“Where are you going?” Syris demanded when she regarded Moak.
“Down to the village,” he said, squeezing her arm as he passed. “Ulin will stay behind.”
“You’re not a rider, Moak,” Syris argued. “Leave it to them. Come down with us.”
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her.
She stared at the door after Moak went through it, leaving just the two of us—well, three, including Kyr—in the kitchen.
“He’ll be fine,” I assured her, guiding her down the stairs. “Come on.”
Kyr followed me down without a fight, his bulk making him clumsy as he navigated the stairs. Down below, Tarkosh was lighting oil lamps, illuminating the small barren space. There was a rack of shelves pressed against one wall. Old provisions, I saw,along with barrels of water and dried hatchling feed. Ulin had lined up the remaining eggs, warm in their insulated satchels, along the wall. And there was chaos with the hatchlings themselves, all running around, climbing the stone.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I got Kyr down. He was settled, however, staying by my side, thankfully, and not exploding with energy. “What’s happening?”
“Two wild Elthika formations converging over the village,” Tarkosh told me. “A lot of them. They’ve already burned most of the cropland.”
My belly squeezed. How was that possible? “Burned?”
“There’s a Redback among them. At least one. They breathe fire.”
“Notethrall?” I asked, confused, my mind swimming. I didn’t know such a thing was even possible.
“Only Vyrins haveethrall,” Ulin corrected me, wrestling one of the hatchlings away from the shelving. “Redbacks are rare, but they’re only here in the Arsadia. They can’t fly very long distances, so luckily they can’t cross into our other territories. That’s why we have this cellar. This stone,” he said, knocking his knuckles against the walls, “won’t burn. When Grymia was built, there were Redbacks all over this territory. Most of the dwellings are made of this stone.”
I still know nothing at all,I realized.
“I have to go back out there,” I said.
Tarkosh looked at my sharply. “No, Alaryk would want you down here.”
“People could be hurt,” I said, determination rising. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”
Her lips pressed together.
“If I’m needed, I can help,” I said, handing Kyr’s chain to Syris, “but I won’t know that if I’m down here.”
Syris looked worried. “Wild Elthika are unpredictable, Amaia. What if you get hurt?”
“Luckily I’m more resilient than anyone I know,” I answered, giving her a quick quirk of my lips. “Don’t worry about me.”
“I’ll go too,” Tarkosh said, squeezing Syris’s shoulder as she passed. “There could be injured Elthika.”
“Be careful,” my friend said, inclining her head. “Both of you.”
When Tarkosh and I got to the top of the stairs, she said, “Close that. I’ll see you down there—I have to get my supplies.”
“Right,” I breathed, not watching as she sprinted down the hallway, firmly tugging on the hatch door until the hinges squealed. The door was heavy, made of the same stone. Fireproof. Knowing they were safe—the eggs, the hatchlings, my friends—I ran out of the hatchery and immediately smelled the smoke.
I skittered to a stop, dread settling deep in the pit of my stomach when I saw the battle in the sky.
Elthika, flashes of talons and scales, locked together, a twisted tangle in the sky. Some I recognized, even in the darkness. Some had riders on their backs.
“Gods,” I whispered, scanning the sky desperately for Alaryk and Samryn as I began to run toward the landing field. The croplands were on fire in the distance, illuminating the night in a dangerously orange glow, shadows deepening, ash swirling like mist. “Kakkari, save us all.”
The smoke was acrid and bitter, and my lungs were pumping full of it as I sprinted. There was an Elthika down in the landing field, lying on their side, a stream of Karag all around them.Hurt?I wondered.Or dead?
My legs pumped harder until I was gasping. Overhead, I heard a whistling scream, the flash of an orange Elthika, the likes of which I’d never seen, and I watched in horror as a stream of fire billowed from its jaw, aimed directly at another Elthika flying toward it.
