“Trenton, stay with her,” Fallon ordered, heading back into the tower.
Shea hadn’t even noticed her guard’s presence until now.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To meet Darius and thank him for his assistance.” Fallon disappeared before she could question him any further.
Shea looked back at the battlefield. “He means to ride out into that?”
While the tables had turned, there were still a lot of beasts between the Keep and the army Darius led.
“Indeed. Trateri don’t hide when there are enemies to be killed,” Trenton said.
True enough.
Shea turned toward the stairs to the tower.
“Where are you going?” Trenton asked.
“To help the healers.”
They were going to need it. She knew Chirron had done the best he could while the battle raged around him, but now that it was almost over, he was going to get slammed with wounded. She might not be able to heal, but she could wrap wounds and carry the injured as well as the next person.
*
Shea slumped into her chair. It was finally quiet. The cries of the dying and injured had faded in the wee hours of the night.
They might have won the battle but that didn’t mean it wasn’t without a cost. There had been numerous casualties for both pathfinder and Trateri.
Shea’s eyes slid shut, her head sagging forward as the events of the day caught up to her.
She slid instantly into a dream. In it, she walked across a broken land, great clouds of dust reaching high into the sky all around her. Buildings—great behemoths like those she’d seen in the underground city—lay broken on their sides, the twisted metal of their frames forming an otherworldly carcass.
Unfriendly, invisible eyes watched her pass from the shadows of those dead buildings.
The dream had a surreal quality to it. Despite that, she was struck by the strange thought that this wasn’t really a dream.
The landscape changed until she was standing in a land that made her think of the depths of night, even with the sun shining from above. She stood in a bowl-like territory, while far in the distance, mountains crouched. Before her was a butte, standing tall against the sky, three tower-like spires branching off it. The sight filled Shea with a bone-deep fear. Something evil waited in that place.
She knew it just as she knew her own name.
She looked around, trying to determine where she was. This all seemed familiar, as if she’d been here before.
A figure dropped from the sky. Shea remained in place despite the terrifying form approaching. It was a man, his skin the color of obsidian, great wings the color of night arching from his back. On his feet were great claws like a bird of prey’s that flattened upon landing. His face possessed a cruel beauty
He looked at home here, at ease. His wings flared slightly, the leather membrane in them thinning until she thought she might be able to see through them. They looked delicate even as she suspected their power. They had to be, to carry his weight.
Next to him, another creature landed. The bat-like creature Shea had spoken with the previous night. He was over a foot shorter than the first winged creature, his skin lighter and the resemblance to a bat more striking. The other one looked like a man given wings— if one discounted the clawed feet and hands.
From behind her came a snort and small whicker. Shea turned to find a pale horse pawing the ground. At least she thought it was a horse until she got a clear view of the red eyes and a pair of very sharp-looking horns rising from its forehead.
It bared fangs at her that indicated despite its similarities to its equestrian cousins, this creature was a carnivore. A very efficient one, if those fangs were anything to judge by.
“Is this she?” the black-winged creature asked, an enigmatic gaze focused on Shea.
“Yes, Covath,” the bat said. “She’s the one who sought to bargain with me for her peoples’ safety.”
Meeting the one called Covath’s gaze, Shea lifted her chin as she studied him. Oddly enough, she felt none of the normal fear. Perhaps because this was a dream. Or maybe because despite his obvious ability to kill her, she didn’t get any inkling of such an intention from him.
