Lox shook his head.
I nodded. This would not have been the first time I’d done something like this. Because of how unnaturally fast Tosch was, I could move around the kingdoms with ease, and often ran errands for Lox on my own. “I can leave right away.”
“Be sure to at least get something to eat first, son,” Lox instructed, laughing slightly. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. I half-smiled.
Before I left I saw Lox and Bellerophon working over their brick-shaped piece of metal. They slid it into a weapon that looked something like an oversized crossbow. It was perhaps a little more threatening now, but I didn’t give it too much thought as I climbed back to the surface.
CHAPTER THREE
ELLIA:
I lied on the deck outside my cabin window, a pile of blankets set out under me so that I could rest in the open air. It was late morning, but the sky was grey thanks to the rain. Luffie was beside me on the deck and we were protected from getting wet by a wooden awning. All around us the branches dripped, causing a therapeutic sort of jingling sound, while the wind blew softly past us. I was wearing one of my green Yanartian dresses. I fed Luffie bits of pomegranate seeds as I pulled them free. They were her favorite fruit, and fruit was almost the only thing she ever ate. Chimera of Yanartas generally preferred fruit and fish and disliked meat, but Luffie refused to eat meat entirely.
I tossed her another seed and she licked her lips, then I ate one myself. She was doing much better now that I had taken her to the mountain a couple times—not to mention that was where she slept. Having finished the entire pomegranate, I rolled onto my back and sighed, looking up at the green and yellow slippery leaves.
My mind started to wander…
Luffie let out a short growl. She threw the image of a burned down Democedian settlement into my mind, all its residents slaughtered, and my own thoughts of chasing a golden-haired boy through rainy woods vanished.
I felt a knot of shame in my gut, and turned back around with a swallow. It was hard to meet Luffie’s eyes after such a slip. Thankfully I didn’t have to—I heard shouting from outside my deck. I sat up to see a half-dozen figures moving through the rain: from the south platform towards the dining pavilion. I could hear the two at the front arguing with each other, obviously Estrid and Lucian. She bounced after him as she usually did when trying to convince him of something.
Luffie and I shared a look. She let me know that she was going to check on Tris and Arrin, while I jumped off my bed and headed towards the dining pavilion.
I arrived just as Estrid, Lucian, and the rest of their group did, but before I could ask how the trip had gone, a much larger crowd of Katellians poured into the pavilion.
Lucian threw up his hands. “I told all of you to wait below,” he said, half-soaked with a cloak hanging on his shoulders. Thinly-veiled irritation covered his features.
One of the Katellians, all of whom were muddy, gruff, and sun-burnt red, stepped in front of the others and replied. “Aye, but my daughter said we should come up to eat. We sailor’s aren’t ones to say no to food.”
As half of the crowd begun making plates, Lucian turned his glare on the two Yanartians that had come with them. “Why did you let them up?”
“We didn’t know what to do. They just ignored us. Were we supposed to fight them? They came with you after all.”
“Don’t worry, son,” Estrid’s father laughed. “We’ll help you catch in fish what we eat.” He threw his head back and laughed harder, then went to get food like the others.
My gnome friend Minstrel appeared beside me then. “What excitement is this?” he asked. “I could hear the ruckus from the ground below.”
“I haven’t gotten a chance to find out.”
“Oh, Ellia, there you are,” Estrid suddenly greeted. She was just as wet as Lucian in her black and blue cloak. He spared a glance for me, but barely before going back to wincing at the group. Estrid grinned. “Can you believe my family is here? We made it out of Loone without losing a single person. I want you to meet all of my brothers.” Dropping her shapely brows, she turned back to Lucian, pointing a finger at him. “Did you hear my father say they’d fish for Yanartas? I told you they wouldn’t be a burden.”
Lucian chuckled darkly. “Fishing implies that they’re staying here. They’re not staying here.”
“You’re going to send them back to Karatel?” she countered. “Why did you bother saving them then?”
“They can go to Selket,” he offered. “They can go to the swamplands.”
“My family to the swamplands?” Estrid crossed her arms and scoffed.
Lucian frowned, his eyes going tight. “You seem to forget, time and time again, Larke, that Yanartas is a country of laws. Foreign peasants entering the city—let alone feasting in the Cirali dining pavilion—is absolutely forbidden. Are you determined to break every rule Yanartas has? I can’t think of any you haven’t.”
“You were willing enough to take me up the mountain when it was time for me to bond with Tris,” she said.
Lucian’s cheeks went a little red; I thought it was the first time I’d seen it happen to my solemn trainer. He glanced at Minstrel and I. Immediately we burst into laughter. He scowled even more darkly, though there was little real threat behind it. Then his name was called above the happy celebration around us, and he turned sternly to one of the first order Warriors, Baraduce Nar, who had just approached from the rain.
“I can explain, sir,” Lucian began, but Baraduce waved a hand.
“I couldn’t care less about such trivialities. I came to tell you that I’m taking a division of Warriors to Selket. There’s been a last minute threat from the Akadians. There’s no one else to aide them.”
“Let me go,” Lucian offered. He put a hand on his arm. “You just got back. You need to rest Ceras.”
“No,” Baraduce objected. “You’ve just returned yourself. You’re in no state to fly out. Besides you’ve got this lot to deal with.” He scoffed, obviously not envying Lucian. “Ceras has had long enough at the mount.”
I heard a roar behind me and turned to see Luffie, waiting out where the rain was pouring on her. Baraduce’s maroon and gold chimera, Ceras, stood beside her. One look at her face told me what she wanted, as if her constant pestering over the past days hadn’t.
“Baraduce, may I come?” I asked, nearly interrupting his last words to Lucian.
The ever-intimidating Baraduce gave me a glance-over. “Where’s your partner?”
“Gael,” I said. “He’s up on the mount with his chimera. He won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“How long have you been back in Yanartas?” he asked.
“Too soon,” Lucian interrupted. “She’s not been back a week.”
Estrid gave me an uncertain look.
“My chimera’s ready,” I explained to Baraduce. “She’s been to the mountain every night. She can breathe fire now, as well.”
Baraduce considered for a pause, then nodded gruffly. “We should be back by tonight anyways. I could use a second. So long as you can have your chimera saddled and ready on the east platform in ten minutes, you’re welcome to come.”
I nodded happily. I could feel Luffie’s delighted approval.
Baraduce gave a final instruction to Lucian, then broke away from the pavilion.
“Honestly, you’re as bad as Estrid,” Lucian muttered to me.
“Now you won’t be able to meet family,” Estrid complained.
“You heard Baraduce. I’ll be back by tonight.” I patted Minstrel’s head, then I waved to the rest of them before running into the rain.
“Don’t forget to change out of your dress!” Estrid cautioned.
I waved a hand in acknowledgement. Anything, so long as it made Luffie happy.
CYRIC:
Tosch clopped his hooves crossly against the muddy earth of Loone. As usual, his anger had nothing to do with anything practical (like the fact that I’d made him ride across half of Karatel wi
thout rest), he simply didn’t like that I’d lost my temper with the Akadian soldiers who guarded Loone. I didn’t regret my actions; the idiots had deserved it.
The city of Loone had been completely trashed. I was standing in the center of their largest road. Well-fortified buildings made up most of the city. Where broken bottles didn’t litter the ground, rotting fish did, or half-butchered farm animals, or ship parts. But all of this had happened long before the sailors of Loone had decided to rebel. Their plan had obviously been to sneak away on their boats, but the Akadian soldiers had caught them well before they could. The Akadians should have been able to stop some of them at least, but when it had come to swords, the infamous ghost of Tobias had appeared. Most Akadians had grown accustomed to seeing him appear in a battle, but the particularly stupid ones still allowed it to disable them to uselessness.
“Lieutenant Dracla,” Mork said respectfully. He was a soldier, the ruling sergeant of the division on its way to Loone before I’d taken over. “We searched the buildings. There are no Katellians. The Akadian peacekeepers have been whipped as you ordered.”
“Have the men clear out then,” I instructed, “I want to be back at the capitol by tomorrow. We’ll stop in Transem on the way to make sure this behavior isn’t spreading.”
“Yes, Lieutenant,” he said. He bowed, then he walked to the nearest Akadian soldiers and immediately they began speaking in hushed tones, full of wondering looks in my direction.
I was used to this behavior, I knew the sorts of things they said about me. Unlike Shaundakul, these opinions were ones of respect and envy. Sometimes fear. I could live with either.
I led Tosch away from the soldiers, up towards the largest of the buildings. Almost all the shacks were connected to this one. There were two torches burning outside its doors. Beyond the top of the cliff ahead, I could see the ocean. Clouds rolled along the distant horizon. The water looked never-ending, but I knew our greatest enemies lay beyond it.
My blood grew colder as I stared. Tosch whinnied and my attention fell back on the building. I grabbed the nearest torch and cast it on the roof. Within seconds it had ignited the space around it.
The town of Loone was left in ashes.
CHAPTER FOUR
ELLIA:
A volley of arrows whipped past me as Luffie dived towards the ground to shower her fire-breath on the soldiers below. The flat Selkian landscape provided no shelter for the Akadians; it also allowed me to see absolutely everything that was happening around the battlefield. The high sun made the gold sand so bright that it was almost blinding. Eight chimera, including Baraduce and myself held the skies, while the Selkian’s scorpios cast dark shadows below. Compared to most of the battles I’d seen in the past months, the number of Akadian soldiers was staggeringly high, but they had no granted animals helping them, and no goblins either.
Luffie made a show of spinning gracefully up into the sky. As we were about to sink back down, I heard Baraduce’s voice.
“The Selkian’s need help near their sorcerers,” he told me. “They’ve got those blasted stones again. Take two of the third order Warriors and try to protect them.”
“Yes sir.”
“And don’t allow your chimera to expend her energy on pointless tricks.”
“Alright, sir.” He turned his eyes below, then raced Ceras in that direction. Ceras was so large it seemed he could have blocked out the sun. With determined focused I flew by two of the Warriors’ I’d already been guiding, and called for them to follow me. Once they were in formation behind Luffie, I led us to a break in the Akadian’s soldiers—where the Selkian’s sorcerers had gained ground until the Akadians had begun to pelt them with the dispel stones. Wisps of snakes and flames swirled all around; these were the spells cast by the Selkian sorcerers. Like the rest of their countrymen, the sorcerers wore heavy robes that covered most of their bodies, and many gold hoops and bangles that never failed to attract goblins. Where the stones hit the sorcerers, their spells flared out of control, or died out completely.
Luffie used her fire-breath on the greatest collection of stone-throwers. The chimera flanking me did the same. Because we’d surprised them, there was no fear of being struck ourselves, but thanks to their metal shields, we’d barely disabled any of them. Suddenly a large form of black and glittering jewel-like colors leapt from the Selkian side. It was a scorpio. A rider sat atop its back, fit into a harness. The scorpio was at least three times the size of Luffie. It craned its stinger into the air, then jabbed it down into the heart of the Akadians. Just before it struck, it let out a noise somewhere between a clicking and a hissing. It struck four more times, skewering an Akadian with each hit, then it snapped its pincers. With the distraction the sorcerers were able to break the stones and retrieve their powers, but then a large spear came from the Akadian’s side. It cracked the scorpio’s shelled chest. Another shot hit him. I rode Luffie close to the spearmen to stop them and suddenly they were aiming at the other chimera Warriors and I. Luffie clawed them away with her talons. I watched one raise his spear and take aim for the chimera beside me—
Then a rush of fire, like an ocean wave rolled over them. Through the flames, Baraduce and Ceras came soaring, having obviously caused the inferno. As the flames cleared, it was obvious few Akadian’s had survived, but more were running in to replace the others. They shot at Ceras with spears and arrows, but his armor and even his hide was too thick for them to penetrate. He hovered above them and Baraduce wore a smile as Ceras deflected all the projectiles with his claws.
I felt Luffie’s body humming beneath me. As Ceras beat his massive maroon wings she suggested to me that he would perhaps be the sort of chimera worthy of her more particular attentions. I chided her for thinking such things in battle, then helped the other Warriors’ pick off what Akadians had survived Baraduce’s firestorm.
As Ceras swung down toward the largest remaining group of soldiers to use his fire-breath again, I couldn’t help but pause to watch. Luffie looked on just as attentively.
Most of the Akadians gave up their shooting and ran as Ceras opened his jaw wide, but a group of them held their ground. Just as Ceras’ fire struck the first line of soldiers I thought I saw a flash of silver cross the sky. Not a moment later, Ceras jerked back in the air, his fire-breath stopping completely. His wings snapped to his sides. He started plummeting downwards; only his momentum kept him moving forward, off to the side of the battlefield. I saw Baraduce try to get a hold on his reigns, but Ceras crashed into the ground without regaining control.
I had no idea what had just happened, but more quickly than I could think, Luffie dove after them. I spared a glance at the soldier’s that had held their ground against Baraduce. They held weapons that looked like nothing more than oversized crossbows, not the sort of thing that could take down a chimera. They took aim at the sky as Luffie and I landed next to Ceras. He was on his side, flapping his wings violently and scraping his taloned-paws against the sand. We were surrounded on all sides by empty dunes. Baraduce was pinned in his saddle, his body limp.
“Ceras, stop,” I cried. “Ceras, what’s wrong?”
He continued to dig into the sand. I tried to settle him and one of his wings grazed my cheek, causing a line of stinging pain that made me cry out. Ceras’ eyes found mine at the sound and finally he settled, his wings pulling against his body. I expected his chest to be heaving as powerfully as the rest of his body was, but it was, it was almost still, only jerking slightly. His muscles were straining around his neck. A putrid burning smell filled the air. I moved close to him and touched his chin. My hand was smaller than just one of his teeth. His red and gold-specked eyes were fading. “Ceras, what’s wrong?” I asked. And then I saw a trickle of silver sliding out of his mouth. I tried to touch it and discovered it to be as hot as flames.
I realized now that his throat was engorged. I pressed my hand against it and was instantly burned. Chips of silver clung to my skin. Ceras attempted to take one last breath, th
en slumped into the sand, his eyes rolling shut.
My vision filled up with tears. “No!” I screamed.
Luffie roared out, nudging her head against Ceras’ body. I heard a loud crashing sound behind me and then a cry. Not more than twenty feet away, another chimera had fallen. Its Warrior had his hands around its neck, screaming and trying to calm it. I wiped an arm across my face, then gave Luffie quick instruction to help me free Baraduce. She had to wrap one of her talons around his leg, but we finally pulled him free and onto Luffie’s back. He had a terrible gash on his head; he was falling in and out consciousness. I mounted Luffie behind him, then rode towards the other Warrior. His chimera had already gone still.
I dropped down to the sand and called to him.
“He’s dead,” the Warrior cried, his voice anguished. “I could feel him suffocating. My chimera—”
An arrowed whizzed between us. I looked to see a line of Akadians headed our direction. There were Selkians also, fighting nearby. I saw a flash of fire in the air and sickened at the thought that more chimera could be hurt.
“We have to get out of here,” I yelled to the Warrior. “We have to warn the others.”
The Warrior wailed. Another arrow rushed by us. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards Luffie.
I pushed him into the saddle, until he finally mounted, barely maintaining his sanity. It didn’t take more than a quick calculation of my mind to tell that this was all Luffie was going to be able to hold; she’d carried Minstrel, Estrid, and I before, but only a short distance, and Baraduce’s weight, even with his leather armor, would have been the same as Estrid and I put together. I spared a glance for the Akadians behind me.
Luffie met my eyes fiercely.
“Quickly. Before the soldiers come,” I said. “Take him to the others.”
She dug her paws into the earth. “You can’t carry all of us, Luffie. I’ll retreat with the Selkians. I’ll be alright.” She nudged her head into me.
“Go!” I screamed. Then I forced her forward with all of my strength. She finally broke into a run and took the air.
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