He heaves a deep sigh, as if he is getting tired of answering questions like this. “I cannot read minds. I can only see bad memories.”
“So look through those to see if you can find it.”
“There aresix thousandyears’ worth of memories. It would take too long to go through them all. I would need to know exactly what it looks like so that I can rapidly flip through the memories to search only for that.”
The chair scrapes against the floor as she abruptly shoots to her feet. Striding over to one of the bookcases, she pulls out a scroll and a cluster of pens in different colors. Then she sits down and, without a word, starts sketching something.
We all exchange a glance. Well, everyone except the Dryad Queen, who is only watching Lavendera.
“Regardless,” I pick up, and look at the others while she continues drawing. “We’ll have to search for the Soul of Trees later. First, we need to finish what we started with the Gold Clan.”
“She’s right,” Orion says with a grim nod. “They could come here to destroy the wards around my court at any time. So we need to hurry.”
Bracing my forearms on the table, I lean forward and look from face to face. “We can’t take on both of them at the same time. What we need is to force them to split up.”
Galen arches an eyebrow at me. “And how do we do that? Also, can someone fill us in on what happened with the Gold Clan?”
Everyone who was not there raises their eyebrows as I explain what happened after the Icehearts took us and the situation with the Gold Clan.
“Wow,” Galen says when I finish. “That’s?—”
“Done,” Lavendera interrupts. Paper rustles as she yanks it up from the table and passes it to the left so that we can give it to Orion. “This is what the Soul of Trees looks like.”
I glance down at the incredibly detailed sketch, which shows an entire forest as well as the round object I assume is the Soul of Trees, as I take it before giving it to Draven, who hands it to Orion.
“This is…” I begin, genuinely stunned by the quality of her drawing, “incredible.”
A small smile touches her lips. “Thanks. I used to love drawing, before…” She trails off before finishing with a soft, “Everything.”
“So, back to the Gold Clan thing,” Galen prompts from the other side of the table.
“Right, yes.” I shift my gaze to him. “So now, we just need to?—”
Footsteps pound in the corridor outside.
All ten of us leap to our feet and whirl around before the person has even reached the door.
A second later, Grey skids into the war council room. His wide eyes immediately lock on Orion. “Your Majesty.”
Apprehension washes through me, and I somehow already know what he’s going to say.
“The Icehearts are flying towards our wards with a host of silver dragons. And Hana. And Severin Godblessed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
My pulse thrums in my ears as we rush through the portal and out onto the wide grasslands outside the wards of the Unseelie Court. Thick gray clouds blanket the heavens while strong winds sweep over the landscape, making the grass tremble. And there, on the horizon, is a squad of silver dragons with two massive ones at the front.
The Icehearts have come.
Oh Goddess, I wish the Dryad Queen and Lavendera had joined us for this. But as long as the Mother Dryad is still trapped in Lavendera’s head, the Dryad Queen won’t risk putting her in harm’s way.
“We need the other dragon clans for this!” Draven yells as he, Galen, Lyra, and Diana start sprinting farther out onto the grass. “The four of us can’t handle that many silver dragons on our own.” Turning his head, he casts a glance at Orion over his shoulder. “Tell Grey to start opening portals to get them here.”
Grey looks to his king, who jerks his chin down in a nod. After slamming his previous portal down into the ground, he immediately starts summoning another one.
“Selena, you’re with me,” Draven calls. “Alistair, go with Lyra. Isera and Orion, you know what to do. And Diana…”
She slides her green eyes to him. “As soon as more of my people are here.”
