Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
SOFIA
They flew without fear of being seen.
It was an incredible feeling to truly experience Chalia going at her top speed, high above the trees.
The wind whipped at them, but Sofia kept her head down.
Fox was pressed against her back, his own head bowed over her.
The trees passed beneath them in green waves, Chalia leaving a trail of clouds and mist behind them, rain falling across the forest.
The sun was low on the horizon, perfectly balanced on top of the treetops.
It still didn’t feel real that just this morning they’d flown into the mountains, the first humans to see the dragons in centuries.
Now they were flying back toward the city.
They’d have to camp in the forest for a couple of nights before they made it, but they were flying faster now than they’d flown on the way here.
Sofia was eager to get back to Suvi. She was ready for all of this to be over.
They’d enter the city along the ocean and try to find the way into Eha’s cavern.
If they couldn’t find one, they’d climb the cliffs and enter the city while Chalia stayed behind.
Fox would take the lead in contacting Harlow, but Sofia was ready for whatever the outcome.
Her blade was warm beneath her fingers as she caressed the hilt.
Fox was so sure of himself. And she would give him his chance.
But the moment Harlow blinked—the moment Fox recognized he wouldn’t change—she’d have her dagger in his chest. And she was ready to make it hurt.
For Mina. For Javi’s blood-mother. For her parents. For Sari and every Dragonborn sent to their deaths for nothing more than being born on the wrong side of town.
They’d been flying for less than an hour when Chalia slowed, her feathers going rigid along her spine.
Sofia sensed the unsettling anxiety as she looked at the horizon ahead.
It took her another few minutes before she saw what Chalia had seen, but there it was—a speck of movement.
Not in the trees, but above them, flying toward them. Too big to be a bird.
“What is that?” Fox asked, his own voice tight.
“Chalia?” Sofia asked through her mind, not bothering with yelling above the wind.
The young dragon didn’t answer immediately, instead shooting forward so fast Sofia had to fling herself against her back, grabbing at her feathers tightly.
“Eha!” she screamed into Sofia’s mind. A loud rumble that Sofia took as the equivalent of a laugh shook Chalia’s body beneath them.
“She sees Eha!” Sofia yelled.
Fox’s arms were tight around her waist, and he pulled himself closer, his lips near her ear. “I don’t trust this.”
It took a moment to recognize that he was right. Joy and excitement moved through her in waves, but somewhere beneath it, she also recognized confusion and anxiety. How did Eha escape? How was she flying toward them right now?
“Chalia, we should slow down,” Fox was yelling. “Something isn’t right.”
“But Eha!” Sofia said, the words slipping from her before she could stop herself.
“Sofia,” Fox said, voice going higher. They were getting closer by the second, the shape of Eha coming into view slowly. Her white scales glowed in the afternoon light, and Sofia took in her beauty. She looked so different from how she’d seemed, chained up in that chamber.
Fox gripped her shoulders, almost painfully, his voice soaked in panic.
“Eha’s not alone. There’s something wrong. Really wrong, Sofia, please snap out of it.”
His hand was on her shoulder, tugging at her. She wanted to brush him off, but he jerked her back, forcing her to look at him. His eyes were wide, and it was like ice water down her spine. He was looking at her with genuine fear.
“Chalia?” she asked, feeling the dragon’s excitement suddenly waning, replaced with dread.
“She’s not answering me. She’s not talking to me!
” Chalia said, finally slowing her flight down as Eha grew larger.
And then Sofia saw the figure on Eha’s back, dressed in black and leathers.
She wondered how she hadn’t seen him before.
They were close enough now she could see his smile, cold and cruel and so very wide.
Chief Commander Harlow was practically gleeful.
And behind him flew another dragon she didn’t recognize. There were a half-dozen men on its back, but it swept below the tree line, disappearing from view before she made them out.
“Chalia’s right, Eha’s not answering me either,” Fox said.
“I can’t sense the other dragon,” Chalia said. “I can feel him there, but his mind...”
Anxiety coursed through Sofia’s blood, and she didn’t even know if it was Chalia’s or her own.
“He’s done it,” she said, throat raw. “He’s found a way to control the dragons.”
“Fox,” Chief Commander Harlow’s voice called out over the space between them, bringing Eha up beside them.
Chalia craned her head, trying to get Eha to look at her, but the other dragon only stared straight ahead.
Fox could feel the fuzzy sense of nothingness where her mind should have been.
“I thought my reports had to be wrong. That you would never have betrayed me, but now I understand. She’s quite pretty, I know, but her bite is lethal. ”
“Chief Commander,” Fox said, and Sofia wondered if Harlow could hear the slight waver in his voice—if he could hear the anxiety that she did, just barely concealed beneath the surface.
She reached back, her hand finding his and squeezing.
He squeezed back, and she felt something release in her chest.
“We were just coming to talk with you.”
“Is that what you were planning on doing? Talking? With a dragon and blades?”
“As you said, her bite is a bit lethal. I could only convince her of so much.” His voice shifted, warmed. “But we have come to talk. Please. You know me.”
“I thought I did, but perhaps I’ve been naive.” His eyes flickered to Sofia, raking over her body in a way that made her skin crawl. “I’ve been mistaken in the past.”
“Let’s land so we can speak face to face,” Fox said, his voice smooth. If Sofia hadn’t been so long with him, learning to read each fluctuation in his tone, she might have thought him calm. Cheery, even.
Chief Commander Harlow stared them down, eyes narrowed and face purposefully blank before he finally nodded. Sofia’s stomach twisted at the way his eyes lingered on her, something akin to pleasure dancing there. She didn’t hide her sneer.
Eha swept down between an opening in the trees, and Chalia followed without direction. They were alone as they landed, but Sofia could see other soldiers among the trees, surrounding their little meeting.
As Chief Commander Harlow dismounted from Eha, Sofia saw the saddle he’d affixed to her back and the way it cut into her side. Beneath the dappled light of the trees, she could see the scars marring her scales, some still raw and red. They made her chest tighten, and she tasted bile on her tongue.
When she looked back at Harlow, the man was watching her studying the dragon.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Your people aren’t the only ones that have harnessed the power of these creatures. Your gods. So easily controlled by the power of the kingdom.”
“Sir,” Fox said, stepping forward. Sofia noticed the way his body came between her and Harlow. She wondered who he was protecting from whom. “That’s what we wanted to talk to you about.”
“We…” Chief Commander Harlow said, voice dripping with disdain. “How quickly you’ve changed sides. Your father tried to convince me near his end that your loyalties were shifting. I should have listened to him.”
Sofia wondered what the chief commander saw in Fox’s eyes in that moment, because suddenly his smile turned cold.
“Does your mother know?”
“What?” Fox said, voice raw.
“That it was you who killed your father,” he said, teeth showing as a threat.
“How did you—”
“I don’t know whether to be more proud of your deception or disappointed in myself for not seeing it sooner. Nevertheless, I can let her know.”
Fox’s face went pale.
The chief commander’s smile widened. “Did I mention that yet? She’s here.”
“She has nothing to do with this,” Fox said, words rushing out. “She knew nothing about what I did.”
“Of course not.”
“Don’t touch her,” Fox said, words slow and dark.
“I wouldn’t dare. She’s here for her own protection. Who knows what would happen if the city found out she was the mother of a traitor. High Sergeant Martín is keeping her safe.”
Sofia tried not to let her own surprise show. Vato was here.
“We came to talk about a truce,” Fox said, but Sofia could hear the disquiet in his words. He was stumbling over them, breaths coming fast. She squeezed his arm before stepping forward.
“He stopped me from just slitting your throat and burning down the city,” she said. “So maybe you should thank him. Fox seems to think you can be rational, and we can talk about an end to this war before it begins.”
The chief commander laughed. “Why should I end a war I’m bound to win? We have just as much power as you do now. We have three dragons already and soon we’ll have more.”
“The dragons know you’re coming. They’ve been warned. You won’t get a chance to control them before they wipe you out.”
“Where are they now, then?” he said, sweeping his arms.
Sofia stiffened, the anger throbbing through her. He smiled as if he sensed her thoughts.
“I have confidence we’ll figure it out. From what I see, you have a single dragon, and I don’t even think that one’s fully grown.”
Chalia’s feathers ruffled, and Sofia felt the anger shoot through her. She didn’t bother soothing the dragon, and the air in the clearing turned thick, clouds coming in low.
Chief Commander Harlow waved his hand.
Eha opened her mouth into a snarl, and a sharp wind blew through the clearing, the clouds dissipating immediately.
“Cute theatrics from a child,” he said, turning to Sofia. “Surrender and make this easier on all of us.”