Chapter 6 Lily
LILY
“And you think this is wise?” Hawk stood with me in the courtyard, wearing his full armor and sword, like a battle could return to our doorstep any second.
He’d been spending all his time helping the kingdom rebuild after the destruction.
The edge of the village had been destroyed, and the people were distraught by the number of loved ones they had lost. Bodies were still being recovered from the sea, and there had only been a few survivors.
The dead of the enemy were still being piled up and burned.
Sometimes victory still felt like a defeat.
“I don’t care whether it is or not,” I said as I approached Zehemoth with my pack over my shoulder. “If there’s any chance that he’s right, I have to go.”
“Then sail with our fleet once the navy has recovered—”
“That could be months, Hawk. And I told you, this place is so far away it would take too long to get there by ship.”
“What if he says it’s too far away, just to get you alone?”
“To do what?” I asked. “I know you don’t trust him because he’s a vampire. But he saved our asses, so you better start trusting him.”
“I just think it’s dangerous for you to take off with a vampire—alone. I could come with you, but there’s so much to do here.”
“You’re right, there is too much,” I said. “I’ll be fine. You forget that Zehemoth will be with me. I won’t be going alone. And if we need help, Zehemoth can communicate with Khazmuda and Movack, regardless of the distance. I’ll be okay, Hawk.”
He continued to look uncomfortable, his worries still plaguing his mind.
“What if Viper is right and the platinum is there?”
Hawk released a breath before he looked at me again.
“Imagine I find it there, and when I come back, Dad can be healed?”
He crossed his arms and looked away, probably living out the fantasy in his head.
“Imagine hearing his voice again…imagine him hugging us again…imagine the four of us being a family again.”
After a long stretch of silence, he gave a nod in agreement. “Yeah…I want that as much as you do.”
“I trust Viper with my life, so I’m not worried.” My eyes flicked behind him when I saw Viper emerge, dressed in his armor with his blade across his back, ready for the journey across the world. “I’ll be with a dragon and a vampire. There’s no safer company.”
“Except the god of the underworld…ironically.”
The mention of Callum knocked the wind out of me. I thought of him every moment of every day, wondering when I would see him again, if I would see him again.
Hawk must have caught the look on my face because he said, “Still haven’t heard from him?”
“No.”
Hawk didn’t try to make me feel better, either because he didn’t want to feed me empty words or because Viper had almost reached us. But my brother grabbed my arm and gave it a squeeze. “Be careful, alright? And make sure you return with that platinum.”
I nodded. “Trust me, I’ll do my best.”
Hawk turned to Viper and gave him a polite nod. “Make sure she comes back in one piece.”
“I will.”
“And if she doesn’t, I’ll find you.” Hawk made his threat nonchalantly then walked off.
Viper watched him go before he turned to look at me, but he wore no hint of offense. He looked completely inscrutable, like anything that came from my brother’s mouth was insubstantial.
“He’s just protective because my dad is…not here right now.”
Viper stared at me before he gave a slight nod. “I’m not easily offended.” He examined Zehemoth beside me, clearly marveling at the sight of the dragon up close. The strap of his pack was over his shoulder, and he grabbed it and showed it to Zehemoth. “May I?”
Zehemoth brought his head down low, examined the vampire general with orange eyes. When his breath left his nostrils, it made Viper’s hair shift, but no other part of him flinched. Then Zehemoth gave a nod.
Viper climbed up the straps of the saddle before he secured his pack in place. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
Viper climbed the rest of the way and sat in the rear of the saddle, giving me the front seat. It was as if he’d done it before.
I climbed up after him and took the seat in front of him.
He tucked his legs into the straps.
“Have you ridden before?”
“Yes.”
“You have dragons where you’re from?” I asked as I looked over my shoulder.
“No. But my brother has them in his lands.”
“Whoa. What are they like?”
“The same,” he said noncommittally.
“How do you communicate with them?”
“I don’t. Neither does my brother. Only certain humans have that ability.” His arms were long enough to move around me, so he reached forward and grabbed the horn with a single hand. His other slid across the armor that protected my core. “Let’s make haste. We have a long journey ahead of us.”
Zehemoth walked to the edge of the courtyard, tilting down over the cliff to the sea.
It was still a terrifying sight, no matter how many times I rode a dragon. My stomach always lurched left and right, and then I felt a bout of vertigo. But when Zehemoth angled forward and spread his wings, and we soared…it was magic.
We left in the morning and flew northwest, crossing the Great Sea and the Northern Kingdoms and Riviana Star. Flying was so much faster than sailing, but it still took a full day to reach any of my allies. But this journey sounded much longer than any of those.
At dusk, we flew across the sea, going farther than I ever had on the back of a dragon.
No clouds dotted the sky, so the stars started to brighten as the sun disappeared over the horizon.
There was no extra wind, just the movement of air as it slapped against our faces.
The sea beneath us was so calm it acted as a mirror for the sky overhead.
If I were to sail in a galleon, the bow of the ship would move effortlessly through the water.
“I don’t know the way beyond this,” I said to Viper.
“If your dragon is tired, we can veer slightly to the east. There’s land there.”
“His name is Zehemoth.” He wasn’t my dragon. He wasn’t a steed that brought me from one place to another. I would have said something far more lethal if Viper hadn’t just saved my father and my kingdom from certain death.
He didn’t respond to that, but the message seemed to be clear.
“Are you tired?”
A little. I’m still running off adrenaline.
“But the battle is over.” I continued to speak to him out loud, even though Viper couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.
Yes, but we’re still fighting for your father’s life.
“You should pace yourself. Viper makes it sound like it’s a very faraway place.”
“It is,” Viper said.
Then I will land.
Twenty minutes later, a landmass became visible in the moonlight, and Zehemoth made his descent until he found a secluded clearing for us to retire for the evening. He allowed us to retrieve our packs from his saddle before he took off again to hunt.
Wordlessly, I got to work building the fire like I did when I traveled with Hawk.
Viper set up his tent before he asked if he could open my pack and build mine. When I consented, he put it together a close distance from his.
I got the fire burning and slowly added to it to grow the flames, assuming we would roast whatever Zehemoth brought back to share.
Zehemoth returned twenty minutes later, a dead black bear in his jaws with its neck snapped. He dropped it on the ground for me, and I walked over and pulled out my knife to clean the carcass and prepare our portion of the meat.
Viper walked over but didn’t squat down beside me. “I can do that for you.”
“Why?” I asked without taking my hands off my work. “You don’t eat meat, right?”
He continued to watch me. “No.”
“Then don’t worry about it.”
“You know how to hunt and clean your kills?” he asked in slight admiration.
“I know how to do everything,” I said with a hint of pride. “Because my father taught me.”
He kneeled down beside me even though I’d said I didn’t need his help. Just watched me in silence as I prepared the meal I would cook on the fire for myself. When I was done, I skewered the meat on the stick and let it sit over the fire. Then I washed my hands with my canteen before I sat on a log.
Viper sat on the ground with his back to the log beside me, a few feet between us, both of us staring at the fire as the meat cooked and the juices slowly dripped onto the flames and made them hiss.
“Do you miss eating food?” I asked.
“No. It’s been so long that I don’t remember what it was like.”
“Do you ever get tired of feeding on the same thing? I imagine it’s all the same.”
“No. The taste of blood is unique to each person. Different experience every time.”
“So some people taste better than others?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever stopped feeding on someone based on taste alone?”
“Many times.”
“Oh, interesting.”
He propped one knee up, his elbow resting on it as he continued to stare at the fire.
It was nice to have the reprieve from his stare. He stared at me harder than Callum did sometimes.
The thought of Callum suddenly made me feel sick, because it was the first time I didn’t expect him to appear.
I’d started to become so used to his absence that it felt normal for him not to be there, to smother me with his kingly presence.
When I traveled with Hawk, Callum always appeared at the campfire or my tent, whisking me away so we could be together on a beautiful island.
Every time I missed him, I felt like I lost him all over again.
Zehemoth took the carcass I left behind and carried it away from the campfire so we wouldn’t have to watch him rip and tear at an animal. The sound of cracking bones was enough to ruin anyone’s appetite.
“I’ve imagined how yours would taste…many times.
” Viper’s eyes remained locked on the fire like he hadn’t just said something that would scare anyone.
“Sometimes I can smell it when I’m close to you.
The way sommeliers detect floral and mineral undertones in their wine, I detect power and majesty in yours. ”