Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Varek felt a sense of urgency to get to Merrill . Once he was in the air, he told Con about his conversation with Merrill , refusing to wait as the other Kings tried to catch up to him.
Jeyra rode on his back, draped over his neck as he flew low and fast. He ignored the other dragons hastily getting out of his path. Varek had been uneasy since Merrill returned to Stonemore . He hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. He’d assumed Villette would come for his friend, but they should’ve anticipated the invisible foe.
Varek was halfway to the northern border when he spotted smoke coming from that direction. He released a growl and pushed himself harder as he mentally shouted to every dragon through their mental link, asking them to join him. Then he tried reaching Merrill . No matter how often he bellowed his friend’s name, he didn’t respond. He wouldn’t ignore Varek . Not now.
Varek was furious at himself for not getting Rhi or Lotti to teleport him to Katla’s . He was wasting precious time. He bared his teeth and flapped his wings faster, willing himself to get there quicker.
The closer he got, the thicker the smoke in the air became. Varek kept shouting for Merrill but got no answer. Then he saw the extent of the inferno as it ravaged the vine forest. Over half the valley was engulfed. It appeared as if it began at Katla’s cottage and spread outward in a semi-circle. And it continued to expand at an unnatural rate.
Suddenly , a black dragon with silver-tipped scales moved up beside him. Varek glanced over at Derek . The King of the Dead nodded and dove toward the flames. That’s when Varek spotted Kora on his back. They flew right over the tops of the vines as Kora used her hellhound abilities to put out the blaze.
Varek flew toward the cottage. He spotted a grouping of vines in a dome shape and remembered them making such a structure before. The first time had been to protect Henry and Melisse . Maybe Merrill and Katla were within. Though Varek had a hard time imagining Merrill hiding instead of fighting. Katla , too, for that matter.
He soared over the house. There was nothing left of the cottage but half a wall. Everything else was burnt or burning. The building itself looked like a bomb had gone off inside. The debris field made almost a complete circle, and there were no signs of any bodies.
Varek swooped to the ground. The moment he landed, Jeyra flipped off his back. He called clothes to himself as he shifted and surveyed the damage.
“ What happened?” Jeyra whispered.
He shook his head. “ Nothing good.”
Derek and Kora flew over them, extinguishing the last of the fire. Varek looked at the sky and saw a wave of dragons approaching. His attention returned to the ground, searching for some sign of Merrill , Katla , or anyone else. The fact that no one was around had worry settling like a heavy stone in Varek’s stomach.
Merrill , for all his years of good-naturedness, jokes, and uplifting comments, was a warrior of the finest caliber. He wasn’t just a fighter. He was legendary among the dragons. Merrill saw a battlefield unlike others. He knew an enemy’s weaknesses and just how to exploit them. Varek scanned the wreckage. If Merrill was here, he would’ve fought with everything he had.
Con shifted as he descended to the earth, landing on one knee. As he straightened, clothes covered his nakedness. His black gaze slid to Varek . Above them, more Kings crisscrossed the sky, each relaying what Varek already knew. Merrill wasn’t here.
“ Who did this?” Con demanded in a soft voice, belying his rage.
The question wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, but Varek answered. “ It could’ve been Villette . It could’ve been the entity.”
“ As well as the Orgate warriors.” The wind ruffled Con’s blond hair, drawing smoke around him.
“ Possibly ,” Varek admitted.
He tried not to think about the time he’d spent in the city’s prison, cut off from his magic and unable to shift. It had been stressful and terrifying. When Jeyra called his name, his attention swung to his mate. He found her walking among the remains of the cottage. She waved him over. Varek hurried to her, Con on his heels.
“ Look ,” Jeyra said, squatting and moving a broken board.
He followed her finger to the orange scale peeking out from beneath the rubble. A dragon didn’t lose their scales easily. The fact that one lay there meant trouble.
“ Con !”
Rhi’s frantic shout cut through the night. Con spun and raced to his mate. Varek followed with Jeyra , seeing that the domed vines he had spotted earlier were now parted. He slid to a halt at the sight of Katla’s body, bloodied and twisted.
“ Is she dead?” Jeyra asked.
Con knelt beside Katla and laid a hand on her shoulder. Her face was turned toward them. Much of her hair had burned away, and half her face was blistered. Varek looked at her chest but couldn’t see it moving. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see if Con could heal her. He could heal anything, but he couldn’t bring someone back from the dead.
Varek saw Katla’s burned hair return. After that, her wounds healed, one by one. She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her gaze lingered on Con for a heartbeat before she looked past him to the cottage.
“ Merrill !” she screamed as she sat up.
She gained her feet and frantically shoved past Con and Rhi . Varek caught her when she tried to go around him.
“ Easy ,” he told her.
Sparks shot from her fingers and swam in the air as she struggled. “ I have to get to him.”
Varek gripped her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake until she looked at him. “ He isna there.”
“ I know.”
He watched a single tear roll down her face. “ What happened? Where is he?”
Katla stepped away, pulling from his grip. She scanned the faces around her before looking at the dragons in the sky. “ He brought us here, thinking we would be safe. We should have been. At least, for the night. There was no warning. Just an explosion. It threw me.” She swallowed, her eyes never leaving what was left of her home. “ I dragged myself to the cottage, but everything was on fire. That’s when I saw the entity.”
Varek exchanged a look with Con . It was the confirmation they needed that Katla had Star magic.
“ It attacked me. It was fast. I had no time to do anything.” She looked down at herself. Her clothes were still burned, but her body was healed. “ I thought I was dead.”
“ You were close,” Con said from behind her.
Katla twisted to look at him. “ You healed me?”
“ I did,” he said with a bow of his head.
“ Thank you.”
Con walked to stand beside Varek . “ Did you see Merrill after the explosion?”
Despair creased her face for a heartbeat. “ They took him.”
“ Who ?” Varek demanded, even though he knew what the answer would be.
Katla’s gray eyes met his. “ The Orgate warriors.”