86. Raengar
Deimos landed with enough force on the stones of the landing port that the birds in the trees even a half a mile away took frightened flight into the air. He’d flown to a city just on the outskirts of Venzor on Azaele’s Island. Grunting with exhaustion, Deimos shook his giant head and stretched his blue, glittering wings out as Raengar unbuckled himself and slid off his back. They’d been flying for nearly five days straight to get here, leaving only ten minutes after Raengar had gotten a Blood Hawk message in Morvarand that said:
Someone has been in the fucking Pit. Come to Venzor to pick up the head of a minotaur to take to the Council of Bastards.
-A
The landing base for dragons on Pit Island was nothing more than a deserted ruin of charred limestone and sticks, but someone must have seen him fly in, because speeding toward them were two armored velociraptors. Dinosaurs would never survive the cold of House of Ice, or most of the Realms’ turbulent environments, but here on the warm, safe, tropical islands of Azaele’s they thrived.
Raengar recognized Ashwani and Layaz Kulltoug, each riding on the back of an armored raptor. They were pulling a giant dead moose carcass between them that had been strung up to their mounts. Moose were not indigenous to the island but had been introduced to help feed the population of carnivores.
Layaz grinned, threw a leg over her raptor, and ran to the side of Deimos with a huge grin on her face. “Now here is a real lizard,” Layaz crooned, rubbing her hands over Deimos’s ice blue scales, each one the size of a dinner plate, as the large beast looked down at her with a lazy blink.
Layaz looked a lot like her sister, Kiniera, except she had barely a third of Kiniera’s power, which manifested in a healthy glow in Layaz’s skin and eyes. She was still pale, still had the moon white hair of the Kulltougs, but she didn’t look nearly as gaunt as Raengar’s spymaster. The younger Kulltoug would last approximately two seconds in a match with her sister but had more warmth in her little finger than the spymaster had in her whole body.
“We brought some food for Deimos,” Ashwani called out as she unhooked the moose carcass from the back of the raptors, who both watched Deimos carefully with alert eyes.
The velociraptors yapped nervously as Deimos lunged forward and eagerly ripped apart the moose, nearly stepping on the raptors in the process.
“There you go, beasty,” Ashwani cooed, happily watching Deimos eat his dinner.
Ashwani was the queen here. She was part of the ruling Ashwani family, but the islands technically belonged to the House of Ice.
In exchange for their taxes, the Azalea Islands received protection from the House of Ice army and their dragons, along with free infrastructure and education for the island people. There had been calls of rebelling, of stepping out of House of Ice influence, but Ashwani and her ancestors all fought vigorously for the good that House of Ice brought to their people, especially with Pit Island right next to them. It was a constant threat and a reminder.
Ashwani was tall, had light brown skin, and tight, curly black hair that grew wildly around her face. She was fiercely loyal and had an unflappable friendship with Raengar and Isolde. Raengar had known few people in his life as stoic and capable as her.
“It’s good to see you both,” Raengar said, tilting his head at Ashwani as she worked.
Layaz stepped away from Deimos to wrap Raengar in a hug. “I’m so glad to see you! I haven’t seen anyone from home in months. It’s amazing to be reminded that I’m not the only pale person on the planet.”
Raengar smiled down at the girl as she stepped back. Ashwani had asked for one of the Kulltougs to take permanent residence on the islands to help her take care of her Blood Hawks. Layaz had stepped forward and remained on the sunny islands for nearly twenty years, not that her pale skin ever showed any hint of that.
“How’s my sister?” Layaz asked.
“Good. Leading our Contestar to victory.”
Layaz’s nose scrunched in distaste.
“Here’s the head,” Ashwani unhooked a bloody, linen bag from the side of her raptor.
It smelled absolutely foul and there were flies buzzing around the white linen, but Raengar took it and opened it with the enthusiasm of a kid getting a present on Winter Solstice. A minotaur head. Black fur and long black bull horns slid around on a bloody piece of armor emblazoned with the Lyondrean crest.
“I would take that to Koppar, get a witch to freeze it.” Ashwani grimaced in disgust. “Oh! Take this, too.”
Raengar looked up to see Ashwani holding out a rolled-up piece of parchment out to him. Her seal stamped on the front in wax. “My signed statement saying this head and that armor was found on Pit Island. You know what this means, don’t you?”
Raengar took the piece of parchment carefully in his hand and nodded gravely. “It means we’re going to war.”