Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Adrian
“In your desperation to defeat the Upper Ringers, you’ve forgotten one of the most important truths. The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend.”
— As Spoken by Logan Harris to Dominic Hill at a Meeting of the Resistance
The great beats of the Zver's wings, when taken low to the ground and in great number, were powerful enough to whip up a dust storm in the proper conditions and if done in the right way.
That was how the general and his men, along with the riders, had been shielding themselves from the Geist's scouts for generations.
By creating what appeared to be a natural phenomenon that impaired visibility from a distance, they could move large groups of people completely unseen in the vast expanse of the desert. It was brilliant.
I'd seen it so many times throughout the journey already, every day we'd been walking and getting closer and closer to Sanctuary, but it still awed me. And it did so now as Rainier and his riders took to the skies, swooping low to disturb the sand and then flying higher and higher in a circular pattern. There was a charge in the air as well, a static of underlying power. I felt it sparking within my veins, coaxing the darkness to my fingertips, as I breathed in the ecstasy of the windswept breeze from the Zver’s wings.
"We're getting close," one of Gryfon's warriors announced as he strode up beside us, taking up our pace and marching along with us as he spoke to his general. "We'll reach Sanctuary by the afternoon."
I glanced out ahead at the gathering dust storm and glimpsed the scout returning from beyond, hands raised over his head and cloth obscuring his nose and mouth to protect him from the swirling particles.
"Do they know?" the general's drawl was low as always.
"Hard to say," his warrior, an accomplished officer named Mero, replied. "There's no indication they've sent out any more squadrons than usual but word reaches us slow in the desert and they'll be keeping at least a few squadrons outside of the city for defense anyway ever since…"
He trailed off, glancing at me.
"Since the wards fell," Gryfon finished for him with a grunt.
Mero nodded.
"Send Tamim and Reidar ahead," the general ordered a moment later.
"Tell them to stay above, keep to the cliffs.
I need to know what we're facing when we arrive.
Tell the others it's time to rest. Set up a guard.
We'll sleep here tonight and plan to arrive in the morning.
We've travelled long enough. We'll need our strength for the battle to come. "
Mero nodded again and then took off, catching the returning scout and relaying orders to him before waving his arms to call for camp assembly.
I turned away from the weary travelers pulling supplies from every part of our caravan and back to the general who was staring out at the swirling dust storm, arms crossed.
"They won't be able to keep that up all night, will they?" I asked, looking from the dust storm to Gryfon and back.
"They won't have to," he replied. "Only until nightfall. Then they'll sleep like the rest of us. We'll rise before dawn and press forward, fully armored and prepared for an attack."
My gaze swiveled to him again.
"It's time?" I asked.
He gave one curt nod. That was answer enough.
So we joined the others in helping set up camp under the overhang of the cliffs, hoping it would shield us even more from the Geist's scouts.
The general believed we'd be safe come nightfall, that the Geist wouldn't send as many scouts out searching the desert and, even if they did, we wouldn't be visible in the dark.
But I hadn't yet grown accustomed to believing in the inadequacies of the people I'd been raised to worship as gods.
Their abilities still seemed so foreign and supernatural to me, so it was easy to believe them capable of anything, even when I knew they were not.
I ate my dinner with Kane and Zya by the fire.
We tried to make normal conversation. Kane did his best to make us laugh with more tales of his life in the Underground but they only reminded us of Darius, Roxy, and Hugh who we'd left behind in Archi.
So we mostly busied ourselves with talking about how grateful we were to finally have the tents again.
We'd been traveling for weeks toward Sanctuary and hadn't stopped to set up a proper camp since we'd torn it down outside the walls of the human city.
We'd slept for mere hours under the stars, spread out amongst the sands, with nothing more than a dusty bedroll for company.
It would be nice to have a cot below and canvas above me again.
I wondered if any would join us as we pressed forward with the assault.
Gryfon had claimed we wouldn't need support from Prima, that the small army we'd brought with us would be enough to conquer Sanctuary if the humans did their job and distracted the Geist well enough in Pavos, but I wasn't sure.
I knew the people of Archí were still recovering from an attack which occurred because they'd harbored me.
I imagined many of them wouldn't be leaping at the chance to plunge into battle beside me once more, but this was war.
We needed every soldier we could deploy.
If Prima held back and didn't send aid by the morning, especially since the general had sent a runner from outside the human gates weeks ago to inform her of our intentions to march straight to Sanctuary, I couldn't help but think she'd never had any confidence in this undertaking from the beginning.
"I offered to let him sleep in our tent tonight," Zya said suddenly and both mine and Kane's gazes darted to her. Kane even slowed his chewing as he glanced between us, gauging my reaction. Zya, for her part, kept eating as though she hadn't said anything inflammatory.
"Why would you do that?" I hissed, keeping my voice low as I chanced a glance toward Dante who sat on the periphery of camp, eating his meal with his back to the rest of us, as always.
"He's miserable, Adrian," she sighed, finally looking up at me. "The general is such an asshole to him."
"And you don't think he's earned a bit of misery?"
"Easy for you to say when you don't have to listen to his griping every minute of the day."
Zya's gaze narrowed and I relented. She was right.
I'd pulled away from Dante the moment he'd come to my room and informed me he still loved me.
I'd avoided him ever since and was only able to, in this small camp of ours, because of the role Zya had taken on as his personal guardian.
I couldn't stand to be near my former partner but I didn't want him killed in the middle of the night by some over zealous warrior either.
He'd been kept at the general's side throughout most of the journey.
Gryfon's various warriors had been assigned to him night and day, one of them always nearby, despite the fact that I'd already assigned Zya to the cause.
When night fell and we were too weary to walk on, the general announced it time to rest and always pulled Dante away while Zya, Kane, and I found a spot of our own.
Gryfon didn't enjoy my former partner's company and there was still something between them which was clearly unresolved but he seemed to prefer to keep an eye on Dante himself at night.
"He can stay with me," Kane offered, still looking between us as he slowly resumed his chewing.
"Your tent is packed enough," Zya argued. "I don't think Lauchlan or Struan would appreciate another cot crowding the space. We have the room."
"But—"
"It's one night, Adrian," Zya said, glancing over her shoulder at Dante.
I followed her gaze and sighed.
"Fine," I agreed. "I should…I'll go talk to him."
Setting my plate down beside the fire, I rose, metal armor clanking with every movement.
I brushed the sand from its crevices as best as I could and made my way over to where he sat on the edge of camp, staring up at the stars in the deep night sky, his food forgotten beside him.
I brushed the sand from my hands as I knelt and sat beside him, far enough away that we wouldn't touch but close enough that we could talk without being overheard.
"We might die tomorrow," he said suddenly and I froze. "Is that why you've finally decided to speak to me?"
I took a breath, settling in and looking up at the stars as well.
"I've already died," I told him. "Remember?"
He turned to me, starlight twinkling in those brilliant green eyes, and I was reminded all at once why I'd fallen for this man in the first place.
He was truly beautiful in a way so many tried to fake.
He was polished and accomplished with a toned body bred from years of training and a sharp wit made from the highest education.
His dark hair was disheveled and soft, so out of place in his rugged surroundings.
He was made for a painting, I realized. Dante was crafted for beautiful things like velvet couches and golden frames and silk sheets.
Even though he was a soldier, born and bred for a battle which had come and gone, he was too pretty for war.
The very thought of blood soiling his beautiful bronze skin made my heart ache.
"This is one we might not come back from," he replied.
I nodded, banishing all thoughts of his beauty from my mind as I cleared my throat and felt thankful he could no longer read my thoughts.
"Zya said she offered to let you bunk with us tonight," I said.
He frowned and I could see the displeasure in his expression. I could no longer read his mind but I knew what he was thinking all the same. Dante hated needing anything from anybody, hated asking for something he wanted.
"The general hates me," he told me instead.
"The prince told me the two of you had an altercation before we left," I said. "It's what moved up the king's timetable to get us out of there. What happened?"