Nya swept her gaze around the tunnel, which was growing emptier by the second. A feeling was rising in the back of her throat, a fire so cold, it burned as it fought its way to the surface.
He thought he could tell her what to do? Thatanyof them could?
A low laugh escaped her, her own voice nearly unrecognizable to her own ears as the sound slipped past her tingling, numb lips. They shouldallbe afraid, even him. She had a raging inferno in the empty space inside her, where her heart supposedly lay—perhaps it was time to stop smothering it.
“Nya?” Imeria’s voice was smaller now. Perhaps she was scared. Perhaps she should be.
Slowly, Nya tilted her head to the side. “If I were you, I wouldn’t try to stop me.”
Imeria’s brow creased, and she reached out a hand, though her fingers trembled. “It’s alright. We just need to?—”
“No.”
The word exploded through the hallway with physical force, a blast of ichor-stained fire flaring in its wake. Imeria flew back, her body smacking against the stone wall and landing in a limp heap on the floor.
Nya cocked her head, staring at her for a moment. Once she sensed a heartbeat, she turned and followed the sound of the battle already underway outside.
Chapter
Twelve
The Sisters requested a meeting. Many years ago, there was a disturbance amongst the dragons, some disagreement within their ranks leading to the disappearance of a young Vemon dragon. They tell me she was related to Thessilnn and Heles, though not directly, just shared blood a few generations back. When I asked why she left the keep, no one would give me a clear answer. It unsettles me. Why invite me here, only to withhold the truth?
—Lady Anabeth, Consort to Her Majesty Cion Livii, Queen of Aren, D’anna
Nya steppedout onto the same jagged cliff where she had been sitting with Imeria just a few minutes ago. She realized what she had done at the same moment her mind made sense of the scene unfolding in front of her.
Because of her, Imeria was hurt, maybe even badly. What unsettled her the most was that she hardly remembered doing it. It was as if a thick veil had settled over those moments, twisting and distorting the memory until it didn’t even feel like her own. She didn’t have time to examine the fear that made herfeel, though, because her attention quickly turned to the battle beyond.
On the ground, Morgen’s foot soldiers held the line easily. They were no match for whatever small forces the principals and her parents had managed to gather. But in the sky…
Four Vemon dragons circled Varax, three with riders and one without. Lightning cut across the sky, and she saw Heles swerve to avoid it, a trail of fire flaring in her wake. It took Nya a moment to realize there was no thunderstorm at all this time, but that the lightning was Morgen’s.
It made sense, she supposed, with the amount of energy she felt every time he walked into a room. As he wielded bursts of it, exploding violently from his hands in shades of crimson and blinding-white, he looked every bit the avenging god.
From behind her, another dragon emerged from the side of the mountain: Carus’ Fesper, Nya realized. Her mother and Thessilnn were further down the barren valley, followed by who must be Vulcan atop a deep-blue dragon. The rider-less dragon coasted directly above Nya, leaving Heles and her father open, too focused on avoiding Morgen and Varax to notice Carus’ dragon was diving right towards them.
VANE.
Her mother screamed, both down the pathway and aloud, the sound cutting through the raging battle in the mountains and echoing shrilly in Nya’s thoughts.
Nya’s eyes widened, a scream tearing from her throat, because her father had noticed the approaching dragon’s wide-open mouth a second too late?—
The air shimmered, and before her mind could fully comprehend what had happened, Heles and Varax collided, their screeches ear splitting. Carus’ dragon swerved and barely avoided the full brunt of the blow. All three dragons landed in a heap, the sound of the hard landing resounding. She wasfairly sure both Morgen and her father were unconscious, but she couldn’t tell, and she couldn’t get down off this damn cliff. Her mother was frantically calling her father’s name as she and Thessilnn raced down the valley, but there was no response, not even from Heles.
Nya’s chest constricted to the point of pain as panic overwhelmed her, and she shut her eyes, willingher body to somehow justmove.
When she opened her eyes again, she was a few feet away from Morgen and Carus, who was at his side. For a few seconds, the shock of what she had just done rooted her to the ground, before she decided that right now, she didn’t care how she had portaled. Her feet were moving before she even knew where she was going, her vision flashing red with rage as she approached Morgen, Varax curled protectively behind him.
When she got close enough to understand what was happening, she froze.
There was a deep wound in Morgen’s chest in the small gap between plates of armor, and he was coughing up blood, each breath causing his entire body to spasm. Carus knelt next to him, a firm hand on his shoulder.
“You idiot,” he was saying, but he didn’t sound angry, merely worried. “Just hang on a second. It’ll be over soon.”
Morgen tried to respond, but instead, he coughed up more blood, his hand shaking as he brought it to his lips. When he saw Nya, his brow creased, confusion clouding his eyes. Carus noticed her a second later, and his nostrils flared.
“Figure out your way down, did you?” His voice was so cold. Gone was any semblance of teasing or kindness.
