Working in tandem, Dan and Tom angled their dragon body downward. Dan flattened his wing against his body, just as his brother must have done the same. They plummeted toward the ground, in a steep dive. Wind roared in Dan's ears as the ground neared, and he smiled inwardly as their targets grew closer and closer. "Ready..." Dan heard his brother speak through their telepathic link.
"Almost... Almost..." Dan answered back, patiently gauging the right time for them to open their wings. Before the dive, they agreed that he would call for them to halt their descent, as neither wanted to solely rely on their insight of each other's movements. For this surprise attack, they needed to act completely in sync or risk something terrible befalling them. If Dan or his brother opened their wing prematurely, their body would flail wildly off course, causing them to crash into the ground. If they did not die on impact, the orcs would surely finish them off.
"Almost..." Dan spoke again as the ground seemed to grow around him, filling his entire view. "Now!" Dan yelled as he opened his bat-like wing wide, his brother mirroring the movement with his own wing. Using their momentum from the dive, they strategically leveled out their body to speed up from behind the small orc band.
Dan inhaled a great breathe of air, and he immediately felt his lungs bulge. He glanced at his brother and realized too late that they both should not have breathed in at the same time as it seemed to have almost overfilled their lungs. Ignoring the urge to cough, Dan held his breathe and aimed his mouth downward. He felt the familiar burning energy from within. The same energy that he had practiced summoning not so long ago while he and Tom adjusted to their united dragon body. Dan exhaled lightly for a moment, letting flames dance across his tongue. He then released the flames in a dazzling stream of fire, scorching one of the orcs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a long streak of a cold, almost sub-zero, wind freeze another orc solid. And then, Dan was out of breathe.
He struggled to take in air, his lung only getting a meager amount of oxygen to replenish what was expelled. He and his brother landed roughly on the ground, each trying to take in large breathes, but unable. Dan could feel his brother, trying to pull in air, but at seemingly opposite times as himself. He realized that their diaphragm, or whatever equivalent organ that dragons had, was spasming as each of them tried to breathe separately. Dan forced himself to breathe in rhythm with his brother, and air mercifully filled their lungs again.
He did not have time to relax. The remaining orc, seemingly bloodthirsty for revenge, was charging them, his spear aimed at the center of their chest. Dan knew that neither he nor Tom were ready to release a breathe attack again. Following instinct, he unfolded his wing and slapped his forward. A gust of wind buffeted the surprised orc, causing him to stumble. Unfortunately for Dan, his twin, the owner of the other half of their body, was also surprised. Their body was pushed backward at an angle a few feet, and they crumpled to the ground on Tom's side. He roared in complaint and released a smaller breathe of freezing air at the orc. It laid motionless, having been fast-frozen.
Carefully, Dan and his brother picked themselves off the ground. "We did it!" Dan cheered, smiling inwardly. His dragon face made it difficult to express emotions outwardly, but he spoke happily through his and his brother's telepathic link.
"Yeah we did..." Tom sighed. Dan knew his brother well, and his twin's tone indicated that he was more relieved than thrilled of their success.
"I know it could have gone better..." Dan spoke up before his brother complained. "But come on, we kicked butt."
Dan sensed his brother smiling, despite his attempt at hiding it from their link. "You're right. We did kick orc butt. But, this does show how much more practice we need." Dan groaned inwardly, but he sensed, like his brother's excitement at their win, his annoyance seeped through their connection. "Dude, how else are we going to get really good?" Tom questioned.
Their 'twin link', which Dan had coined, was a double-edged sword. It significantly improved their coordination and communication, but hiding things, like emotions, from each other was difficult. Dan knew his brother was going to insist on them doing more drills, but in the end, he knew his brother was right. "Fine... but lets at least enjoy the rest of the day before we get back to the grind."