Chapter 45 Rhea #2
I clear my throat. “She said something about curses lifting and time being near. She mentioned Heratrix and said she… awakens.”
The room goes deadly silent. Cliffbecker pales.
“Heratrix awakens?” Phoebe whispers breathlessly.
“She also said to choose a path,” I add, trying to keep my voice steady.
“What else?” Cliffbecker asks.
“That’s it because she went from talking to trying to kill us pretty fucking fast.”
Dakar whistles low. “That’s some heavy wyrm-shit.”
“The craziest part?” I say, forcing myself to meet their eyes. “She controlled fire like a Skyblaze.”
Nate’s massive fist slams into his palm. “That’s impossible.”
“I saw it,” Vaylen confirms. “She nearly burned Rhealyn’s face off.”
I look at their faces—suspicious, concerned, curious—and wonder which of them will be the first to run out the door and call the Commander. I put my goal on Cliffbecker.
“That’s not all,” Vaylen says, his voice lowering to a grave tone that makes my stomach knot.
Dakar throws his hands up dramatically. “Slow down, High Prime. I’m still tryin’ to digest the Matron spittin’ fire like a pissed-off Skyblaze. Give a man a moment before you drop more wyrm-shit on his head.”
Trust Dakar to find humor in apocalyptic revelations. A small smile tips my lips.
Vaylen’s eyes find mine, silently asking permission. I give him a slight nod, my throat suddenly dry. He’s still protecting me by not revealing I’m a Weaver, but we can’t hide everything if we want their help.
“Wyndward started regaining memories about her time under the mountain,” he announces. “Things she experienced during that missing year.”
All eyes swing to me like compass needles finding north. The weight of their stares presses against my skin.
“Tell them what you saw,” Vaylen urges softly.
I take a deep breath, forcing the words past the fear clogging my throat. “I saw… I saw Heratrix,” I say bluntly. No point dancing around it. “Not just legends or stories. The actual goddess of all dragons, sleeping under that mountain.”
Phoebe’s pencil falls from her fingers, clattering against the stone floor. No one moves to pick it up.
“She was... massive,” I continue. “Her color was different. Nothing like our dragons.” The memory flashes vividly, scales that seemed to hold galaxies within them, wings that could blot out the sun. “And behind her… there were thousands of dragon eggs.”
The shock in the room is palpable. Cliffbecker’s face has gone ashen. Nate’s mouth hangs open. Even Dakar, for once, has nothing clever to say.
Vaylen steps forward, taking charge again. “Now you understand why we’re only trusting you with this information. If word spreads, half of Embernia would call us mad while the other half would tear apart every mountain in the realm looking for dragon eggs.”
“Total frenzy,” I add, following his lead. “Can you imagine? The desperate, the power-hungry, the zealots, all scrambling to claim Heratrix’s legacy? We’d have civil war before the Screechclaws could even sharpen their claws.”
Phoebe’s hand trembles as she retrieves her fallen pencil. “The implications are staggering. If Heratrix truly awakens after a thousand years...”
“That’s why we need you,” Vaylen says, his eyes sweeping across each face. “We’ve decided to form a team we can trust. People who won’t panic or betray us. People who can help us discover what’s really happening. So… are you with us?”
Dakar breaks the silence with a laugh that echoes off the armory walls.
“Sounds like fun to me! Been killin’ the same ugly harpies for years now.
Gets boring, ya know?” He slaps his thigh.
“Finding the Goddess under a mountain? Now that’s somethin’ worth talkin’ about in the tavern.
If we were allowed to talk about it, which we ain’t. ” He winks at me.
I exhale lightly. One down.
Phoebe’s eyes gleam with that scholarly fire I’ve come to recognize.
“Anything involving Heratrix?” She clutches her notebook to her chest like it’s precious treasure.
“I’ve been researching her disappearance since I was a child.
If there’s even a chance she’s there and those eggs exist..
.” Her voice quivers with excitement. “I’m absolutely in. ”
Nate’s massive shoulders shift as he steps closer to Phoebe. “Where she goes, I go.” His simple declaration lands with the weight of his impressive frame. “Besides, anything’s better than watching more riders fall to those ugly bitches.”
Everyone turns to Cliffbecker. The older Skydune’s face remains impassive, his features revealing nothing. My hands sweat. If he refuses, could we trust him to keep silent?
“Well?” Vaylen snaps. “Are you with us or not, Cliffbecker? Because if you’re planning to run to Voltguard the minute you leave this room, I’d rather know now.”
The tension crackles between us like lightning seeking ground.
Cliffbecker’s features tightens. “Hold on. You two haven’t exactly told us what we’re actually doing here. Discover what’s really happening is vague as wyrm-shit. I need details before I commit to anything.”
The old Skydune has a point. We’ve been dancing around the specifics.
Vaylen and I exchange glances. I raise my eyebrows, trying to convey the message that this was his idea.
He makes a decision on the spot. “We’re going back to Hearthdale,” Vaylen announces, his voice resonating with authority. “To find Heratrix.”
Cliffbecker’s eyebrows nearly reach his hairline. “That’s crazy”
“Count me in.” Dakar grins like a madman. “When do we leave?”
“Why not tell the Commanders?” Cliffbecker demands.
Dakar rolls his eyes. “Right, because Commander Voltguard’s just gonna say, Sure, take my best riders on a wild dragon chase while Screechclaws tear apart our borders! She’d sooner shave her head and dance naked at the King’s court.”
I snort. The image of our stern Commander prancing around Castle Stonefall without her obsidian uniform is both horrifying and hilarious.
“And what if it’s a trap?” Cliffbecker asks next. “What would the Screechclaws know about Heratrix? Why would they warn us that she’s… awakening?”
I glance at Vaylen with a frown, cocking my head slightly. Why did he invite this stubborn old rock if he knew he’d push back against everything?
Vaylen catches my look and the corner of his mouth twitches upward. “That’s why I asked you to join us,” he says to Cliffbecker. “I can always count on you to ask all the right questions. The uncomfortable ones we need to consider before rushing headlong into danger.”
Once more, I feel rash. Vaylen guided this conversation perfectly, while I wanted to burst everything out. And now Cliffbecker is injecting caution, something that’s probably allowed him to survive all these years as a Skydune. It seems I have very much to learn from those more experienced than me.
“There has to be a connection,” Phoebe says, her green eyes bright with excitement.
“Don’t you see? The war with the Screechclaws began shortly after Heratrix disappeared.
A thousand years of conflict that nobody questions anymore.
We just accept it as our reality.” Her gaze sweeps over the room.
“What if it’s all connected? The Goddess vanishes, the Screechclaws attack, and now they’re talking about her awakening?
What if harpies have been fighting us for a millennium because of something to do with Heratrix? ”
This seems to trouble everyone, making the floor very interesting as we reflect.
“How do we make our way to Hearthdale without the Commander’s approval?” Cliffbecker breaks the silence.
“I’ll think of something,” Vaylen says.
“A lie, you mean?” Cliffbecker asks.
Vaylen shrugs.
Cliffbecker sighs. “Fine. If there’s even a chance, it could mean this war will be over.”
Relief floods through me. They’re all in. We have allies.
Vaylen smiles, though he doesn’t seem surprised. He knew they would all agree. “Thanks, everyone. Await my instructions,” he says.
They start to file out, but Cliffbecker stops and scrutinizes me. “What you said in the beginning, that you are a monster. What was that all about?”
My throat constricts, and despite how practiced I am at deception, I can’t come up with a single lie.
Vaylen comes to the rescue, surprising me. “She fancies this is all her fault somehow, but she needs to get over herself. She’s not that special.” He puts on a sardonic smile.
Cliffbecker only grunts and keeps walking toward the door.
As they file out, I catch Vaylen’s eye, and thank him silently. We’re really doing this. We’re going back to where it all began.