Nick could barely breathe. Air had rushed down his throat the second he opened his mouth while rocketing into the sky, the launcher having sent him from zero to sixty in half a second. It only took a moment though for the combination of gravity and air resistance to halt his journey upward, leaving him hanging in the air just above the scout ship. He had a moment to take in the sight. The scouting vessel looked like it was carved from volcanic rock and obsidian. The sleek contours of the wings and hull were covered with scaled patterns like the ship was of one of the elder dragons.

  As he hung there in the air for half a second, Nick also spotted dozens and dozens of dragonkin going about their daily lives, oblivious to his ascent at first. Soon enough, however, one of them spotted him. The second he saw the dragonkin looking up, he heard the familiar thunk of Topaz’s grenade launcher. The alchemist’s cackle preceded a sudden burst of purple poisonous gas that rippled out instantly from the first grenade. Then, the second grenade struck, igniting the entire area in a bright-green chemical explosion that not only incinerated the lookout that had spotted Nick, but also tore a small hole in the ship with its concussive force.

  “THAT’S IT! DEATH FROM ABOVE, YOU LITTLE WINGED BASTARDS! SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!” Topaz shrieked over the chaos.

  Beginning his fall as his arc through the air curved downward, Nick turned to see Taejo, who had been launched right behind Topaz, following up with his own attack as he rained down halberds taken from the dead at the scouts that hadn’t yet recovered from the surprise attack, the weapons hurled by shadowy tendrils extending out of his back.

  Meanwhile, Stacy, who had possessed the foresight to tie a rope to her maul, threw her weapon at the ship before she even reached the peak of her arc. The weapon crushed the skull of one of a dragonkin and even punched a hole in the ship wall behind him. She then pulled on the rope and launched herself down onto the ship.

  “Wait for me!” Amanda yelled as she flailed her arms behind Stacy as Nick continued hurtling through the air.

  As he dropped, he saw Seo-ah unleashing her Hwatu Spear Burst, slaughtering the deckhands and leaving large holes in the deck. Even Adele was casting a spell, Flash, which shot a ball of magic that exploded in the midst of a group of dragonkin, blinding them with a burst of holy light.

  It was at this point though that Nick realized he had been shot too high. He was going to go right over the ship. He took out the Weight of Dedication and prepared to increase its mass enough to help him drop right onto the ship. But then he felt something soft on his back.

  He blinked in surprise, turning his head for a moment, only to see Elizabeth behind him just as she wrapped him in her arms. “Sorry about this, but I think you need a little help,” she said with a “forgive me” smile before the two of them shot straight downward toward the ship.

  What the . . . Nick tried to process what was happening as his body plummeted at breakneck speed toward the bridge of the ship. “How are you . . .”

  Nick didn’t even get to finish his question before they smashed into the bridge, Nick landing first, having to use all of his leg strength to brace for the fall as his feet dug into the hard metallic floor beneath him, Elizabeth clinging to him like a school kid’s backpack.

  “How did you do that?” he repeated as he finally recovered his footing. Elizabeth hopped off his back and threw a medicine ball at the nearest dragonkin, exploding the dragonkin’s chest like she’d just shot a twenty-pound steel ball bearing through a watermelon.

  “Ice step,” she told him. “I forced myself to learn how to do it after the dragonkin and harpy incidents. I’ll teach you when this is over. I’m not about to leave my favorite workout partner hanging again.”

  Nick blinked in surprise, incredibly impressed by the fact she had taught herself an ability using just ice magic in such a short time, and it was an ability that most people would never be able to pull off with years of hard work, trial, and error. “That’s amazing,” he replied, wanting to add more, but there were a half dozen dragonkin troops waiting for him, and by the time he had gotten those words out, they were already moving in.

  A gold-horned lieutenant in the back was barking orders in their guttural language as spears, weapons, and magic rained down on the bridge from the incoming knights and the rest of Nick’s people. Elizabeth charged straight toward the enemy leader, her armor, which she had apparently taken off for the jump, materializing on her as she ran.

  She was able to dodge three weapon thrusts from the long spears of the dragonkin troops between her and the lieutenant as she pulled out her weapon. Her sword, already ignited with purple aura, sliced through her target’s neck as he tried to backstep and avoid her, nearly decapitating the dragonkin, her reach only a few inches short of his spine.

  Nick, trying to defend Elizabeth in her mad dash to take out the leadership, had followed after her, his own spear and shield instantly equipping in hand as he used the Charge skill to intercept a halberd aimed at Elizabeth’s back, smashing into the weapon’s sharp edge with his shield as he deflected and crushed the weapon flat against the wielder before ducking beneath the swing of another. From his crouched position, he shoved off the ground as hard as he could, sending the attacker that had tried to stab Elizabeth to the ground as he pivoted, turning and swinging his spear with a horizontal slash that cut through the two attackers, leaving deep gashes in the armor on their chests but not killing them.

  Lou, Christina, and Oliver landed next to him as he fought, rushing to engage the dragonkin that had survived the aerial bombardment. Oliver came down with a massive slam of his mace, sending out a ripple of aura that tossed the dragonkin Nick had just knocked to the ground up into the air, where Christina, rapier in hand, darted through the air and stabbed him several times before the dragonkin could even hit the ground.

  As Nick engaged the well-armored dragonkin in front of him, a shadow passed, massive and swift, and Nick dove just in time to avoid the raking claws that snatched at the air where he’d just stood. Long claws scraped against the ship's deck as their owner banked to the right.

  Nick came to his feet and looked up. He saw a winged creature that looked like a giant scaled bird, a wyvern if Nick had to give it a name. It banked sharply around the starboard side of the vessel, ready to make another pass. On its back was a rider, a dragonkin with elongated crests and more elaborate armor, guided the beast with sharp yanks on chains connected to a bridle. Just as he was cutting through the air, Nick saw two of Topaz’s canisters fire right in front of it. The dragonkin pulled the bridle hard, the wyvern’s wings flapping out as it banked right hard, just in time to avoid the membranous substance that exploded out of the cannisters behind it.

  “Air attacks!” Nick shouted just as Seo-ah, Adele, and Taejo arrived beside him, a loud caw nearly covering up his words as three more wyvern riders approached.

  Without hesitation, Seo-ah went into a spin and launched six aura spears at the diving monsters. Beside her, Adele conjured a holy shield large enough to cover three men just as a wyvern dove down from behind them. Its talons raked the shield, but the creature flew away with empty claws.

  Taejo ignored the flying creatures, instead diving into the battle with the dragonkin soldiers. He’d picked up one of their own halberds from the battle on the ground and began laying into their ranks. A soldier slashed at Taejo, but he ducked under the blow and disappeared in a flash of pitch-black energy, leaving a shadowy facsimile of him in his place. The soldier wasn’t fooled by the illusion and turned to look for the real Taejo, only for the head of a halberd to shoot through the decoy into the dragonkin’s chest. The burst of ice that followed cracked the monster’s rib and flash-froze its heart. The dragonkin dropped dead, and Taejo stepped out of his shadow copy, his eyes glowing black as he found another enemy.

  Nick heard more thumps as more and more of his strike team landed, but he couldn’t see who had landed as he fought against not one but three dragonkin. Their three halberds worked in concert, stabbing and slashing as he spun his spear, deflecting one then another of the weapons. He stepped back, trying to gain room to move, and felt the heel of his boot hit the air. He’d been pushed to the edge of the deck without even realizing it.

  Three sharp-toothed smiles greeted him as he spun, the dragonkin no doubt expecting to kill him. Instead, Nick pulled upon his Charisma and activated Enhanced Command while shouting “Blink!” at the three monsters. They obeyed. They all closed their eyes at once while Nick ducked and used Charge to zip under their extended halberds. He cut his charge short and then used the built-up momentum to spin and make a Spear Sweep at the backs of the soldiers’ calves, the haft of his spear taking their legs out from under them. The three dragonkin toppled right off the edge of the ship deck into the empty air, temporarily taking the winged creatures out of the fight.

  Nick heard a fading keening cry as he engaged two other soldiers that tried to attack Adele. He stabbed one through the throat, but his spear head got stuck, and he had to drop the weapon as he felt the edged halberd head of the other hit him in his side. The armor covering his body took the blow, some of the chainmail snapping, but Nick stepped to the side with the attack, preventing it from being a lethal hit. His hand came down in an overhead chop, his aura flaring out to create a blade that snapped the haft of the dragonkin’s weapon in half. Then, Nick charged inside the creature’s range, his glowing hand snapping forward to take the wielder of the halberd in the throat with his aura blade.

  There was a sudden whomp to his left and a caw of pain, and Nick glanced to see that Allen had arrived and was already firing at the flying wyverns. He then spotted Stacy, Maria, Rosemary, and Reginald plowing through the dragonkin as well. Then there were heavy thuds, and Nick saw that the heavily armored knights of the Black Witch’s group had arrived, even more landing behind them. These were the reinforcements Nick’s team needed as the humans now outnumbered the dragonkin and were pushing forward.

  The wyverns dropped from the sky, purple lightning from Black Witch’s mages striking faster than the creatures could ever hope to be. The monsters’ leathery wings burned and blackened, and their riders, the more humanoid dragonkin in heavy armor with stunted wings, shrieked as they fell to their deaths.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Within moments, the last of the dragonkin were dead or dying.

  “Deck secured!” Sir Aldric Ironhart yelled.

  “Move out and destroy this ship!” one of his companions yelled, the team of knights breaking into groups.

  Just as the knight groups were about to rush off to destroy the aircraft, the deck split and something rose from the depths of the ship, a creature twice the length of the other wyverns, and atop its back was the biggest dragonkin Nick had ever seen. He was at least nine feet tall and clad in dark-crimson plate armor, intricately etched with runes that pulsed with a dull glow. His wings—armored at the joints—extend wide behind him. His helm seemed to wrap around his long golden horns, which had four rings carved into them. The helm covered his head entirely, leaving only his burning gold eyes visible. A massive greatsword that crackled with power was already in his clawed hand, and he wielded the weapon like it weighed nothing.

  Nick knew without a doubt that this was the dragonkin captain he’d been warned about. The Black Witch’s knights wouldn’t be able to cut the ship off and stop it from communicating with the main group as long as this guy was around to stop them.

  “There he is, emissary! Kill him or all our efforts will be in vain!” a knight from the now-scattering group of mages and warriors shouted before they disappeared below deck, leaving Nick and his team alone with the wyvern and its rider. Nick used Omni-Trainer Insight on the captain.

  Karvys Drak’Thul

  Level: 55

  Type: Dragonkin Captain (Mounted Cavalry – Wyvern Class)

  A veteran commander of the Skyborne Legions, Karvys Drak’Thul is renowned for his mastery of aerial combat while mounted on his battle-hardened wyvern. The combination of his heavy dragon-forged plate armor, precision dive strikes, and coordinated wyvern tactics makes him a formidable opponent. His wyvern boasts reinforced wing membranes and venomous talons capable of paralyzing lesser foes.

  Insight Note:

  Grounding the mount is key—target its wings with precision strikes or binding magic to strip Karvys of his mobility and force him into ground combat, where his effectiveness is reduced. Exploit the brief moments after his wyvern’s dive attacks when both rider and mount are vulnerable to counteroffensives.

  “Don’t let him get into the a—!” Nick started to shout, but the wyvern was already moving, its powerful body faster than Nick imagined it could be. Lou and Elizabeth charged it, weapons flaring with purple aura, but the rider shouted something in its language, pulled on the reins in its hands, and had the wyvern leap right over the two. The jump sent it right over the edge of the deck and into the open air.

  Nick raced to the edge of the ship’s deck and saw the creature plummet, and for a moment Nick hoped that it would keep falling and their problems would be over. Unfortunately, thirty feet down, the wyvern’s thin, bat-like arms snapped out, its membranous wings catching an updraft in the air and rising high above the ship.

  “Don’t let the wyvern get you! Its claws have a paralysis poison! The rider is the ship’s captain. He’s heavily armored. We need to drop him from his mount if we’re going to have a chance!”

  There was a cry as the wyvern dove at speeds that would rival a fighter jet, its rear talons snatching up Lou and Elizabeth. The two tore free, but not before they were already a dozen feet in the air. They fell, crashing to the deck of the ship with enough force to dent it. They were both left barely moving.

  Adele started to heal the two, but the caw of the wyvern sounded, and Nick used Charge to snatch Adele away a fraction of a second before the creature dove at her, its wing beating before it flew away.

  “That rider is smart! It intentionally let Lou and Elizabeth go to figure out who our healer was!” Seo-ah shouted.

  “Adele, are they okay?” Nick asked, gesturing towards the Walters siblings. “Will the paralysis poison kill them?”

  “They’re okay for now, but if they don’t get treatment soon, the poison could seize up their lungs and keep them from breathing.”

  Rosemary shook her head. “Let them go for now. We need to kill this thing or it’s going to pick us off one at a time.”

  Nick nodded in reluctant agreement. Taking down Karvys Drak’Thul was the priority.

  “Rosemary, make a copy of Adele and lead it into the open. Everyone else, focus on making an ice wall to force the wyvern into a turn that will crash it. Then take it out. Oliver, Reggie, and I will pull the rider from his saddle and ground him.”

  Rosemary created a nearly identical copy of Adele, who ran to the middle of the deck and pretended to heal Lou and Elizabeth.

  There was a caw, and the shadow of the wyvern grew as it dove. “Now!” Nick shouted, pouring in his magic with the others to rapidly create a series of ten-foot-long ice stakes.

  Nick had expected the wyvern to see the deadly ice creations and turn, either throwing the rider off or crashing into the deck. He was prepared to activate Charge to close the distance with the creature and attack the rider, but instead there was a horrifying crashing sound as the wyvern slammed into the ice stakes, impaling itself.

  Blood erupted from the wyvern's mouth, a geyser of dark fluid that steamed in the cold air surrounding the ice wall. Its wings spasmed once, twice, and then spread wide in death. The impact resonated through the ship, the deck trembling beneath their feet as the ice wall absorbed and distributed the massive kinetic energy.

  The wyvern’s body slid further down the spikes, impaled in multiple places. Its tail thrashed madly, cracking smaller ice formations and sending shards flying across the deck. Adele threw up a hasty magical shield to protect herself and Amanda from the deadly fragments.

  But Nick's attention wasn’t on the dying mount—it was on Karvys.

  In the instant before impact, the dragonkin warrior had launched himself upward. He somersaulted through the air, his massive greatsword whirling around him in a protective circle of flame.

  “He’s coming down starboard!” Nick shouted. “Taejo! Maria! Intercept!”

  Taejo’s form blurred as he activated Shadow Step, disappearing from his position and reappearing thirty feet away, directly beneath the falling dragonkin. Maria sprinted to join him, her shield raised overhead.

  Karvys adjusted his trajectory mid-fall, angling his body to avoid Taejo’s waiting blade. His armor pulsed with energy, the wyrm runes glowing like hot coals as he channeled power to his legs in preparation for landing.

  He crashed onto the deck with earth-shattering force. Metal warping beneath his armored form, the sheets giving way to form a crater six feet wide. The impact sent a shock wave rippling outward, knocking Taejo and Maria off their feet despite their ready stances. Allen, attempting to line up a shot from the quarterdeck, was thrown backward against the railing.

  The ship listed dangerously to starboard, the sudden damage to its structural integrity causing it to tilt. Loose equipment slid across the deck, and Topaz, who had been acting like a mobile medbay for those wounded in the deck battle, had to grab a rope to avoid tumbling into the newly formed crater.

  “NO!!! I WILL NOT BE A BARTENDER WHO DIES FROM LOSING HER BALANCE!!” Topaz yelled as she hauled herself back from the edge.

  Through the settling dust and splintered wood, the dragonkin captain rose to his full height. His armor was scratched and dented in places, but he appeared largely unharmed. His helmet had been busted up a little, the dents and craters revealing a glimpse of scaled skin and a burning yellow eye beneath.

  “You killed my beast,” he said, his voice unnaturally calm. The greatsword in his hands pulsed with intensifying flame. “For that alone, your deaths will be agonizing.”

  Behind him, the wyvern gave a final shudder and went still, its massive body sagging further onto the ice spikes. Blood continued to flow, steaming where it touched the magically cold surface.

  “One problem solved,” Nick muttered, adjusting his grip on the Weight of Dedication. “Now for the bigger one.”

  Karvys adjusted his helmet, concealing his face once more. His wings—smaller than the wyvern's but still impressive—spread wide behind him, flexing. The flames surrounding his greatsword intensified, changing from crimson to a deeper, more malevolent purple-tinged red.

  "Wyrmfire Breath," he intoned, his words translated by the Black Witch in Nick’s mind. The creature’s voice resonated with power.

  A gout of flame erupted from his helmet's mouth slit, arcing across the deck in a sweeping pattern. Everyone dove for cover behind barrels and anything else left on the deck.

  “Adele!” Nick called out. “Status on the ice magic?”

  Adele picked herself up, her face streaked with sweat. “Between the last fight and this one, we’re running low on mana. That wall took everything most of us had.”

  Nick nodded, his mind racing through their remaining options. They had accomplished the first part of the plan—the wyvern was dead, and the dragonkin captain was grounded. But the dragonkin warrior was far from defeated. If anything, he seemed even more dangerous now, fueled by rage and the desire for vengeance.

  “Rosemary,” Nick called out, locating his cousin among her fading illusions. “Can you give us cover illusions?”

  As if slightly insulted, Rosemary replied, “Who do you think I am? You know full well that I can easily make some illusions!”

  “Just enough to confuse his targeting,” Nick told her, rolling his eyes slightly. He turned to the others, raising his voice. “Regroup! Diamond formation around him!”

  The team began to move, circling Karvys warily. The dragonkin warrior turned slowly, tracking their movements, his greatsword held at the ready. The deck beneath his feet creaked ominously with each step, damaged from his impact.

  “Your strategy was clever,” the dragonkin captain admitted, his helm turning toward Nick. "But incomplete. Did you think me helpless without my steed?"

  As if to demonstrate, he beat his wings once, lifting himself ten feet into the air before settling back onto the deck. The message was clear—he might be grounded, but he was far from earthbound.

  “Taejo, can you Shadow Step behind him?” Nick shouted in Korean.

  Taejo nodded almost imperceptibly, his hand already moving to the hilt of his geom, his traditional korean sword, which he had recovered after the fight in the forest. “On your signal.”

  Karvys rolled his shoulders, the plates of his armor shifting and locking into new configurations. “Come then,” he said, his voice dripping with contempt. “Let us finish this dance.”

  Nick gauged the distance between them, calculating odds and angles. The dragonkin was powerful—perhaps too powerful for any of them individually. But together, with coordinated attacks from multiple directions . . .

  “Spread out,” Nick ordered. “Don't give him a single target.”

  Karvys laughed, the sound echoing metallically from his helm. “Spread as thin as you wish. It will only make you easier to cut down, one by one.”

  Behind the dragonkin, the wyvern’s body had begun to slip from the melting ice wall, the creature's immense weight dragging it downward. The ice cracked and groaned under the strain, shards breaking off and clattering to the deck.

  Nick took a deep breath, centering himself. The Weight of Dedication felt perfectly balanced in his hands now, responsive to his intentions.

  As he gripped the spear tightly, Karvys charged, the runes on his armor glowing as the powerful commander advanced at lightning speed.