball flew toward us. It hit my shield and bounced off.
My shield all but buckled , but we slipped under a balloon and shot out the other side.
With a surge worthy of the worst rollercoaster, we rose above the balloon’s altitude and shot off to the south.
"Zeph is hit," Aisha said as she watched behind us.
I looked back.
One of Zeph's wings hung limp at his side. Bain clung to his back, his teeth clenched, visible even from a distance. Greg was gone.
"Bain!" I called out. "Yard, we have to go back."
Zeph was doing the best he could with one wing, but he was dangerously off balance and in obvious pain.
Twenty metres from the ground, his good wing dipped and he shifted back into person form. He and Bain plunged the remaining distance and landed with twin thuds on the ground.
My heart wrenched out of my chest.
"No!" I screamed.
One of the balloons started a swift descent toward the fallen shifters.
"Fuck. No," I ground out. I drew every drop of power I could and threw a ball of it right at the balloon. It was forced off course until it burst into flame and started to drop.
Someone on board screamed.
