by Walls, Devri
“Alcander.”
“Once or twice.”
They each climbed onto a fox.
“We will fly in groups in case we need protection along the way. Wait until four have gone up with me before the next group goes,” Alcander said. “Stay close together.”
“We will fly as far as we can before we need to stop and put up a barrier,” Kiora said.
She waited until four foxes had lifted off before she urged hers skyward. Soon they were all airborne, surrounded by their own personal acid-spitting guard. Emane was the last up, and by Alcander’s division, had seven foxes around him.
Kiora pushed out a bubble before they left the enclosure.
Drustan was rigid, his eyes wider than she had ever seen them.
“Drustan, what is the matter?” Kiora asked. The wind pushed her hair back, stinging her cheeks.
“I don’t like this.”
“I can see that,” she said, trying desperately to capture the appearance of seriousness, but couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. “What’s the problem?”
“I have never ridden anything before. I am always shifting into something. And now you want me to just sit here and trust that this thing is going to do what I need it to.”
“What he is trying to say is that he’s having a hard time not being in control,” Alcander said.
Emane pulled his fox higher. “What? Drustan likes to be in control? I never would have guessed.”
“Yes, quite a shock,” Alcander said, his face as stoic as ever.
Kiora giggled at Drustan’s glare.
“Look at him.” Emane laughed, steering his fox to the right and veering dangerously close to Drustan. “He’s too scared for a snappy retort.”
Drustan swatted at him. “Back off or I’ll—” His threat abruptly cut off as his fox tried to avoid Emane’s, leaving Drustan frantically grabbing at the scruff around his fox’s neck.
Emane pulled his fox up for a loop, his joyful laugh rolling through the sky. “I love these things. How did I go so long without one?”
Kiora smiled, watching him and his seven-fox entourage twirl and loop within the bubble.
***
THEY SPENT THE NIGHT not far from the lake city. Kiora had used more magic than she would admit and needed time to replenish some of what she had lost before she felt comfortable trying to cut a path back through the army.
Drustan sat as rigidly on the ground as he had been on the fox while she and Emane looked out toward the city. The perimeter of the lake was visible from where they were staying due to the hundreds of campfires that burned all the way around.
“Does it look like they have added more forces?” Emane asked, peering across the distance.
“It’s likely,” Kiora said.
“Are those . . . Dragons?” Emane asked, squinting further.
Large shadows glided eerily around the skies above the lake, barely visible in the dark.
“Shifter-Dragons,” Kiora said glumly. And as if she wasn’t already nervous enough about making it back through the entrance, the sky lit as bursts of bubble-popping magic exploded upwards. The enemy knew she was out of the city, and they wanted to make sure she didn’t get back in.
Alcander had been out hunting and he strode through the barrier, tossing Emane a rabbit. “Help me skin these.”
Emane fumbled the rabbit in surprise before getting a good grip on it. He pulled his dagger from his belt and moved over to the fire. “Still think we can just ‘cut our way through’ with these foxes?”
Alcander squatted next to the fire, skinning one of the other rabbits he caught. “I’m confident. But we can’t use the talisman.”
“What? Why?” Drustan sat up even straighter than he had been.
“Because,” Kiora said, “The Shifters are already in Dragon form.”
Alcander nodded. “If we take away the magic, Kiora will need to fight for all of us the entire way in.”
“She could do it.”
“No, she can’t,” Alcander said.
Drustan looked at him incredulously. “After what you have seen her do, you don’t think she can shield us against some Dragons?”
“Maybe I could.” Kiora interrupted before Drustan’s agitation morphed into something more. “But I don’t think we need to worry about Jasmine, what are we going to do if I use up all my magic getting us through the army and then she shows up before we’re in the city?”
“That is a good point,” Drustan said, crossing his arms and looking mollified. He gave Alcander a pointed look. “I am comfortable with that explanation.”
“Perfect,” Alcander said dryly. “Drustan is satisfied.”
***
DRUSTAN FINALLY RELAXED AFTER dinner, leaning back on his elbows. “It’s strange, not being utterly exhausted.” He glanced over at the group of snoring foxes. “Like them.”
“Your muscles have got to be a little sore,” Emane said, sucking on a rabbit bone. “I’ve never seen anyone hold on so tight for so long. Your arms must be killing you.”
“I was certain your muscles were going to seize up and we’d have to rescue you from a long and deadly fall.” Alcander summoned more dry sticks and added them to the fire.
“Amusing, the pair of you. I never grow weary of it,” Drustan said. “I have never ridden anything before, aside from Arturo, and now I am supposed to trust my life to a fox?”
“Again with the control issues,” Alcander said.
“We have to trust our life to you.” Emane threw the bone over his shoulder and wiped his fingers on his pants. “I don’t see the difference.”
“Don’t see the . . .” Drustan sputtered, looking over to Kiora, who was staring into the fire, smirking. “Are you going to let them team up against me like this?”
“Why not?” she said. “I think you’ve earned it.”
“Earned it?” Drustan jerked up straight. “I have carried all of you from place to place, been treated like a slave, risked my life—”
“Maybe that’s why they tease you,” she said, patting him on the leg. “It’s the only way they know to show how much they care.”
Drustan shook his head, his mouth twisted wryly to the side.
“Is that why we do it?” Emane asked Alcander. “I thought it was payback for the weeks of harassment and snide comments.”
“That was my understanding.”
Drustan huffed and rolled onto his side. “Good night.”
Kiora broke into giggles.
“I’m glad someone finds you both humorous,” Drustan grumbled, his back to them.
“Humorous?” Emane said. “We’re hilarious.”
Kiora looked up at the stars above, and listened to the crackle of the fire and the low voices of Alcander and Emane talking to each other. She closed her eyes and wished she could hold on to this moment forever.
***
KIORA WOKE WITH JASMINE’S name on her lips and the unmistakable feeling of evil’s thread slipping through her heart. Still half asleep, she scrambled out from between the two foxes she had slept between for warmth, stumbling on the uneven ground. She put her hand on a tree to steady herself and looked over the army positioned between her and the entrance to the city.
All was still, and Jasmine’s thread had vanished. Kiora sagged against the tree. It was a dream. Just another horrid nightmare. She leaned her head back against the rough bark, trying to even her breathing. Her breath created little puffs of white before fading to nothing.
She closed her eyes and sighed. She missed the visions she used to get. They were frightening, but at least they were useful. Nightmares were all fright with no benefit. She tried to remember what the dream had been about, but couldn’t recall anything except feeling Jasmine’s thread.
“Kiora?” Alcander’s voice came from over her shoulder. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” she said, rolling her head to the side to look at him. “I thought I felt Jasmine’s thread, but it was just a dream.”
“Are you sure it was just a dream?” Alcander asked.
“Look at them.” She motioned. The forces surrounding the lake were quiet, with the exception of the bubble-popping magic that was still flying up in intervals. “If Jasmine was down there, we would know it.” Kiora perked up, quickly scanning the army again. “Where are the Shifter-Dragons?”
Alcander looked, his expression brightened as well. “I don’t see them. Maybe they changed to another form to sleep. Dragons have a difficult time in the winter—it’s why they stay in Toopai. The mountain stays warm all year.”
Kiora pushed off the trunk. “Perfect.” She pulled the talisman out. “That should simplify things. They could be bubbled, but they don’t know we’re coming, so it’s not likely. I think it’s worth the chance.”
They woke Drustan and Emane, preparing to leave before the camp rose and the Shifters returned to their Dragon form.
Drustan tried to look relaxed atop the fox as they flew toward the city. He was failing—miserably. Kiora bit her lip to keep from smiling. She left the talisman sheathed, not wanting to announce their arrival until necessary.
The top of the sun broke the horizon, and rays of light came streaking across the lake. Kiora shielded her eyes. As they crossed the back edge of the army, she smelled smoke from the dying campfires.
Two spheres of bubble-popping magic were fired. Once the magic reached full height, the spheres cracked open and smaller balls of magic scattered in all directions. It was too close. In order to keep her bubble up and everyone hidden from view, Kiora pulled the sheath from the talisman.
Suddenly, four Shifter-Dragons appeared on the ground, coming out of nowhere as whatever barrier had concealed them vanished. Kiora recognized one of the threads immediately. Vardon, Killian’s father—the Shifter she had left on the beach who had been so angry.
Dragons rose around them—north, south, east, and west. Kiora’s small group had been flying on the far-east side of the forces, aiming for the entrance, which put them in close proximity to Shifter-Dragons.
Fire rolled toward them. The fox Kiora was riding bucked beneath her, hissing. She had to drop her bubble and throw a shield. But with the Shifter-Dragons coming on all sides, her shield would not be large enough,
Panicked, Kiora pushed harder, trying to curve the edges of her shield around the group to offer some protection. She shoved against the shield’s limitations and suddenly, it yielded to her demands and wrapped all the way around—enclosing them within a bubble-shaped shield. The first fiery attack impacted and the world went blurry as red-and-orange flames surrounded them
Alcander looked up and around, shocked. “How did you do that?”
Kiora was just as surprised as he was. The most she had ever been able to accomplish was a dome. She was growing stronger, and more familiar with magic. “I don’t know—it must be the extra magic.”
“Thanks be to Lomay,” Drustan said.
The other Dragons roared, coming in fast.
“It was a trap,” Emane said. “And we flew right into it.”
Drustan’s fox serpentined, bucking and weaving around the other foxes that were crammed within the shield. “How did they know we were here?” he said, trying to keep himself astride.
It was possible that one of the few who had escaped the massacre at the sea made it to the lake and warned them. But Kiora doubted it. Her stomach rolled with dread—the thread she had felt wasn’t a dream at all. “Jasmine.”
Drustan’s head snapped up. “You think Jasmine is . . . ?”
Kiora lost the end of his sentence in the roar of fire as the other Dragons arrived. They circled her shield and blew fire one after the other, forcing her into a constant state of defense. But she knew what Drustan had said . . . did she think Jasmine was here? And the answer was yes.
Kiora was furious. Jasmine was playing with them. There were more enemy Shifters on the ground—Kiora could feel their threads. But Jasmine had only asked four to shift into Dragons, knowing Kiora would use the talisman. She was here somewhere, sitting and watching, sending up Shifters like sacrifices. And if Kiora had to guess, that was all she would do—watch. She would watch the battles play out, the numbers diminish. A sick game where she didn’t need to lift a finger.
“You are going to have to sheath the talisman,” Alcander said. “You can’t shield us all and make it to the entrance.”
“I’ll keep the Dragons occupied with Emane while you and Drustan get that door opened.”
Alcander nodded and turned to Drustan. “We are going to be flying fast, so hold on and just . . . try not to get yourself killed.”
Two of the Shifter-Dragons paired up, unleashing double the fire in one area. Kiora thickened her shield as the attack threatened to break through. She kept the fire out, but the temperature soared. The foxes hissed and jostled within the tight confines.
The Dragons were flying in a pattern that left only seconds between their fiery bursts.
“Let me clear a path.” Kiora pushed out a sphere of wind and the Shifter-Dragons rolled backwards, fire spiraling in pillars around the sky as they flipped. She slid the sheath back on the talisman, returning magic to the battlefield.
Alcander and Drustan leaned to the right, dropping out of the shield. The foxes followed, raining down acid on the army below.
Kiora pulled the shield in tighter around Emane and the remaining foxes. With the magic returned, hundreds of shots impacted the bottom of Kiora’s shield, shattering and booming as they broke.
Kiora anxiously tracked Alcander and Drustan. There was so much magic flying that the sky was awash with color—she didn’t know how they would make it. But their foxes wove acrobatically through the air, almost like they could sense the magic before it arrived. They were born fighters, these foxes.
***
ALCANDER’S FOX DOVE AND twisted without warning, avoiding the incoming shots. He looked back to check on Drustan, doing a double-take. He was still in human form, but his skin was covered in thick scales.
The army had split themselves evenly, the back half continuing to fire on Kiora and Emane, the half closest the lake focused on them. The foxes were doing a fine job of eluding the attacks, allowing Alcander to use minimal magic shielding.
Some of the Taveans grabbed the wind Kiora had supplied and pushed rolling sections into the sky. The wind caught the foxes, pushing them up and dropping them just as fast. The foxes flapped awkwardly, trying to keep themselves airborne, nearly knocking Alcander and Drustan off. Alcander pulled himself up right, whirled his staff around his head, and seized the wind, sending it howling back down.
A huge burst of orange rippled up from below, heading straight for Drustan. Alcander turned his fox to intercept, but there wasn’t time. “Drustan! Watch out!”
Drustan’s fox rolled to the side, trying to evade, but the orange magic flattened and widened, turning into a disk with razor-sharp edges. It sheared through the side of his fox from tail to ribs. Its thread went silent instantly. The foxes around Drustan screamed in anger and dipped down to attack, spraying acid.
The dead fox plummeted toward the ground, Drustan falling with him. Alcander thought Drustan would shift, grow wings. But he was falling straight into a barrage of magic and had to throw one of his meager shields instead.
Alcander swore. He grabbed the scruff of his fox and urged him into a near-vertical dive. The wind tore past his ears and attacks burst against his shield, obscuring his view. “Faster!” he urged.
The fox laid its ears flat and pulled up its legs, lengthening its spine. Alcander hunkered down as the wind threatened to pull him up and off. The fox swooped past Drustan, turning to come up beneath him. Drustan slammed onto the fox’s back, frantically grasping for a handhold as he slid to the side. Alcander reached and seized the collar of Drustan’s coat as the fox made a hard right to avoid a large, crackling bu
rst of magic.
Drustan pulled himself up, swearing vehemently. “Never, never, never. Never again am I riding anything, ever.”
***
KIORA AND EMANE WERE surrounded by a ball of fire. Sweat dripped off Kiora’s forehead as the temperature inside continued to rise. The foxes were faring worse, unable to withstand the heat. Their altitude was dropping and their tongues lolled out of their mouths. Acid dripped and sizzled against the bottom of her shield.
“We can’t maintain this,” Kiora said. “Not with the attacks from below, too.”
Another flurry of magic rocked her shield.
Emane pulled his bow. “Let’s take this higher, then.”
Kiora waited until Vardon flew over their heads and the next Dragon in line was turning for another pass before dropping her shield. She directed her fox straight up. They were vulnerable until they were out of range of the magic below. She pulled wind to speed their ascent.
The Shifter-Dragons followed.
“As soon as we’re out of range,” Emane yelled over the wind that screamed past their ears, “drop the wind.”
Kiora turned her head, squinting. Her hair whipped forward, slapping her in the face. Emane had lowered himself, resting one shoulder on the fox with his body turned at an angle. He held his bow out with an arrow nocked, ready to sit up and fire.
The Dragons were gaining on them.
