She shot by overhead but her pursuers backwinged as Temeraire rose into their path, scrambling to avoid running into him. Temeraire opened his jaws and roared furious thunder on them; a Pêcheur-Rayé in point-blank range took the brunt of the attack. The French dragon wavered for a moment in mid-air, his eyes now blood-shot and strange, as a great gush of blood poured from of his nostrils. He sank from the sky, and his wings broke beneath him like kites as he smashed into the ground.

Majestatis appeared beside him and then Ballista. The other French dragons, all middleweights, turned tail and fled. Temeraire hovered for a moment longer, panting with frustrated energy and confusion. Requiescat was rising too, complaining, ‘What is all the noise for? It is too dark to fight.’

‘We do not have to fight,’ Temeraire said. ‘They have all run away.’

‘Oh, the cowards!’ Iskierka cried, circling back. ‘They did not mind fighting so much when they outnumbered me.’ She turned her head to glare hotly at the French boarders upon her back. ‘Granby, you are well? Are you sure I should not just kill these men?’

‘No, they have surrendered, and now they are our prisoners,’ Granby said. ‘There is head-money for prisoners,’ he added, wearily.

‘I would rather kill them than have the money,’ Iskierka said. ‘They hurt you.’

‘You have hurt him,’ Temeraire said, angrily, ‘and after I gave him to you, too,’ and he reached out to take Laurence off her back. ‘Are you quite well?’ he said anxiously.

‘Yes,’ Laurence said briefly, in the way that meant he was not well at all, but did not like to say so publicly. Temeraire sniffed at him surreptitiously; he did not think Laurence was bleeding, but it was so dark he could not be sure he was not missing some injury. ‘We must away at once,’ Laurence added, ‘they will bring on more pursuit, and we have neglected our duty for too long. We will be missed.’

‘We have been missed, and Wellesley sent a very rude note, too,’ Temeraire said to him, turning his head back to talk when they were underway, ‘which was not very sensible, but we have worked out that the army has gone back to London. How did you get Granby away?’

‘We had help,’ Laurence said. He was looking at something very small in his hand, which glittered a little in the early dawn light.

‘Is that a prize?’ Temeraire asked in interest, cocking his head to look at it.

‘No,’ Laurence said.

The flight to rejoin the army was long, but at least uneventful. Iskierka gave them no further trouble. If she was not chastened, she was at least solicitous of Granby, and willing to do nearly anything just to please him. Temeraire had rearranged the order of flight, in any case, so she was directly under their eyes.