Then the dragons and the immense energy rippling through their scales, the life-force in their hearts so powerful they could set the world on fire.
Followed by the fading glow from the heart of a dying star that fills me with sadness.
And then, at the edge of a massive forest, which itself carries so much life, stands the man I love.
He is holding on to Galeia and protecting her, simply because I asked him to.
He is the storm in my calm, a force more powerful than every dragon here because he, alone, has the power to break me.
“It is done,” I whisper.
Chapter 42
The dragons lift their heads, and it isn’t lost on me that they now consider me with expressions ranging from relieved to fearful.
They have given me the ability to constantly access my power and I could just as easily use it against them.
Cailey, on the other hand, is beaming, her pale cheeks glowing. And moments later, Blackbird slinks from the forest on the other side of the clearing, taking wary glances at the dragons before he prowls toward me and plonks himself down at my back.
His casual response to my power seems to break the tension.
Cailey hurries toward me, Graviter’s steely gaze becomes calm, and the other dragons begin murmuring among themselves.
Torva edges toward me first, her emerald eyes soft in the moonlight. “We left our posts so we could be here. We need to return to the other dragons and help the humans. But I hope you understand, we will return here soon. War is coming, and we need your help.”
“War may already be here!” the alarmed cry comes unexpectedly from Cailey, who has pulled up sharply only a few paces away from me and has spun toward the forest in the east.
My focus snaps to the sky, my senses taking in so much more now that my power is constant.
A thunderbird soars toward us, its amethyst-colored lightning sizzling through the air around it. It’s a mighty beast with inky-black feathers and a dark-purple beak. It isn’t approaching quietly, beating its wings and sending multiple cracks of thunder echoing across the clearing.
“That’s Concord,” I whisper, my eyes wide. “She belongs to the Fae Queen’s Champion, Elowynn.”
Even from a distance, I can see that Elowynn isn’t the one riding her. The woman on Concord’s back has a more petite frame and golden hair, distinctly different from Elowynn’s nearly black tresses.
“She isn’t alone,” Cailey murmurs.
Two more flying creatures appear behind her, but they aren’t thunderbirds.
Dragons as big as Vargo spear through the air after Concord, and for a moment, I think they’re chasing her until I realize that they’re maintaining a formation at her back that allows them to flank her.
“Are they escorting her?”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Graviter growls before he swings to his family. “Dragons! I will guard this plain. The rest of you, back to your posts.”
I’m forced to crouch low so I’m not knocked from my feet by the force of the wind as all of the dragons except for Graviter take off at once.
I’m aware of the Blackbird gripping the ground with his claws, digging in while Cailey is buffeted across the ground and against Blackbird’s side.
Within seconds, the dragons have risen into the air and taken up a formation that allows them to circle the clearing before heading back past the oncoming trio. Several of them take their time circling again, a show of force that the fae rider won’t miss.
I cast an urgent glance at Erik, but he is already stepping back into the shadows of the forest. Galeia will be on edge, and it’s incredibly important that she doesn’t react badly to the rising tension.
By clearing the ground, the dragons have allowed Concord to land, along with the two dragons who were following her, while Graviter moves off to my right like a guard.
One of the incoming dragons has a single rider, while the other has two.
I recognize the two human women who leap off the back of the second dragon—Mother Solas and her granddaughter, Rachel—but not the woman who jumps from the back of the first dragon.
