Oath of War (The Cursed Bonds #2)

16. Chapter 16

A day before the trial

T he wind lashed my face as Vahin leapt into the air, his formidable wings slicing through the sky. I raised a hand to shield my eyes, bracing myself for the punishing ride ahead. My anger simmered. I’d had two bloody days to enjoy being with Annika before duty dragged me back to the borderlands.

‘ I don’t want to part with her, either, ’ Vahin grumbled, his voice a growl in my mind.‘ But Reynard’s concerns have merit. If the sleeping army has stirred, we need to know—and warn the fortresses. You know I’m the only one who can get us there and back in time for the trial. ’

His logic only sharpened my frustration. I should have sent a warning the moment we had uncovered the monsters beneath the keystone, but Annika’s capture and my inability to think straight had delayed everything.

‘ I know my duty, ’ I snapped, the words bitter.‘ But the trial is tomorrow . The love of my life isn’t just fighting for the kingdom —she’s fighting for her life. And there’s a chance I won’t be there. ’

Vahin rumbled uneasily, exhaling a stream of fire that shimmered in the icy air. ‘ No, Orm, we’ll be there. We will be there even if I have to break my wings to get us back. ’

I knew his barracks humour was a misguided attempt to soothe my worries, and I smacked his scaled neck, the gesture more fond than reprimanding. ‘ Just pray the winds favour us ,’ I muttered, leaning into the saddle as he climbed higher, where the air thinned and froze. It was hard to breathe at this altitude, but Vahin needed speed, and I trusted him with my life.

‘ I don’t need to pray, Ormond, ’ he replied with draconic pride. ‘ I’ve been flying this world since before your kind learned to crawl. ’

The hours blurred in the bitter cold, each gust of wind cutting deeper than the last. By the time Vahin descended back through the clouds, exhaustion radiated from his body. He’d pushed harder than ever, and I felt a pang of guilt for asking so much of him.

‘ Where do you want to go first? ’ he asked, his voice laced with fatigue.

‘ The Rift, ’ I said, my answer ready.‘ W e need to see what’s emerged after the fall of the Barrier. If the Lich King has lost control of the monsters, the land will be swarming with them. Then we should fly to Roan Fortress, where you can rest and eat. Roan’s commander can send word to the other fortresses while we return to the capital. ’

Vahin grunted in agreement and adjusted his course. It took us another hour to arrive at the Rift, and I instructed him to stay high in case Cahyon had released any spectrae. Surprisingly, both the sky around us and the ground below were calm. The semi-transparent barrier that had guarded our kingdom for centuries was gone, and below us stretched a wasteland—gnarled, rotting trees and barren earth.

I sheltered my eyes against the sun as we circled lower until Vahin’s wings almost scraped the top of the dead trees.

‘ I don’t like it ,’ I muttered. I’d expected chaos, not complete silence. It was as if the shattering of the crystal had erased the army beneath it. ‘ Take us to Roan. ’

‘ Varta is closer ,’ Vahin countered.

‘ Yes, but my men know how to fight and keep watch. Besides, they already know what to look for. The other posts are blind and deaf to the danger thanks to Ihrain and the chancellor’s interference .’

Vahin was quiet for a long time, but I could feel an undercurrent of restlessness in his thoughts.

‘ What is it, my friend? ’ I asked. ‘ Your feelings are seeping into my consciousness; I know you’re unsettled. ’

He hesitated. ‘ I fear for Annika, as you do, ’ he admitted. But there was more—something he wasn’t saying.

‘ I know you love her, but she’s human, ’ I said cautiously, ‘ and you’ll eventually lose her, just like you’ll lose me. If not to the war, then to the passing of time .’

‘ Ani’s connection with me has increased her lifespan and likely yours, but even if you both only live a short while, I’ve already decided. When her light fades, I’ll return to the mists, ’ he said, his voice heavy with finality. ‘ I’m tired of being alone, Ormond. I’ve existed for millennia, and bonding with you and meeting my Little Flame has brought me joy I never thought possible. I cannot go on without it, without her. Just ... I’m not ready for this yet. ’

The raw emotion in his words and the darkness I glimpsed in his mind was worrying, but I couldn’t coax another word from my dragon. We rode in silence until Roan Fortress appeared on the horizon, and he prepared to land.

I straightened in the saddle, my gaze fixed on the fortress ahead. Its black turrets reflected the fiery hues of the setting sun, a stark yet mesmerising contrast. All fortresses except Varta were named after their first commanders, and I often marvelled at what kind of person the original builder was to raise the walls from polished black stone.

From a distance, it was a striking sight—a tranquil stronghold with closed gates, clear skies, and flags dancing in the breeze. Yet, apprehension prickled at the edges of my thoughts. As I stared at the crimson-streaked horizon, the realisation struck me like a blade.

There were no dragons.

‘ Vahin, gain altitude, ’ I commanded, my gut churning with apprehension.

‘ Why? ’ he asked, tilting his head to look at me.

‘ There are no dragons. ’

Vahin’s vertical pupils narrowed. ‘ Spectrae? ’

‘ Most likely. ’ I nodded, knowing there was not much—besides the vampiric ghosts—that could empty a fortress of their dragons. ‘ Circle from above. We need to scout from a distance before landing. ’

Vahin’s powerful wings carried us higher, his agility allowing for a near-vertical ascent. Hidden in the clouds, we circled the fortress. The silence was unnerving—there were no birds, no life. When my dragon dipped below the cloud line, the truth became painfully clear.

Roan Fortress was a tomb.

Spectrae could not feed on the dead, and the outpost I’d known so well was now a desolation of broken bodies and shattered wings. Dragons lay strewn across roofs and courtyards, their scales dull and wings torn. Soldiers’ remains were barely recognisable, their swords and scraps of chain mail the only signs of who they’d been.

Vahin’s roar of anguish split the air, a long, keening cry that pierced my heart. His grief was overwhelming, eclipsing even my own.

Maybe if I had been lucid enough to send them a message, Roan’s commander would have been able to avoid this carnage.

‘ This is a graveyard of my kin, ’ he said, his voice thick with sorrow.

I tightened my grip on the pommel, my throat dry. ‘I’m so sorry.’

He descended slowly, his massive body trembling with emotion. I’d seen death before, but the sheer scale of destruction here was paralysing.

We landed in an open space within the courtyard, and only then did I realise why it was empty. A lone, charred red boot lay abandoned, its flamboyant leather scorched black, the ashes of its wearer still clinging to the remnants of a foot. It had belonged to the fortress mage—a young orc whose talent lay in manipulating fire. The scorched earth we now stood on had clearly been where he’d taken his last stand.

I dismounted, standing motionless as my ragged breaths filled the stillness. Wild magic raged within me, clawing for release, demanding I let my pain erupt in a berserker’s rampage. As my hands shook and my muscles tensed, a pair of eyes filled with crimson fire and understanding flashed through my mind.

It surprised me that it wasn’t Annika’s presence I reached for in that moment, as I might have expected, but Alaric’s. Ani would have told me it wasn’t my fault; I knew that well enough. But Ari ... Ari would have held me through the grief and the rage and just let it burn until I felt under control.

Vahin’s mind brushed against mine, searching for the words that would ease my conscience, just like Annika would. He was my dragon, but he was Annika’s Anchor, through and through.

‘Don’t,’ I rasped. ‘I need this. I need this ... hatred. Maybe when I’ve drowned Katrass in the blood of my enemies, I’ll be able to live with this guilt.’

Vahim rumbled softly, a sound more sorrow than reproach. ‘No one could have stopped this, Ormond,’ he offered, but he withdrew from my mind, giving me the privacy I needed.

‘Search for survivors,’ I ordered, my voice rough. ‘Burn the dead. They don’t deserve to lie here and rot. Turn this whole place into a funeral pyre if you want but give them peace.’ I couldn’t help them, but I could give their memory the dignity that death had failed to provide.

He nodded and took to the air, his flames igniting the broken structures from above. The acrid scent of smoke and charred wood mingled with the sickly stench of death as I moved from body to body, turning them over, hoping for a sign of life, and finding only the faces of the dead—twisted with terror and pain.

The burning fortress cast flickering shadows as Vahin’s grief poured into the flames. Each burst of fire was a lament for his kin, and it mirrored the anger roiling inside me. The very walls of Roan Fortress seemed to cry out in mourning.

If not for Ihrain’s treachery and betrayal, Annika could have been here fighting the spectrae while the soldiers dealt with the other monsters. The very thought was painful. One person, one conduit mage connected to a dragon, could have saved them. Instead, she was stuck in the capital fighting a senseless trial to amuse the dark fae empress.

‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck !’

I smashed my fist into the black stone wall until the skin of my knuckles split and blood stained the surface. Not that it made me feel any better. My mind was spiralling into a mindless rage when Vahin’s voice cut through the destructive thoughts.

‘Ormond. Enough. We have no time for this if you want to make it back before the trial.’

I focused on my dragon’s words. Taking control of my rage and wrestling it into submission was hard, but eventually, I pushed it to the dark recesses of my mind, ready to unleash it on my enemies when I encountered them.

‘I’m calm now,’ I muttered. I brushed my hand over the ridges of his eyelid, drawing strength from the contact. ‘Just give me a moment to check the commander’s log. Maybe he left behind something that’ll let us know what happened here.’

I could still hear the hissing of the flames behind me as I climbed the steep steps to the office. I paused, watching the raw anguish of my dragon as he burned the bodies of his kin. The fire was growing, spreading to engulf the fortress.

With a deep cleansing breath, I hurried onwards, ripping away the broken door to search for clues until I found the logbook, miraculously intact.

‘Who are you? How did you get here?’

The voice startled me, and I spun, my sword already drawn. A young rider stood at the doorway, his leather armour tattered and streaked with grime. He clutched an iron key, his eyes wide with terror.

‘My name is Ormond Erenhart,’ I said, lowering my blade as the boy’s knees buckled, sending him crumpling to the floor.

‘Are you ... are you really him?’ His voice trembled. ‘The Lord Commander? Does that mean the Varta riders are here with a mage? Please, gods, tell me you brought a mage. We need one—badly. The spectrae come whenever the sun sets, as if they know we are still here ...’

The desperation in his voice was a knife to the gut, and I hated that I had to crush his hopes. ‘No. I came alone. Tell me what happened. Are there other survivors?’

‘Just me and my dragon. He’s injured—his wing membrane was torn during the attack, and the commander ... he told me to stay hidden in the caves. Gods, you have no mage. Quick, you must hide before the spectrae come.’

Though the young rider was shaking, he managed to grab my sleeve with a firm grip. ‘The sun is almost set. We must go now .’

‘ Vahin, there is an injured dragon in the caves. Please check on him. ’ I sent the thought out before assessing the soldier in front of me. He was maybe sixteen years old and a skinny little thing, far too young to face the horrors of war.

‘What’s your name?’ I asked gently.

‘Adam, junior rider, second unit, sir. Come with me if you want to survive. What those creatures did to the dragons ...’ His voice faltered, and a tremor ran through his body as I helped him stand.

‘I need to fly to the capital, but as soon as your dragon has recovered, I want you to go to the other fortress commanders. Start with Seren, then go to the next in line. Tell them what you saw and deliver this log,’ I said, handing him my discovery. ‘Now, let’s go see your dragon before I set off.’

‘No, you can’t go now. The spectrae—they’ll be circling the fortress until the morning,’ he sobbed, looking at me as if I were insisting on suicide. ‘ Please . Come with me. I’ll show you where we can wait out the night.’

Adam led the way down to the dragon caves and brought me to one of the smaller nooks where a dragon rested on a flat rock. He wasn’t moving, but he and Vahin had their foreheads pressed together, a blue glow pulsing where they touched.

‘Your dragon will recover,’ Vahin said aloud, his voice weary yet steady. ‘If he could feed, he’d be healed by now, but I’ve helped him enough to mend his wing.’ To me, he said, ‘It was carnage, Orm. The riders couldn’t even manage a formation when the spectrae first attacked. Apart from those of us at Varta, no one else believed the Barrier could fall, and these fools paid the price.’

Adam stood gaping. ‘Gods, he can talk .’

‘Yes. I can,’ Vahin replied before turning his head towards me and gesturing to the injured dragon. ‘I saw what happened in Meleki’s memories. This was no random attack, Ormond. They came in calculated waves, the spectrae testing the defences before the army launched their full assault. This was planned.’

‘Yes, that’s how Meleki was injured,’ Adam confirmed. ‘We were dealing with a group of ghouls when two strigae came out of nowhere, and one dragged their claws through his wing.’

I sighed, rubbing my neck as I addressed Vahin. ‘How long until Meleki can fly?’ The injured dragon’s wing was knitting together at a glacial pace.

‘Bring him meat, and it’ll go faster. He’s been starved for the last couple of days, and I’m still drained after our flight.’

I could sense how concerned he was for the much younger dragon. ‘Adam, is there anything left?’ I asked. Much to my relief, he nodded.

‘Yes ... well, I think so. I was searching for the key to the pantry when I found you. I don’t starve my dragon, sir, I swear . The other monsters ... they only left this morning, and I was waiting to see if they would return. I should have gone earlier, but—’

‘It’s alright, Adam,’ I said, patting him on the shoulder. The kid had seen things that would break even the toughest warriors. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to wait until the danger had passed.

After a quick run to the kitchens, we’d returned to the cave with two pig carcasses. I sat inside, watching Vahin feed himself and the younger dragon, Meleki, while I shared my rations with Adam. Luckily, Meleki could now move his wing and was stretching it out slowly, testing the membrane.

As we ate, I passed Adam my Commander’s ring. ‘This will open every door for you—do not lose it. When your task is done, go to my family’s house in the capital. You’ll be safe there.’

He clutched the ring tightly, nodding. ‘Yes, sir. Meleki and I will do our best.’

I sighed, hoping I wasn’t sending the kid to his death—but we had to warn the other dragon riders, and I had a promise to keep.

‘Go. Your dragon is fed and rested. I have to leave for the capital now.’

Adam shook his head, pointing to runes over the entrance to the caves. A ring of old protection spells carved into the stone shone dimly with a blue aether.

‘You can’t go now, my lord. The spectrae are already here, and those glyphs are the only thing stopping them from feeding on us. If you go now, they’ll tear you and your dragon apart. You’ll have to wait until morning, sir.’

‘What? I don’t have time for this,’ I said, rushing towards the entrance with Vahin on my heels.

My dragon stretched his wings, ready to leap into the sky as soon as I climbed into the saddle, but as I looked up, all hope died, leaving only pure, blinding rage.

The sky was a seething mass of spectrae, their ghostly forms swirling like an endless plague. Breaking through them would be impossible. I would not be returning to Truso in time to support Annika.

Frustration boiled over, and I paced the cave like a caged beast. The reasonable part of me, the part trained for battle, knew all too well that we couldn’t escape their piercing tendrils, even if Vahin took us high above the clouds. But the man forcibly separated from his love was raging .

Adam curled into Meleki, and from the worried looks he gave me, I knew he must have been terrified by my lack of restraint.

Vahin, however, was silent. Ever since we’d seen the spectral horde overhead, he’d been sitting at the cave’s entrance—as motionless as a marble statue—looking at the sky. His mental barriers were raised, cutting me off from his thoughts. The absence of our connection was a cold void in my mind, amplifying my sense of helplessness.

‘Vahin?’ I approached him, placing a hand on his long neck to draw him back from wherever his mind had wandered.

Otherworldly light blazed in his blue eyes, and I felt it then—not the comfortable touch of a dragon soul I was familiar with, but an infinite, weary spirit filled with grief and fear I now intimately knew. I stepped back in shock at the power radiating from him, and he turned his head back towards the sky.

‘Leave me be, Ormond. I’m trying to protect you. You wouldn’t be able to bear it,’ he said with such heavy emotion that I couldn’t turn away. Instead of abiding by his wish, I stepped between his front paws, drew my sword, and knelt with the naked blade across my knees.

‘I don’t need your protection, Vahin. I need you. And you need me. Don’t lock me out. I know you are mourning, and I know we both love her—’

‘No, Ormond. You do not know.’ He paused, his pain spilling over. He shifted closer, lowering his head until I felt his warm breath on my neck. ‘My kin are dead, senselessly slaughtered by that human mage’s creations. Yet here I am, bonded to not one, but two humans. My fury at— no, my hatred for your kind wars with the love I bear for you and my Little Flame. It is tearing me apart, and, for once, I don’t know what I should do. I almost wish I’d never met her ... never awakened.’

The thought was a tortured whisper, and I clenched my jaw and opened my soul to his pain. ‘You are the best of us, Vahin,’ I said, forcing our bond wide to help my oldest friend share the burden. ‘Now let me help you.’

He released a plume of smoke, the emotions he could no longer suppress flooding out like a torrent.

‘Pray to your gods, Ormond. Pray that Annika survives tomorrow. Because if she doesn’t, I will unleash destruction on this world until there is nothing left but dust.’

With that declaration, Vahin turned back to stare at the sky, and I prayed to the All-Father for my dragon and his broken heart while his mourning song filled my soul.