“Feeling frisky, are you?” I called out, leaning forward to pat the side of his neck. “Hold that eagerness for the Skathes, little one.”
He was no longer little, but that had been his nickname since he’d hatched from his egg into my hands and looked up at me and released a squeak. I’d raised him myself, feeding him treats and showing him how gentle I could be. He’d rewarded me with his loyalty, his strength, and all of his heart.
Gavelle cried out from my right and soared over to land on my shoulder.
“In for the battle, are you?” I asked.
As if I’d be anywhere else?he pretty much said with one look.
Kira and my officers flew from the aerie on dragonback, fully armed, their faces set in stone. The jealousy had fled Kira’s eyes, leaving only the cold, sharp focus of a warrior. We were a unit now, a single blade aimed at the heart of the threat.
The rest of my army joined us from other aeries and followed, a formation of shadows and scaled fury streaking south across the night sky.
The flight was a blur of roaring wind and cold adrenaline. The world below, a quilt of forest, plains, and villages. Through the night, I went through battle plans, calculating angles of attack and where I’d position both those on the ground and those fighting from dragonback.
I pushed the image of Isi’s face from my mind, locking it in a box in my heart. I couldn’t afford the distraction. I couldn’t afford the pain.
We flew all night. As dawn crested the horizon, Silverstream finally loomed ahead. I was grateful not to see smoke.
Though the village held almost two hundred people, it looked fragile and small from above. I swept my gaze past the settlement to the long stretch of plain beyond, bordering the encroaching wasteland.
And my blood turned solid.
Gavelle released a low, mournful cry.
We would face a flood. A living, breathing ocean of nightmares pouring out from the corrupted lands. They lumbered slowly, though they’d pick up speed when they smelled prey. They were a tide of mindless hunger that swallowed every bit of ground they crossed. Hundreds of them, a mass of death that stretched further than I liked. Even at this height, I could hear their low, guttural chittering.
They were hungry, but at least we’d had warning and had evacuated the village.
It was hard to strategize what you’d do against a tidal wave. You could only hope to survive.
Those who’d chosen to stay stood outside their homes, fully armed and with rage burning across their souls.
At my command, Lakast banked hard and flew above the village to the cheers of my people.
We’d wipe every single one of them out, and I could only pray that most of my army and the villagers would make it through what was coming.
We’d do the same at the next village they attacked. The one after that.
We were a few cups of water against a raging fire, but we would never stop.
Not until every single one of them and whoever controlled them was dead.
56
ISI
Istood frozen in the foyer, the ghost of Trew’s kiss a brand on my mouth. The vast, empty space echoed with the finality of his leaving, each step he’d taken away from me a fresh tear in my soul. He was gone. Riding into battle.
And he’d left me behind to besafe.
The word was an insult. A cage.
Guard the kingdom,he’d whispered.
Cold, hard fury whipped through my chest, freezing my tears before they could fall. He thought guarding the kingdom meant waiting within these stone walls, praying for his return. Guarding the kingdom meant guardinghim, the only man who hadn’t seen me as the pawn my father raised me to be.
I would not hide. I would not wait. Not while Trew fought for my life, for Leo’s life, and for the lives of every family in this land I was beginning to call my own.
