Sofia stiffened, the anger throbbing through her. He smiled as if he sensed her thoughts.
“I have confidence we’ll figure it out. From what I see, you have a single dragon, and I don’t even think that one’s fully grown.”
Chalia’s feathers ruffled, and Sofia felt the anger shoot through her. She didn’t bother soothing the dragon, and the air in the clearing turned thick, clouds coming in low.
Chief Commander Harlow waved his hand.
Eha opened her mouth into a snarl, and a sharp wind blew through the clearing, the clouds dissipating immediately.
“Cute theatrics from a child,” he said, turning to Sofia. “Surrender and make this easier on all of us.”
“I will never surrender to you,” she said, Chalia snapping the air even as she spoke. The chief commander glanced between them.
“And you pretend you don’t control it.” He stepped forward. He was so confident—so unbothered.
Fox edged to the side, as if he might block Harlow’s view of her.
“What’s the plan then?” Chief Commander Harlow asked, looking around. “I have more men, more dragons. You aren’t leaving free and alive. So why not be done with this?”
Sofia refused to look around. She knew he was speaking the truth. They’d flown directly into a trap. She should have known. She should have seen it coming—thrown her dagger directly into his chest when they’d first seen him flying up on Eha.
“If you surrender,” Harlow said, voice smooth. “I’ll kill you swiftly. No one needs to suffer. I’ll take the dragon, of course.”
“You’ll die before you touch a feather on Chalia.”
He smiled, crooked. “Chalia? How quaint.”
Chalia’s anger swept through Sofia like a wave. Her throat tightened,as if the rage and hatred were physical forces, choking her. He wouldn’t touch Chalia.
Sofia lunged. She was only a few yards from the chief commander. A handful of steps and she would be there, driving her dagger into soft skin and muscle. He wasn’t even wearing his full armor. The hilt was warm beneath her palm.
Harlow sneered and snapped his fingers. An icy wind tore through the clearing, sending leaves and dirt flying before Sofia had even made it two steps. Fox grabbed her, twisting his body around hers and blocking her from the worst of the debris.
A moment later, the clearing was still again, and Sofia looked up to see a new dragon standing over them, scales black as pitch. His face was twisted away, but she saw the same cloudy sense of nothingness behind his eyes.
A muffled cry drew her attention to the back of the black dragon. Two soldiers sat atop it, two civilians, tied and gagged between them. It took a second to register what she was seeing—who she was looking at.
“No,” she said, voice cracking.They were dead. Fox couldn’t find them.“Mom. Dad.”
Her mother’s face shifted first, as if it had taken a moment to recognize her. Of course it would—she was dead to them, too. She’d been a child the last time they’d seen her. Her father wrenched forward, but the soldier behind him yanked him by the shoulder and pulled him back, a dagger pressed against his neck.
Her hands flew to her mouth, and she let out a sob. She couldn’t breathe. She felt as if she’d run for hours and her lungs were burning.
“I knew I might need more leverage.” Harlow paced around the dragon, swaggering as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Now, I’ll offer it one more time. Surrender willingly and I’ll make your death quick and painless. I’ll even send your parents to the farms instead of executing them beside you. I’m being merciful, Sofia.”
The way he said her name twisted inside her like snakes. Her skin crawled as his eyes swept over her, waiting so patiently. She looked between Chalia, her feathers rigid, and Fox, his face gray as he glanced between her parents and where Harlow waited.
She couldn’t watch them die. She wouldn’t let the chief commander take anyone else from her.
“I’ll surrender,” she said, ignoring Fox going rigid beside her. She refused to meet his gaze. “But you’ll let my parents go. And you’ll let Fox and Chalia leave here alive. You get me and me alone.”
“You think you’re in any position to negotiate?” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Perhaps if we fight, we lose. But you’ll lose people, too. You won’t make it out of this clearing uninjured. And if you kill Chalia, you’re guaranteed to start a war with the dragons. If you let them go, they can go back and explain the deal. You get me, and the resistance and the dragons will let you leave the mountains alive with your men.”
“Sofia,” Fox said, stepping in front of her, blocking Harlow from view. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t you dare do this.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
