Thelvyn's only interest was in leading the dragons far enough away that the Masters wouldn't see how few of them there really were. Braastar still had not been completely abandoned. There were still people of Flaemish descent who were too far under the influence of the Masters to seek escape. They wandered the streets in bands, seeking out enemies who had been their own countrymen only hours before. The enslaved citizens elected to keep well away from the dragons.
Thelvyn led his companions diagonally across the city until they came at last to the south wall. Although there was no gate in this section of the wall, the dragons simply leapt over it. Then they flew quickly west toward the Aalban River, so low over the fields that the tips of their wings brushed the high grass. Only when they reached the banks of the river and turned south did they dare to fly a little higher.
They followed the river for several miles before they came to the drifting mass of boats and barges filled almost to overflowing with refugees. The people cheered loudly when they saw the dragons; Thelvyn wondered if they realized that the dragons had retreated to the river only because the city had fallen to the invaders. He was circling around to land on the nearest bank when he became aware a young gold dragon was struggling to overtake him. He locked his wings to drift over the river, waiting for the young dragon to move up beside him.
"The Masters are not far behind us," the dragon reported. "I was the last of our company, and J could see them following us across the fields from the city."
"How many were there?" Thelvyn asked.
"I could not tell for certain. Many more than us, I am certain."
Thelvyn nodded, and the young dragon turned and circled back to join the rest of their company. Thelvyn realized he had to make a quick decision. He had to decide whether to stay and defend the people fleeing Braastar or to save himself and the other dragons for more important battles rather than risk all their lives in a battle they could not win. It was the most difficult decision he'd had to make in some time, since he knew what the answer had to be. He didn't dare chance losing his own life needlessly, even to save the population of an entire city. His loss might well mean the defeat of his entire world. After a moment, he turned to land on the grassy east bank of the river, waiting while the others joined him.
"This is a battle we cannot afford to fight," he told the dragons simply. "Once the Masters discover how few of us there are, they will surely force their advantage against us. Our only hope is to try to bluff them. Follow my lead closely, but be ready to retreat in a moment."
"What about the people of Braastar?" Kharendaen asked quietly.
Thelvyn could only shake his head. "Perhaps the Masters will leave them alone."
Thelvyn knew had badly it stung a dragon's pride to run from a fight, but there was no other choice. Hopping out to the edge of the bank, he spread his wings and leapt into the air, then waited for his companions to join him. Once all the dragons were in flight, he led them close to the east bank of the river, flying barely over the dark water of the river almost within the shadows of the forest that hugged the riverbank. With any luck, they would remain unseen until the last moment.
Luck was with them. Thelvyn was unable to see the gemstone dragons until they suddenly passed almost directly overhead, yet even then they were so intent upon their attack that they failed to see the dragons just below them. There were at least two dozen of them, their company composed mainly of large amber and ruby gemstone dragons. The gold dragons angled up sharply, and their swift flight carried them abruptly into the rear of the pack.
Following Thelvyn's lead, the dragons attacked quickly and furiously, using claws, fangs, and flames to inflict all the damage they could in the first few momencs of their attack, ripping into the vulnerable wings of the gemstone dragons to knock them out of the fight. The rest of the gemstone dragons circled around to attack as soon as they could, but by that time, Thelvyn had broken off the attack and led the dragons back down almost to the surface of the river before they turned and darted beneath the cover of the forest on the east bank. They weaved tightly in and out among the trees, their wings crashing through the smaller branches. Heavier and less agile, the Masters could not fly among the trees and were forced to follow the dragons above the tops of the trees.
Thelvyn planned to lead the Masters away from the river as far as he could, realizing that his only hope to save the people of Braastar was to get the Masters to pursue him. He wondered how long he could lure the Masters into following them. If he had to, he would send the other dragons away; he was the one the Masters wanted, and he would lead this chase into the Colossus Mountains if he had to.
After a few miles, the dragons had worked their way eastward to a very old, dense part of the forest, where it was easier to fly beneath the lower branches of the tall trees. The foliage in the forest's canopy was still too thick for the Masters to see them from above. Thelvyn spotted a particularly shadowy vale and landed. Flying in and out between the trees was tiring, and the dragons needed a rest. Thelvyn also needed a few moments to consider his next move. He posted a couple of the younger dragons on the perimeters of the vale to watch for danger.
"How long can we keep this up?" Kharendaen asked, sitting close beside her mate. "Can you really hope to stay ahead of the Masters indefinitely?"
"I'll do whatever I must to save those people on the river," he told her. "But when we leave, I want you to stay hidden here until it's safe to leave and then return to Braejr. Tell Solveig that she has to do something about getting ready for all those people, and Alessa has to find some way to get the Radiance to protect her people."
"You know that I won't leave you," she answered simply.
"Dragonking!" one of the young dragons called. "The Masters are flying back to the west, toward the river."
For a moment, Thelvyn looked utterly defeated. "The Masters know how to play this game as well as we do. They know they can draw me back to them by threatening the people on
the river."
"But what can we do?" Kharendaen asked worriedly.
"We're out of choices now," he said, rising. "We have to fight them."
The dragons followed Thelvyn as he hurried through the forest, seeking an opening in the trees large enough for them to return to the sky. After a few hundred yards, Thelvyn came to a small clearing and spread his wings, then leapt almost straight up with long, quick sweeps of his wings. He circled slowly just above the trees, waiting for the others to make the difficult climb out of the clearing.
The Masters were about two miles away and moving toward the west. They were flying slowly enough that Thelvyn guessed they were waiting for the dragons to show themselves. Almost as soon as the dragons began to rise above the trees, the gemstone dragons circled and turned back to attack. Then, inexplicably, they suddenly turned once more and began to fly away as quickly as they could in yet a new direction, not toward the river but north, back toward Braastar. Thelvyn did not attempt to pursue them, suspicious that they were trying to lead him into a trap. He could hardly imagine that they would be foolish enough to think he would follow them back to the city, where other gemstone dragons would be waiting to join the fray.
This time the Masters did not hesitate when the dragons failed to pursue them. Thelvyn was beginning to get the impression that they were fleeing, and since he doubted that they were trying to escape the wrath of the Dragonking, he could think of only one thing that would cause the Masters to flee. Looking back, he saw that the sky behind him was full of dragons. A small army of dragons was approaching from the southeast, part of the garrison that had remained at Rockhome. Seldaek had wasted no time in his mission, finding the nearest force of dragons and returning with them in a matter of hours.