Edmond screamed.
Honestly, I think I did as well.
Luckily for both of us, Maggie kept her head. However, as her wings unfurled, and I ducked down, or I would have been smacked by those metal feathers.
Unfortunately, I lost my hold on her.
We were still high enough that I had time to snatch Edmond from my jacket and throw him away from me.
"AAAIIEE! What the hell -- oh, wings!"
Maggie swooped down and grabbed me by my jacket collar. I jerked upward as Lord Ice continued to fall --
He crashed onto the surface with a thump that shook the snow, the ground, and the surrounding atmosphere. I thought it must have felt like being inside a sonic boom. Maggie held to me, but we tumbled down and landed with me first on my back and sliding about three yards after Maggie let go. then she fell and rolled headfirst a couple times; she must have taken landing lessons from Edmond.
Maggie rushed to her feet, gave me a nod, and launched herself back into the sky.
Cold snow fell on me. I tried to take a breath and sit up because my head kept insisting that I move. I faced danger.
Oh, yeah. Enough magic to knock Lord Ice out of the sky. Yeah. Danger.
I saw a large shape in the swirl of white that must be Lord Ice's fallen body. A whole new fear surged through me, and I made it at least to my knees.
I tried to stand and gave up. Instead, I scrambled over on all fours. I quickly located the edge of an enormous outstretched wing. The slightest touch sent it fluttering, which I took as a good sign.
Unfortunately, angry shouts and the unmistakable roar of Lord Snow filled the silence. I glanced upward but still spotted nothing that looked like a small black cat flying through the air. If Edmond had landed, it was less dramatic and noisy than usual.
I left a spectacular trail as I moved along Lord Ice's wing. I quickly became aware of others moving through the dense snow nearby, but they were huge, so not my friends. None of them followed me.
They must be searching for someone on two feet, and that told me something important. Whatever beings brought down Lord Ice, they didn't know much about humans.
I crawled up along Lord Ice's neck and then scrambled up on top of his head. One pale blue eye flickered as I leaned close to his ear.
"If you move your right wing, they won't realize where I went."
The wing moved violently and knocked things down as it sent a swirl of snow that covered my tracks. I heard startled shouts and growls.
"Thank you. I'll do what I can to help you."
Lord Ice gave a slight sigh, like a sound of surprise.
I didn't dare stay on his head, though, where someone would spot me. I slid down the far side, careful not to cut my hands on his scales. The snow was almost knee deep on this side.
I realized Lord Snow must have been waiting for us at this location, along with Five. I found no sign her, and that worried me.
I hadn't actually seen Lord Snow either, but I spotted big cat prints in the otherwise pristine snow. I followed them carefully, knowing that his angry howl meant trouble.
I glanced up in the air sometimes, letting the snowfall on my face. No Edmond and no Maggie, either. I was on my own in this white hell.
The only previous time I'd spent in the Winter Lands had come during my last adventure in Elsewhere, and we'd survived with the help of magic. I feared to use any spells now because it would attract more trouble. Besides, I still felt odd from the ice spider bites. I realized that I shouldn't attempt anything too serious.
I stayed along the edge of Lord Ice's body and began to wonder which of the dragon's enemies had brought him down and why. An attack like this couldn't be made on a whim. It took enormous magic to bring a dragon down, even for a short time. He survived the fall, at least. His body rippled, and once his front right leg shifted and what might have been a troll gave a startled cry.
Trolls tended to be big and mean but weren't really good at magic as far as I knew.
I thought we might be looking at another dragon taking down Lord Ice. However, I would have expected him to move in once Lord Ice fell from the sky and not wait for him to recover.
Lord Snow growled, and I followed that sound. I reached the base of the dragon's tail and saw some movement not far away.
A troll walked right up to the tail with a huge sword.
He took a wide-legged stance and started to swing downward.
I launched myself to where he stood slightly to my left and on my side of the tail. I threw myself low and shoved him away from the dragon. The troll tumbled with a howl of surprise, and the fool tried to roll -- and cut his own throat with the blade.
I didn't try to grab the weapon, which looked too heavy for me to handle. Lord Ice took notice of the altercation, and with a sudden swish of the tail, he sent the troll body flying.
With Lord Ice's growing consciousness came a snowstorm that almost drove me to my knees. Not a happy dragon. I wanted Maggie and Edmond on the ground, though this wasn't as safe a place as I wanted.
A colossal troll rolled over the top of the tail, fell, and struggled back to his feet. He began to turn when he spotted me and stopped in stunned surprise.
Yeah, I was in trouble.
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