Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans Read Free Book Online

said, detaching from the dorsal fins and disappearing behind them.
    â€œWhat . . . why?” Jawn asked, not seeing a reason to panic. The air felt smooth—none of those rough, invisible hills—and they would clear the mountaintop by fifty yards or more. Not a lot, but enough. It would give him a chance to overlook the land. He’d never seen jungle before. He wanted to experience every moment of this. This was living! All the agony suffered on the flight was forgotten. “Our landing at Swassi was actually pretty smooth. We glided in like a feather. She might be tired, but the old girl should let us down nice enough.”
    The crowny’s head popped up. There wasn’t a trace of a smile this time. “We come in a bit steeper over here on account of the slyts.”
    â€œA . . . what’s a slyt?”
    Rickets never answered, ducking down again. The other passengers did the same. Jawn looked back toward the ground. He could make out a dirt path winding its way down the mountain wherever there were gaps in thefoliage. He looked closer and saw black scorch marks around those areas, as if they’d recently been burned. Maybe the peasants were clearing the land for farming.
    The smell of the jungle rose up and struck Jawn’s nostrils for the first time.
    He’d gotten used to the smoky aroma of the rag and the scouring, clean smell of salt water over the ocean. This was something entirely different. It was as if the scents of a hundred different animals, dead and alive, had been thrown into a bubbling vat of rotting vegetation and heated until the resultant steam stained the very air like a hot, moist mold.
    â€œUgh. That’s putrid,” Jawn said, trying to breathe through his teeth.
    â€œHah. Wait until summer!” Rickets shouted.
    A gleam caught Jawn’s eye. A group of soldiers were spread out on the path. Some of them waved and motioned toward the top of the mountain, but most of them simply looked up at him. One pointed his crossbow at the rag as it flew overhead.
    The rag continued to descend, picking up speed as they approached the mountain ridge. He’d misjudged. They’d clear the top with less than forty feet to spare. It was a shame they were going so fast, though; everything would be a blur when they overflew it.
    A movement in the treetops drew his attention.
    â€œWhat are those in the trees?” he asked, then realized he was talking to himself. A moment later, the canopy of leaves in front of them began to sparkle as several small flames appeared in the crowns.
    â€œWhat—” was all he got out before the rag nosed down. Finding a final reserve of energy, she flapped her wings and thrashed her tail, pushing forward even as she fell. Black smoke poured out of her nostrils and streamed back along her body. A shimmering heat seeped through the spaces in her scales. Jawn madly tore off his jacket and stuffed it underneath him.
    Damn it, I should have taken a ship! A howling rumble built into a roar as the rag’s scales creaked with the strain. Chunks of scale cracked and flew off from the area around her rib cage. Jawn ducked as pieces as large as two-foot paving stones cartwheeled past his head.
    An orange glow grew in intensity forward of the rag’s wings on eachside of her massive chest. Jawn squinted and saw a large section of scales lifting into the wind stream.
    â€œShe’s breaking up!” His innards contracted into a frozen block of fear.
    â€œIt’s her air gills!” Rickets shouted. “I figured the old girl’s would have seized up long ago, but I guess not!”
    â€œAir gills?” Jawn cursed his limited lack of knowledge on all things dragon.
    â€œLets them suck in more air to feed their fire when they need the speed! Makes things exciting when they use them!”
    â€œThis is normal?!” Jawn shouted, gasping as the heat coming off the rag got hotter.
    â€œIf we