Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Ascream of agony rips from my lungs as my dagger hits bone and I twist hard, causing pain to shoot through my body.
Across the cobblestones, Lavendera gasps.
She staggers a step back in shock, her magic flickering for a second, as my own magic, which I connected to her chest, forces her to feel half of my sudden pain.
And that second is all Isera needs.
Lavendera barely manages to shove the first block of ice away with a tree branch, but the other slams right into her solar plexus. Air explodes from her lungs, and her eyes widen. Then her body convulses, and she crashes down on the cobblestones.
All the trees and branches that were attacking us vanish in a flash. And so does my magic connection to Lavendera.
I yank the dagger out of my shoulder with a gasp. Pain throbs inside me now that I feel all of the pain myself. Blood wells up from the wound, but I aimed for a spot where I wouldn’t sever any important muscles, so I can still move my arm with some effort.
Isera sprints forward, aiming for the now unconscious Lavendera.
“We’re not making it to the portal!” Orion calls from across the square as he runs back towards us as well. His eyes are full of command as he shifts them between Alistair and Isera. “Signal to Draven. We’re going with the backup plan. We need to get out. Now.”
Neither of them argues because we all know that he’s right. Lavendera won’t stay knocked out forever, and when she wakes up, there will be hell to pay. We only won this fight because I managed to use the element of surprise. It won’t work a second time.
Not to mention our other problem.
Dark storm clouds rumble above us, lit up by flashes of lightning and streams of dragon fire. Three black dragons fly through the clouds, maneuvering around each other with expert precision while only two silver dragons remain. But not for long.
The four who arrived first were just the fastest, or the first group to realize that the invading armies were a lie, but the rest are on their way as well. And they will be here soon. We need to get out before that happens.
Orion takes Lavendera’s unconscious body from Isera and throws her over his shoulder while Isera instead runs back to where Alistair is standing.
Raising one hand, they start shooting fireballs and blocks of ice straight up into the air in a prearranged pattern. Draven will see that and know what to do.
A deafening roar echoes from above, confirming that Draven has seen the signal. Orion and I hurry towards Isera and Alistair so that we are all clustered together.
Dragon fire shoots through the air as Galen and Lyra force the surviving two silver dragons back. A moment later, Draven in his massive black dragon form shoots out of the clouds and swoops down over the square.
Orion sucks in a panicked breath as Draven opens his claws and scoops up all four of us, along with the unconscious Lavendera, before climbing into the air again.
His wings beat hard, sending blasts of wind slamming down into the market square that makes the remaining wagons and booths skid across the ground and crash into the stone walls. People scream inside their houses.
Winds rush between his claws and rip at our hair and clothes as he flies back up into the storm and then lets out a bellowing roar.
Black storm clouds explode around him as he uses his magic to throw them across the entire city to hide us from view. Galen and Lyra come shooting back towards him from either side, heading straight towards each other. My heart jerks when neither of them slows down.
But right before they can crash into each other straight above Draven’s back, black smoke whooshes out around them as they shift back into humans. Lyra’s wavy brown hair streams above her head as she plummets down with Galen next to her.
The moment they hit Draven’s back and grab on to his spikes, he takes off at full speed.
Howling winds and booming thunder help mask the beating of his wings as he speeds through the thick black storm clouds. Somewhere behind us, the two surviving dragons roar in frustration.
My heart slams against my ribs.
This won’t work if the rest of the silver dragons have reached the city.
If they’re too close, like when we were fighting our way out of the Ice Palace all those months ago, we will never be able to escape without at least one of them seeing us.
And as soon as one dragon knows where we are, they will sound the alarm and call all the others to them. At which point we will be overwhelmed.
Dragging in panicked breaths, I keep flicking my gaze between Lavendera and the clouds around us. If she wakes up too early, we’re screwed. If the other silver dragons managed to get too close to the city before Draven spread out the storm clouds, we’re also screwed.
Blood pounds in my ears and my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.
A jolt shoots through me as a thick forest suddenly becomes visible below.
Draven flexes his claws around us.
My heart leaps into my throat.
Grabbing Lavendera, I pull her to me and wrap my arms firmly around her body while Draven flies down to the very bottom of the thick cloud cover. My shoulder screams in pain from the still bleeding wound in it, but I grit my teeth and hold Lavendera’s unconscious body tightly.
Then he shifts.
My stomach lurches, and I have to snap my mouth shut to stop a scream, as we plummet straight down towards the thick canopy below.
A massive dragon can’t fly down and land without anyone spotting it.
But eight tiny humans can certainly fall through the air and disappear into the trees before anyone can see where we went.
Since the skies are full of silver dragons, we can’t fly away from Frostfell.
We need to hide until Grey realizes that we’re not coming and that we went with the backup plan and that he needs to open a portal here instead.
Branches rip at my black fighting leathers as I hit the canopy. But just like we predicted when we chose this exact part of the forest for our backup plan, the dense leaf crowns at the top of these trees break our fall as gently as a tree possibly can.
Pain still pulses through my body as I tumble down between the branches and leaves and then hit the grass below. But I keep my arms around Lavendera the entire way down. We didn’t go through all of this trouble just for her to land on her head and die after we escape.
Rolling over on my back, I let Lavendera’s body do the same as I release my grip on her and instead drag in a deep breath. Pain pulses through my injured shoulder as well as my back and my entire left side now. But I’m alive.
And so are my friends.
Sitting upright, I whip my gaze from face to face.
Orion brushes leaves from his fancy blue garments and puts the crown, which he was apparently holding in his hand when Draven dropped us, back on his head.
Alistair blinks and shakes his head while still sitting on the ground.
A few steps away, Isera simply gets to her feet silently.
Galen scans the grass for Draven, who rakes a hand through his now messy black hair while getting to his feet, and Lyra simply jumps up from the grass with a wide grin on her mouth.
“That is what I call a job well done,” she declares with that beaming smile on her face.
“A job well done?” Orion demands. He looks furious. “Do you have any idea just how close we came to losing just now?”
“What do you—”
Lavendera gasps awake. Scrambling to her feet, she snaps her gaze from side to side.
I jump to my feet as well, getting ready for a fight.
But she doesn’t start attacking us straight away. Instead, an awful expression of dread and panic washes over her beautiful face.
“No,” she breathes, and her voice breaks on the word. Fear pulses in her eyes as she looks around, as if searching for someone. “No. What have you done? They will think I left on my own. They will think I betrayed them. I will never get it now. I will never get it.”
I stare, horrified, as something seems to break inside her. Fear and dread and sheer utter desperation crash over her face while tiny panicked noises rip from her throat.
Then her eyes abruptly slide out of focus.
Blinking, I stare at Lavendera as she suddenly begins disassociating the way she often does. My heart beats hard as I watch her just stand there and stare unseeing at a tree a few steps away.
“Uhm,” Alistair begins, very eloquently saying what we were all no doubt thinking.
“Malachi’s fucking balls,” Orion snaps, shattering the sudden silence like an explosion. “You people are insane!” Raising his hand, he stabs it in the direction of the city we just escaped. “We were almost captured five times during this absolute shitshow of a mission!”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Draven replies with a scowl.
“Barely,” he growls, fury flashing in his black and silver eyes as he instead stabs his finger towards Draven.
“But you don’t know that, because you didn’t see all the traps we walked right into.
” His gaze snaps to the rest of us. “Malachi’s balls, you’re supposed to be smart.
Do you have any idea how close we came to losing today? ”
“But we didn’t,” Isera retorts, her eyes as hard as his.
“We almost did! And do you know what would’ve happened if I had been caught impersonating Bane Iceheart?
” He flings his arm out and stabs his hand towards the horizon.
“That fucking psycho dragon shifter would’ve made it his mission in life to slaughter every single person inside my court.
” A snarl rips from his lungs as he rakes his hands through his hair.
“I cannot keep risking my court like this.”
“Yes, you will,” Draven reminds him. “Because you don’t have a choice. So if you think our schemes aren’t good enough, feel free to actually start contributing more.”
“Contributing more?” He shoots Draven an offended glare full of disbelief.
“We only pulled off this insane scheme because of me. Because I ordered Nysara to glamour us.” Narrowing his eyes, he turns to Isera.
“And I will not risk my court like this again until you prove that you are a descendant of the Seelie Queen’s second daughter. ”
A hysterical laugh suddenly rips through the air.
I jump in surprise and whirl towards the source of it. Lavendera, who is now blinking her eyes back into focus, turns towards Isera and Orion while continuing to laugh. It’s a strange laugh. It doesn’t sound mirthful at all. Instead, it’s laced with insanity.
“No,” Lavendera begins, while still chuckling like a crazy person. “I can tell you, without a doubt, that Isera is not a descendant of the Seelie Queen’s second daughter.”
Dread crashes over me. Fuck.
Orion’s gaze sharpens as he snaps it back to Isera. “So, you did lie, little viper. Our entire bargain is based on a lie.”
“No,” Isera counters, keeping her chin raised and her expression one of calm composure. “I was telling the truth.”
He stabs his hand towards Lavendera. “She just told us you were lying!”
“And you’re just taking her word for it? Where is her proof? Can’t you see that she is just trying to sow discord? Because she is on the Icehearts’ side, for Mabona’s sake! Use your head.”
Lavendera stops laughing, and her eyes become serious as she looks between the two of them. “Isera is not a descendant of the Seelie Queen’s second daughter.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” Isera demands. “The dragon shifters claim she died, but her body was never found. So where is your proof? How can you prove that I am not a descendant?”
Pain flickers in Lavendera’s eyes. “Because I am the Seelie Queen’s second daughter.”