he tried to draw his weapon. The attacker was quicker, however, and the blade struck before Gler’thys had left its sheath. The dragon managed to leap aside, plunging into the thick undergrowth. The supple twigs seized him almost immediately and flung him towards Aiden.
The sword slid out smoothly and Draco was able to respond with a slash. The clang of steel echoed amongst the tall trees. It didn’t matter, though. In the coastal thicket, sounds faded quickly, shrouding everything in an aura of mystery.
On the attacker’s face, surprise gave way to determination. It seemed Aiden had no intention whatsoever of giving ground. The boy leapt forward as if to ram the reptile, but in truth he wasn’t aiming for Draco. At the last moment, the tip of the sword veered gently to the side, and the full force of the thrust was redirected onto the parthir.
Draco turned slightly and deftly parried the attack. For the reptile, the brief exchange was all the more surprising because, due to the undergrowth, he was unable to attack as he usually did. He wasn’t used to having his movement restricted. The fact that in Dagos he often had to slip away through alleys and narrow streets bore no relation to a situation where he was fighting an opponent on equal terms. What worked in his favour, however, was that he trained daily with the Ed’heer soldiers. Whilst Aiden could not be faulted for his enthusiasm and fairly good technique, he was a long way from being a professional, or even a cadet at the Dragon Academy.
The dragon slashed wildly, seeking to push his opponent back rather than land a hit. His opponent took a step back, and Draco followed up with another strike. A series of wide, somewhat slow attacks forced Aiden to retreat time and again towards the open space the dragon had spotted. A slash, a change of direction, a thrust followed by a lunge, and they found themselves outside the thicket, on a small patch of open ground beneath a spreading alder tree.
The dragon gave a
