“I’m not leaving you.”
I sighed internally. “Don’t let me put you in harm’s way. Please, Ro, that will kill me.”
“Then you better get your shit together so you don’t, because I won’t leave you, Dae.”
“Gods, you’re stubborn.”
She smacked my neck, but I barely felt it. The pure amount of strength that surged in this form was hard to adjust to.
“We’re close,”I warned, spending more self-control to slow down. I picked up scents on the wind and had an easier time than ever to detect those corrupted by the Pool. I even honed in on the horde in the sky.
“There are nine dragons, almost all crowding over the camp. The Eleven are still outside the camp walls. They’re at the Pool,” I told her.
“Are there any dragons far enough away that we can get to them without camp members spotting us?”
“I think ther—wait. What is…”
My legs propelled us forward. The energy stirring in my chest couldn’t be dampened. Something was happening, and I had to get closer to the Pool.
Ro’s blurred words were a melody in my soul, though I couldn’t distinctly hear her. She was with me, and I needed to be near that power source. It was…living. We neared the Pool, and Ro screamed my name in her mind, which gave me enough sense to stop short before we left the protection of the forest. We could see through the trees that The Eleven remained by the water’s edge.
Marvoe approached the still water, holding something blue in his hands.
“No,” Ro whispered. Her heartbeat picked up. I scented the adrenaline and fear coursing through her.
I moved, eating the distance between us and Marvoe, but I was too late. He finished chanting some sort of incantation, then removed a knife from his belt and held it to Braxius’s throat. The little dragon’s blood coated the knife before Marvoe tossed his little body into the water.
“NO!” Ro’s scream shook the earth. Literal trembles moved under my paws, not from reverberation, but as if the world roared with her.
I hadn’t noticed Kasia laying on the ground, her arm outstretched toward the dead body of her bound husband. Beside him, Delia, and the rest of the prisoners. All dead. If I had to guess, I’d say The Eleven used them as leverage in order to retrieve the horn now strapped to Carmin.
Waves crested in the Black Pool. I could hear it groaning awake. Shape took form, like the water’s surface rounded,reaching toward the sky. Then talon-topped wings emerged from the back of a colossal beast. A largebluebeast.
Braxius rose in his mature form, his size rivaling that of Tyberius. His wings stretched and rolled. When he expanded them fully, he shot skyward. Ro shuddered with relief and I could smell her salty tears.
But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the Pool. It writhed and stretched. What had felt cold and trapping now felt searing and expansive. Fresh black veins slithered along the ground, moving like a snake. I’d never seen them act like that before. The veins stretching toward Argora Vale barely held life, but these had been refreshed, rejuvenated. The green ground died under its reach.
“Dae, we have to go. We have to warn them.”She could barely get the mental words out.
Watching it come alive was like staring at the sun. Totally eclipsing and blinding to anything else. The Eleven reveled, shouting praises to the gods. They were unharmed when the black roots slithered beneath their feet. In fact, they appeared empowered when it touched them. I ached to feel it, to surround myself in its power.
“Dae, please. They’ll kill me.”
The Eleven began walking. Smiles so bright on their faces let me know they no longer felt like they had to separate from the source. The world would bow before whoever wielded this dark magic, whether they wanted to or not.
But I’d made a vow.
Though it felt like my soul ripped as I tore from the scene, we raced through the forest, heading south. My body no longer belonged to me. It would bend under the mercy or mirth of dark magic. But my heart…
My heart belonged to her.
73
Tio
What better time than an impending battle against the darkest forces known to man to play more rock tossing games? Jasper would toss ‘em, I’d make ‘em float. A new version I’d invented on our march into Windguard was straight up shooting them at him. He found remarkably agile ways to avoid them for being half rock himself.
My other arm was securely fixed around Melody’s waist, despite goofing around with Jasper. Dante, Nick, and Marco stood by, chatting about boring kingdom affairs. I didn’t envy their mantles one bit.
