Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
The map lay open between us, heavy with meaning, and even heavier with the weight of what we all knew was coming. The flickering lantern light cast our shadows across it like silent omens.
“We need to decide when we’re leaving,” I said, eyes still locked on the inked coastline of the Blood Isle.
“Tomorrow,” Remy said without hesitation. “At first light. The longer we wait, the more eyes Theron puts on us.”
Zander had returned, and his gaze swept over the squad. “Agreed. But who’s going?”
“Everyone,” Remy replied. “We’ll need full strength once we breach the wards. But we leave Lowborn on the outside.”
I looked up. “To cover our backs?”
Remy nodded. “They’ll be our second net. If we’re compromised, they push from the outer perimeter. Hit hard and pull attention.”
Zander’s jaw twitched as he considered the plan. “It’s smart. They’re a tough squad. And with Camus and Ayda leading the flank, they won’t wait for orders.”
Teren let out a breath. “I trust them more than half the crowned bastards inside the capital.”
Cordelle looked nervous but resolute. “Do we tell Theron?”
“No,” Remy said with certainty. “We leave word with one of the guards after we’re airborne. Theron publicly authorized this mission, but he’s infamous for changing his mind.”
“Or trying to claim credit once it succeeds,” Ferrula muttered under her breath.
I met Zander’s eyes across the table. “We’re doing this on our terms.”
His nod was unhurried, measured. “Then it’s settled. We leave at first light.”
“We pack what we need, travel light, and don’t stop until we’re near the isle,” I added, voice firm. “Once we breach the wards, there’s no going back.”
Riven cracked her knuckles. “Good. I’m sick of waiting.”
Zander looked around at all of us, his voice quiet but commanding. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, we step into the unknown, and we do it together.”
One by one, we nodded.
Because whatever waited on that cursed isle, it would face all of us.
We moved through the room in silence, boots whispering over stone and leather packs slung across our backs.
The barracks felt heavier than usual, like the air itself had settled with the weight of what we were about to do.
No one said much as we grabbed provisions, just the quiet rustle of gear being packed and armor being unlatched.
Remy and Zander peeled off to their own rooms, both promising to meet us just before dawn. I watched Zander disappear into the shadowed hall and felt that hollow, gnawing tug in my chest. The weight of tomorrow was etched into every step he took.
Ferrula flopped onto her bunk and immediately started sorting her weapons with militant precision, blades gleaming in the firelight.
Riven was already double-checking her pack, muttering to herself as she stuffed extra rations and a length of polished wire between her throwing knives.
Cordelle wrapped his satchel carefully, pausing to tuck in a folded blanket as if we weren’t about to fly into the most dangerous territory on the continent.
Tae was unusually quiet, perched near the window with his feet on the ledge and his gaze turned toward the night sky. Even he didn’t have a smartass comment, which said more than anything else could.
I packed methodically, but my mind wasn’t on my saddle polish or the bundle of maps I’d stolen from the supply room. It was on her.
Seraveth.
You will come. And if you don’t, I will collect you.
Her voice slithered through my thoughts like smoke, and no matter how tightly I wrapped my gear or how many times I checked my flight straps, I couldn’t push her out.
When I finally curled into my bunk, Kaelith’s presence brushed softly against my mind, a gentle warmth that steadied my breath, but even she couldn’t still the ache in my chest. Why me? Why did she want me?
I turned on my side, stared at the glimmer of light dancing across the ceiling, and let the whisper of Seraveth’s voice follow me into restless dreams.
* * *
We rose in silence, long before the sun dared creep over the castle walls. The barracks were quiet, heavy with sleep, our movements practiced and hushed. Armor was buckled, packs were slung over shoulders, and boots barely whispered against the stone floor. No one needed reminding what today was.
By the time we reached the dining hall, the heavy doors creaked open to reveal First Guild already gathered, eating in silence that felt more ceremonial than casual.
Their eyes flicked to us as we moved through, some wary, others curious, but none spoke.
I grabbed bread and fruit, something I could eat on the go.
Riven snagged three meat pies, stuffing one in her mouth and handing the others to Cordelle and Tae.
Ferrula filled two canteens at the water basin without a word. We weren’t here to linger. Not when Theron’s mind was as shifting as Kaelith’s scales.
The air outside bit at our cheeks, but the sky was clear, and the wind promised good flying. We made our way across the stone courtyard to the Ascension Grounds, the wide field already humming with the first heat of sunrise.
I reached out with my mind and felt her.
Kaelith, I whispered.
She came like a whisper of thunder, wings slicing the air as her purple scales caught the early light and scattered it in a thousand fractured hues.
Hein was beside her, his bulk a silent shadow.
One by one, the dragons of Thrall Squad arrived—Temil, Kieren, Kass, Narvea, Koddos, and Zola, gleaming and proud, their presence drawing gasps from a few servants already setting up the day’s drills. Lowborn Squad’s were next.
As soon as Kaelith landed, I strapped on her saddle. I vaulted up without a rope, my hands gripping the curve of her neck as I settled into the leather. Zander mounted Hein in perfect rhythm. Our squad didn’t need prompting. We were fluid motion, practiced unity.
Then—
“Wait!” a voice rang out, shrill and desperate.
A court courier sprinted from the castle, a sealed scroll clutched in his hand.
That was close, I messaged Zander as Kaelith surged into the sky beneath me.
Too close, he replied, his tone edged with steel.
The courier skidded to a halt on the stone, his eyes lifted toward the fading silhouettes of our dragons.
He’d be delivering Theron’s commands to empty skies.
We flew hard and fast, the wind nipping at our armor, the horizon barely a smudge of violet beneath the rising sun. The Blood Isle loomed ahead, jagged and black like something carved from shadow itself.
As soon as we saw the rocky outcroppings jutting up from the sea like broken teeth, Kaelith dipped her wings. The others followed, their massive forms cutting soundlessly through the sky before landing in the narrow crags.
“Stay low,” I whispered, dismounting as Kaelith folded her wings and pressed her body into the rock, vanishing into the natural shadows. Hein curled around her like a living shield, his eyes always moving.
Riven, Jax, Cordelle, and the rest of Thrall Squad stayed behind with the dragons, crouched behind stone and bramble. But I scrambled upward with Remy and Zander at my sides, my boots crunching softly on loose shale as we climbed.
The view at the top made my blood run cold.
The Blood Isle stretched out before us—twisting black trees, rotting structures, and spires of bone and obsidian rising like thorns from the earth. A sickly-green mist clung to the ground in places, shifting unnaturally with the breeze.
“What’s the best way to the other side without being seen?” I asked, crouched down beside a slab of rock, with my heart thudding.
Remy, lying on his stomach and peering through a spyglass, pointed skyward. “Create a storm. A good one. Let it roll in thick and violent. We’ll fly above it and drop down once we’re past the cliffs.”
Zander nodded. “Push the storm a mile west. Let it drift toward the isle like it formed over the sea. If it looks too targeted, they’ll know it’s magic.”
“Got it.” I closed my eyes and reached for Kaelith.
Her power met mine in a sudden rush of static and wind.
Together, we called the storm.
Clouds coalesced in the sky like spilled ink, spiraling outward from a point just west of our position.
Wind howled over the water, tugging at my hair as the sea responded to our summons.
Bolts of lightning cracked through the clouds, jagged and white-hot, followed by deep, booming thunder that echoed across the waves.
Rain pelted the ocean in sheets. The skies churned.
And the Blood Isle never saw it coming.
“It’s beautiful,” Remy said softly, his voice almost lost in the wind.
Zander smirked. “Let’s hope it stays that way until we’re on the other side.”
I wiped the water from my cheek and stood. “Then let’s fly.”
We scrambled back to our dragons. Kaelith launched into the sky with a roar that was swallowed by thunder.
I leaned into the curve of her neck as we rose above the chaos, wind tearing at my leathers, rain stinging like tiny blades.
Around me, the rest of Thrall Squad emerged through the churning clouds—Remy astride his green-scaled dragon, Zander high on Hein’s back, the two moving as if their wings beat to the same rhythm.
Above the storm, the world was still. A false kind of calm. The clouds roiled beneath us like smoke trapped in a bowl, hiding the twisted island that waited below. I couldn’t see the Blood Isle. But I could feel it.
Zander lifted one hand, fingers splayed, then brought it down sharply.
Now.
Kaelith tucked her wings. We dove through the mist, the others close behind. Lightning danced across the sky, illuminating our descent in jagged, white flashes. My heart thundered in time with the storm.