All The Skills

As Arthur crossed the threshold out to the ledge, the hive-wide scourge-eruption alarms started to blare: a long tone followed by the deep ringing of bells, which were quickly picked up and repeated throughout the levels.

Arthur paused, frowned, and glanced around. Whitaker had seemed all gung-ho to go out and fight, which had been a help during the meeting. But Arthur had expected there would be a quick meeting or a conversation about tactics ahead of time. After all, this wasn’t like a typical eruption. This would be dragons against other, mind-controlled dragons. They had to go in with a plan.

A bad feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t a complete idiot—there was every chance Valentina had been playing her own game and trying to poison Arthur against Whitaker for her own ends. Though based on what Arthur had seen so far of the man, he hadn’t doubted her.

Still, this was different.

He’s not really going just to throw the hive at the Mind Singer, is he? he thought, the sense of dread increasing. No, Whitaker couldn’t be that much of a fool.

Arthur cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Brixaby!”

He spotted his dragon a few moments later, speaking with Elissa. Her massive head rested on her paws, her expression fierce as she seemed to lecture the younger dragon. It was a direct mirror to what had happened inside Valentina’s room.

At Arthur’s call, both dragons looked his way. Elissa nodded as if granting Brixaby permission to leave.

But Brixaby being Brixaby didn’t bother waiting for her approval and quickly flew to Arthur’s side.

“I need you to get in contact with the hive’s white dragons,” Arthur said before he had fully settled to land. “Tell them what we’re about to face and that the hive needs protection against mind-to-mind intrusion.”

After all, there was no point in sending people and dragons to fight only to have them get captured and turned against their friends.

“I’d like to see the Mind Singer try to ensnare me,” Brixaby snarled.

“She probably couldn’t,” Arthur admitted. “And she might have to work hard to take over the Rares since she’s one herself, but the Uncommons and Commons make up the bulk of our forces.”

Brixaby’s expression turned even more fearsome, which was his way of showing concern.

He buzzed off without another word.

He hadn’t been gone a moment before Cressida jogged up to Arthur. “Joy’s been talking with the other dragons—the females, mostly.”

Arthur nodded. “I heard she was spreading the word about the eggs.”

“Yes, well, they had some news of their own to share.” Her expression was pinched with concern. “Whitaker has sent orders to absorb all of Valentina’s retinue into his own. He took every one of her Rares and cut loose the lower ranks.”

Arthur let out an annoyed breath but nodded. He wasn’t surprised. “Valentina won’t be fighting with us.” It would be nice if she could rally herself one more time, but she hadn’t shown any sign of doing so. She might really be dying.

Cressida gave him an impatient look. “Arthur, he’s trying to undermine you before you even have time to establish yourself as a leader. He hasn’t taken any dragon pairs that claim to be under your retinue yet, because that would be a direct challenge. But he’s setting himself up to be the leader with the most power.”

Again, Arthur felt the weight of responsibility and helpless frustration settle over his shoulders. What was the point of all this? Part of him wanted to say, He can have the hive if he can figure out how to run it himself.

Instead, he asked, “Horatio and Sams?”

“They managed to stay back after the Buck Moon Hive leader left. But Whitaker—”

“I know. I’ll figure something out, Cress, but we have to stop the Mind Singer’s plans.” And with all luck, gain a powerful card to add to Brixaby’s core. He didn’t have time for Whitaker’s power play.

He would have said more, but there was a sudden shift in the air. Below, all the dragons and their riders, alerted by the scourge-eruption alarms, were getting into position. Sleepy riders, jolted awake, were preparing their linked mounts with saddles and straps. They had a few minutes until everyone was properly ready.

I need to speak to Whitaker, Arthur thought, regretting his decision to send Brixaby away.

He had a whole retinue. He could have sent Cressida, Horatio, or even Laird on an errand instead of his own dragon. He needed to delegate better.

A sharp whistle cut through the air. Arthur’s head whipped around in that direction so swiftly that he momentarily felt like his body wasn’t under his own control. A bare moment later, as the impulse dissipated, he realized that it hadn’t been.

Someone had just used a spell on him to yank all his focus and attention in a certain direction. And judging by the sudden silence from the hive below and all around, it had happened to everyone.

Likely, it had been a mind spell of some sort.

But he didn’t have time to think about the implications of that, because at that very moment, Whitaker’s new, strengthened retinue appeared.

An entire group of dragons nearly two dozen strong seemed to float down from the misty clouds. Their visibility in the fading storm was enhanced by several yellow light dragons that illuminated them all with a heroic glow.

It was an impressive display.

Together, they circled the hive in a wide V formation with Whitaker’s orange dragon at the point.

Arthur felt the gaze of thousands upon them.

Despite his very mixed doubts about Whitaker’s ability to lead, he had to admit they made a brave show. Each following dragon was a Rare, with scales and saddles polished to a shine. The riders sat straight back and proud, and the dragons themselves all looked healthy and eager. All ready to rush into battle.

One of them—probably Whitaker’s dragon since, as an orange, he excelled at material manipulation—altered the last of the misty raindrops so that they glittered like actual jewels as they dropped past, picking up the color of each dragon’s hide and reflecting it to the eyes of the watchers.

Arthur only realized he was gaping when his attention was drawn by a nearby flutter of wings. It was very similar to Brixaby’s but subtly wrong enough to break the spell.

Glancing over, he saw a small purple courier dragon land. He wore a golden sash and puffed himself up officially.

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“You’re Arthur, rider of Brixaby?” The purple spoke more clearly than most of its kind, and Arthur got the impression that it was an Uncommon.

“I am.”

“Leader Whitaker says to advise the portal dragons of the destination.”

“But we’re not ready yet. Most of the hive hasn’t even had time to saddle their dragons. Go back to Whitaker and tell him we need to speak—”

“Sorry, sir, I don’t change or explain the orders. I only relay them.”

Arthur grit his teeth.

A moment later, Brixaby returned, landing next to Arthur and flaring his wings aggressively at the purple dragon. “The conclave of mind-mages hear and obey the hive leader,” he said, smugly before peering at the purple. “What do you want?”

“Whitaker’s setting himself up for a grand entrance through the portal,” Arthur said, then called Laird over. “Inform the portal dragons of the location of Free Hive of the Waves, but make sure they understand that it’s not to open until I give the say so.”

“Hive politics?” Laird guessed, but he didn’t argue with Arthur and took off anyway, flying up toward where the green shimmer dragons were circling in the brightening dawn sky.

“Hive politics,” Arthur repeated on a mutter, and then addressed Cressida and Joy. “Go to Whitaker and ask him when would be the best time to coordinate and plan our attack.”

That was as gentle of a message as he could make. A reminder that they needed to know what they were doing before they went charging off. Hopefully, Whitaker would be happy circling the hive and looking powerful for a few more minutes before he came down and they got down to real business.

Meanwhile, what Brixaby had called the conclave of mind-mages was now landing on the ledge. Arthur’s retinue had to scoot off to the side to make room for them. There were five in total, ranging from a white so dull that it looked almost silver to a blank absence of color he’d only seen in expensive chicken eggs. Every one of them had a rider on board. All were unfamiliar except for one man, Devi, whom he had once met in Valentina’s presence.

Devi stayed back while another man dismounted and approached. He had a gentle, soft face, but Arthur didn’t trust it. He snapped all of his mental shields up.

As the man drew closer, Arthur saw that he carried . . . a stack of cards?

“Well met, Arthur.” The man smiled. “My name is Bryce, and I’m sorry that we must meet for the first time under these circumstances. However, we bring good news.”

“You bring us a tribute of cards?” Brixaby demanded, looking hungrily at the thick stack.

“Not quite,” Bryce said, and held out the stack. Behind him, the other riders dismounted with their own stack of cards in hand. Each stack was nearly a hand span thick. “Your dragon explained what our hive will be facing, and we do have a solution. Part of our duties is to protect against mind magic during eruptions. One of our number has the ability to link his power to block minds using these card anchors.”

Arthur reached out and grabbed one of the cards. They weren’t magical at all—just slips of unusually thick paper cut into the shape of a rectangle. It simply had the words mind block stamped across the top along with a red bar that ran the length of the card. It was a simple card anchor.

“Unfortunately, this is a time-limited object,” Bryce continued. “As the power of the anchor is used, the red bar shrinks. When it is gone, the strength has failed. These are activated by the touch of skin to the card—or scale, as they do protect dragons as well.”

Arthur’s own Counterfeit card did not react to it. Then again, it had never copied a spell from another card anchor before. Like, for instance, a lamp connected to a light card or environmental card.

Arthur accepted the stack from Bryce and turned to pass them to the closest person standing nearby. “Horatio, start distributing these.” He glanced back at Bryce. “Can you make more?”

“We cannot,” Bryce said. “By oath, our powers are restricted until we get the consensus of all hive leaders.”

“Valentina will agree, and so will Whitaker,” Arthur replied. “Once he comes down to plan out our attack.”

After all, this couldn’t be the first time Whitaker had fought a scourgeling with a mind card. Yes, the Mind Singer was stronger than usual, being a Rare, but a Legendary dragon’s main duty was to stand in reserve in case a demi-scourgeling ever erupted. He knew the drill.

A part of Arthur winced even as he thought it, knowing he was jinxing himself with that thought.

He nearly kicked himself a second later because up high, twin portals activated.

Whitaker’s voice, magically enhanced, boomed across the sky. “Wolf Moon Hive! Ascend with me to the portal! Today, we fight the scourgelings without the interference of the other hives, which means more bounty for the rest of us. We will show the rest what we are made of. Follow me!”

Cursing, Arthur grabbed another stack of cards from the outstretched hands of a mind-mage, tossed it into his storage, and quickly mounted Brixaby.

“Stop him! They don’t even know they’re not heading for an eruption! Stop!”

Brixaby surged forward before Arthur was properly seated, throwing him back. But by leaning on his Dragon Riding skill, Arthur was able to hold on.

Brixaby was incredibly fast and ridiculously maneuverable, but Whitaker, who sat at the head of his retinue’s V formation, had a massive head start.

Even as they raced to intercept, Arthur knew that they would be too late.

Whitaker, with his powerful retinue of dragons behind, was already heading toward the nearest portal. The rest of the hive streamed up after them.

They were heading into a fight that they were completely unprepared for. Whitaker was practically feeding new recruits to the Mind Singer.

Arthur saw a flash of pink as Cressida raced to join him. Joy flew at a flat sprint just to meet Brixaby halfway in the sky. Cressida cried out, “He said to follow his lead and then dismissed me. Arthur, I tried to stop him—”

At that moment, Whitaker disappeared into the portal.

“Brixaby,” Arthur said, “send a message to the dragons, anybody who will listen. Tell them not to enter the portal until they take a mind-block card anchor!”

For one of the first times since Arthur had met Brixaby, he felt the dragon hesitate. “You want me to tell . . . everyone?”

“That’s not too much for a Legendary, right?”

“Of course not!” Brixaby snarled. Then Arthur heard his own message relayed right into the middle of his mind as Brixaby used his messaging ability to blast it out. But his mental voice was more of a whisper than his usual boom—stretched out and thin—and he staggered in midair afterward. That action had cost him.

“I only ate a Rare card to gain that ability. There are thousands of minds,” Brixaby said, much more subdued than usual. “I believe I reached them all, but the message is . . . faint.”

Arthur patted his neck. “You did good.”

But not good enough. Some dragons and riders who were right behind Whitaker stopped at Brixaby’s message, looked around in confusion, and then continued on through the portal. Others took heart from seeing them pass through and followed as well.

However, a few of the more prudent dragon pairs peeled off and circled around in confusion. They were a minority, however. Perhaps one in four.

Looking down, Arthur noticed that the dragons who had followed him from Mesa Free Hive hadn’t made a move toward the portal at all. Most were busily accepting the card anchors that Arthur’s retinue was passing out. But that still left the Wolf Moon Hive dragons who were still flowing through the portal.

Arthur wanted to call out to them, but he couldn’t project his voice across the vast expanse of the hive in the open air. Not even with any skill. He watched helplessly as more dragons followed Whitaker through the portal.

It was going to be a slaughter.

Finally, Brixaby said, “There are fewer minds now.”

“Then I need you to relay this message: We will be fighting other dragons whose minds have been taken over by a scourgeling. Use the card anchors we will pass out as a mental shield and watch the red bar. When it runs low, return to get another.”

His retinue riders continued passing out cards, but the process was taking too long, and he knew that the ones who’d gone through the portal were fighting for their lives. They needed to hand out the cards faster.

He caught a flash of purple out of the corner of his eye. Arthur turned to see quite a few riderless purples had made their way to the top cone of the hive. Likely to watch the excitement.

“Brixaby, send a message to all the purple couriers. Here’s what I need to have done . . .”

A few minutes later, purple couriers were gleefully passing out cards to anyone who would accept them. They were thrilled to assist, even if they couldn’t fight.

Brixaby, meanwhile, had recovered his breath from that first message. “What are we waiting for?”

Knowing better than to say “You”, Arthur looked up at the portal. No one had come back out from the other side yet.

Arthur looked up toward the portal. “All right, it’s time. Retinue riders, with me.”

Brixaby surged forward and was quickly followed by Joy, Sams, Laird, Digger, and Tannai.

There was a secondary roar as the dragons who had followed Arthur from Mesa Free Hive and the dragons who had heeded Brixaby’s warning all gathered up behind him.

Brixaby aimed for the shimmering portal.