happening.
“ Ultimus Conspectus ,” he shouted.
Suddenly his vision zoomed forward, and he could see every detail about the dragon. The scales on the beast’s back were glossy and large, overlapping like clay tiles on a rooftop. The wings were leathery and lined with thick veins. Tiberius could even see the blood pouring from a wound on the beast’s neck. But none of these revelations held his attention. Instead, he stared almost dumbfounded at the sight of Lexi on the dragon’s back. She had one arm wrapped around the beast’s massive neck, and both legs were gripping the dragon’s back tightly. With her free hand, she was stabbing the dragon with her Wangorian dagger.
The dragon was writhing, trying to simultaneously to buck her off its back and swipe her off with its tail. The men were pointing and shouting in confusion, but only Tiberius could really see what was happening. Dancer was still clinging desperately to Lexi’s shoulder, and the woman he loved was fighting tooth and nail against a living, breathing dragon.
“Dive!” he shouted. “We have to get down there.”
“Don’t be a fool!” the captain argued. “We should fly back up while we have the chance.”
“Lexi’s down there.” Tiberius pointed toward the dragon. “We’re going to help her.”
The captain cursed but he sent the war ship into a steep dive. Tiberius had to hold on to the railing, straining his back to keep his feet as the ship dropped toward the dragon, which was alternating between fighting off Lexi’s savage attack and keeping itself in the air.
“If we ram the devil, we’re all doomed,” the captain warned Tiberius.
“I don’t want to ram it—I want us to fly under it.”
“You’re mad!”
“Maybe, but you’ll do it, or I’ll feed you to the dragon myself,” Tiberius warned him.
The look on the captain’s face was sheer hatred, and Tiberius felt a pang of guilt for threatening the man, but he was ready to keep the threat if anything happened to Lexi. Tiberius turned his attention back to the dragon, who seemed oblivious to their approach.
“Go faster!” Tiberius shouted.
“I can’t make the wind blow any harder,” the captain growled.
“Well, I can,” the wizard said angrily, ignoring the searing pain in his back and the suffocating fear that was making it so hard to breathe. “ Flabra !”
The portal to the magical world burst open, and a gale-like wind suddenly filled the war ship’s sails. The dragon was struggling to gain altitude, its wings flapping hard, but moving much more slowly than before. It threw its head back and spewed flames, which boiled out of its mouth and then back down the length of its body.
For one horrifying second, Tiberius imagined Lexi being burned alive. Then he sent out his shielding spell. Holding the magic at such a distance strained his body and mind like nothing he’d ever experienced. His stomach convulsed at the effort, and his muscles cramped from his legs to this shoulders. Everything in him screamed for relief, but Tiberius refused, even as his heart hammered in his chest like a smithy pounding hot iron with a heavy hammer.
The flames passed over Lexi, and Tiberius could feel the heat flowing around his invisible shield. Unfortunately, the flames covered Lexi, and Tiberius couldn’t see if his spell was keeping her safe. His eyes were watering from holding the spell in place as the dragon struggled to fly upward. When the flames finally parted, Tiberius could see Lexi holding on to the hilt of her dagger with both hands. She wasn’t burned, but she was in danger of falling off the dragon as it flew straight up into the air.
“Hold on!” Tiberius shouted, once his spell was finished and he could breathe again.
The war ship was finally closing in on the dragon, which was turning slowly in the air; its body seemed to swim through the air like a sea serpent. Tiberius was weak, his legs shaking beneath him, but he summoned more wind, pushing the