Chapter 41 Koarthandris
KOARTHANDRIS
Izzy trembled in my arms. I’d never seen her like this, so small and vulnerable. In a matter of scant minutes, she’d been reduced to a quivering shell of a woman. And it made my fury rise like a tidal wave… only I had no place to put that seething rage. Izzy wasn’t fighting this. She’d given up.
I wanted to fight for her, but what could I do?
Barging into Saldrea’s dungeons would be a great way to get Myel killed, perhaps permanently this time.
I knew exactly where Saldrea’s torture chamber was, below her residence, but I had to imagine those tunnels would be filled with guards, and that didn’t count the half-dozen who’d been stationed outside her house.
With this fury burning through me, I could take them all on…
but some tiny — still thinking — part of my brain told me fighting would take too long and alert those within.
Meaning someone would kill Myel before I got to him.
But then, what was there to do?
I’d vowed to stay close to Izzy, but now that felt like a chain around my ankle. If I stayed with her in the prison, I’d be useless to actually help her get out of this situation.
Safir and Zora ran off, probably to tell Olinara and Lhorine what had happened, and hopefully to activate their little spy network. I didn’t know what good that would do, but at least they were doing something.
Vyns slipped up beside me.
“Just got a text from Rook. He’s going to distract Hana so she’s not focusing on our minds, give us a second to plan.”
I watched as the incubus confidently strode forward to chat up the sylph, a rigid tension in his shoulders. He didn’t like any of this, but he was doing his part and I’d not let his efforts go to waste.
“What can we do?” I hissed.
“I know you’ll want to stay with Izzy, but in this instance, I think I should.
Your destruction will be more useful than my light in whatever rescue plan the others come up with.
Also, Izzy may need some bolstering in spirit, which I can do through our link.
I’ll make sure she’s okay and keep her spirits up.
You… do whatever you need to do to get Myel out of this mess! ”
Vyns was thinking clearly. He was right about all of that.
And oddly, I wouldn’t mind leaving Izzy in his hands this one time. He’d protect her with his life. And focusing on getting Myel out would provide some focus for this blinding rage coursing through me.
“Okay,” I grunted.
“Really? That was easy.”
“I really need to destroy something or someone and I can’t do that if I stay with Izzy. You watch her, keep her safe. I’ll ruin someone’s life for the pain they’ve put her through.”
Izzy shifted in my arms.
Could she hear me? She seemed only semi-coherent, mostly out of it.
“Good… Now freeing Izzy and Myel is only part of the problem. They’ll probably put Izzy in the strongest binding collar they have. We’ll need some way to get her out of that, which may mean… finding some new allies.”
I growled.
Vyns understood. “I know you don’t like the idea, but I’m willing to bet Lhorine isn’t strong enough to break a collar of that magnitude on her own. And I don’t think we’ll find many elves to help us.”
“Dwarves?” I suggested. “What about Svokol?”
“As far as I know he has no ability with binding. Most dwarves aren’t very good with bindings anymore.”
Yeah, I’d known that. I just didn’t like the other option. In fact, for me there was no other option, but Vyns brought it up anyway.
He lowered his voice. “We may need to see if we can find a friendly… titan.”
I let out another low growl.
“I know, I know,” Vyns whispered. “But listen… the ones on campus, as much as they’re working for Saldrea, I get the distinct impression they don’t like it, that she has something on them, forcing them to do her bidding.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say we can trust them, but we may have a common enemy in Saldrea.
Perhaps we can convince them to help us with this so that together, we can take down the false princess. ”
I hated this idea. What I hated most… was that it made sense.
It had been ingrained in me since I was a hatchling that titans were evil, the enemy, to be destroyed. I’d fought them in the last war between our kinds roughly five hundred years ago. I’d killed their kind and they’d killed many dragons I’d called friends. I could never trust a titan…
And yet…
I ground my teeth, knowing Vyns was right.
“I’ll talk with the others and see what they think,” I said. It was the closest I’d get to conceding Vyns’ point. “But if we come up with a better option, I’m taking it.”
“Of course,” Vyns whispered. Though from his tone I got the feeling he didn’t think there would be any other options.
The angel changed the topic, for which I was grateful. “You know where they’re keeping Myel, right? Where Izzy was headed, it could only be—”
“Saldrea’s dungeons, yes.”
“And she’ll have way more guards down there than usual.”
“I know.”
Vyns sighed. “Okay, I just… I have no clue how we’ll free Myel in time.”
I didn’t know either. But in case Izzy was listening I said,
“We’ll find a way.”
Vyns nodded to that.
By then, we’d reached the administration building and Hana was gleefully talking to the on campus security — more dragons — explaining the situation.
“Can you walk?” I asked Izzy. If not, I’d hand her over to Vyns.
But she nodded, the motion limp and lifeless.
I was about to set her down, when she squirmed and her gaze focused on me.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I know you want to protect me, I’m sorry I gave up so easily.”
I clamped my jaw so tight it made my cheeks twitch. This wasn’t her fault.
“We all do what we must to survive,” I whispered to her.
She nodded, then sat up a little in my arms, one hand reaching for my face. I shifted her so she could cup my cheek, then she lifted herself and kissed my other cheek softly.
“For everything you’ve done for me,” she whispered, voice weak. “From the moment you left Saldrea, you’ve never failed me. You’ve always been there for me. Thank you.”
I didn’t know what to make of this. Pride swelled and mixed with my fury, along with a deep longing and an aching sadness.
You’ve never failed me. Those were the words I’d waited to hear from the royals for over a hundred years, even though it had seemed impossible. Some part of me let go of a deep and abiding tension I’d been holding all this time.
Yet, I had failed Izzy, by allowing all of this to happen. I should have protected Myel… even if it was impossible to protect two people in different places at the same time. That didn’t stop my self-recrimination.
I couldn’t quite reconcile these words from Izzy. As much as they were everything I wanted to hear, they didn’t make sense here and now.
“I…” I had no clue what to say.
Then, I lost my chance as the other dragons came to take Izzy away.
I set her down and she wobbled, barely able to walk, but she straightened her back, found some deep reserve of strength and followed them. Perhaps she was putting on a show for me, so I wouldn’t worry.
It didn’t work. I was so damn worried.
My hand drifted up to brush my cheek, where she’d kissed me. It had felt a little too… final, a good-bye kiss. My heart tore open at the permanence of it.
I’d failed.
I’d not been able to protect her.
And… I’d lost my chance to be with her. That kiss might be the only affection we ever shared.
I’d denied myself up till now, which suddenly felt like the most idiotic thing in the world.
At least with Mynrial, I’d had one night with her before I’d lost her, but with Izzy, I’d been so preoccupied with my duty…
And now…
I’d never be able to show her my true feelings.
Maybe I should have taken the opportunity to be with her when I’d had the chance, because now… it was far too late.
Somehow this felt a thousand times worse than having been distracted in my duty. I’d never allowed myself to be with her, and I’d still somehow failed… and lost her… all at once.
Vyns nodded to me before he disappeared down the hall, following Izzy.
They were gone.
My soul cried out.
And my rage boiled over.
Someone was going to pay for this… and pay dearly.