Chapter Four Kie stared into the distance, her innards churning as she blinked her dry eyes against the hot desert wind. N'Rah had to be wrong. Those skyriders couldn't be fighting chimerae! All the monsters had been killed centuries ago. But now N'Rah had flown her close enough that she could see several large tawny shapes wheeling around a band of skyriders. For a moment, the nearest winged beast was silhouetted against the blue sky, and it had . . . one, two, three heads! And then the desert wind brought with it the deep, rumbling roar of a lion. "You're r-right," she stuttered, even as cold terror seized her. "Should we run for Durwen station and warn Riken? He has to know. He has to warn the Empire!" But as N'Rah raced closer, it became obvious that the fight was not going well for the skyriders. At the center of their band, a gray skysteed fought to stay aloft, its damaged wing flailing at the air. Another rider slumped forward, unconscious, against his skysteed's neck while two more riders struggled to protect their injured. The air thundered with the full-throated roars of lions and the harsh cries of the bloodgoat heads as they tried to tear at the skysteeds with their sharp black horns. We have to help them! N'Rah cried. "All right," Kie said. Abruptly, the panic making her thoughts tumble about disappeared, and a strange calm took its place. "Take us higher. I want the sun in the chimerae's eyes." Three wing strokes later, they hovered above the fight. The rider on the injured skysteed fired arrows at the chimerae, and a second skyrider sliced at the beasts with a sword. When one of the chimerae advanced on the injured gray, a third rider on a smaller pinto skysteed darted past the monster, obviously trying to distract it. The chimera chased the pinto for several wing strokes, but then it turned back toward the stricken skysteed again. "Let's try to hit the sand dragon's heart." She turned N'Rah toward the chimera menacing the injured skysteed. A hit to the largest of the chimera's hearts could, in theory, kill the creature outright. She sent N'Rah into a dive and pulled her bowstring back. They flashed closer until the chimera's tan-and-black wings flapped below them. N'Rah swooped beneath its left wing into the creature's blind spot, and a wall of sand-colored hide slipped past. She gripped her bow tighter. The monster seemed so much bigger than Uncle Dugs had described! It was twice as tall and twice as long as N'Rah, and three arrows already protruded from its side. As they skimmed past the beast, Kie turned back and fired into the center of its chest. The lion head, surrounded by a thick brown mane, twisted on its strong neck and roared at them so loudly that her whole body vibrated from the sound. A second later, the stench of the rotting flesh caught in its teeth made her gag. The sand dragon head, on a much thinner and longer neck, struck at them in a blur of black scales and yellow fangs, but N'Rah had already carried them beyond its reach. The fury in the chimera's hiss made her tremble. "We have to use the triwires," she gasped to N'Rah as he climbed swiftly above the fight again. "That thing has four arrows in it, and it's still flying." Which meant she must have missed her heart shot. She slipped the bow over her shoulders and ripped the first triwire from its packet. Three razor-sharp wires, four feet long and weighted with spiked metal balls at their ends, were joined at the center with a small wooden handle. Careful to keep the wires away from N'Rah's wings, she whirled the triwire over her head until it hummed. Concentrating hard, she gauged the chimera's wing strokes. Her timing had to be perfect. With her seat and legs, she sent N'Rah into another dive. This time they skimmed past the chimera on its right, and as its wing reached its lowest point, she threw the triwire. It went spinning through the air, sunlight glinting on its sharp copper strands. One wire sliced halfway through the chimera's thin wing hide. The second wrapped around the talon protruding from the wing's leading edge. The last caught the monster's front leg. Then they were past it. She glimpsed movement behind them and leaned hard to the right. N'Rah dove right as the chimera's spiked tail whistled through the space where they'd been moments earlier. "That was close. You all right?" she asked breathlessly as N'Rah pumped his wings to gain them altitude once more. Yes, but the Foul One is not , N'Rah replied with fierce satisfaction. She glanced down. The triwire had bound the chimera's damaged wing to its leg. Screeching frantically, the monster beat at the air with its good wing as it plunged in tight circles toward the ground. One of the remaining four chimerae broke off the attack and dove after it. Moments after the first one crashed, the second one landed on top of it and began to feed. Kie ripped the second triwire from its packet. When she looked up again, a slim boy seated on the pinto skysteed hovered beside them. He had bright red hair and a thin sunburned face, and he was dressed as simply as a sky courier, except that he didn't wear a blue uniform shirt. "Toss me that third triwire," he said. "If you've never used one, you could slice your skysteed's wing off." "I know how to use a triwire," he said impatiently. Something in his level green gaze convinced her. She backed N'Rah closer to the pinto so their wings wouldn't tangle. Kie stretched out her hand, and the boy grabbed the packet from her. "We should probably save the prince." She gestured toward the boy below them on the injured skysteed. She guessed he must be the prince because of the fancy maroon uniform he wore. "I'm all in favor of saving princes," the boy said as he ripped the triwire from the packet. "I'll take the chimera on the right. You take the one on the left. The captain is chopping apart that third one." Even as she watched, the woman with the sword severed the bloodgoat head from the neck of a chimera attacking the group from the west, and dark purplish blood sprayed through the air. "All right." Kie took a deep breath and forgot about the boy. She concentrated on the chimera trying to gut the injured sky-steed and the prince who rode him. She whirled the triwire and sent N'Rah into another dive. Focused on the injured skysteed, the chimera's heads didn't spot them as they glided along beside it. The moment the chimera's wings flashed downward, she flung the triwire. While the weapon still spun through the air, the monster lunged toward the gray skysteed. The triwire sliced into the chimera's foreleg but missed the wing completely. Screaming in pain and fury, the creature whipped around. Now Kie faced all three heads of an angry chimera. This thing looks nothing like Uncle Dugs's target tree! she thought. Then the lion head roared so loudly that her ears rang with the sound, and she couldn't think at all. Just as the sand dragon head struck at them, N'Rah twisted backward. At least I am keeping my wits, he gasped. The fangs closed on the tip of N'Rah's wing, tearing several shining feathers loose. The bloodgoat head had baleful yellow eyes and a neck almost as long as the sand dragon's. Shrieking, it tried to impale them with its sharp horns, but missed. "Did the sand dragon head bite you?" she asked frantically as N'Rah folded his wings and they dropped into a steep dive. Skysteeds had more resistance to chimera venom than humans, but it could make them very sick. No, but it is still trying, he replied, his eyes rolling with fear. She glanced over her shoulder. The chimera dove after them, so close that the sand dragon head snapped at N'Rah's tail. Try shooting it! Right. She unslung the bow and grabbed an arrow. I am going to level off in a moment. You should get a good shot then. She nocked the arrow and pulled the bowstring back. I'll be ready , she promised him. Right now, the chimera's angry heads blocked her shot as they wove back and forth in mesmerizing patterns. Don't be distracted by their heads , Uncle Dugs had always warned her. She watched and waited. She couldn't miss the sand dragon heart this time. N'Rah was counting on her! He came out of the dive two hundred feet above the desert sand. The chimera had to pull up, too, flapping its wide wings and leaving its chest exposed. She fired. The instant after the first arrow left her bow, she nocked a second. Before the bloodgoat head dropped to block her shot, she sent a second arrow slicing into its chest. The bloodgoat head screamed, and the lion head roared in pain, while the sand dragon head snapped and bit at the arrows. The chimera reared back, fanning its wings. N'Rah skimmed away from it and started to climb. "I th-think we got it," Kie said, her voice shaking as she nocked another arrow and peered downward. The chimera thrashed about on the ground now, kicking up clouds of sand. She forced herself to look away and focus on the main fight. The pinto's rider and the prince fired arrows at a chimera entangled in a triwire. The woman with the sword sliced off the sand dragon head on the monster she'd been battling, and the creature plunged toward the ground. Abruptly, something big blocked the sun overhead. Kie glanced up. A chimera dove toward them, talons outstretched, the lion's mouth open in anticipation. She kicked N'Rah's sides and yelled, "Move!" Startled, he sprinted forward. In desperation, she raised her bow and fired into the lion's mouth, but she knew she was too late to save them. There was a flash of yellow, and a palomino skysteed dove at the chimera. It was N'Meary and Topar! He whirled a botan, a single weighted rope. Waiting until he was dangerously close, he loosed it. The botan caught the chimera's wing and bound it to its back leg. Roaring and screeching, the chimera lurched sideways, and something hit Kie hard across her shoulders, throwing her up onto N'Rah's neck. He squealed in pain, and they began falling. All she could see overhead was sandy, leathery hide. They must be trapped under the chimera's left wing! She shoved at it, trying to push it away from N'Rah's wings. "We've got to dive out from under it!" she cried to N'Rah, even as she wondered how much time they had before they crashed into the ground. But he didn't listen to her. Panicked, he kept flapping his wings, instinctively trying to stay airborne. "DIVE, NOW!" she yelled with her mind and her voice, and yanked on his mane. At last, he heard her. He folded his wings, tucked in his head and feet, and they dove. Within moments, they were falling faster than the chimera and left it behind and above them. Kie gulped when the ground came rushing up. N'Rah opened his wings again. But were they badly damaged? She closed her eyes and prayed to the Messenger, the patron god of sky couriers. Between her knees, N'Rah's muscles tensed as he extended his wings fully and soared out of the dive, skimming just above the desert sand. Behind them, she heard an awful thud and a coughing roar as the chimera crashed into the ground. Looking back, she saw it convulse several times and then lie still. She scanned the sky above them. All five chimerae were grounded and dying. The fight was over for now, but were more chimerae on their way? Excerpted from Skyriders by Polly Holyoke All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
