Chapter 33
EMMELINE
The air was cool but my fury kept me warm.
Irses, with his new ability, flew ahead of us. I knew he wouldn’t tolerate me leaving with Lux and not him, so I’d had to change him as I changed her. I was angry with myself for not thinking of it sooner. I’d created these beautiful creatures out of memory and shadow—and intent.
And I could make them better suited for battle in the same way.
This entire time, I’d been able to make more of a difference. My inaction, my stupidity, had enabled so much death.
But now, I thought of only one person, one death I could not allow.
With Rain in imminent danger, I didn’t have time to give the same treatment to all of my dragons, but I’d altered Lux and Irses to better protect them. I’d changed their scales, especially on their underbellies, making them thick enough to defend from the wicked, reaching spears the enemy was desperate to use.
And I’d more than doubled their sizes.
Irses had been my biggest dragon from the beginning, but now, he was large enough to intimidate even the most arrogant and thoughtless of monsters like Nereza and the Supreme. This high up, it was hard to tell how much bigger I had made him—he hadn’t been able to properly stretch his wings within the hollow. If we were to fly above the palace on a bright, sunny day, I wouldn’t be surprised if his wings cast the entire grounds in shadow.
But if Irses was massive, Lux was monstrous.
Riding between her shoulder blades on a makeshift saddle formed from shadow, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around her enormity. I wondered if I might have made a mistake. I was exhausted. My head ached because of the lengths I’d gone to between them.
What I’d done to Irses had been exceptional. As he roared, breathing shadows and protecting us in their embrace, I couldn’t regret it. I hadn’t known what I was doing when I’d funneled my divinity into him, but I’d allowed it to move freely, doing what felt right. And it had worked. If the Nythyrians couldn’t see us, they couldn’t properly aim, and that gave me the illusion of safety—even if I knew there was still a chance I would be harmed in this fight. As the shadows making up Lux’s saddle strained against my control, I worried my own divinity wouldn’t be enough.
I’d need to rely on the two dragons I’d gifted power to, who I’d formed by hand with memories of the man I loved and the sister I lost.
“Flames, Lux,” I commanded, wanting to make it clear to those on the ground what was to come. If our soldiers still fought in the streets, they would need time to flee. Though my divine fire had seemed to only spread where I wanted it, I wasn’t sure I trusted it. So, I warned my people with her divine flames. Because there would be no survivors after I finished setting the Wend alight, ridding Astana of the blight that was the Supreme’s army.
I didn’t allow myself to think of anyone who might have refused to evacuate. I’d warned them, hadn’t I?
As Lux roared, dipping beneath Irses’ shadows to exhale more of the divine fire which would save my husband, I placed my hands on her flesh. Each iridescent scale was bigger than my hand, and as I felt the divinity leaving her, I willed what little was left of my own to take its place.
Before I had a chance to direct Irses to fall back, he did as I wanted, and I had to wonder if they didn’t need me to command them at all. He flew below Lux, his striking presence protecting us from sight, as we circled the pit.
I knew what they wanted from me. They were using Rain to bargain, that much was clear, but I couldn’t give them what they wanted. Rain was right. If the Supreme took my blood, by force or by gift, it would endanger the rest of the Three Kingdoms. And I couldn’t allow him to use it for whatever vile favor he’d implore from the gods. Even if it meant deserting my kingdom—for the fate of all three—I would have to follow after him.
The Supreme certainly knew that. Would he demand an exchange? Could I forsake the man I loved for the lives of thousands? Tens of thousands? Hundreds?
I already knew the answer.
Irses circled below, breathing shadows for cover, but I hadn’t realized just how quickly dawn was approaching until it was too late. The shadows might have been helpful when it was darker, but as Irses roared in pain and my arm felt as if it snapped in two, I realized they weren’t enough. I groaned, biting my lip to dull the harsh ache in my bones. Doing my best to hold onto Lux, who veered upward at great speed, I leaned over to watch as Irses struggled with the rope attached to the end of the spear they’d launched.
It had pierced the membrane of his wing, and the barbs had caught onto the long bone extending from his shoulder.
“No,” I gasped, as the rope went taut, and they began to drag my beautiful dragon to the ground.
Lux dove.
Using her divine fire on the rope, the clever beast released Irses from its deadly grasp before launching herself upward. I thought I was going to be sick—from the quick movement, from the pain, from the proximity to death. I held on tighter, watching Irses list to the side, his wing desperately affected by the weight of the spear still embedded in his flesh.
Behind me, I heard the cry of another dragon, and my eyes widened. With the newly massive size of Irses and Lux, I hadn’t been able to open a rift for them, and instead had shifted the ground to open the Dragon Hollow into the courtyard. We would be lucky if the palace didn’t collapse before we returned to it, but that was a problem for later. I’d told the other dragons to stay put, as I hadn’t yet given them stronger scales, but considering the pitch and frantic sorrow of the dragon’s cry, I was certain it was Ryo.
The smallest—and least obedient—of my dragons chased after us. For once, I wasn’t annoyed with his impulsive behavior. The two of them were bonded. The ever-patient Irses had claimed Ryo as his own, and it seemed Ryo had done the same. So much smaller than Irses, he soared beneath his injured wing. The two moved in tandem, their connection filling me with longing—for Elora, for my husband, for my twin. Ryo took on the weight of the weapon, helping Irses stabilize, and my heart ached.
I needed that wretched thing out of him. I couldn’t heal Irses at this moment, but my own arm relied on it.
Irses cried out, the sound trembling in the air between us, and he rolled. Tipping his body to the side, he slammed into Ryo just as another bolt flew past them. Irses screeched in pain as he flapped his wings, trying to catch himself. Ryo shrieked, abandoning Irses to find the source of the attacks.
“No!” I screamed, just as Irses let another earth-shaking roar.
My stomach dropped as Lux shifted, plummeting earthward. At that moment, I knew we were connected, and she had felt my fear. Because she moved with purpose, ready to do what was needed to protect Ryo. Tucking in her wings, I was shielded from some of the wind as she sped toward the ground.
Ryo faltered, pulling out of his dive and returning to Irses, but Lux dropped beneath him. All murderous intent, I didn’t stop her as she flew low over the city wall. Though I’d just seen Irses get hit with one of their weapons, and then narrowly evade another, I felt invincible on dragonback. Nereza’s icy shield of shadows had been left behind to cover the archers and the soldiers manning the ballistae. Even with most of our soldiers responding within the city walls, they still didn’t want to risk us moving to attack them from behind.
We’d managed to keep them from building siege towers, but without my dragons as targets, kept hidden because of Rain’s fear, there had been no reason for their soldiers to use these horrendous weapons—thank the gods. They weren’t prepared, but if they’d all responded at once, this might have gone very differently. As it was, Lux would have to swoop lower to destroy their weaponry. It was a risk, but I didn’t care. She would manage.
“Now, Lux. Don’t hold back,” I ordered as I watched the soldiers struggle to load a bolt into a ballista.
As the soldiers tripped over themselves to launch their bolt at Lux, she soared above them, destroying the shadowed protection we hadn’t been able to penetrate. Her flames made Nereza’s divinity crumble. Like shattered glass beneath her divine fire, the crashing sound it made was deafening.
And with her long tail, she toppled the ballista—along with the soldiers who’d been trying to harm her.
Though I’d been feeling Rain’s emotions—albeit muted because of my own worries—rage and grief built along our golden bond. And when I watched soldiers beneath us stumble and buildings shake, I knew it was his divinity. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but it certainly wasn’t anything good.
As Lux turned, leaving our destruction behind us, I urged her faster toward the city. “More flames,” I said, hoping it would be enough to take out the remaining ballistae, but even if it wasn’t, we’d run out of time. I knew I should have gone to Rain sooner, but thought the Supreme wouldn’t risk damaging his collateral.
Because if Rain was gone, I would have no qualms eviscerating every single person who stood against us. I would raze everything to the ground, and gladly die doing it. Three kingdoms and the prophecy be damned, vengeance against those who would harm him would be the last thing I’d ever do.
Lux did as I wanted, knowing exactly what I wanted from her. The throbbing in my arm had abated, and I hoped that meant Irses was all right. I was able to painlessly grip the saddle as Lux flew faster, the jostling no longer causing pain. Scorching a path outside the walls, she did her best to take out the weaponry threatening her and the other two.
Glancing above me, I sought Irses. When I finally found him, I was both relieved to see the spear gone from his body and dismayed at the hole in his wing. He favored it, letting out the sharpest of whines every other moment, and I didn’t know what to do. Silently, I tried to communicate for him to fall back, to let me handle this with Lux and Ryo. If something happened to Irses, it was likely I would die. With something that sounded strikingly similar to a frustrated sigh, Irses turned back toward the palace. Ryo dipped lower, but stayed just above us, using Lux’s bulk to protect himself.
Flying higher, Lux roared, letting her divine fire set enemy soldiers ablaze as she flew from the western edge of the city northward, toward the pit the Supreme had created. The heat from her attack warmed me, fanning the flames of my anger ever higher. Houses in the Wend were reduced to ash, as Folterrans and Nythyrians took shelter in them. Occasionally, I spotted Vestian soldiers, and all I could do was close my eyes and lift a prayer to the gods for their safety.
We’d been sacrificing our people to protect us for weeks now. This final act would be the last of it.
As we approached the pit, I felt Rain’s affection, and it sent shivers down my spine. As light as the sun in our meadow and as dark as the space between stars, he sent his devotion to me through our bond. It was a goodbye—I could feel it with such certainty, I thought he might have already been dead. My only glimmer of hope was that I hadn’t felt the gut-wrenching pain associated with a bond being torn by death. But I needed to make a move immediately—I just didn’t know what.
Just as I spotted the Supreme, standing at the edge of the pit, Lux shrieked. As her body slammed into an invisible barrier, I couldn’t help but scream as I slammed forward. I wasn’t sure if it was some type of warding or elemental divinity, but whatever it was violently stopped my dragon from approaching. The shadow-formed saddle kept me attached to her, but as she tumbled through the air, I wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“Come on,” I gasped, growing dizzier by the minute as she collected herself, finally able to get her wings to move. She was in pain; my head and neck were aching, and there were spots in my vision, mirroring what she must have been feeling. But as she recovered, rearing her body nearly vertical as she positioned her deadly maw to deliver a devastating blast of divine fire, I screamed at her to stop.
Because Ryo had screamed, and my stomach felt as if I’d been impaled. Lux flew higher, adjusting her body so I was able to collapse forward against her. Agonizing spasms tore through my stomach as Ryo was dragged to the ground. Though Lux had destroyed the ballistae on the other side of the walls, I hadn’t expected the smaller one, dragged through the city on a cart.
They pulled Ryo down, and Nereza used her shadows on him to hold him in place. He writhed, shrieking and fighting, and my heart shattered. Thankfully, they didn’t do anything more to harm him, or else I wasn’t sure I could withstand the pain. As it was, Lux was hurting, and I wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to keep us in the air.
Desperate for intervention, I prayed to Rhia. This dragon had been captured while trying to protect us. He was part of me, part of my family. After losing Hy?e, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him too.
Though all of the gods had cursed me with their divinity, I thought perhaps I could find guidance. If I was their Beloved, the least they could fucking do was help me. At first, I thought perhaps I should retreat. If they decided to hurt Ryo any further, I would probably lose control of the shadows keeping me strapped to Lux, and then I’d certainly die. But if I left, they could kill him. I’d be devastated and useless, and they’d still have Rain. And who knew what kind of torment they’d put him through while I nursed my wounds.
No, I couldn’t leave him. I couldn’t leave Ryo either. The pain in my stomach was tremendous, and I found it hard to breathe as Nereza’s shadows squeezed my smallest dragon. But I had little choice. Lux was growing more tired by the minute, and my own exhaustion had tainted my decisions.
Many of the houses near the courtyard, though shoved together side-by-side, had already fallen victim to the quaking earth from the Supreme’s destruction and Rain’s divinity. Barely standing, those that were left were certainly uninhabitable. But when my dragon landed upon them, they were obliterated.
Lux was enormous, and I’d had no choice. Even with her wings tucked tightly against her body, she was far too wide for the street running through the Wend. She didn’t move as I dismounted, using the shadows from her saddle to help me down. Reaching for the vial around my neck, I breathed as deeply as I could. Ryo was just out of sight on the other side of a group of soldiers, but I could still sense the restraints tying him down, making my own body feel constricted. The pack on my shoulder was far too heavy, and I struggled to maintain my balance, stumbling over the rubble beneath us. I was dizzy, and my head had throbbed since the moment Lux slammed into that barrier mid-air. If I wasn’t wary of using too much of my divinity, I would have healed her then and there.
I walked around my dragon, tracing my fingertips over her opalescent scales. Lux was a beautiful death my enemies did not deserve. But, be it by ward or divinity, I couldn’t get close enough to the Supreme or Nereza to use her.
I scanned the crowd of soldiers, searching for Rain. The bond throbbed, as if I felt his heartbeat on the other end, but his emotions were too tumultuous to pinpoint. I couldn’t see him. Certain he was in that deep pit with his soldiers, all I could do was wait.
If the Supreme wanted my blood, he would have to come and fetch it.