Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3)

by Tamara Shoemaker

  Ayden's jaw ached as he braced himself against the necessity. Though Sebastian was their enemy, though the Lismarian King's men fought against Kinna and Cedric, he couldn't help but think that each of these men had a family, a mother, someone who hoped that their son would return home to them.

  Such was the nature of war, the horror of battle.

  Ayden inhaled, steeling himself, before returning his attention to the central lines. Jerrus would likely be near the front, and if Jerrus, then Sebastian as well. The King leaned on Jerrus as he would on a crutch, though of course, he would never admit it.

  If Sebastian were there, Ayden would be willing to bet that Kayeck was nearby, likely just out of his range of vision, keeping a careful watch on the King's Touches and blocking the worst of the damage he inflicted.

  One final pass, and Ayden found her.

  Jerrus's bannermen stalked up the hill—it was too steep for horses. Behind them, Jerrus himself came with several buglers, along with a hooded, bent figure that Ayden would have known anywhere.

  “Let's go, Luasa,” he murmured, and the she-Dragon pivoted in the air, aiming for the collection of soldiers.

  “Lower. Lower, now, and—” They winged over the company, and Luasa's talons closed over Kayeck's shoulders, lifting her right into the sky, and into the fiery path of two oncoming Lismarian Dragons.

  “Luasa, watch!” Ayden shouted, gulping a breath.

  Luasa whirled to the side. The enemy Dragons could not see her, but they could smell her, and Kayeck, as yet only held by the she-Dragon's talons, was still visible, her dark robes streaming in the air.

  Luasa flew directly away from the two Dragons. Ayden glanced behind him. They followed in hot pursuit.

  “Put Kayeck up here with me!” he yelled, leaning forward and twisting her fin so he could see what he was doing. They would be visible, but hopefully, in the chaos, unrecognizable either way.

  Luasa's foreleg pulled Kayeck around to the side; Ayden reached for the Seer Fey's hand, grasping it, sliding her carefully onto the Dragon's back—trying to keep Luasa's pumping wing from bashing Kayeck's head.

  He slid her in front of him where she sat, gasping and shaking, coughing as she struggled to recover from her surprise flight.

  “I told you I would come when I was ready,” she reproved when she'd gained her breath. “I could have helped on the front lines, kept Kinna and Cedric safe from Sebastian—”

  “It was by Kinna's orders that I found you and took you from Sebastian's army!”

  Kayeck's mouth pinched. “She will pay, then.” She turned her milky, blind eyes to look at him.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, his heart dropping.

  “I mean that she will pay. I was not to be taken before my time, and now Kinna will be taken by Sebastian before the sun burns the horizon.”

  Ayden's hands froze on Luasa's fin as he recognized the ring of prophecy in her words. “I'll take you back!” he shouted against the wind.

  Kayeck shook her head. “Nay, it is too late. The twist in the Stars' working is done, and Kinna's fate is sealed in fire.”

  Ayden stared at her. Kayeck did not make such statements unless they were to come to pass.

  He wanted to plead with her, to make her change her words, but she, too, was a pawn to fate. He could not put her back in Sebastian's lines. He would try to save Kinna, try with every last fiber of his being.

  “Luasa, to the northeast and our headquarters,” he said, his voice shaking slightly. He would just concentrate on retrieving the Amulet to destroy it. It was their only hope.

  When Luasa landed, Ayden slid off her back and helped Kayeck to alight. The clearing was a chaotic mass of running soldiers. The rough command post they had set up beneath the spruce was empty.

  Ayden grabbed a young soldier's arm as the lad ran by. “Where is Commander Lanier?”

  “He led the ground forces to the crest. He should be up there now with the Dragons we've got.”

  Ayden released the boy's arm and watched as he ran up the hill toward the melee. He chewed on his lower lip before turning back to Kayeck. “Kinna sent your daughter, Sage, and Julian north with Ashleen to urge the Ongalian nobles to hasten to our aid. Can you—see? What is happening?”

  Kayeck shook her head, her hazy, blind gaze steady on Ayden's face. “Nay, I've explained before that my Seer gifts do not come at will.”

  Ayden strained his eyes into the dark northern sky, hoping for some sign. They couldn't come yet; even on Sperah's back, they would have only just reached their destination. By the time they had gathered whomever was willing to help and returned to the battle, it would still be hours before they could make an appearance.

  Ayden returned to his pallet where he'd slept the night before and grabbed two extra knives, sliding them into his boots, and tightening the belt that held up his sword. “Let's go.”

  “To where?”

  “To get the Amulet, of course.”

  “It won't be easy.”

  “I didn't count on it.”

  “Good. Because Paik has made it his own mission to protect and guard the Amulet. And guess how he will do so?”

  Ayden at last paused his movements, staring at Kayeck. “With his taibe?”

  Kayeck inclined her head. “You are correct, Dragondimn.” She raised her blind gaze to his. “It is why I wished to stay, without suspicion, to counteract Paik's taibe he is even now weaving around the Amulet.”

  “Then we must seek out Paik first and destroy his taibe, so that we can gain the Amulet.”

  “It appears that way.”

  “Then let's go.” He once again hefted her onto Luasa's back. The she-Dragon's wings beat the air, and they rose into the sky, following the ridge line of the mountain up to the crest where the sky lit with Dragonfire and Phoenixfire and the screams of Griffons and the shouts and cries of men and creatures.

  Luasa's mirrored scales reflected the carnage. Ayden crawled carefully past Kayeck, slowly up the she-Dragon's neck to twist the fin and turn them invisible. Working his way back down again, he settled into the same space between fins that Kayeck occupied in order to keep a closer hold on her and to keep her from falling. He scanned the battle of the skies, hoping to spot Kinna. A cloud of Dragons and creatures covered the stars, whirling and roaring, their deafening thunder echoing down every ravine and canyon of the mountains. Dragonfire lit up the night. A large contingent of Dragons had left the top of the ridge, driving a wedge into Sebastian's attacking horde. Somewhere in there... was Kinna. The fury and intensity of the battle chilled him to the marrow of his bones. He swallowed hard. Be safe, Kinna.

  He squinted at the ground, searching for a mantled figure with green, plaited hair nearby.

  There was Paik, resting calmly on a horse, doing nothing, only observing the colossal battle in the skies.

  Ayden couldn't see anything the Grand-Master visibly did—but the taibe he created was evident. Ayden felt it as a growing itch in his fingers and blood, in the same place where his Touches resided. Rebel soldiers withered and fell any time they came near Paik and his taibe—and that wasn't all. The taibe stretched beyond Paik into the reaches of the battle that Ayden couldn't see, presumably all the way to wherever Sebastian was fighting, the Amulet upon his neck.

  Growing consternation mounted inside Ayden as he realized if this kept up all night, there would be few of the rebels left by morning to end the fight.

  “Luasa,” he called. “Take out Paik.”

  “Nay!” Kayeck's shout caught his attention. “He is surrounded by a taibe wall of protection! Neither you nor your Dragon can enter it without death. I must first dismantle it.”

  “How under the Stars will you accomplish that?” Ayden shouted.

  “With time. And concentration.” He felt her forehead pressed into his back as she leaned against him, and something shuddered through him—a force that burst outward from the old Seer Fey. It rocked him to his core, and in the air above Paik, a shower of spark
s exploded.

  Paik's head jerked to the side, looking up, all around. His gaze passed over Luasa as she circled invisibly around the Grand-Master, but it didn't stay. However, he stood in his stirrups and pulled back his mantle.

  “I sense the presence of another Seer Fey!” he shouted. “Let it be very clear, if you choose to fight this battle, you will die, and you will be buried in the ground and not have your ashes scattered as our people have done for generations. Your progeny after you will die as well. I will stamp out every last one of you who dare to stand against me.”

  Kayeck stiffened behind Ayden. Again, another powerful shock radiated from her body, and again, Ayden cringed as it passed through him toward Paik.

  Fire and lightning ripped the air in a ball around the Grand-Master.

  At that moment, another wave of rebel soldiers, accompanied by six Poison-Quills crested the hill and charged. Paik's attention jerked sideways.

  “Now!” Ayden shouted, and Kayeck's taibe shot outward one final time. Paik's body spasmed on the back of his horse, shaking violently as he slid to the ground where he rolled and shook, saliva coming from his mouth, his eyes white where they rolled up into his head, his green plaits taking on a life-force of their own as they straightened and snapped beneath some unseen electric current.

  “Quickly, Ayden!” Kayeck called. “Before he can reconstruct the taibe!”

  Ayden turned Luasa, and the she-Dragon swooped toward the ground, her talons open, ready to snatch the Grand-Master.

  Jerrus appeared out of nowhere, throwing himself over Paik's still writhing body, and Luasa was too late to let up. She grasped Jerrus and lifted him from the ground, and with him came Paik as the Commander had his arms wrapped inextricably around the Seer Fey. Both lifted together.

  “Drop him!” Kayeck commanded. “His taibe will enter your Dragon with too much contact.”

  Luasa understood her words before they had even processed in Ayden's mind, and her talons opened again. Both Paik and Jerrus tumbled into the fray below.

  “Are they dead?” Ayden strained to see.

  “I doubt it; we were only spans from the ground. I think—”

  But she didn't get a chance to say what she thought as two Nine-Tails barreled into Luasa, and they tumbled out of the air, crashing through some spruce boughs to land hard in a leaf-strewn clearing several lengths down the mountain slopes, now visible; the jar had loosened Luasa's fin.

  Ayden landed some spans away from Luasa, and he sent a frantic glance backward for Kayeck, but she was nowhere to be seen. He hadn't time to look for her. The nearest Nine-Tail was advancing, his tails raised and undulating in time to any move Ayden made. Ayden took a deep, calming breath.

  The Touches respond to control, Ayden. Kayeck's terse words during his training floated through his mind.

  The Dragon roared, and fire erupted from its mouth. Frigid sensation flowed through Ayden's veins, and ice tore from his palms, meeting the fire in mid-air, dissolving the ice to water, but dousing the flames in a hissing swirl of steam.

  The Dragon's tails thrashed as he released another mass of fire, which Ayden again met with ice. A still calm entered Ayden's soul. His gaze met the Dragon's, and unaccountably, the creature stilled as well, assessing him.

  Ayden did not move, nor did he turn his shoulder to the creature; the Dragon would have read such body language as surrender. He faced the creature fully, the aggressor, unconquerable.

  The Dragon threw back his head with a roar of rage. His tails lashed at Ayden, but Ayden leaped to the side, throwing another spray of jagged ice, hoping to hit the nearest pointed piece of death.

  It missed. Then the second Nine-Tail bawled his rage, and leaped at Ayden.

  In that split second, time froze, and Ayden knew it was too late; he could not call his Touches quickly enough, because the Dragon's jaws and tails were there, about to pierce him. He was already a dead man, and he had failed to destroy the Amulet.

  Luasa barreled into the Nine-Tail, hurling it aside. Flames lit the clearing as the Dragons spit Dragonfire at one another, all three Dragons facing off now, seemingly forgetting the human.

  Ayden looked again for Kayeck. He found her in the woods, slowly pushing herself up from where she'd evidently slid into a tree.

  “Kayeck!” he called. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, her crusty laugh filling Ayden's heart with a frisson of relief. “I'm alive at least.”

  The Dragons' roars covered her words. Ayden turned back and hurled a fountain of ash in the middle of the melee. All three Dragons snorted, pulling backward, roaring at the interruption as the ash blinded their vision.

  Again, ice shot from Ayden's hands, coating the ground in front of the Nine-Tails, growing, building, encroaching on their territories. The Nine-Tails backed away, roaring, their tails finding ineffectual targets in the icy wall Ayden had built, and at last, they turned away with one final roar and took to the skies.

  Ayden walked to Luasa, smoothing his hand down her neck while she huffed smoke in his face. He waved it away. “Thank you, Luasa. You saved my life.”

  “Aye,” Kayeck mumbled from where she'd finally worked to her feet spans away. “Help me up on her back, boy. I can't assist you much with taibe right now; what I did to Paik took everything I had. I need time and rest. But you must gain the Amulet. It's time to find Sebastian, now while Paik's safeguards are down. It will take him a while to rebuild his taibe, possibly even until morning,” she motioned to the heavens, “but we can't risk you not getting the Amulet. We must also find Kinna. Paik is here, along with all the Ancients. She must send a creature to retrieve the Seer Fey blade.”

  “Luasa could go—”

  Kayeck shook her head. “Nay, she must send another. We need Luasa to swiftly carry us to Paik and Sebastian. Whether I am ready or not, you must throw caution to the wind to get the Amulet.”

  Throw caution to the wind. Of course he knew he would not outlive the Amulet's destruction; it would claim his life, but—he did wish he could say goodbye to Kinna first.

  The sky was a light gray before Ayden could work his way to where he thought—he hoped—Sebastian fought. The raging skies and the grounds were so furious that he and Kayeck couldn't climb the hill before being attacked many times over by Sebastian's forces. Luasa's mirage fin had been broken in the fall into the glade, and while the scale had quickly regenerated, it no longer worked well; her scales only faded into a transparent mist when he turned it instead of going completely invisible, and it was painful for her as well; the pain reverberated through her roar and into Ayden's head, too, as he jerked away from the sharp sting. He quickly twisted the fin back.

  The sky fighting had lessened as the night had gone on; fewer creatures whooshed overhead, and the ground looked like a graveyard of corpses as Dragons, Griffons, Phoenixes, and Elves lay splayed in odd positions to be carrion for birds in the coming days.

  The main line of fighting still raged at the crest.

  A flash of mirrored fire lit the ridge, and Ayden recognized Chennuh. “Chennuh!” he called to Kayeck. “Chennuh's up there!”

  “And so is Kinna. Look.” She motioned, and a pit opened inside Ayden's stomach.

  Sebastian held Kinna—his Kinna, a swirl of flames fixing her helpless form against the crazed King's body.

  “No! Luasa, up! Let's go!”

  But the way was not yet clear, and Kayeck not yet strong enough to clear the way for him. Dragons and men and creatures of other kinds in Sebastian's ranks rose against Ayden, and though he made progress up the hill, swinging his sword against enemies on either side of Luasa, it was pitifully slow.

  Any sense of hope dropped from Ayden's mind when he saw Sebastian pull Kinna onto his Dragon's back. She hung limply from his arms, her hair a flame against the dark blackness of the Dragon she rode.

  Chennuh hurtled into the sky, heading west, his powerful wings speeding him through the air. “Where is he going?” Ayden shouted.

&nb
sp; Kayeck looked startled, and her filmy eyes grew even hazier. A moment later, she blinked, and a small smile covered her lips. “Yes, well done, Kinna.” She nodded at Chennuh's disappearing speck. “She anticipated my instructions to retrieve the Seer Fey blade. She sent Chennuh to recover the knife. The Seer Fey have all left the Marron Mountains, and Chennuh will be able to take it without fear of being slain by the protective taibe.”

  Ayden exploded. “This is cutting it too close, Kayeck! We should have had the knife before the battle even began.”

  “We couldn't,” she said. “We just had to trust to the Stars that the timing would work. It is well Kinna sent the Dragon when she did.”

  In the distance, Sebastian's Dragon rose in a clumsy flight from the hillcrest and flew south toward Sebastian's main forces.

  Ayden helplessly watched her go, while Luasa bit and slashed and hurled Dragonfire at anyone in their way.

  “She's gone,” he murmured to Kayeck.

  “But he did not kill her, Ayden,” Kayeck croaked. “There is still hope.”

  It didn't make sense. Why would he leave her alive? “Why didn't he kill her?”

  “My guess, Ayden Dragondimn, is that he means to use her to lure you and Cedric to him; he knows neither of you will be able to resist. If he holds Kinna—alive—he holds the battle and the Amulet.”

  The horror of it all sank into Ayden. It was true. Kinna was the symbol of The Rebellion's freedom, and their hope. If Sebastian held her hostage, he held far more power over the opposing forces than if he killed her immediately, plunging the Rebel forces into destructive hopelessness. While she lived and breathed, the Rebels would give Sebastian anything.