“I like what you’re doing here at Evergorne Court. And I’d like you to keep doing it. It’s past time things changed here for the better of us all.”
Hopefully, I’d live long enough to see it happen.
I saddled the dragon while she secured his bridle. It took only a second to release the mesh and scramble up onto his back.
“You could stay here where it’s safe,” she said from behind me as she shifted the reins, urging the dragon toward the opening.
“And leave others to fight this battle for me?”
“Other queens would.”
“Not me.” Never me.
“And that’s why I’m helping you.”
At her command, the dragon leaped, and his wings snapped out to catch air. He spiraled down toward the ground but leveled, coasting over the forest and slowly turning to the right.
Ahead, the city smoked, and the wind caught their screams, slamming them into my face.
“I’m not heartless, you know,” Kian said. “But I’m just a stable hand working in an aerie almost no one ever visits. I don’t even own a dagger, let alone know how to use one. You’re lucky. At least you have the means and the know-how to defend yourself.”
“Can you do magic?”
“I’m lesser.” Her gaze slid from mine. “Lessers can’t do much magic, now can they?”
“You tell me.”
One eyebrow lifted. “I’m lesser. Just said that.” She guided the dragon closer, and the sight stabbed through my bones.
“If I make it out of here alive, I’ll come to the aerie and show you what I know, both with magic and a blade,” I said. “It takes time and lots of practice but maybe then you won’t feel defenseless.”
“You’re the queen. You won’t remember my name, and you certainly won’t remember to stop by the aerie to teach me anything.”
I could tell her all day long that I was different, but why would she believe me? I had no problem showing her she was wrong about me. If nothing else, I kept my word. “In between, get a nicelybalanced pair of small blades and start throwing them at the back of a door.”
“Why a door?”
“Make a target and keep throwing them until you can hit it squarely.”
“I suppose I could do that.”
“Over there.” I pointed to the harbor that looked relatively quiet from here. I could make my way into the market area, where it appeared most of the battle was taking place. I suspected I’d find Merrick there.
The harbor gleamed like a patch of spilled ink, the water calm, a stark contrast to the madness spreading through the streets.
“They’re huge,” I hissed when I caught sight of the borgons lumbering through the city.
“I’d never seen one before myself.” Fear trembled through Kian’s voice. “They’re enormous.”
“Scales,” I whispered, the wind catching the word and stealing it from me. “They have scales.”
“I only see fur.”
Interesting.
Borgons swarmed the narrow alleys, moving as a writhing, fluid mass. The creatures were grotesque, their shadow-black scales glinting in the sunlight, their bodies a terrifying mix of sinew and claws. Some moved on all fours, racing around carts and through stalls with inhuman speed, sending everything scattering. Their tails lashed out, smacking into buildings and people alike.
Long, jagged fangs gleamed on their arm-length jaws. One bite would easily kill, and a gulp might swallow a person whole.
