Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel)

by Barbara Kloss

  "What are you doing?" I screamed at the guards. "There are people out there!"

  "We can't let those monsters through!" one of the guards yelled. He looked terrified.

  "Open the gate!" I yelled. Just through the portcullis, I could see the first of the kytharii descending. One of the clan guards charged to fight, but the kytharii leapt on top of him, ripping him apart. The terrified screams from those children tore my heart out.

  "Did you hear me? I said open the gate!" I screamed again at the guard. "Open them right now or I swear on my life you will pay for this for the rest of yours."

  Terrified, he did as asked. The gears and grates cranked as the portcullis rose, and I rolled through when it was just a few feet off the ground. Alex was right behind me, the two of us sprinting toward the clan.

  One of the kytharii took down a woman, and a child wailed. I ran harder. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I would not stand back there and watch this. Heat bubbled in my gut as I ran, hotter and hotter, swelling in my torso until I pushed it through my fingertips. A bolt of light shot from my hands, and a sonic pulse shot across the earth. A kytharii, which had been about to snatch the now motherless child, erupted in flame. It shrieked and whirled, trying to put out the fire. Energy pulsed from Alex as he drew his sword, and his sword erupted in flame as he set fire to his blade.

  Another kytharii jumped on one of the men, disemboweling him.

  Alex and I finally reached the clan. With a savage yell, I ran my way right between a woman and an attacking kytharii. I shoved Nightshade in the center of its chest, and it wailed a horrible, bloodcurdling scream as black blood dripped all over my hand.

  "Go! Keep running and don't stop until you're behind the walls!" I yelled at the stunned woman behind me.

  I jerked my dagger free as the kytharii stumbled backwards. Another kytharii moved to attack, but Alex swiftly removed its head with his flaming sword. The rest of the creature erupted in flame and it ran away shrieking. The women and children ran on ahead, but the men stayed back to help us.

  "Go!" Alex yelled this time, bringing his sword of fire through another kytharii. "Protect the women and children!" The men seemed happy to follow this command.

  Alex and I stayed, battling against the handful of kytharii. I was able to catch one more on fire, but I didn't dare try the magic again. It was too draining, and I needed to save my energy for physical battle. Not that I needed magic right now, anyway. Alex was doing marvelously with his flaming sword.

  Alex and I had just finished killing the last one when the ground trembled. Violently.

  We exchanged a glance, both of us heaving with exhaustion and splattered with black blood.

  "Get behind the walls!" boomed a voice.

  I looked over to find Master Durus sprinting with Arioch Prime right behind him. You never would have known Arioch was centuries old; he ran with the speed and strength of someone my age. They were a few hundred yards from us when kytharii began crawling out of the ground. Hundreds of them. They scrambled out of the earth like ants out of anthills. Alex and I turned and sprinted, joining Master Durus and Arioch Prime, the four of us headed straight for the wall, fleeing for our lives.

  "I thought you were going to destroy the curse!" I yelled.

  "We tried," Master Durus grunted. "And we ran out of time."

  The men standing along the ramparts were yelling, and I stole a glance back. Kytharii were everywhere, swarming the earth in the thousands. Adrenaline flooded my body as wind ripped all around. The horde of kytharii screamed and snarled, bounding forward with inhuman speed, on two feet and on all fours, quickly closing the distance.

  Just a few hundred yards before we reached the wall…

  Metal creaked as the men at the gate began lowering the portcullis.

  My feet pounded the earth, my arms swinging for speed as my chest heaved with flight. The kytharii were almost upon us and the gate was halfway down.

  At the last minute we dove, rolling beneath the grate as it squealed closed on top of the foremost kytharii. They wriggled and writhed, still alive, though impaled, and the horde descended upon the wall, clawing and gnashing and snarling like a terrible nightmare. Alex grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, and the two of us backed away from the horrible sight.

  Shrieks and dissonantly layered screams filled the skies as the kytharii tried clawing through the gate. For a moment, the people behind the wall stood still as stone, transfixed in their horror. No one had expected this. And even I—who had seen the kytharii before—was momentarily paralyzed by the sight of so many. I couldn't see the world beyond the gate, because they had completely blocked the view, scrambling over each other to climb through.

  Sir Torren gave orders to close the gate and fire the catapults. Shouts and yells sounded from the ramparts as men fired, and the guards starting pushing the doors behind the portcullis closed.

  "Take her to the hall," Master Durus said to Alex.

  "Absolutely not," I said. "I am staying here."

  "But your highness, it isn't safe—" Arioch started.

  "It's out of the question. I'm staying."

  To my surprise, Alex didn't fight me on this.

  "Have I missed any…whoa." Thad suddenly appeared from behind the crowd. His eyes bugged out of his head as he noted the kytharii through the portcullis. The guards finally closed the door, shutting them completely from view.

  "Is there anything I can do to help?" The question had come from Vera.

  I glanced up at Sir Torren, who walked the wall giving orders to his men. How could we help him?

  "Yes," I said, feeling the beginnings of an idea. "You and Thad…make sure the men on the ramparts have enough supplies for the catapults." She nodded sharply. "Master Durus, Arioch," I continued, "that spell you used to make the tower crumble on top of itself?"

  Master Durus looked at me expectantly.

  "See if you can't get to higher ground and do that very same thing to the holes they're climbing out of. Let's try to channel their movement to one area so that Sir Torren will know where to focus his attention."

  Alex looked at me like he was suddenly seeing me for the first time.

  "We'll do our best, your highness," Arioch said, and he and Master Durus split up.

  "What are you planning?" Alex asked me once everyone had fled to their stations.

  I looked up at the dark sky. "I'm not sure yet. Follow me…?"

  He nodded sharply. "Anywhere."

  I paused, looking into his handsome face, where I found a smile waiting for me. "Thanks."

  Alex followed me up the wooden steps to the ramparts, where men were catapulting balls of flame beyond the wall. And once I could see beyond, the sight below was almost hopeless.

  Tens of thousands of dead swarmed the fields, turning the once green land into an ocean of snarling and screeching gray, and more were still climbing out of the ground. There were so many. The kytharii threw themselves upon the walls, climbing over each other, clawing at each other, filling the cracks and accumulating in piles. Some would leap ten feet in the air, landing on the wall, scaling their way like spiders toward the top. Guards threw rocks and whatever they could grab to knock them down. More balls of flame were thrown into the cannibalistic sea, but with so many, the damage was negligible.

  I closed my eyes, letting the heat build deep inside of me. I let it build and build until I physically couldn't hold it any longer, and released. With a push, I threw the heat toward the horde. A cluster of them ignited in flame, but it hadn't done much more damage than that of the catapults. We needed a bigger fire. I said as much to Master Durus and Arioch Prime, who stood near Sir Torren on the ramparts.

  Master Durus and Arioch stood together, muttering a silent spell as the energy around them swelled. Wind stirred and the air convulsed, and something like a great meteor of fire appeared, landing right in the center of the horde. A great many of the kytharii caught flame, screeching and screaming. But even that was not enoug
h.

  The kytharii had piled so high, they began reaching the battlements. Men fought them off with swords, but their unmagical blades did not kill. Kytharii arms wriggled and writhed along the ramparts like snakes, and the guards screamed in horror.

  "Burn them!" Sir Torren yelled. "Burn whatever you can!"

  For hours the fighting continued like this. The sun had long since set, and the men were getting so tired. I could see it on their faces. And even though Sir Torren shouted and tried to keep their energy flowing, their faces sagged with fatigue and hopelessness. Our enemy was so numerous and even after hours of fighting, we had hardly made a dent in their numbers. It was then the idea that had been blossoming in the back of my mind took shape. It was crazy, but it just might work.

  I ran over to Sir Torren. "Sir Torren!" I yelled. "I have an idea!"

  He kicked back a kytharii over the wall. "What is it?" he yelled back.

  "Those tunnels you mentioned…I think we should blow them up."

  "What?"

  "Listen," I continued. "If we blow them up, we'll have a trench that runs like a fence around the kytharii. We can pour pitch over the walls and into the trench and light it on fire. This will trap the kytharii inside and those outside won't be able to get through, and it'll at least give us some time to come up with something."

  He paused, staring at me, and almost missed the kytharii reaching for his head. Alex ran it through with his flaming sword, and it squealed as it fell like a ball of fire back into the crowd. This startled Sir Torren back to speech.

  "Jarl!" he yelled.

  The man called Jarl I'd seen earlier soon appeared, sweaty and dripping and covered in blood. "Yes, sir."

  "The doors in the basement that lead underground."

  "Yes, sir?"

  "Take ten men and line the tunnels with dynamite."

  "Sir?"

  "And then roll out the pitch." Sir Torren smiled, but it looked a bit more like a grimace. "We're going to start a fire."

  Jarl took off, and Alex and I stayed at the wall near Sir Torren, fighting back all the kytharii that we could. I drew upon Cian to give me strength. The constant fighting was wearing me down, and I wouldn't have energy to last the night if I kept at it on my own. I didn't know how Alex was doing it, but he was. Always controlled and swift and sharp. After what felt like forever, Jarl reported back.

  "The explosives are placed, Sir Torren."

  Sir Torren nodded sharply. "Bring up the pitch!"

  Men rolled barrels and barrels of pitch up to the ramparts and near both ends of the wall where Sir Torren said the tunnels would be. Once they were in place, Sir Torren gave the command to ignite the fuses. About fifteen minutes passed, and then in one great blast that rocked the wall, the field ahead exploded. Dirt and kytharii flew in the air as each of the explosives detonated one by one in a ring around them. Some men at the wall covered their ears, and when the explosions stopped, the world fell eerily silent. Or maybe I'd just lost my hearing.

  And all around the perimeter of the kytharii was a perfectly arching trench in the ground, like an underground rainbow stretching from the wall.

  "Pour the pitch!" Sir Torren yelled.

  The men near the barrels began pouring the pitch into the newly created tunnel. Barrel after barrel they poured, while Sir Torren instructed Master Durus and Arioch Prime to use magic to help spread it along. Once all the barrels had been emptied and the pitch had been sufficiently spread, Sir Torren yelled, "Ready the fire!"

  I hoped this plan would work. It had better work. The men needed it to work, or they might just give in to desperation.

  Guards all along the wall worked together loading their catapults. I looked down the wall, seeing little balls of flame ignite everywhere like giant torches, and once all were lit, Sir Torren yelled, "Wait for my command. Men at the gate—fire!"

  The catapult at the gate clicked, and the ball of fire soared through the air like a great flaming cannon. Its light diffused over the swarm of gray bodies below, reminding all of us how numerous our enemy was. Revealing what night had so conveniently hidden. And then the ball of flame landed near the edge of the field, on the left side of the tunnel. Flames erupted and spread fast along a carefully drawn line. The kytharii shrieked and cried, scrambling away, clawing and climbing over each other, but the flame did its work.

  "Loose the rest!" yelled Sir Torren.

  Balls of fire soared through the air and into the sea like a meteor shower. I took a deep breath, feeling the wind slip over my skin, feeling it seep into every orifice, acutely aware of its path over my body. One by one the fireballs landed, starting campfires all over the field and along the perimeter. The pitch caught fire, burning like a dynamite fuse, and the horde of kytharii screeched like tens of thousands of bats.

  More pitch was poured over the wall and directly on top of the kytharii, followed by more balls of flame and more shrieking. Using Cian, I soared, Ripping through hordes and feeling the heat, carrying it farther. Lifting flame and spreading it like butter over the pitch. Helping in whatever way I could. Spinning and twisting, spreading the heat to every corner of the cold.

  I was distantly aware of men cheering at the wall, interspersed with the shrieks of the burning kytharii, and when I pulled back and opened my eyes, I saw why the men cheered. There was now a line of fire surrounding the kytharii like a wall of flame, and the wind had finished the work of the others, carrying the flames through the center. The kytharii were trapped inside, and, unable to run away, they were slowly being doused with flame. Could it be? Would this wall finally give us a chance to fight them off? Sir Torren gave me a look that said he was both surprised and impressed. And then rain began to fall.

  It sprinkled only for a moment, and then it poured in a torrent. My heart sank as I watched, my hopes plummeting. Fat drops slapped sideways, drenching us within moments and quenching our fire until only tiny little flames remained. And then things infinitely worsened.

  The kytharii were furious, slamming against the wall, burnt and charred. They piled so high that more and more of them were crawling over the ledge. Alex and I worked together, with him wielding his flaming sword and me wielding Nightshade, doing everything we could to keep the kytharii from penetrating the city.

  One guard screamed as a kytharii pulled him over the edge. His screams sounded until he fell into the horde below. Bile rose in my throat, but I kept fighting. Sweat dripped down my face and into my eyes. My body moved mechanically, drained from overexertion, pulling on Cian as much as I could, but the kytharii kept coming in droves. Men fought and more were pulled over the wall. We were exhausted and hopeless against an enemy that was already dead. We could not keep fighting like this.

  And then one of the guards ran to the ramparts, panting as he yelled, "Sir Torren! The kytharii…they've found a way inside!"

  Chapter 26

  The Might of the Draconi

  "I'll go!" I yelled at Sir Torren, who was in the middle of battling a kytharii.

  I received a hasty nod, and then Alex and I sprinted down from the ramparts, running in the direction the guard had pointed. About a dozen other guards came after us, urged on by Sir Torren. Alex's flaming sword was like a beacon as we ran down into the city. We found a few kytharii prowling the streets—one feeding on a guard—and managed to take them down before they could do any further damage.

  "How did they get in?" I asked the guard who had given the warning.

  "We're not sure. We already killed a couple, but these are new." He nodded toward the kytharii we'd just killed. I thought he looked a little sick.

  I glanced around, the wind ruffling my hair, and slowly, vigilantly, walked forward in the shadows. This section of the city was quiet, except for the echoes of shrieks near the city walls. I was so focused on the construction of the city that I didn't see the kytharii jumping down on top of me.

  It landed on my shoulders with crushing force, snapping its jaws. With a shrill scream, it fell back then erupted i
n flame. The force was gone. Alex extended a hand to help me up. Even in the night he looked pale.

  "Okay?" he asked.

  "Yeah. Thanks." I swallowed, and then I noticed the aqueducts. "Where do these aqueducts lead?" I asked one of the guards.

  "That one there comes all the way down from the mountain, but it goes to the great hall first…" His voice trailed. We were all sprinting toward the great hall before he'd even finished his sentence.

  We heard the screaming before we reached the hall.

  Oh, no.

  "You—get enough men to block the aqueduct!" I yelled at the nearest guard.

  "But how am I supposed to do that?" he asked.

  "I don't know! Blow it up if you have to!"

  A few of the guards broke off from our group, then the rest of us burst through the doors of the hall to find hundreds of the women and children crammed against a wall, Sonya in front, bow readied with a flame-tipped arrow aimed at a group of ten kytharii prowling toward them. When the kytharii heard us burst into the hall, they glanced back. The hall erupted in snarls, and they lunged at us.

  We fought the kytharii. We fought hard, exhausted as we were. Sonya was there, firing her burning arrows. Eventually, we killed every last one of the kytharii, and when I looked up, all the women and children were trembling and crying.

  "What happened to your guards?" Alex asked, wiping his brow.

  The women in front looked to each other, and a few of their gazes moved past us. I followed their eyes toward an ambiguous pile of blood and leather and steel. This time, I turned around and I wretched. And I wretched again.

  This evil. My uncle had done this. My uncle had brought about this gruesome and horrific scene. And for what? Power? Did it really mean that much to him? That he could slaughter men and women and children like this? If he won his battle, was this what we had to look forward to?

  Explosions rumbled through the city like thunder. Shrieks echoed in the night, like the sounds from a nightmare.