Chapter 34 No Chance #2
“And the two dragons, are we to assume both have dragonriders?”
“At least one of them includes a dragonrider. I saw a saddle on one of the black dragons that’s been reigniting the fire in the square. As for the other one, I have not seen enough of it to determine. They’re both grounded for now, staying somewhere withing the walls.”
Lark focused in on the center of the fortress.
She could see the head of a dragon, but nothing more.
Her necklace tingled, causing her to flinch.
She wished she could just take it off, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t give.
The discomfort was generally tolerable enough to ignore.
“They’re hiding something powerful in there,” Lark noted.
“Exactly. Now we just need to wait for Cheyanne and her rebel force to arrive and we’ll—”
“You never told us that Cheyanne was coming with a force to aid in this Hyalite retrieval,” Lark snapped, cutting him off.
“Cheyanne is a powerful magician. She commands a force of rebels who’ve based their center of operations out of the Everburning Forest for almost a decade.”
“When were you planning on telling me about this?”
“I meant to before, but with the mine and being separated, then the shadow terror.”
“I thought our plan was to locate Sasja, make sure she still has the Hyalite without raising suspicion, and figure out a way to get it back. Not attack the fortress with an elf’s rebel army?” Lark said.
“Cheyanne is my truest friend and ally. We’ve been working together to try and expose corruption in Lamar’s Keeps since long before you entered my life.
The Kingdom of Lamar’s Noble Class has been using this competition for powers to line their pockets for centuries.
They get richer while the Common Class is oppressed.
Citizens are incentivized to try and become something greater through the Academies and the Keeps.
The nobles pay them with such exuberant contracts, it’s become the peak of social status in our society.
The people believe they’re fighting against evil, but the reality is the Nobles are using the Paragons and Knight like players on a continental gameboard where there is no end in sight and peace is impossible.
I tried for years to make change from the inside, but eventually learned, to expose what’s really going on will take a revolution.
A revolution Cheyanne is trying to build. ”
“That’s why you left the Academy,” Lark said. “It wasn’t to become a simple businessman.”
“The inns and caravan route are just a cover so I can get supplies to her and her organization without either side of this war knowing. I’ve long suspected that Nordraven’s Nobility is playing the same game that Lamar’s is.
This conflict is more complicated that it seems at face value.
We need allies and Cheyanne is on our side here.
She would never do anything to jeopardize what we’re trying to accomplish. We can trust her.”
“Can we though?” Lark asked. “Did she tell you about the meeting with the Morsythians that we had. The one where Sasja, Cheyanne and I made a deal with them?”
“Since when are you making deals with the Morsythians?”
“This was before the amnesia. The memory came to me after I saw Sasja the first time. I’ve had a few more memories surface that included Cheyanne. We disagreed about something. I think it was about this Hyalite,” Lark said.
“You should’ve told us. We could’ve—”
“Could’ve what? Told Cheyanne more of my secrets so she could betray me again?”
“You don’t know that she did anything to you.”
“You don’t either. Cheyanne said Sasja and I burned her. What if it was her who sent Marcel after us, knowing that we were trying to get this Hyalite. It could’ve been her. All of this could’ve been because of her.”
“She isn’t like that,” Ezra said.
“Even her own people don’t accept her. How honorable can she be?”
“She is honorable. You would know that if you could remember who she is,” Ezra said.
“The Hyalite has to be down there, and you want to wait for her? For what, so she can steal it from us?”
“No. Lark, so we can take it back. There could be a whole legion of Morsythians in that fortress. On top of that, we’re in Nordraven territory.
People here will not take kindly to a couple of Southerners invading their city.
The people of Red Lodge certainly won’t provide refuge for us.
Besides, there’s at least one dragonrider down there, maybe two.
There’s no way to know if the fortress is a trap,” Ezra said.
“And Cheyanne can tell us if it is or not?” Lark said.
“She is powerful. More than I am. We could use her and her—”
“I’m going down there,” Lark announced.
“We should wait for assistance. Venrick and Hardin might be coming, too.”
Lark’s necklace warmed uncomfortably. The same feeling that drew her into the firestorm pulled at her now. The sensation that Ingamar shied away from. It called to her and this time she wasn’t going to ignore it. This time, she was going to act.
“The Hyalite is down there. I know it in my bones and I’m going to get it back whether you come with me or not,” she said, getting to her feet and turning to leave.
Ingamar backed out of her way, the frost still coating his scales from his flight through Northern winds.
Lark unstrapped the brismil blade from his saddle and secured the sheath to her back.
Sliding the giant sword out from the sheath for practice, she swiped the powerful blade through the air several times.
The resulting pulse of energy flowed through her veins like the brismil armor, only slightly differently.
She dropped the sword, and it reappeared on her back.
Lark headed out to make for the ravine. Ingamar moved to walk with her.
“No, Ingamar. You can’t come with me this time.”
The dragon tilted his head sideways. He snorted at her, motioning with his head at the fortress.
“If there really is more than one rider down there, we could be taken before we get a chance to see if the Hyalite is there. You are too large and obvious with your golden scales. The cover of darkness will help, but I’m surprised that the other dragons and rider haven’t noticed you already.”
Ingamar sat, obedient, but the growl in his throat suggested that he wasn’t happy about it.
“Stay here with Ezra. You have my full permission to fly down there if something happens to me. Okay?”
The dragon nodded his large head in response.
“Lark,” Ezra said, pleading. “If you’d just wait, you won’t need to take this risk alone.”
“I’m not willing to pass up a chance to recover the Hyalite. Besides, I’m not alone. I have Stormbreaker and Ingamar for backup,” she said, turning to leave.