“So send me to the front. Let me fight.” Rynna’s voice rose. “There’s only so much I can do, but it could make a difference.”
Takara gave a slow, measured nod.
“You’ve already decided to release me,” Rynna said, her eyes locking onto the Ember Warden’s.
“Yes. Once you get the last piece of information from Kaelith.”
“You’ll have it today.” Rynna balled her hands into fists. “I’ll strangle the snake if I have to.”
Takara gave her a sideways glance, a faint smirk playing on her lips. “You know...I think he might enjoy that. So, do what you must.”
Rynna’s eyes widened, and before she could respond, she tripped over a nearby discarded box, nearly losing her balance. Heat flushed her cheeks as she caught herself, flashes of that morning’s dream streaking through her thoughts.
Damn it.
“Yes, well...I’m sure I can’t speak to that either,” she stammered.
Takara raised an eyebrow, her lips pressing into a wry smile. “Whatever you have to do, Rynna.”
Chapter thirty-four
“Thesecuffsarequiteannoying,” Kaelith grumbled, the metal clinking with each shift of his wrists.
The iron manacles were engraved with intricate seals, designed to bind the Source and prevent any flow of power. Lady Takara had snapped them on the man before allowing him to leave the cell.
“I’m surprised they let you out at all,” she shot back over her shoulder. “Withholding that information on Skarn has already cost thousands of lives.”
Once more, they sat astride one of the great eagles, its powerful wings cutting through the wind as it soared toward the Waygate. The eagle's thick plumage shone under the sun, its talons hard enough to tear through armor. The beasts had been bred by ancient Hollow-born clans to fly across vast distances, untouchable by enemy forces. She’d never even seen one of them or their elusive riders before the war, and now here she was, riding one for a second time.
Below, the vast stretch of land between Pulse Reach and Ember Reach blurred into a tapestry of green and brown. The gate would allow them to travel faster into the mountains, where the dead swarmed in endless waves, and intelligence suggested Skarn himself was somewhere in the chaos.
“Oh, pet,” Kaelith’s voice dripped with amusement. “You know I would have come whether or not theyletme.” He paused, tilting his head. “Especially after being so rudely interrupted from my sleep this morning.”
Heat crept up Rynna’s neck, the memory of the serpent coiling into her bed still fresh in her mind. “Yes, well…” She coughed, clearing her throat. “Either way, thank you for accepting the cuffs.”
He frowned. “I will not be very helpful in a fight if I can’t access the Source.”
“I think that’s the point, snake.” The rider said, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
Kaelith ignored the young man. “How much longer before we can continue this journey...alone?”
“We’re almost there. And trust me, I’ll be glad to be rid of you, too.” The rider’s eyes darted to Rynna. “You sure about this?”
“Nope.” She had no idea how Kaelith would respond once they were by themselves.
The Wardens had been clear, though: the intelligence she carried had to go directly to Fenn in the mountain front, with no intermediaries and no crow messengers. It was too dangerous to risk interception.
Somehow, control of the dead was being channeled directly through Skarn.
She had to hand it to the weasel. The man was no dummy. That connection was his insurance against whatever his mysterious partner was planning and whatever plot was being hatched around the Great Phoenix.
The fortified walls protecting the Waygate soon loomed into view, their stone battlements visible even from the height of their descent. The eagle swooped lower, its wings slicing through the air in wide, powerful arcs.
As they landed, Rynna swung down from the animal’s back, her leather sandals crunching against the gravel. The rider offered nothing more than a curt nod in farewell. “Try not to get yourself killed.”
“Likewise,” she replied, already stepping away as Kaelith slid down behind her.
At their approach, the guards stiffened, their hands drifting toward weapons as flickers of recognition and wariness danced in their raised brows. One guard stepped forward to check Rynna’s orders.
