The dragon scanned the ravine in both directions. A little further to the left, the water began, whilst from the right came more and more sounds of destruction and conflagration. Up above, beyond the ravine, the undergrowth was sparser and offered no chance of concealment. ‘Can you swim?’
‘Not in this.’ Noah patted his thick tunic. ‘And I’m not about to drown. I hope you’re not either.’ He patted the dragon on his reinforced shoulder guard.
‘If not a lake, then perhaps something involving magic?’ the reptile suggested hopefully.
‘Don’t even think about it.’ Parthir fixed his glowing eyes on Draco. ‘That’s the last thing we need.’ He shook his head. ‘And me… For me, they’re the worst kind of enemies. They’ll burn everything to the ground before I can do anything.’
‘So it’s the lake after all.’ A few smaller sparks flashed over the ravine and fell into the undergrowth on the other side. The flames shot a metre into the air almost immediately and, dancing merrily, began to devour the vegetation. ‘Unless you’d rather fry yourself.’ He shrugged. As far as he was concerned, they could set the whole forest alight, and Draco could still wait it out without any trouble. All he needed was to find a spot where the smoke didn’t gather too much and there was no direct exposure to magical or secondary flames. The sweltering heat seemed almost refreshing.
‘I must be going mad…’ Noah got up from his seat, grumbling under his breath.
The water at the bottom of the ravine was gradually rising, so by the time they reached the bank they were already wading knee-deep in murky, muddy sludge. Draco had no idea how on earth they hadn’t yet been attacked from behind, but it seemed the attackers had either gone in the opposite direction or turned their attention to something else. Without magic, and setting aside his dragon abilities, he had no desire whatsoever to find out what was actually going on. He’d been tasked with staying close to the parthir and protecting him as best he could, and that
