Indeera grunted as her Vector took a hit from behind. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing smoke billowing from her tail. Another Nihil fighter was right behind her. The last strike had been a glancing blow, causing little damage, but the next might rupture her fuel reserves, unless she took a leaf out of the Nihil’s book.

“You guys like smoke, right?”

She flicked a switch, activating the second canister of dye that she had been carrying since the opening ceremony. Red vapor flowed out of her exhaust, billowing over the Nihil, blinding its pilot. And yet her grin fell away as she realized that the marauder hadn’t fallen away. Whoever was behind the stick was good, staying on her no matter how she weaved and rolled. The smokescreen hadn’t stopped them and neither did the g-inducing climb she pulled in the hope that the Nihil’s aircraft would stall. Instead the Nihil climbed with her, higher and higher, sending salvo after salvo across her tail, each volley nearer than the last. She made one last turn, but still the Nihil stuck to her like hull sealant. She felt the marauder’s crosshairs lock onto her and prepared herself for the blast that would tear the Vector apart.

The blast never came.

Indeera swiveled in her seat, looking back to see a gigantic winged creature soar behind her, the mangled remains of the Nihil’s cockpit in its jaws. She laughed out loud as she saw who was hunched on the sanval’s back, robes blowing in the wind.

Elzar Mann was riding a dragon into the middle of a dogfight.

Because who else would it be.

CHAPTER FIFTY

The skies above Valo

They were winning. Stellan’s plan to clear the war-cloud had worked, just as Elzar knew it would the moment he’d heard his friend’s voice come over the comlink. He hadn’t been able to respond personally. He was too busy trying not to get thrown off the back of a bucking sanval as he and Ty took to the air. His mount was feisty but flew straight into combat without complaint. The Nihil didn’t know what hit them. Those who weren’t knocked out of the sky with a flick of the sanval’s tail soon found themselves staring down its gullet, the dragon’s teeth making short work of their canopies.

The Jedi Vector they’d rescued waggled its wings in thanks before zooming off. Elzar had no idea who was behind the controls, but was glad they had survived to fight another day.

He patted the sanval’s hide, feeling freer than he had in months, his head finally clear. All the disappointment and frustration were gone. He couldn’t forget what he’d done earlier that day, but he could start to make amends.

And hey, if he could do it in style, so much the better.