She looked so insanely gorgeous in her new armor, just as I knew she would. The silver, black, and purple were perfect. Her colors fit so well with my own. A testament to that was on her chest, where the revised sigil of the Night Kingdom for the Star Queen herself sat.
But we unfortunately had no time for me to enjoy her in the armor as I wished. It would have to wait untilafterthe battle.
Titan, Eryx, Baach, and Harpina were all waiting for us outside, along with Rhidian, Ciaran, and Jasira. The other lords would hold down the fort, but they’d refused to be left behind. Well, Ciaran had insisted when Jasira had, and I knew he’d never forgive me if he didn’t go with her. Those two were a complicated disaster I wanted no part of, honestly.
Better to let them figure it out themselves.
I watched as Asteria shifted into her dragon form, the beautiful silver scales shining in the light of the sun. The sun was the largest star there was, and it only made sense it would be drawn to her as much as the stars in the night sky were.
I shifted once she was up in the air, as did Eryx, and I let the others climb onto my back. I hated being used as a Tartarus damned pack horse, but it really was the most efficient way. I’d take any advantage in a battle, and leaving great fighters behind for the sake of my pride wasn’t going to help anything. Still, Asteria was the only passenger I’d ever truly enjoyed having.
I found myself roaring delightedly in the sky, excited for the battle to come. While I worried about Asteria, it had been too long, and I’d been storing up plenty of rage. I needed to let some of it out, and battle was always the best place for that.
It didn’t take us very long to reach Day Kingdom, and as we neared the capital of Avalon, I saw right away the golden dragon in the sky, purple scales around the edges, and purple horns standing out quite obviously against the bright gold.
Arien was breathing fire on our enemies while his armies defended the city. Aelius’s forces had it surrounded. The stupid circular design made it overly difficult to defend. Asteria broke off to help her brother, while I went to drop off our warriors to help on the ground. Eryx shifted back above an enemy Fae, pulling his sword quickly and driving it into his back before he even knew he was there.
That’smy brother.
I took off, trusting Titan to find the best place for everyone, and joined the other two dragons in the sky. It had been so long since I’d fought next to two dragons, so I was exhilarated as I let the fire rise in my throat, swooping down and taking out a line of screaming enemy soldiers.
I almost wished we’d taken the phoenixes, to add their own power to the fight. But we didn’t want to give away our allies too early. Any who escaped today would run back to Aelius, who’d inform Cyrus. We needed any element of surprise we could get.
As the two armies below began to crash into one another, it became too dangerous to use our fire on the front rows. We don’t want to scorch our allies, after all.
“Head to the back,” I told Asteria and Arien, and their huge dragon heads turned to me in midair. I flew around the front lines to where the stragglers were, the silver and gold-scaled twins following suit behind me. We boxed the soldiers in with flames before taking them out. When we’d taken out as many as we could that way, we quickly flew back into the thick of things.
I shifted before I hit the ground, pulling an Eryx as I unsheathed my black blade and drove it into the first enemy I saw as I hit the ground. My blade sang in my hand, the runes shining as I swung it into the next person.
These were all Lord Aydun’s men, I realized. The green and copper coloring gave it away quite easily. I spied the red-headed lord himself mounted on his horse, far away from the mob of fighting soldiers and completely surrounded by his guards.
The coward.
Asteria landed beside me, and I kept her in my line of sight as she kicked out at a Fae who rushed her, knocking him off balance. She unsheathed her shining silver blade and drove it straight through his neck.
As the blood spurted out, and he fell to the ground convulsing, I saw her little smirk before she wiped it off her face.
That’s my girl.
A loud cheer of Asteria’s name went up from the back of Arien’s forces, and I realized with surprise that those werehumansin Arien’s ranks. I raised a brow at him as he landed.
“Little busy at the moment,” he complained as he swung his blade at a green and bronze-clad man.
I rolled my eyes, unimpressed by his inability to multitask. But I ignored it for now, and just appreciated that Asteria was being recognized. Even the Fae following Arien watched her carefully when they had the rare spare moment in the heat of battle. Everyone wanted to see their future queen.
She needed to be here for this. Arien was right about that. Just as the people of Night had needed the reassurance that she was there for them, Day needed to know who she was and what she stood for. They needed to trust her to lead them, and that was a big ask. Especially for someone who was essentially a stranger and an outsider by all measures except blood.
I danced around the battlefield, my blade swinging faster and faster as we chopped down the men before us. Asteria was now grinning widely, getting into it as her blade slashed through the air.
She may think me poetry in motion with a blade in hand, but she was quickly becoming a whole song unto herself. That light that existed in her, it shone so brightly whenever she let go like this. Every time she tried to stifle and suppress her feelings, it dimmed.
The only way to make it to the light was to get through the darkness. That was a truth everyone knew.
Asteria embraced darkness everywhere else but within herself.
But right now, she let it in.
Blood was splattered on her face and chest. Her hair was being tangled by the wind. And she grinned as she cut off a Fae soldier’s head.
