“I know the feeling,”I reply. Only a Fuegorra reader can control such a beast.
Luckily for us, my wife is one.
We move with the troops, getting into place, and then when the signal comes, we lift off, flying right through the front gates.
Chapter 42
Tanzanite
ESTELA
Iam not a stranger to death and carnage. I have seen executions, whippings, and fights between slaves and giants.
But nothing—not the training with Svanna or a lifetime of torture—prepared me for battle.
Everywhere I look, blood spurts, and flesh is cleaved.
A thousand miniature battles are fought against the larger massacre, and it’s unclear who will come out as victor—even though golden armor is glinting more abundantly than bare giant chests.
The first elf I saw impaled didn’t look like she was going to be bested by the giant. Even flinching away from such a gruesome death didn’t save me either from seeing a giant torn in three.
When I catch sight of a helpless slave lying in a pool of his own blood, I foolishly look away only to see the severed arm of an Enduar. Blood and gore are everywhere, and yet, none compares to the smell.
Thousands of bodies are strewn on either side of the mines.It takes effort to keep from leaning overdrathorinnaand vomiting all over her crystal scales.
I think that most of the dead are giants, but that doesn’t quell the sickness.
Power thrums under my skin.
The cost… the cost is too high.
I hadn’t anticipated my instincts to have such a sway in my plan.
What’s wrong?Teo asks through the bond as the wind rushes past us, blasting my skin with icy air.
I have to help.
Estela, we had a plan—he starts, only for my control of the crystal drake to twist us to the side.
Her power doesn’t come from breathing fire or ice; it comes through me. While working through her eyes, I realized she can act as a focusing crystal for my light.
The light around me begins to glow stronger, and the shouts that had called to us now intensify. I feel the power of the dragon well up inside of me, and the same fear I’ve felt before mounts.
I haven’t practiced enough. My breath freezes in my throat for a terrifying moment while the power surges through my body.
It overtakes me, aiming at the dozens of giants running toward the group of elves fighting with everything they have.
The power reaches its peak as quickly as a gasp, and then the lyre string inside of me is set free. The magic zings past me, and into the group. In an instant, screams are cut off as a blackened hole tears through flesh, stone, and earth.
I slump back toward Teo, feeling the effects of such a strong burst.
That wasn’t wise so early on in this battle. You will tire quickly ifyou continue this way,Teo expresses with his battle-worn experience through our bond.
I reluctantly agree.
With one last heart-shattering look, I tear myself away and head back into the mining compound. In the corner of my eye, something hurls towards us.
It’s Vann who calls out a second before a large boulder crashes into the side ofdrathorinna.
