“I’m sure they’ve noticed. From what Zephyra is telling me, the First Dragon is not small.”
“We have to warn the queen, too. And the den.”
“I’ve already reached out to them. But we’ll need to fly all the way to Beacon to notify your queen, if those soldiers were to be believed.”
In that moment, Elara remembered that the broken bond meant she could summon astrals again. Which meant that she could astral call again. Which meant that things didn’t have to be as hopeless as they seemed. Not yet.
“Tell Zephyra to give me some flame. I’ll try to call Aveline through it,” she said. “But we need to get to Beacon as quickly as possible. She can’tbehere if San Irie is in trouble.”
She’d never forgive herself, Elara thought but didn’t say.And neither would I.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
FARON
THEFIRSTDRAGON GRIPPEDFARON IN HIS FRONT TALONS ANDsailed easily over Deadegg with four powerful flaps of his wings.
It slammed the breath out of her, and, for a moment, Faron thought that she was dying. She expected to look down and see that one of those claws had speared her stomach and the shock was preventing her from noticing that she was bleeding out. But when she did look down, she saw her body tucked tightly between two ivory blades half the size of her body, her legs swinging loosely in the air above her town, her fingers scrambling for purchase on the scales of the dragon’s paw. Still alive, and yet she felt exhausted, drained,empty, as if something inside her had died.
Then she realized she was alone. Truly alone.
Obie was no longer within her.
Gasping, Faron reached out for the gods, but her call fizzled instantly, her soul sucked back inside her body before she could even see a single astral. It felt as if she’d lost a sense that she’d taken for granted; the world looked different, smelled and sounded different, and not just because she was dangling over it.
Obie? Mala? Irie? Can anyone hear me?
“I can,” said Gael Soto, and he sounded amused. This was not the open, fond amusement from his earlier quips. There was something deep and dark in his voice as it echoed through her head.“Though I would advise we continue this conversation when you climb up here.”
Faron tipped her head back and squinted at the muscled form of the dragon. The wind made her eyes water, but she could just make out the black comma of a human form clinging to the sleek line of the dragon’s neck. Gael lifted a hand and waved, and the First Dragon’s grip on Faron simultaneously loosened. Her stomach dropped faster than her body did, and she scrambled up his leg before she fell to her death.
Gael grabbed her as soon as she was close enough, helping her settle behind him. Whether it was magic or physics, the moment she was sitting down, she felt perfectly balanced and strangely confident that she wouldn’t fall. Gael’s body was solid as she slid her arms around his waist for lack of anything else to hold on to. He smelled like earth and morning rain, with an underlying smoky scent that Faron assumed was from the dragon.
The farther they flew from Deadegg, the more she wanted to scream. Why couldn’t she summon? What had the First Dragon done to her? What was goingon?
“Where are you taking me?” she shouted over the roaring wind. “What about our plan? My sister?”
“I’m taking you to pick up something I left in the capital,” Gael responded. “And a bargain is a bargain, Faron. I broke your sister’s bond the moment Lightbringer was freed.”
“Lightbringer?”
Gael pressed a hand against the white dragon, his smile fond. “This is Lightbringer. The First Dragon. An imperial dragon, in fact, and the only one of his kind.”
Before she could ask another question, the dragon named Lightbringer shrieked in pain beneath her. The smell of smoke had gotten stronger, and heat flared up her spine in contrast to the frigid sky air. She looked over her shoulder to see Lightbringer’s tail shaking off the embers of a flame that flickered with too many colors to be natural. Closing the distance behind them was Valor, its bright yellow color making it look as if the drake had been sent on behalf of Irie herself.
Gael stroked the dragon’s neck in a soothing motion. “Well, that was unkind. They’ve made him angry.”
Faron’s heart cracked. “Gael, this isn’t you. He’s controlling you. He’s in your head. You have to remember—”
But Lightbringer was already darting straight up, dodging a second blast from Valor with ease. Faron’s fingers turned to talons of her own, digging into Gael’s stomach as if that would stop the dragon, but he pried her grip loose with one hand.“Do you want to die before you can reunite with your sister?”
“Don’t,” she begged, struggling to get free of his hold.“Please don’t—”
Fire gushed from Lightbringer’s mouth, consuming the drake below. Drakes were made of scalestone, impervious to dragonfire, but the force of the blast still caused Valor to dip in the air. The pilots couldn’t see Lightbringer’s spiked tail coming down like a hammer until it was too late. It slapped the drake like a flyswatter, sending it careening to the ground far below. The trail of flame left in its wake turned to smoke the farther it fell. Thescalestone shook off the attack. Thank the gods, the pilots could see again. Now they could pull the drake up before—
Valor exploded on impact.
Faron screamed.
