Chapter 52
Allie
“This is a bad idea,” Dax said after the fiftieth time he’d turned to look behind us at the pack of trolls marching toward the city.
More of them, mostly younglings clinging to their grandparents’ large hands, had appeared from the mist, watching us with the pure fright dancing in our warriors’ eyes.
They’d made quick work of gathering their maces, while my group had watched on disapprovingly. None of the warriors had voiced their displeasure, but I could see it in every scowl and flinch whenever a troll got too close.
They were frightened–and they were furious at me.
“I couldn’t leave them behind to get slaughtered.
Neither of us can withstand a full Northern attack on our own.
We don’t have people to spare to protect them.
Not that any of them would agree to it, anyway,” I said, already tired from the endless discussion I knew I’d faced once we reached the city.
I might as well have brought a flight of dragons to darken the skies of Solkar’s Reach.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s the right thing to do,” Dax said. “But nobody’s happy about this.”
The warriors marched as far away from the trolls as possible, huddled together between us and the creatures.
Except Vylkor. He marched at the back of the line, wearing the mightiest scowl of all.
“Let them,” I said with a confidence I didn’t truly feel. “I won’t send the trolls away.”
Whether the people of Solkar’s Reach wanted to admit it or not, the trolls had protected the city when they’d faced the Northern soldiers.
My gaze lingered on the crater’s rim. So much territory to cover.
“At least one good thing came out of this,” I said.
“You remembering who you really are?” Dax asked. There was still hope in his voice; more than I would’ve liked.
The irony didn’t escape me.
Here I was, leading people who were enemies mere weeks ago, despite them not being thrilled about it, when I couldn’t do the same for my own Clan.
“That we know they’re avoiding the passage,” I said. “It would have been much easier for them to crawl through it instead of risking their lives scaling those walls.”
Whatever Ryker had done to protect the entrance worked.
I could only hope those same strange traps would help us protect as much of the rim as we could.
Ryker needed to know–and I needed his help.
“Maybe the Northerners can’t find the entrance without the traitor guiding them,” Dax said. “Which means they’re off to war, whoever they are.”
I didn’t know which was worse–the traitor trapped here with us or on the battlefield with Ryker.
“The soldiers knew we were coming, though,” I said.
Yes, they could have spotted us from the rim, but that didn’t sit right with me.
Dax turned his head once more. “Vylkor’s still at the end of the line.”
“He’s so convinced the trolls are going to attack.” I appreciated his dedication to duty, but this wasn’t the right moment for it. “As if they’d go through all this trouble when they could have annihilated us then and there, and then attacked the city without warning.”
Dax hummed. “That, or…”
“Or?”
“Or he knows this little parade of ours will be very poorly received by the people in Solkar’s Reach and wants only you to be seen leading the trolls into their precious city.”
The thought was so heinous–and so disturbingly obvious–that it halted me in my tracks. Murmurs, both troll and human, resounded behind me before I shook my head and marched forward.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” I seethed.
“Because you’re righteous.” Dax hesitated. “Don’t get me wrong…”
“In this mood, I probably will.”
“...but you need to learn to see the worst in people. Most would do anything to save their hides, even skinning others.”
“We grew up in the same family. How did you become so jaded?”
“I’ve traveled too far and seen too much to trust anyone.” He jutted out his stubborn chin at me. “Do you trust Vylkor?”
I trusted his sense of duty. Whether that extended to me was debatable. He sure hadn’t wanted to let me take control of the city.
“He wasn’t the one to maim that troll.” It would have recognized his scent.
“That’s not an answer.”
I hesitated. “Ryker trusts him.”
“Do you?”
Back when we’d first left for the crater’s entrance, I had. Now, after he’d challenged me–“No.”
“Then don’t let him walk behind you again. That’s an easy way to end up with a dagger in your back–” Dax inhaled sharply, just as my heart crumbled all over again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean–”
“It’s fine,” I lied, trying to keep a straight face, even as another wave of emotions threatened my composure.
The pain of losing my father would never ebb away, not really. Especially since I hadn’t found his murderer and was no closer to avenging him.
Perhaps once I did, some of the guilt would vanish.
But shame cast a sickening shadow over every other feeling. For the briefest moment, I’d forgotten he was dead.
Since that day on Sanctua Sirena, there had always been a throbbing trapped in the back of my mind, reminding me of what I’d lost. Like a wound that still bled, though I could move through it.
For the entire trek to the rim and back, the memory of him hadn’t even crossed my mind, so consumed with battles and trolls and warriors that didn’t know what true loyalty meant.
Shameful.
The welcoming scent of firewood began to envelop us as the city’s chimneys rose in the distance. The smoke blended with the grey sky.
With each step, my stomach sank further.
Now my name would be cursed in two Clans.
Nobody, not even Mrs. Thornbrew, would be thrilled at me bringing an entire brigade of trolls.
I’d sent two men ahead of us, to clear, clean, and ready the wolf kennels near the fortress.
It was the closest lodging to a cave I could give without suffocating them with the interior heat we humans needed to survive.
I didn’t want overheated trolls trying to put out fires left and right.
Plus, so near the fortress, I could keep a close eye on any altercation.
The wind stole my sigh.
Ryker would have understood. He probably would have done the same thing.
But he wasn’t here.
Still, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from floating to him, seeking comfort and reassurance when I needed them most.
At the back of my mind, I swore I could feel a strange tug. It wasn’t the same ferocious pressure trying to yank me away when Dax had arrived, but it still slithered down my spine, burning my skin.
Mercifully, a dark spot in the sky stole my attention and brought a much needed smile to my face.
Sylvester flew to greet us on his way out of the crater, his great wings facing the wind with ease.
But just as he started circling us, the trolls began to roar.
I whirled around, hand flying to my bow on instinct. The largest of them swung their clubs in the air at poor Sylvester, as if they wanted to rip him feather by feather. The warriors looked at them in horror, already gripping their swords.
“No!” I raised my hands in the air, power fizzling just under the surface. “We do not threaten Sylvester. Friend. He’s a friend!”
The trolls stopped shouting and brandishing their weapons, but looked at me with puzzled expressions.
Good gods, this was going to be hard.
I motioned to Sylvester to draw nearer, huffing at the trolls to stand still.
He crowed, sounding absolutely miffed at the intruders threatening him, but flew over to me and landed on my shoulder.
He croaked at them, an admonishment and a cry of triumph at the same time.
He could get close and sit on my shoulder just fine, thank you.
I patted his head and nuzzled my nose in his black feathers, keeping my eyes trained on the trolls.
“Friend,” I said again. “We don’t hunt anything in the city.”
I added a grunt for good measure, hoping they got the message.
With one last nuzzle, Sylvester took off again. I watched him until his feathers blended into the sky. My stomach tightened further. It would be a long trip–but an unavoidable one.
Ryker needed to know.
When everyone seemed to quiet down, I turned around–only to be met with horrified stares.
A few of the citizens had probably seen Sylvester and had come to greet us as well, only to see a horde of angry, threatening trolls.
And I was leading them.
“Dada?” Krynn’s little girl asked, clutching her mother’s leg like it could defend her. “What are those?”
More civilians gathered, gasps erupting all around.
I sighed, rolled my shoulders back, and faced them. This was going to be a long discussion.