“Yelrakel is the Captain of the Valkyrie. Sowmya is her second. Both wield blue fire.”
“Wait, what?” Dyna straightened in her seat, remembering what he had told her about it once before. “I thought Seraph swords were kept locked away.”
“They are. In some rare instances,Elyonmay bless a Celestial with blue fire. They are among the few chosen. All the females within the legion are gifted warriors, but those two…” He shuddered. “They are something else.”
Dyna hid a smile. If they frightened him, they must certainly be something.
* * *
Once they finished their light meal, they gathered up their belongings and made their way through the pier. Idle ships dotted in the Saxe Sea. A group of Azure Guards marched past in perfect unison, their coattails flaring behind them. The leader glanced at them as they passed. He had a stern face; dark brown hair kept neat and short, like his beard. He commanded presence and authority in his regimental blue coat. Dyna held her breaths under his peering gaze, but the guard moved on.
“There are many guards around.”
“The kingdom receives cargo from all over the world, so guards make sure the ports run smoothly,” Cassiel said.
The Azure Guards stopped at a docked merchant ship further down and the leader spoke to the ship’s captain. The annoyed man and begrudgingly handed over his ledger as the guards began breaking open barrels and crates.
“What are they doing?” she asked.
“They are inspecting cargo to make sure no one is smuggling goods that carry high taxes. The city profits off of it, so they cannot allow the loss.”
The lead Azure Guard signed off the captain’s paperwork and moved on with his men to the next ship.
“Occasionally, they catch those attempting to smuggle opiates into the city or slave traders attempting to smuggle orphaned children out.”
Her stomach rolled. “Children?”
“The slave traders will take the destitute without families to Versai, a small country in the east that actively buys and sells slaves. They are rarely successful,” he added, seeing her dismay. “The Azure Guards do well to keep the city safe.”
Von and his life-debt to Tarn came to mind. Azure didn’t permit slave trades, but it had permitted the life-debt, and it was essentially the same. But the life-debt was abolished now. Von was free now. Had he left Tarn’s side? With what she knew of that man, most likely not.
She really had been so naïve of the outside world, sheltered in her village, believing people were kind and good. It saddened her to realize it wasn’t always true.
A large ship sailed into the harbor and docked in front of them, flying the symbol of an ax. The white sails deflated as the ship’s anchor dropped with a loud splash. Sailors called to each other while they pulled on the ropes and worked on lowering the sails. They dropped a gangplank on the deck and unloaded large cages with wild animals inside. The sound of their cries and growls filled the pier.
A muscle in Cassiel’s jaw flexed. “Regrettably, poaching remains legal in Azure. Come, we should make our way to the tavern.”
But he wandered to the cages, and Dyna followed. Restless large cats paced in their cages, and the reptiles snapped their teeth as they passed. There were a variety of brightly colored birds. Parrots with vivid green, yellow, and red feathers and short curved beaks squawked at her.
“Oh, look at this one.” She pointed at a massive cage behind the others.
It held a noble bird a head taller than her, with feathers a deep red blending into a fiery orange and yellow at the tips. Blue feathers lined its black eyes. One eye fixed on them and its long, sharp talons scraped against the bottom of the cage as it rotated its large body to face them.
Cassiel froze, his mouth parting. “It’s a fire phoenix.”
The bird let out an angry screech and reared, opening its lethal pointed beak. Within its mouth, an orange glow grew, and Cassiel tackled her to the ground as a gust of flame blew over them. He protected her head with his own until the heat passed. Dyna peeked through her squinted eyes at him, highly aware of his body pinning her down.
Getting to his feet, Cassiel helped her stand and backed her away from the cage. His fingers lingered around hers before letting go. The phoenix squawked at them, attempting to flap its wings in the narrow cage. It was a massive bird, but only an eighth of the size of the Ice Phoenix in the book.
Cassiel smiled and shook his head. “I have never seen one in person before. They are highly rare and so incredibly hard to catch.”
“Aye, but no’ for me master,” said a haughty voice. A scruffy dwarf hobbled out from behind the cages. His brown teeth shone through his flaky lips when he grinned at them. “Master Draven has caught and sold every creature imaginable, including this beauty.” He jabbed a fat thumb in the bird’s direction. “Are ya interested in the phoenix? I could sell it to you for fifty thousand gold pieces. That is the best deal you’ll ever find, considering—”
“They are almost extinct.” Cassiel grabbed the dwarf’s shirt and lifted him into the air. “Release it at once.”
The dwarf rolled his eyes and bellowed at the ship. “Master Draven, we have another zealot here!”
The door to the captain’s quarters busted open and a burly man stepped out. Leaping over the railing of the boat with a length of rope, he landed near them on the dock and approached in long, confident strides. A fur shawl rested over his bulky shoulders, the rest of him wrapped in leather armor.
