to weave a bit of optimism into his voice. ‘But the odds are still in our favour.’
‘Statistics aren’t likely to help us.’ The dragon regained his balance and noted with satisfaction that he could stop squinting. He still felt a bit sluggish, but was quickly recovering, at least physically. He had no intention of testing his magical abilities. Trusting others in this matter didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
‘True, but maybe Cedric and the others will come up with something.’ Parthir walked alongside the reptile, glancing at him every few paces. ‘Whatever happens, stick close to me until the end of the exercises. You’ll be my guard and my assistant at the same time.’ Noah’s lips twitched into a faint smile.
‘Once again, what are you supposed to do?’
‘Don’t stray from you and try to protect you in the event of a fight,’ Draco repeated for the hundredth time. They were sitting on the lakeshore, in thick bushes, observing the defensive positions in the tower being prepared for a siege. And that was essentially where everything was heading.
A reconnaissance mission carried out after mobilising everyone who’d remained in the village hadn’t yielded particularly optimistic results. It appeared that an additional squad had been deployed from a final, thus far unknown, position. Fifteen defenders and nineteen attackers. As things stood, the advantage lay with the defending cadets.
However, Cedric refused to give up and was determined to fight to the end. Despite the unfavourable balance of forces, he decided to make matters even worse. Adam and the rest of the reconnaissance team were sent to locate the final position held by Group Ten. It seemed that Retfield saw a chance of victory in capturing two of the three designated positions. However, playing for the advantage could prove deceptive, as they had no idea what additional tasks had been assigned to the defenders and how many of them the defenders had managed to complete. If luck was on their side, they would have interrupted their opponents before they had a chance to complete their missions.
