Gates of Ruin (Magelands Eternal Siege, #6) by Christopher Mitchell (ebook reader for surface pro txt) 📕

He landed between two greenhides, who ripped him to shreds in seconds as the crowd roared. A large net was flung at the dragon, covering her head and tangling the claws of her right forelimb, and the warriors charged forward, their pikes levelled. Blackrose retreated a few feet, but a greenhide attacked her from the rear, its teeth and claws tearing into her long tail.

Sable swallowed, and her hand moved towards the Quadrant. She pulled off the cloak, the copper-coloured device clutched in her left hand, and readied herself.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Hey, you.’

She turned, blinking.

Three angry-looking men were standing to her right.

‘You used to go with Gantu, didn’t you?’ said one. ‘It was you that got him killed, so I heard.’

‘Who?’ she said. ‘Never heard of him.’

‘Liar,’ spat one of the men. ‘I used to see you every day in Gantu’s apartment building. You ran off with that little rat Millen.’

‘You’ve got the wrong woman, lads,’ she said.

‘I even remember your weird accent,’ he said. He turned to a larger group of supporters a few benches away. ‘Boys, it’s Sable. The bitch has come back.’

One of the men tried to grab her shoulder, and she powered her battle-vision and shoved him away. She sprang to her feet, and edged down the stone steps as dozens of faces turned to see what the commotion was.

‘Get her!’ cried someone. ‘Throw her to the greenhides!’

She turned and ran, bounding down the steps towards the low parapet that surrounded the arena. She shoved a man carrying a tray of drinks out of her way, sending him and the wine crashing to the benches behind her, then reached the parapet and stopped, turning. A large group were charging down the steps after her, their eyes shining with hatred. Sable gulped, climbed up onto the top of the parapet, and jumped.

She fell a dozen feet through the air, then landed in the sand less than a yard from a greenhide. It lunged at her, its thick talons cleaving the air as she pushed herself backwards. The attention of the majority of the crowd was still focussed on the dragon, but many were now gazing down at Sable as she dodged the claws of the greenhide. She rolled forwards under another lunge of claws, and picked up a spear that had been thrown at Blackrose, her left hand still clutching the Quadrant. She raced away from the greenhide, and ran towards the flank of the dragon. Blackrose was bleeding from several wounds, and the heads of two spears were still embedded into her side. The shackles round her rear limbs were preventing her from being able to reach the warriors, who were darting forward with their pikes, and then retreating again before she could attack them. One of the warriors saw Sable, and stared at her for a moment open-mouthed, and Blackrose ripped him in two with her claws.

The roar from the crowd increased as more people saw Sable down on the sands. A warrior tried to grab her, but she jabbed the spear into his face and he fell screaming to his knees. Boos started to resound from the stone benches from both sets of supporters, and the announcer stood, his hands in the air as he tried to quieten the crowd. Arete was leaning forward in her seat, staring at Sable, her eyes wide.

‘You?’ bellowed Blackrose as she turned her neck to look down at Sable. ‘I ought to kill you.’

‘Shut up, you stupid lizard,’ cried Sable as she reached the side of the dragon.

A warrior drove a pike at her. She dodged, but the blade ripped through the sleeve on her right arm, scoring her skin in a thin line of red. The arena was in uproar. All three of the gods were on their feet, trying to have the games halted, and Arete was pointing down at the Quadrant in Sable’s hand.

‘If you intend to use that thing,’ said Blackrose, her eyes glowing like fiery embers, ‘then do it now.’

Sable dropped the spear and slid her fingers over the device. The air shimmered, and the tomb materialised around them. Maddie screamed in surprise, then Sable noticed that one of the Blue Thumb warriors had also made the journey to the Catacombs. He was gripping onto a pike, the point of which was buried deep into Blackrose’s right flank. The dragon turned, and brought down one of her forelimbs, crushed him into the floor of the cavern.

Sanguino poked his head out into the tunnel, his green eyes wide, as Millen and Maddie stared.

Sable put her hands on her knees, panting, her heart pounding.

Maddie ran towards Blackrose as if a spell had been broken, then she burst into tears as she hugged the dragon’s forelimb. Millen shook his head, staring at the wounds on the dragon’s flank. Then he noticed the dead warrior.

‘That’s Kelito!’ he cried. ‘You killed the captain of the Blue Thumbs.’

‘Welcome back,’ said Sanguino; ‘we have missed you.’

‘I have missed you too,’ said Blackrose. ‘Please remove the chains and the muzzle.’

Maddie stepped back from the dragon, her face wet with tears, then she and Millen pulled the chains from her back, releasing her wings. They then removed the iron muzzle, and Blackrose stretched her jaws.

‘You’re hurt,’ said Maddie. ‘Are you hungry? What do you need?’

Blackrose lowered her head and nuzzled Maddie’s shoulder. ‘We shall speak soon, rider, but before I say anything else, there is something I must do.’

She lunged out with her claws and gripped Sable tight, making her drop the Quadrant to the ground, then she strode to the edge of the tomb and launched herself into the air. Sable tried to squirm in the dragon’s grasp, but the grip was so tight it was hard to breathe, and then she was dangling over the lava-filled valley as Blackrose soared into the bright sky. The dragon turned south, and they raced over the mountains, then began to cross the barren desert of the Fordian Wastes. Sable kept