"Fuck!" Dex roared.
Serena was already gone, swallowed by the storm.
Velkaris, meanwhile, was perfectly calm.
Serena: Water dragon ready. Need cover.
Gav: Solara has visual.
The water dragon bucked Serena off before Gav even finished.
Her high-pitched scream bled through the mindlink.
Dex’s soul left his body.
Velkaris dove just in time for Dex to see Gav catch Serena by the arm and haul her onto Solara.
Dex exhaled. Hard.
Then Serena immediately sprinted across Solara’s back and leapt onto another fucking water dragon.
Dex lost it.
"What the actual fuck," he shouted. "No. Nope. Absolutely the hell not."
The water dragon that just bucked Serena off moved next to Velkaris. It was pissed.
"Ground. Basalt ridgeline," he snapped with zero fucks that its mouth was open, about to power-shot boiling acid water at him.
The water dragon turned its head and moved toward the ground.
Dex stared after it, chest heaving, eyes snapping back to Serena as she balanced on yet another enemy dragon like this was a sport.
"Oh my gods," he yelled. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack, or is this just a fun hobby now?"
Velkaris rumbled, deeply entertained.
Serena: Second water dragon ready. No cover needed.
Before it could buck her, she jumped.
She dropped straight down through the clouds, already channeling ice, and slammed onto the storm dragon on her hands and knees. Ice blasted from her palms, gold magic flaring immediately and aggressively as she anchored herself.
The dragon roared, twisting violently, surging upward in protest.
Hale: Storm dragon’s eyes are gold. Kronk has your visual.
Serena didn’t even have time to respond.
The dragon bucked hard.
Her high-pitched scream tore through the mindlink.
Hale burst out laughing, also bleeding through the mindlink. Kronk dove and Hale caught Serena by the arms mid-fall, hauling her up.
She landed flat on her stomach on their dragon.
"Oh, this is so funny," Serena huffed, then immediately started laughing too.
"Your scream is," Silas observed from behind her, "deeply concerning."
"Silas would be screaming too," Hale countered, grinning.
"I am screaming strategically."
Silas snorted. He leaned over the edge, squinting through the clouds. "You see that one under us?"
"Yup," Hale confirmed.
"On it," Serena called, already launching herself back down through the clouds toward the next storm dragon.
Hale shook his head, still laughing.
She went from dragon to dragon like she was late for an appointment. Occasional screams breaking through the mindlink.
One moment free-falling, the next catching herself on the leg of a storm dragon, slamming ice and gold straight into it with aggressive efficiency.
Irritation and anger were excellent motivators, it turned out.
Hale and Gav fell into rhythm with her almost immediately. Solara and Kronk caught her like it was a practiced drill, Zenith swooping in occasionally like, don’t worry, I’ve got this one. It started looking coordinated.
Meanwhile, Dex was stuck watching all of it while barking orders at enemy dragons to get to the damn ground like a Draken Air Traffic controller having the worst day of his life.
"Ground. Basalt ridgeline. No, not near it. On it. Yes, you. Don’t make me repeat myself."
They’d ridden with her last night, and it showed. They adjusted. Anticipated her movements. Timed their dives to her jumps. By the fourth dragon, they were catching her without even being asked.
They were in sync with her.

Tiberon: Status.
Dex: Final dragon grounded.
Tiberon: Return. Medical teams ready.

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