Blood of the Dragon

by Sarina Langer

  “Commander,” one of his men said and nodded behind them.

  A palace runner was coming their way. Fast.

  Commander Dryden’s stomach twisted. Had something else gone wrong? He exchanged a glance with Kleon. Together, they met the runner halfway.

  “Commander Dryden, sir,” the runner said. “I have a message for you from the palace.”

  “Speak.”

  “A Mist Woman has arrived, says she’ll only speak to you and that it’s urgent.”

  His stomach twisted a little harder; Mist Women were never good news.

  “Did she say anything else?” he asked. “Is it Kaida?”

  “Her exact words were ‘Get me the commander and Kleon and do it now,’ sir. I don’t think so, sir.”

  Commander Dryden frowned. If he knew anything about Mist Women, it was that he shouldn’t make them wait.

  He turned around to the Sparrows and the White Guard. “Meet us outside the palace and await further orders. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  Commander Dryden was grateful the runner hadn’t brought news of another attack, but a Mist Woman wasn’t much better.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  “The throne room, sir.”

  He swallowed and ran.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Kiana crossed her arms. “What do you mean, Kaida is gone?”

  Reeve glowered. “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you I hadn’t seen her in a while?”

  Ludo nodded. “But where could she have gone? There’s nowhere to hide out here.”

  “She’s a dragon, Lu, she could be anywhere by now.”

  Rachael sighed. She had called her Sparrows together to give them the news that they’d be fighting on their own. They were taking it about as well as she’d expected.

  Only she had been standing when their meeting had started. Now, Reeve and Desma were on their feet and Cale stood with Rachael for moral support.

  “Kaida has a plan,” Rachael said, angry that she couldn’t give them more. It was hard to believe it, but she had to believe in something; otherwise, they’d have no reason to fight. Kaida had given her an amulet to block her visions; that had to mean something. “Whatever it is, we need to trust that she can execute it quickly.” Before we all die.

  Rachael swallowed. The lump in her throat had been there since Kaida had told her the truth.

  “What plan?” Desma asked. “Why can’t she execute it here? In Krymistis, running is the coward’s choice.”

  “She’s not running,” Rachael said. “You’ve all seen what Kaida can do. As for her plan, I don’t know specifics. I only know that her blood can stop the Dark One.”

  Rachael had considered not telling them this much, but they were her family now and if she wanted to build their future on trust, withholding information wasn’t the way to do it. Besides, Kaida was gone. Her Sparrows were angry, but they couldn’t give Kaida a hard time over doing the right thing. If that was what Kaida was doing. Her Sparrows could only take their anger out on her. If it meant they could think straight when Cephy arrived, Rachael would take it.

  Ludo paled. “Her blood? How much?”

  Rachael met every pair of eyes individually. “Too much.”

  Kiana looked down and nodded. Silence fell over their small, deflated camp.

  Reeve snorted. “So, she’s going to sacrifice herself, is she? How is that going to work? Don’t kid yourself, Rachael. She’s run.” He spat on the ground beside him. “And you believed her.”

  She blushed but refused to let them see how much his words affected her. The impossibility of it had crossed her mind, but then she was no ancient dragon. Who was she to say what Kaida’s full power was capable of?

  “Kaida has her own agenda,” Cale said. “You’ll get no argument from me. However, she has kept Rachael safe and healed, fought with us, and stood with us since she first introduced herself to Rachael. Some of her actions may have been self-serving, but she has advised us well. You’ve seen what she can do. If anyone can sacrifice themselves and save the world, it’s her.”

  Rachael smiled as a reluctant but agreeing murmur went through her small crowd. Cale hadn’t been Kaida’s biggest supporter but here he was, defending her actions. She wondered if his words were true or if he said them to boost morale while he was seething.

  “So, what do we do now?” Kiana asked.

  Rachael hated this bit. “There’s nothing more we can do. We rest and we prepare. Make sure you eat and get enough sleep.”

  “We’re going to just sit here and wait for the threat to come to us?” Reeve said. There was no malice in his voice. Rachael suspected he saw their options were slim.

  “If you see a way for us to set traps with no supplies and no anything as far as the eye can see, let me know.”

  She hated waiting, but it was all they had left. They didn’t have the advantage, and it turned her stomach. If Kaida truly had run, they were dead. If Kaida took too long or failed, they were dead. The only thing going in their favour right now was that Kaida had left while Cephy hadn’t arrived yet.

  “Everyone, get some rest,” Rachael said. “We have enough rations left for now, be sure you make use of them. I will take first watch.”

  “As will I,” Cale said.

  Her Sparrows grumbled amongst themselves but did as they were told.

  Rachael was exhausted, but she’d never be able to sleep with her nerves running rampant through her mind and veins. She wanted to hit something, spar with Cale or Kiana, or at the very least run to get rid of some of that nervous energy, but she needed that energy. Tiring herself out further wasn’t the answer. The more energy she had when Cephy got here, the better.

  She sat on the dead soil and stared into the vast wastes around them. At least no innocents would die here.

  Unless they lost and Cephy killed Rachael’s small group. In that case, everyone else would be doomed.

  But Kaida had a plan. It wasn’t much to go on, but Rachael would take it. She didn’t believe Kaida had escaped. Whatever Kaida needed to do, Rachael believed she would do it, and that twisted her insides harder than the coming struggle.

  Cale sat next to her. “So, Kaida is gone, isn’t she? For good, I mean?”

  Rachael shook her head. “We don’t know that. She’s ancient, Cale. For all we know, losing all her blood and sacrificing herself won’t kill her.”

  Cale smiled. “It’s unlikely, though, right?”

  We will not meet again.

  Rachael couldn’t meet his eyes. “We don’t know—”

  “We do. Look at me, Rach.” She turned and choked. She was so very tired of running from one danger into the next. Of losing people. “People die in war. We will lose more before it’s over. Look around you. Any one of our Sparrows might die.”

  “I know that, but this isn’t anyone. It’s Kaida. She healed you. She helped me. She did what Ailis couldn’t and taught me to control my visions.” Rachael regretted the words. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought her up. Ailis did well, considering my stubborn gift.”

  Cale took her hand. “No offence taken. Ailis was good, but Kaida… Well, Kaida had an unfair advantage.”

  “Don’t talk about her like she’s already dead.”

  He touched his forehead to hers. “You’re right. Who knows what that dragon can survive?”

  Not this. Rachael felt it in her gut.

  Her list of memorials to build once the war was over grew almost daily, and she loathed it.

  “And then what?” she asked. “When it’s all over, one way or another, what will we do?”

  Cale shrugged. “Then we’re either dead and won’t worry about it, or we’ll be alive and crafting a better future.”

  “Just like that, huh?”

  He smiled. “You may need my advice here and there. And Commander Dryden’s.” Cale looked away. “I wonder how he’s doing, running the country by himself.”

  “Wishing I hadn’t left, I bet.”
>
  Cale laughed, and Rachael couldn’t help herself. It felt good to laugh after everything that had happened.

  “He’s more than able to run things for a little while. But yes, I imagine he’s ready to be just a commander right about now.”

  Her smile died, and she stared into the night. “Do you think we’ll ever see them again?”

  “If you convince yourself that we won’t, Cephy has already won.”

  She nodded—

  And her blood froze. Something had shifted in the air, Rachael felt it.

  Rachael felt her.

  Her eyes shot up, and her breath failed her.

  “They’re here.”

  In the distance, a black cloud approached. Rachael didn’t see Cephy, but she didn’t need to. There was no one else it could be.

  She drew her sword. “Wake them up. We live or die today.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Her Sparrows jumped to their feet the second Cale roused them, weapons ready, but Cephy and her army were in no rush.

  Rachael had always hated waiting. Now, all she could do was watch as Cephy’s dark cloud of demons slowly got closer. Even from a distance, it was easy to see that there were too many of them. Cephy had brought hundreds of demons—far more than she’d need, and more than enough to break their morale. This wouldn’t be a fair fight, and Cephy wanted them to know it. Judging by the darkness enveloping her, Rachael guessed the Dark One was almost at full power.

  All he needed now was Rachael’s blood. It didn’t look like he’d struggle to get it.

  Rachael turned her back on them and faced her Sparrows. “I won’t lie, the odds aren’t good. But we don’t need to win today. We need to hold on until Kaida has done whatever it is she needs to do. Every one of you has shown me your bravery. Your dedication. Your skill. We may be few, but we have something they will never have.

  “Cephy enslaves the people on Kaethe. The Dark One and His Mothers have enslaved them ever since the old sorcerers banished Him there. Kiana and I have seen it ourselves. We’ve witnessed how the Mothers work—cold and methodical, but they don’t think. They don’t plan. They don’t fight for each other. In that, they are predictable.

  “Fight together. Support each other and defend each other, and they won’t know what hit them.”

  Rachael turned around to face the coming dark. Kaida needed to hurry.

  “Moreover—” She gulped. What was it Kaida and Cale had taught her? War demanded sacrifice. “Moreover, the Mothers aren’t important. It’s Cephy who needs to— The Dark One has claimed Cephy. Without her, He’ll have no power. He only possessed Cephy because Aeron’s magic allowed it. Without her, He’ll have nowhere to go.”

  Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to give the order to kill Cephy. By the grim nods among her Sparrows, she knew that they knew.

  “The Mothers rely on Him for guidance. They take their orders from their master and from Cephy. Cut that link, and they’ll have no direction. The enemy looks overwhelming, but really there’s only one, and she leads them up front.

  “Do you all understand what we must do?”

  Rachael had never enjoyed giving speeches. She didn’t have Cale’s talent for boosting morale, but she hoped it would do.

  “Aye!” Her Sparrows spoke as one.

  She didn’t tell them how much of her speech had been guesses and hopes.

  A screech tore through the air, and a thick, dark Mist swirled up around them until they saw nothing but darkness.

  Cale gripped her hand—she couldn’t see him, but she knew the feel of his fingers around hers—and she drew strength from it.

  “Stop hiding, you coward!” Reeve said. “Come out where I can drive my sword through your gut!”

  Cephy’s soft laugh chilled the air. It haunted Rachael how much Cephy sounded like Aeron.

  “I’m not here for you, Sparrow,” Cephy cooed. “I’m only here for one woman. Give her to me, and the rest of you can go home.”

  Cephy stepped out of the Mist. A fireball blazed in her palm. Rachael raised her sword but froze mid-move. The too-familiar wispy tendrils laced around her ankles and wrists.

  Cephy laughed. “You must think me stupid. Why would I let you move?”

  Rachael smirked. “Are you scared of my army or just me?”

  Cephy’s laughter rippled the shadows. “Hardly. You’re outnumbered, if you haven’t noticed.”

  But Rachael had noticed something. The Mist around them made it impossible to see far, but there wasn’t as much movement in the shadows as she’d expected. Cephy hadn’t brought hundreds of demons. She’d only made it look like it, no doubt to cripple their confidence.

  Still, there were too many of them.

  “You’re right, we are outnumbered,” Rachael said. “Why restrain me if you know you can’t lose?”

  Cephy glared at her. “And risk you running away? You’re not getting away from me this time.”

  “Does it look like I’m running? We could have tried to hide, but instead we waited for you right here. And if I’m not mistaken”—the words tasted foul on her tongue—“you’re the one who ran.”

  Cephy’s body erupted in fire. “You drove me away!”

  “I saved you. I could have left you at the mercy of the villagers in Blackrock, but I took you with me when I fled.” It was hard against her restraints, but Rachael struggled forwards until she was close enough for Cephy to hear her whisper. “You’d have died in Blackrock without me.”

  Cephy screamed, and the Mists around them burnt from the inside out. Fiery rain came down around them. Her Sparrows didn’t flinch. They were small burns compared to what they were prepared to suffer.

  “Stupid child,” Arnost Lis said. Now the Mists were gone, Rachael saw him standing behind Cephy together with no more than a hundred Mothers. Still too many, but not as disastrous as she’d feared.

  And Cephy was right there, in front of her. The tendrils on Rachael’s limbs had left burns where Cephy’s anger had disintegrated them, but Rachael could lift her sword.

  “You.” The fury was crisp and clear in Desma’s voice. “I was hoping you’d be here.”

  New flames erupted in Cephy’s palms. Rachael raised her sword and aimed for the girl’s heart.

  But before her sword reached its mark, Cephy flung Rachael backwards into Reeve and Kiana.

  Cale raised his sword. “For Queen Rachael!”

  Rachael jumped to her feet as the other Sparrows echoed Cale’s shout. Her Sparrows threw themselves into an impossible battle, and chaos claimed the Red Wastes.

  And amidst that chaos, Cephy’s glare was focussed on Rachael. Cephy had an invisible shield of some kind; otherwise, Rachael wouldn’t have been thrown back when she attacked. She wouldn’t get anywhere unless she tired Cephy out first.

  Cephy screamed. Black flames sizzled to life around her body. She threw a large ball of angry flames at Rachael. Rachael dodged but stumbled. The flames grazed her shoulder and burnt through her armour.

  Already, new flames danced in Cephy’s hands. All Rachael could do for now was dodge.

  Cephy flung another fireball at her. Rachael jumped to the side, sword in hand—she wasn’t prepared to sheath it, just in case. Perhaps, if she got close enough, Cephy’s shield wouldn’t be enough to save her.

  But unlike Rachael, Cephy didn’t need to get close. Rachael gritted her teeth. She had to find a way to either bring down Cephy’s shield or draw the girl closer before Rachael got too tired to dodge properly.

  “Do you really think He’ll let you live?” Rachael asked. “Aeron was His host too, and He let her die.”

  The flames around Cephy burnt brighter. “That was different! A dragon killed her, and He was still building his strength!”

  Another fireball sizzled past so close Rachael felt its heat on her ear and neck.

  “But He’ll protect you?” Rachael roll-dodged when Cephy threw the largest fireball yet at her. “You’re nothing to him. He’ll have no use fo
r you once He’s done here.”

  “That’s not true!” The flames engulfing Cephy turned darker. Orange, red, brown, and finally black. They burnt all the hotter for having Mist magic and Cephy’s anger fuel them.

  “I’ll build a new future for people like us! He needs me!”

  In her fury, Cephy had come closer. It was now or never.

  Rachael threw herself forwards, inches away from Cephy, and thrust her blade towards the girl. Cephy’s shield caught the blow and Rachael staggered—but her attack had connected with something. Cephy was wearing down.

  Cephy screamed. Vicious power radiated off her in hot waves.

  Rachael raised her sword. She knew what to do.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Cale drove his sword into the nearest demon and whirled around to cut down everything else around him. The Sparrows had fanned out to cover more ground, but not so far they couldn’t see one another and come to another’s defence if necessary. He saw Kiana and Ludo from his spot, but he had lost sight of Rachael.

  It felt like the Mothers had sectioned them off to give Cephy space. Every time Cale cut one enemy down, he hoped to see Rachael fight behind the remaining ashes, but he hadn’t had any luck so far.

  Cale needed to get to her, but he had no time to search for her. Cutting down every Mother that stood between him and Rachael would do until he could back her up better.

  Two Mothers to either side of him screeched and floated towards him. He drove his sword into the one to his left, spun, and brought it down on the one to his right.

  In theory, they were outnumbered. The Mothers were slow and had no motivation of their own. They had orders, but they weren’t soldiers. His Sparrows, on the other hand, had lost friends because of these demons. They had waited for this moment, and it showed. Kiana moved so fast and with such precision Cale almost felt bad for the Mothers. If they both got close to Cephy… But right now, they couldn’t even get close to each other. Ludo didn’t have Kiana’s elegance, but he was tall and his arm reached wider. He took out smaller groups of demons with one swing and made it look effortless.