Chapter 40
Syneca
Never sing while sweeping after sunset—you’ll sweep away tomorrow’s good fortune and hum it right into a stranger’s pocket.
Iwoke to golden light slanting through scales.
For a moment, disoriented and still half-dreaming, I couldn’t process what I was seeing.
Then it clicked—Riot had taken dragon form at some point while we slept, wrapping his massive body around us like a living fortress.
His tail created a perfect barrier, scales overlapping to form walls that would take a battering ram to breach.
We were cocooned inside, protected, impossibly safe despite being in the middle of the Ash, sitting just north of the Needlepoint passage.
Ash coated everything, our packs, the scattered bedrolls, even the stone Riot had heated with his fire last night, now likely cool to the touch.
Through the gaps between Riot’s scales, I could see the sparse landscape stretching out in shades of gray and silver.
The few gnarled trees scattered across the distance between here and the Sorrow Mountains cast shadows that fell short in the afternoon sun.
It’d been three hours, maybe four. Not nearly enough sleep, but more than I’d expected to get thanks to Si’s warmth, which Pip had also taken advantage of, curled up near his neck.
Calder and Wickett sat together in the gap between the curled dragon’s tail and massive head.
Together, they were silent sentinels watching the sky with a level of focus that said they’d been doing it the entire time.
Neither had moved to wake anyone for relief.
Not even Wickett, who was still recovering from an injury.
But of course they hadn’t. Stubborn, self-sacrificing fools.
I needed to talk to Calder alone. He deserved to know what Aureth had said about the oath as much as I did, even if no direction was given other than needing her blood.
But it would have to wait. Even if we could get Pip and Lucy to see reason, Wickett would be a different kind of beast. There was growth there, sure.
A vulnerability he was beginning to share.
But letting her go wouldn’t happen. Not until we found a way to prove to him she wasn’t the Phoenix. That was the only path.
I nudged Lucy awake with a gentle shake.
She jerked upright, hand going to her blade before her eyes even opened. “What—”
“Watch swap,” I whispered. “Come on.”
We picked our way over sleeping bodies and silently approached the men.
“No,” Wickett said before I’d even opened my mouth. “You both need rest.”
“And you don’t? We’re swapping. Non-negotiable.”
Those lips moved into a hard line, and for a split second, I almost smiled. I was beginning to adore the way he thought he was in charge when he very much wasn’t.
“Syneca—”
“She’s right.” Riot’s voice rumbled from everywhere at once, the dragon’s massive head lifting slightly. “You’ve been on watch for hours. Rest while you can. I’m awake now anyway.”
That settled it. One never argued with a dragon.
Calder flipped a blade in his hand, pushing the hilt to me before heading toward Silas.
Wickett lingered, looking like he wanted to argue more, but exhaustion won out.
He dropped one of the swords that crossed his back and followed Calder, though not before giving me a look that said we’d be discussing this later.
I smirked. That was not the threat he had hoped it would be.
I settled into the spot Wickett had vacated, still warm from his body heat, placing my pack beside me. Lucy took Calder’s position with a deep sigh, nudging me. “I don’t suppose you brought tea in that pack.”
“I have no idea what they packed in this thing. Calder said Aureth had them ready to go when they showed up.”
“Mine’s lame. Blankets, dried beef, some rope... pretty sure Calder ate my cheese.”
I laughed, pushing my bag toward her. “He hasn’t touched mine.”
Movement caught my attention. Aureth was awake, moving toward us with Corvus on her shoulder. She settled beside me.
“Can’t sleep?” Lucy asked.
“The dragon stirred. Hard to sleep through that.” But there was warmth in her voice, fondness even. “Though I suspect we’re safer here with him than we ever were within the city walls.”
“That’s a low bar,” I muttered.
Aureth smiled, lifting her head toward the sunlight. “True nonetheless.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, watching the Ash move and breathe around us.
Glass and impacted soot with cracks that webbed out like veins stretched as far as I could see in most directions.
The only things that existed from this vantage point were a few Erelith deposits, dead trees and the Sorrow Mountains that cut across western Noreya.
Lucy reworked one of the many blonde braids in her hair, and I knew before her question that brilliant mind of hers was running.
“The sister Furies,” she finally said. “There were four of them originally. Four sisters, four dragons. But only three sisters escaped to Fuerlis after one was murdered by the fourth demon prince.” She paused, watching Aureth’s face for a reaction.
“All four dragons made it out, though. Came here with the surviving sisters when they locked the demons behind the veil and magic was born to this world, right?”
I glanced at Aureth, curious where Lucy was going with this.
“That’s correct,” Aureth said simply.
“But the fourth dragon, the one who lost its Fury, disappeared centuries ago. Was presumed dead.” Lucy leaned forward slightly. “Which means there are only three dragons left. Three dragons for three living sister Furies, all accounted for.”
“Also correct.”
“So why do you have one?”
And there it was, the accusation laced behind her very blunt question.
Aureth was quiet for a long moment, her face tilted toward Lucy with something like approval. “You’re asking if I’m a Fury, not just fury-born.”
“Are you?”
“Dear girl,” she answered in the most condescending tone I’d ever heard.
“I am assigned a Guardian because I am the most recognizable of my kind. I can’t hide who I am like Eda Mire and many others can.
But I’m useful in this world. I must travel to deliver prophecies, to serve as the voice of what comes.
So I’ve been gifted protection by powers older than nations. ”
Lucy was quiet for a moment, processing, then she let out a breath that was half a laugh. “You know what? I’m too tired to unpack whatever mysterious ancient bullshit that was.”
I snorted. “That should be the official term.”
“I’m trademarking it. Better send a letter to the Department of Magical whatever, Syn.” She stretched her legs out, wincing slightly. “Furies, dragon-back is not designed for anyone over the age of twenty-five, I swear.”
I shifted, trying to find a spot that didn’t make everything ache. “Pretty sure comfort died back in Grimora when we jumped through a book.”
“Fair point.” Lucy was quiet for a beat, then: “You know, I wasn’t sure about you at first.”
I sighed. “I’d love to lie and say I’m surprised, Lucette. No one’s ever sure about witches.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She picked at the seam on her uniform.
“I mean, yes, you’re terrifying, and people cross the street to avoid you and all that.
But the way you don’t back down even when everyone’s waiting for you to fail?
” She finally looked up. “You don’t let them make you small.
Even when they try. You never once seemed smaller than your Magistrate.
He wanted you to, but you hardly even blinked when he came for you.
It... was impressive. That’s all I’m saying. ”
I lifted a shoulder, having no words to say back to that.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to be what everyone expected,” Lucy continued, as the Oracle sat quietly, dragging her finger through the ash on the ground.
“The perfect trainer for my brother. The dutiful daughter. And it was all a performance. But you? You’re just..
. you. Unapologetic. Even when it would be easier to pretend to be something else. ”
If only she knew just how much I pretended. “Being a witch has resulted in me being hated by most. Not exactly a win.”
“No. But it’s honest.” She smiled slightly. “I don’t have many friends, Syn. I’m not good at it. Never learned how when I was too busy being whoever people needed me to be. But if we survive this, we could try. To be friends, I mean.”
Something warm and unexpected unfurled in my chest. Caring about people made losing them hurt more, made every risk feel heavier.
But Lucy had mercy-killed her brother, had followed me through a portal into nothing, and had proven herself over and over.
She’d made her own decision about me long before the others had.
“We’re surviving,” I said firmly. “And yeah. Friends. Even though you’re going to be insufferable about being right all the time.”
“I’m only right most of the time,” she corrected with a grin. “But I will absolutely be insufferable about it.”
“I knew it.”
Aureth turned toward me, the worn edges of her charcoal blindfold lifting in the chilly breeze. There was a twist to her mouth. A pointed hint that I didn’t understand. Not until she said, “Tell me, Lucette. What do you know of the missing witches?”
She knew the answer to this. But she wanted me to know.
Lucy went very still. “What?”
“The refugees. The ones fleeing cities across Vestra and beyond. Where are they going?” Aureth asked.
I whipped my head toward Lucy. “You know something about the refugees?”
She shrugged, defensive. “No one asked me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m asking now.”