Of Blood and Fire, page 18
We flew on, getting colder, wetter, and more importantly, closer to home as the hours ticked by. As night began to ease over the mountains and the gloom around us deepened, the rain and cloud finally began to ease, becoming less and less of a protective curtain.
See Beak, Kaia said. Bird there.
Given we were still some distance from the Beak, hopefully the bird had not yet noticed us. But if a rider had been located there, despite our destruction of the tunnel behind it, there were likely to be others dotted farther along toward Esan.
But if there were, why wouldn’t their presence have been reported? Garran knew we were flying this way, so surely he would have checked with the watch stations—I stopped. Given how many hours had passed, maybe he had. It wasn’t like I’d looked at the quill tablet recently.
I tugged it free and quickly checked. Nothing. I hoped it meant there were no rider intrusions closer to our end of the mountains, but the stirring unease sharpened.
Are you able to flame that rider from here, Kaia? We need to stop him contacting his people.
She didn’t answer but she did flame. We remained too far from the Beak for her tide of heat to kill the bird, but it rolled over the tent the rider had dived into and turned it into a river of silver that puddled around the flapping and frantic bird’s feet. Given the state of the tent, I doubted the rider had survived... but the question was, had he had enough time to send a message back to the encampment? I hoped not, but Túxn had already been very generous with her favors today, and who knew if that would continue.
I ordered an increase in speed; we were no doubt pushing the drakkons’ strength now, but we needed to get home before anything else happened.
See tower ahead, Kaia said. Look strange.
My stomach twisted, and I hastily dragged the long viewer from my pack. While our speed generally made it useless for ground viewing, we were flying directly toward the tower right now and that should make some difference.
Like all the stations we’d established here or on the Blue Steel Mountains, this one was constructed of stone and built high enough to allow a three-sixty-degree view of the surrounding area through the foot-high gap between the wall and its roof. Quarters for those who manned them were generally located either within a nearby cave or lava tube, or in a mage-built hut made of stone thick enough to keep the fiercest of winters out. In the Thumb’s case, it was a lava tube.
There was no sign of the tower being manned, but maybe that was because dusk had given way to night and the men had retreated for the evening, even though orders had been given for a twenty-four-hour watch to be maintained.
I adjusted the eyeglass to refocus as we drew nearer, and that’s when I spotted the odd deformation along one side of the tower—the stone looked to have been melted....
I swore again and swung the viewer right, scanning the mountain for the lava tube’s entrance. Saw instead the body of a man—or at least, what remained of him after the acid had eaten away most of his torso—midway between the tower and the tube. Beyond him, where the entrance should have been, was what looked to be a frozen black waterfall of stone that rather incongruously had a booted foot sticking out of its base.
The riders had been here.
The thought had no more than crossed my mind when Yara trumpeted a warning.
Gilded birds, Kaia said, rather unnecessarily. Yara wouldn’t be trumpeting for anything less.
How many?
Three.
Three we could cope with. Unless of course, there were more waiting ahead.
Again, just as I thought that, more riders appeared. Another three, flying directly at us.
Need stop thinking, Kaia grumbled.
I certainly did. Tell Taitia and Rua to help Yara take out the three behind. Order Aarvi and Cansu swing to the left and right of the ones in front of us.
If these riders had the same orders as those on the plateau, then it was likely that they’d attack Kaia and me directly and ignore the two younger drakkons completely.
The two drakkons immediately peeled away and, as I’d hoped, none of the riders ahead altered course to meet the challenge. The Mareritt also had a rather single-minded approach when it came to attack, but they at least reacted to the situational changes. These riders did not. Maybe it was against their code.
Or maybe the numbers approaching our shores were so damn large that they believed the loss of a few hundred men and birds was an acceptable price to pay for eventual victory.
Kaia didn’t alter her flight path; she arrowed directly at the oncoming riders, seemingly determined to smash right through them. But at the last possible moment, she told me to hold, then flicked quick orders to Aarvi and Cansu. As the riders raised their weapons to fire, she backflipped and swept her tail across the center and right birds, smacking them both off course. Aarvi dove in from the left, taking out that bird and rider, while Rayka and Beth hit the one on the right with twin blankets of fire. Kaia barreled down after the still-falling middle bird; the rider had enough time to look up and raise his weapon, but nothing else. Kaia unleashed a burning river of death and swept right through their ashes.
A pain-filled bellow echoed around the peaks. Yara. She’d been hit.
And Kele had fallen from her neck.
I swore vehemently and ordered Kaia back to them. I wasn’t going to lose Kele or Yara. No matter what instinct had said on the outset of this journey, we were all going to fucking making it home. Alive.
Kaia flew hard, and Yara came into view, her left wing partially collapsed but still moving. Taitia was underneath her, supporting Yara’s weight as she battled to stay in the air, while Jassy swung freely underneath the younger drakkon’s neck, attached by the rope clamped onto her harness. Rua and Hannity were circling above them all, providing lookout and protection.
Which left Kele....
I couldn’t see her. Not in the air, not in the sea, but the air here was thick and dark, the sea turbulent, and unless she flamed, I wouldn’t.
She wasn’t flaming. Maybe she was unconscious....
Kaia dove sharply, and after a moment, I spotted her—a small, tumbling blot of humanity dropping too fast toward the angry ocean.
Can you grab her? I asked.
Try.
Don’t try, I snapped, do.
Her mental snort filled the link between us, but she didn’t otherwise reply, all her attention on the small dot that was Kele. Closer and closer we got, but she was closer still to the waves, and if she hit them at the speed she was going, it would break every bone in her body. The sea was not a forgiving master at the best of times, but from height, she would be deadly.
White caps reached for Kele, spraying foam across her features, bubbling across raw patches of skin. She’d been hit by acid... I gulped, trying to contain my fear, my heart in my mouth as Kaia banked and reached for her. Her first grab missed; her second didn’t, but we were close, so damn close to the sea now that a massive wave hit us, sweeping Kaia sideways and down. How in Vahree’s name she maintained flight against its force, I’ll never know, but she did, and we were soon rising again.
I leaned forward, water sluicing from my hair and clothes, trying to see her, trying to judge Kele’s condition, but Kaia had tucked her claws—and Kele—closer to her belly in an effort to protect her from the wind’s buffeting.
I sucked in a breath and released it slowly in an effort to calm the fear and urgency, then said, Kaia, how’s Yara?
Hurt. Angry. Want to kill all birds for hurting her kin.
A need I certainly could get behind. What does she say about Kele?
Not hearing. Face pain.
The latter no doubt being the acid burn I’d seen. Hopefully, between the rain and the wave that had almost washed us out, most of it had been removed from her skin. Any other hurts?
Not know. Just heard scream.
I swore and rubbed a hand across my eyes. We need to get her to Esan as soon as possible, but we can’t leave the others out here alone. Not with Yara injured.
Yara says save kin.
It’s no good saving Kele if the fucking gilded riders attack and take her and everyone else out, Kaia.
Know.
I sucked in another useless breath and tried to calm down. Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.
Know.
I smiled, though it felt pained—tight—even to me. How bad is Yara’s wing? Is it broken or just torn? Can she fly anywhere approaching full speed?
She say she good.
She would. Fly up next to her.
She obeyed. Yara was still being supported by Taitia, and though Jassy couldn’t remount, she was no longer swinging violently from the rope but was instead clutched in Taitia’s front claws.
Two of Yara’s phalanges had broken, the bones stabbing through the torn membrane with each and every sweep of her wing. As long as she maintained an even flight, she likely wouldn’t tear anything too much further, but it had to fucking hurt having two phalanges broken.
We fly home, Kaia said. Other kin fix Yara. You fix Kele.
That’s a plan.
We go?
Yes. Tell Aarvi and Cansu to fly up front, Rua to keep watch from on high. I paused. Tell Taitia not to push her strength—we don’t want her rupturing that wound. Aarvi and Cansu can take turns swapping out with her.
All we could do was hope no other surprises were lying in wait up ahead, and that we all made it back to the aerie in one piece.
We flew on, our speed by necessity half that of what we needed to get home before the moon rose to its peak. The storm no longer clouded the mountains, and the skies were clear and bright, which at least meant we would see any incoming forces before they got close enough to fire their weapons.
We didn’t see them. Not at all, and that only increased my tension. If they weren’t chasing and attacking us, then what the hell were they doing? Why set up such an elaborate trap and then not follow it through to completion?
Or had they thought the six riders who’d been waiting for us at the tower would be enough to take out whoever had escaped their main trap? It was more than possible, given luck and bad weather was all that had saved us.
We were closing in on the aerie when Kaia suddenly said, Kele weakening. Yara worried.
If Yara was worried, then I was fucking petrified. Can she and the others make it to the aerie?
Yes.
Then peel away and head directly for Esan. I’ll message that we’re coming in fast and to have medics waiting.
She immediately dropped a wing and banked away from the rest of them. I tugged the tablet and quill free, hunkering down behind her spine to ease the force of the wind, and quickly sent a message.
Be wary came the reply. Riders in sky.
I swore and wearily rubbed my forehead. This fucking disaster of a day was never going to end, was it? But at least we now knew where the bastards had gone instead of chasing us down. Maybe they believed we were dead... and if our five weren’t so damn weary and—at least in Yara’s case—in desperate need of repair, I would have ordered them into the attack and shown them otherwise.
What about Mira and Halka? I sent back. Are they in the air?
The attack only started half an hour ago, not long after they’d finished their evening flyover. We sent a quill message, but they were coming back down from the aerie. I ordered them to return but haven’t yet heard from them.
Half an hour would have been about the time of the riders’ attack on us; hopefully that meant the ones over Esan weren’t yet aware it hadn’t been successful.
Kin at aerie came Kaia’s thought. Mounting now.
Have them meet us at the top of this peak. They can provide protection as we dive into Esan.
Will.
Kaia increased our speed, and we rose up the mountainside fast, the silvery moon washing coldness across the peaks and silvering a few patches of early snow. There was no sign of the riders yet, but that would no doubt change the minute we arrowed down toward Esan.
As we neared the top, Lura and Kiko swept in from the nearby peaks that held the aerie. We soared over the mountainside in a line and dove down the other side.
To discover Esan was on fire.
CHAPTER
NINE
Smoke smothered a good portion of the fortress, and my heart leapt in fear. But after a moment, I realized it wasn’t damage but rather the haze of buffel grass burning across multiple rooftops. Ten gilded birds swooped and soared above the smoke line, but none darted into it. Either it affected their senses, or they simply didn’t want to risk diving into an unknown situation, especially given they knew we had at least one blood witch, having encountered—to their detriment—his barriers before.
There also weren’t as many here as I’d feared, but even though they hadn’t unleashed the entirety of the force we’d seen up on the Sheer, it was still two against ten.
Three, Kaia said firmly. We all flame as we drop.
We have Kele—
We have anger, she growled back. We kill, drop under smoke, be safe.
I sucked in a breath and resisted the urge to argue. There was little point to doing so when she was so determined. And, in truth, it was probably the only way all three of us were going to survive against this many. Lura and Kiko might be fresher than Kaia and I, but they were also younger and newer to all this.
Tell them to move up in line with us. As the riders swing round to hit us, we flame as one and get into that smoke as fast as we can. I hesitated, scanning the visible areas, looking for recognizable landmarks sitting above the haze. Our current position will have us entering over the second levels. Tell them not to hit any buildings if possible.
Below us, one of the birds was swinging around and up. A few more seconds and they would see us....
Now, I said, and thumped my hands against her spine, bracing hard as she dove.
The turning bird saw us and squawked harshly, a sharp sound that rose toward us on the still air. The rider glanced up, then hit the comms bracelet on his wrist.
As the other birds and riders swept around, I said, Flame, and Kaia and I did so, as did the other two drakkons and their kin.
A fiery wall of white-hot death swept toward the middle six riders. They never stood a chance. We swept through their ashes and the waning backwash of drakkon flame and hit the smoke as one, punching through the thick, pungent layer. I twisted around, flames flickering across my fingers, ready to unleash if the remaining birds followed us in. The heavy haze swirled around Kaia’s tail, and the seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness, but no riders appeared.
Then we were through the smokey blanket and rocketing toward Esan’s buildings. Kaia bellowed a command and changed the position of her wings in an attempt to pull up. The drop in speed was abrupt, and it flung me back so hard the rope on the harness snapped. I lunged for the rope around her spine to prevent slipping past her wings and gripped hard with my thighs. Her tail flipped forward underneath us and smashed into a chimney, sending large chunks of stone flying and briefly unbalancing her; a rear claw raked across multiple rooftops, sending tiles and burning ropes of buffel grass into the streets below. The other remained tucked up under her belly in an effort to protect Kele as much as possible.
A crash came from behind us; I twisted around, saw Lura tumbling over several rooftops before somehow righting herself. I couldn’t immediately see Miri, and my breath caught in my throat, but after a moment I spotted her. She was several rooftops farther back and was just climbing to her feet, having obviously jumped from Lura’s back before she hit the rooftop. As she limped back to her drakkon, I turned to see how Kiko fared. She was the smallest of our group, and this had obviously played to her advantage, because she alone had managed to pull up without hitting anything or anyone.
We flew on, keeping between the rooftops and the base of the smoke layer, every now and again spotting the odd glimmer of gold. The occasional spray of acid made it through the thick haze, but it was easily avoided thanks to the fact it set off a chain reaction within the smoke that reminded me of a fiercely boiling pot. Was that the reason the riders hadn’t yet breached the barrier? Did they believe it was magic-enhanced?
It was certainly possible, given that odd reaction. The air mages might be busy protecting the walls, but we did have the other four blood mages here, and maybe they’d been brought into the fray.
We rose toward the palace level. Those manning the walls scattered, leaving room for the two younger drakkons to land. Kaia swept over the wall and approached the courtyard, bellowing in warning. Those who hadn’t already cleared the area did so fast. Medics waited to the left of the gate, watching our approach.
Can’t land on one leg, Kaia said. You jump.
I quickly unclipped my packs, sword, and bow, and dropped them to the ground, then, using the frayed rope that still dangled from the neck harness, climbed down as far as possible and jumped the rest of the way. Pain shuddered up my legs and my ankle twisted slightly. I swore softly and limped under Kaia’s hovering form.
Right, I said to her, lower a few more feet.
She did so. When her gigantic claws were within touching distance, she extended her leg a fraction more and, with surprising gentleness, placed Kele into my arms. This close, her face was a fucking mess; bone was visible through the remnants of her right cheek, and a shallower but no less nasty-looking wound cut across her closed right eye. Thankfully, there was no sign of bubbling around any of the wounds, which suggested enough rain and seawater had washed across her skin to deactivate the acid and prevent it from causing deeper damage. If that hadn’t been the case, it was doubtful she’d even have a face left.
Whether she’d be able to ever see again was another matter entirely.
Need go now, Kaia said. Need see Gria.
You can’t go back through that smoke—the riders will be waiting. Give me a few minutes to take care of Kele, then I’ll talk to Garran and see what the situation is over the mountains behind us.
While the height of the mountain above the palace level wasn’t any barrier to the drakkons, against the somber black stone that made up the mountain’s slopes, their bright colors would make them conspicuously obvious.
