“Chalia said she’d take us to her favorite peak today if the scouts haven’t returned.”
Sofia nodded, her breath catching in her chest. She and Chalia had been spending more and more time apart over the past two days. It was her own fault. The dragon had offered to try again, but Sofia couldn’t stand the pain on Chalia’s face when they were together for longer than a few minutes. She could barely breathe through her own grief and rage. She didn’t want to cause more pain to Chalia.
“How far is it?” she said.
“She said it’s a short flight,” Fox said. “You should be able to come easily with no problems.”
“What if something happens? Maybe you should go alone.”
“You need to face her. She misses you. You’re preventing one pain, but you’re just replacing it with another.”
“It’s safer,” Sofia said, her muscles tensing back up, the heaviness of everything coming back to press on her. She hissed out a breath and gently pushed Fox away.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she stood, using the excuse of bundling herself in her furs to not meet his eyes.
“I’m going to relieve myself,” she said, finally turning around when her mask was in place. “Do you want to join me?”
He frowned but didn’t argue as she slipped away. No one was in the outermost cave, its mouth too wide to provide protection from the cold.
Chalia wasn’t outside when Sofia exited, and she hated herself for feeling relief. She walked around the outcrop of rocks to a small set of bushes to relieve herself. The ice burned cold against her skin as she pressed snow against her cheeks, letting the sharp sting wake her further. Now that she was outside, it was easy to see it was nearly sunrise. The sky was a pale purple along the horizon.
Perhaps she could grab her weapons and go out hunting before anyone else woke up. As much as she loved being with Fox and Javi, and even Clarita, she also needed time alone. Time when she didn’t need to pretend she was okay. Breathing hurt. Existing hurt. At least when she was alone, she could let the heaviness crush her, allow her body to sag without guilt.
She watched the clouds float across the sky and prayed to Quelia to take her pain. She’d made the same prayer every day, but still woke with the ache of it crushing her. A small voice in the back of her mind told her that the mother goddess knew best, but another part of her wanted to scream at her, because how could such pain begood?
The air was sharp in her lungs, but she breathed it in and embraced it.
As she reached the mouth of the cave, she heard the screech of adragon—high-pitched and drawn out in a way that made her chest seize up. She heard the others inside the cave stir.
“What was that?” a frantic Fox said as he exited the cave.
She shook her head, eyes searching the sky. Her mind reached out to Chalia, and the moment she felt her, she heard the scream in her head.
“Run! We’re under attack!”Sofia felt the words through her body. She clenched her hands over her ears as if she might soften the blow. Fox was there a moment later.
“Sofia?” he asked, keeping his voice soft. “What’s going on?”
“Attack. There’s an attack.”
Micael was quick to shout at the rest.
Sofia grabbed her dagger and a bow, unsure of what they were even facing, and she started running. Fox was behind her, pulling on his leather vest and sword as they scrambled through the snow.
Aurelia had told them not to enter the nesting grounds without permission, but Sofia didn’t think she’d care. Even before they could see the dragons beyond the shield, she heard the chaos, and just as they reached the shimmering wall, half a dozen dragons shot into the sky above them. Sofia turned to see Chalia coming up over the pass, three dragons on her tail.
Sofia didn’t recognize them and assumed they were the scouts Aurelia had sent out, but then she saw the soldiers on their backs and the ice shards streaking out from their throats—towardChalia.
Fox and Sofia didn’t stop their run, the shield that hid the nesting grounds fizzing over her skin as she pushed through it, the air feeling thick along the edges. And then she saw the chaos beyond as the dragons readied for a fight.
“Sofia,” Fox said, voice scraping against his throat.
She turned to see what he was pointing at and felt her heart stop. Soldiers were pouring over the pass, swords raised in battle. But something was wrong. There were naked men among the soldiers.
“Oh,” she said, iron fear on her tongue.
“Wolfshifters,” Fox said.
“Chalia,”Sofia said,“I need you.”She breathed deeply as she watched the dragon sweeping down toward her. Her heart was steadyin her chest. She felt calm for the first time in days, centered in her own body. She knew how to fight.
