“They followed you,” Hedya accused, her glare sweeping over all of them. “You led them right to us!”
“I don’t understand,” Kiev said, his voice hushed with trepidation. “How did they find our camp? Ash and Raum were so careful to make sure we weren’t being followed.”
“Someone in our group must be carrying a tracking spell,” Lyre said grimly. “It’s the only explanation.”
“Traitors to your own caste!” Hedya snapped. “You—”
“None of us would betray anyone to Samael!” Seiya shot back furiously. “Not on purpose.”
“Purposeful or not, you may have caused the end of your caste.”
“What?” Piper gasped. “The end of the caste? I know your settlement is at risk, but—”
Hedya interrupted, speaking through clenched teeth. “It’s not just a settlement. It’s a city of all the draconians who are left.”
The blood drained out of Piper’s head, leaving her dizzy.
“If they find the city, they will destroy us all.” Hedya turned to Tiran and Eyal. “We leave immediately and fly for home. Leave anything that will slow you down.”
Tiran and Eyal pulled their packs off their backs and opened them, dumping supplies and spare gear in the mud.
“Wait,” Piper said quickly, gathering her wits. “You only took our group to your outpost, so this army won’t know—”
“The outpost is less than a hundred miles from the city, and Eliada did invite your friends into the city.” Hedya spat something that sounded like a curse.
“They took away all our belongings before letting us in the city,” Seiya said tersely. “Even our weapons, just in case they were spelled.”
Seiya tugged at the hem of her shirt and Piper belatedly realized her clothes and gear were different—similar fitted, black leather, but not quite the same. She wore two short swords on each hip, but the hilts were wrapped in unfamiliar red leather instead of the black-handled ones she’d had before.
“They wouldn’t have brought an army here just to attack an outpost,” Hedya said icily. She turned back to Tiran and Eyal. “Are you ready?”
“Hold on,” Kiev said sharply. “Are you just going straight back to the city? What about finding this army?”
“We must warn the community so they can evacuate. Finding the army comes second to that.”
“We can help look for the army,” Kiev said.
Hedya glanced at Eyal and Tiran, clearly not keen on trusting their help.
Eyal swung his pack back over his shoulder. “Tiran is the fastest. Let him carry the warning. The rest of us will search for the invaders. There are dozens of passes between here and the city that we should check. The more eyes we have, the better.”
Hedya exhaled forcefully. “Fine. Tiran, go. As fast as your wings can carry you.”
“I will not stop,” Tiran promised, pulling a water flask from his pack and leaving everything else on the ground. He clipped the flask to his belt. “Be safe.”
She nodded. He spread his wings and leaped into the sky. Just behind him, a dragonet jumped out of the trees and flew after him, tiny wings blurring with speed. They soared above the forest, vanishing into the darkness.
“We will travel fast too,” Hedya said, her grim stare still on the dark sky. “If you can’t keep up, we’ll leave you behind. We must find that army before they find the city, or we will lose everything.”
Chapter Nineteen
Piper clung to Teva’s mane as he soared through another mountain pass. She ignored the aching fatigue in her muscles and the chill that ran deep into her bones from so many unbroken hours in the cold wind. Teva soared on outstretched wings, fighting his own exhaustion.
They’d split into two groups: Piper and Kiev with Eyal, and Seiya, Mahala, and Lyre with Hedya. With Eyal’s guidance, they’d split again as various routes presented themselves. The plan had been to check all the remotely viable paths that the army could take. If they found some sign of the invaders’ presence, they could narrow down their search area.
Their plan hadn’t worked very well. They’d been travelling for hours, separating and meeting up again as various passes converged. Piper and Teva had just flown over a long stretch of valleys but there had been no sign of trespassers in the untouched wilderness. Twilight had eventually lightened until the suns had broken the horizon. They were slowly rising into the sky as Periskios’s lit side shrank from half to crescent.
Only adrenaline and anxiety kept her going. How had this happened? The question kept repeating in her head, circling like a hungry vulture waiting to prey on her doubts and guilt. Raum and the others had been so careful. Now Hades had followed them here and had a chance to wipe out the draconian caste once and for all.
Teva let out a quiet rumble as he locked his wings, gliding out of the rocky pass and over yet another valley.
“Piper!”
Kiev swooped out of a narrow crag of rock between two mountain peaks, plunging down toward them. He flared his wings and coasted just above her.
“Kiev!” She craned her neck to look up at him. “Did you find anything?”
“No,” he replied between huffs for air. “Eyal didn’t either. We’re passed the outpost now—it’s a few miles west. Hedya will have checked it and warned the draconians there.”
Her stomach churned. “So the army is somewhere between here and the city?”
“Yeah, and Eyal said there are only two passes on this side of the city that the army could use to access it. Hedya and the others are checking the western one, and Eyal is already heading for the eastern one. He sent me to bring you that way.”
He tilted his wings and banked back the way he’d come. Teva heaved a sigh and followed with laborious beats of his wings.
“Kiev,” Piper called over the wind. “If the army is this close, how will the draconians evacuate their entire city in time?”
He glanced back and, even with a dozen yards between them, she could see the fear on his face.
“I don’t know.”
* * *
They found Eyal on the side of a sunny cliff, perched on a tiny ledge while he caught his breath and gathered his strength for the final stretch. His dragonet clung to his shoulder, looking unbearably weary with its drooping wings and chin tucked beside its master’s neck. A narrow valley with a fast-flowing river running through the center zigzagged out of sight, deep in shadows despite the suns overhead.
“I don’t see any sign of them,” the draconian said as Kiev and Teva, with Piper on his back, landed on the ledge beside him. “The western valley is wider and less rocky. It’s the likeliest choice but we’ll fly up another mile just to be sure, then cut across to meet up with Hedya.”
“How far is the city?”
“Ten miles—just a few valleys to the southwest,” Eyal said tersely. “Let’s hope Hedya found them somewhere miles back. If they’re this close to the city …”
His exhaustion burned away as urgency lit his eyes and he snapped his wings open. With a flick of his tail, he leaped off the cliff, his dragonet still riding his shoulder. Kiev followed immediately, and she flexed her fingers in Teva’s mane as the dragon hopped out into space with a single powerful bound, catching the wind with his outspread wings.
They soared above the valley, squinting at the ground for any signs of movement or tracks. The red leaves of the trees fluttered in the wind, making it difficult to distinguish other movements. A mile of valley sped by beneath them, then Eyal banked hard toward the west. His wings pumped fast as he fought for altitude, aiming for a dip between two towering peaks. Kiev followed, clearly straining to keep up as the air thinned and grew cold. The wind battered them as they flew over the mountain. Beyond, impassible rocky terrain filled the space between the summit they’d crossed and the next, towering even higher.
Eyal angled toward the south side of the mountain and they laboriously flew around the massive peak and into a narrow pass. The wind howled. Both draconians struggle
d to keep their flight straight and Teva grunted with each beat of his wings. Then they were out and the mountains sloped down into a wide, forested valley. The draconians glided, catching their breath as they surveyed the valley.
A high-pitched chitter erupted above them and a dragonet zoomed out of nowhere, scales black with camouflage. It chattered urgently. Eyal took one look at it and dove, plummeting toward the forested slope. After a brief, surprised hesitation, Kiev dove after him, and Teva and Piper followed.
For an instant, she thought Eyal would crash into the trees. But he leveled out as he reached the uppermost leaves, dipping down until he was speeding between the crowns of the trees. Kiev followed behind and Teva trailed after them, small branches whipping against his larger wings.
The unfamiliar dragonet led the way, flying faster than she thought the little creature should be able to. They flashed down the length of the valley as it grew narrower. The dragonet slowed, then landed among an outcropping of rocks. Beyond them, the forest ended, barren rocks taking over for several hundred yards before the valley narrowed to a steep-sided pass.
Teva landed beside Eyal and Kiev, his sides heaving. Piper patted his neck as she stretched her aching legs and back.
“What is it?” Kiev asked. “Who’s the dragonet?”
Eyal’s dragonet, still perched on his shoulder, chittered at the new one. It answered with a series of fast chirps and grunts, flaring its wings for emphasis.
“Hedya’s dragonet,” Eyal said, his voice strangely flat. “Sent to intercept us so we wouldn’t be seen.”
A chill ran through Piper. “Seen by who?”
“The army. They’re in the forest.”
She jerked around, staring into the wall of dark trunks and fluttering red leaves. “They’re in there?”
“The others are waiting for us at the pass. We need to use cloaking spells to cross the open stretch.”
Kiev nodded and his body shimmered oddly. He didn’t vanish like some sort of invisibility spell, but as soon as she looked away from him, he faded from her peripheral vision.
“I, uh …” She blushed. “I don’t know how to do a cloaking spell.”
“I can do it for you and Teva,” Kiev said, reappearing as his voice brought her attention back to him. He stepped over and laid a hand on Piper’s arm. Magic rushed over her, making her skin tingle. He did the same to Teva.
Eyal shimmered too, fading in and out of her vision. He turned to face the open stretch of rocky ground. “As fast as we can.”
He took flight one more time, Hedya’s dragonet in the lead. Teva and Kiev followed, with Piper clinging on uselessly as she had the whole time. Her heart pounded as they shot across the exposed ground. How close was the army? Were they watching? Had they been seen through the cloaking spells?
They reached the pass. It was far rockier than it had appeared from a distance, littered with boulders the size of small houses. Hedya’s dragonet swooped over a large, wide boulder and dropped down behind it. Eyal and Kiev vanished into the same spot, and Teva half dove, half fell into the gap, landing with a heavy thump. Piper jumped off him so he could transform. She stumbled away as black fire engulfed him, shrinking down as he returned to his smaller shape. She had to brace her hands on her knees to keep upright while her weak, numb legs regained some strength.
Hedya ran out from between two boulders, her black wrap tight over her lower face. Her eyes were popping, a sheen of perspiration on her forehead. Behind her, Seiya and Mahala followed, both haggard with exhaustion.
“You’re here,” Hedya said tersely, holding out a flask. “Were you seen?”
Eyal took the flask and untwisted the cap. “I don’t think so. If they saw us, they didn’t react in any way. Where are they? We couldn’t see them.”
Hedya gestured for him to follow, leading them back the way she’d come. Eyal tipped his head back and poured water into his mouth, then passed the flask to Kiev. Scooping Teva up and lifting the dragonet onto his shoulder, Kiev guzzled some water as they followed Hedya through the maze of boulders.
They squeezed through a narrow gap and came out into a sheltered, trench-like opening between lines of boulders. The space was filled with heavily armed, black-clad draconians. Piper staggered, grabbing a rock for support as terror crashed through her, turning her bones to water. Seiya backtracked to her, grabbing her elbow and boosting her up.
“Who are …” Piper gasped.
“Warriors from the city.” Seiya helped Piper away from the boulder. “They came to guard the passes after Tiran delivered his warning, but they didn’t know the army was this close until Hedya found signs of their passage at the other end of the valley.”
“Are they evacuating the city?” Piper asked breathlessly as the terror waned.
“Yes.” Seiya pressed her lips together. “But they only just began. There are a lot of children too young to fly, and they need supplies or they won’t survive long even out of the city. It’s taking too long. They needed hours, not minutes.”
“Minutes?” she squeaked.
Seiya led her to a rocky wall, behind which the draconian warriors had gathered. Lyre stood off to one side, peering intently at the valley with a distant gaze and black eyes as though entranced by something only he could see. Seiya pointed at the edge of the forest a few hundred yards away.
“They’re in the trees,” she said. “Waiting … organizing … We’re not sure. We don’t know why they haven’t advanced.”
“We certainly aren’t in any position to stop them,” Hedya said bitterly. “It’s not our defenses holding them back.”
“Getting through this pass will be a challenge for a large force,” a draconian warrior rumbled. “It will slow them down. As soon as they advance, we’ll position ourselves on the cliff walls and rain hell down on them.”
“It won’t be enough,” another barked. “They’ll be prepared for that tactic.”
“We can’t stop them,” the first replied. “Our goal is to buy enough time for the evacuation.”
“How many are there?” Piper asked.
“We’re not sure,” Hedya answered. “But we have only a few hundred warriors and most of them are needed for the evacuation. More are coming to help us, but …”
Only a few hundred warriors? Piper looked over her shoulder where the unseen draconian settlement was. She suspected “city” was a serious exaggeration when it came to the size of the community. Based on the number of warriors, there was maybe a few thousand draconians total—a fraction of the population that had lived in these mountains five hundred years ago. If they couldn’t delay the Hades army, their population would be numbered in the dozens instead.
“At least they’re taking their sweet time,” Eyal said, absently patting his dragonet on his shoulder. “Why aren’t they advancing? What are they waiting for?”
Hedya gripped the hilt of the sword at her hip. “Maybe they—”
Without warning, Lyre jumped onto the wide boulder acting as a barrier between them and the unseen army in the forest.
“Lyre!” Seiya hissed. “Get down before they see—”
His body shimmered as he dropped his glamour. His hand snapped back over his shoulder and he selected an arrow, pulling it free from the quiver. Piper’s mouth hung open, his stunning brilliance erasing all thoughts from her brain. Hedya gaped too, utterly mesmerized.
“What are you doing?” Eyal half-shouted.
Lyre nocked the arrow and pulled it back to his cheek. “They’re already coming.”
His voice shimmered in the air, the impossibly beautiful tones subtly layered in a harmony so entrancing Piper didn’t immediately absorb his words. They were already coming? But the rocky expanse between them and the forest was empty and she couldn’t see anything moving in the trees.
He tilted the bow up, aiming high, and released the arrow. It shot into the air in a high arch, crossing almost half the distance between their location and the edge of the forest before the arrow zoomed
toward the ground. A dozen feet from the rocky turf, gold flashed in a blaze of light like a bolt of lightning.
Piper flinched, dark spots dancing across her vision. She squinted at the valley—and her lungs seized.
The rocky stretch of ground was no longer empty. Lines of black-uniformed soldiers filled half the treeless expanse, the blades of their long-handled scythes gleaming in the sunlight. Hundreds of blades. Hundreds of Hades soldiers. This was triple—maybe even quadruple—the force she’d once faced a few miles from her Consulate. Snapshots of that desperate battle flashed through her mind—the screams of dying Ra soldiers, the blood, the smell of burnt flesh, the red flashes of teleporting reapers. Samael’s cold eyes and chilling smile.
A scant hundred and fifty yards separated the draconians from the army. Too close. They weren’t ready. Panic jumped in her throat and she felt the onset of shading. She pushed it down. Not yet. But she would need that vicious instinct soon.
“H-how?” Hedya stuttered as Lyre jumped back down, behind the cover of the boulders. “What … ?”
“An illusion,” Lyre growled. Even the rough sound came out as a magnificent purr in his otherworldly voice. “A shield-like illusion that hid their movements so they could advance without our knowledge.”
“How did you know? How did you break the spell?” Eyal’s brow furrowed, cutting deep creases in his forehead as he stared at Lyre. “Who are you?”
“Get ready!” a warrior ordered. “They’re preparing to move!”
A ripple ran through the army as it recovered from the surprise of Lyre blowing their cover. The ranks parted, opening an empty channel through the middle, leading all the way back into the trees where an unknown number of the enemy were still hidden.
Something moved in the shadows. With a thunderous crack in the otherwise silent valley, a tree keeled over, smashing to the ground. Behind it, an enormous shape surged out of the forest. Scaly red tentacles as thick as a man’s body slapped the ground, writhing like a mass of snakes as the monster dragged itself out of the trees.
Unleash the Storm (Steel & Stone Book 5) Page 22
