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Gateway to Relax
  • 9 months ago
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00:00:00C of T-O-R-O-M-I-L
00:00:01By Pearson Kito
00:00:03Chapter 41
00:00:05W
00:00:06Here you left me, I whisper under my breath at Zayden as we walk across the guarded lawn,
00:00:10passing by a half dozen more flyers on our way to a row of open doors made entirely of glass.
00:00:14Heartily, impractical and sublimely gorgeous.
00:00:17Like I am some kind of pet who should stay curled up on your bed because you said so.
00:00:20Fuck him.
00:00:21The thought isn't entirely unpleasant, he fires back.
00:00:24I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth to keep my power from rising,
00:00:27refusing to unpack the conduit from my bag.
00:00:30Save it for behind closed doors, lovebirds, Brennan orders from directly behind us.
00:00:34We need a united friend.
00:00:36I can't believe you brought her here, Zayden retorts, shooting in AC glare at Brennan.
00:00:40I can't believe you think you outranked me, Brennan says, his tone sharpening.
00:00:45I do in every way but when, Zayden looks forward, anger radiating from every line of his body.
00:00:50The one is all that matters, Brennan counters.
00:00:53They really grow grass ornamentally.
00:00:54Mira changes the subject as they approach two guards in crimson uniforms near the door.
00:00:58You should see the butterfly garden, Zayden says, nodding to the guard on the right as
00:01:02they pass through the open doorway.
00:01:04Wait, why aren't we being escorted by flyers?
00:01:07And how the hell does Zayden know this place has a butterfly garden?
00:01:09How long have you been here?
00:01:12I ask, entering the palace.
00:01:13And holy shit, what a palace.
00:01:16Every surface seems to shimmer, the white marble interior reflecting not only natural
00:01:19light but a soft glow of white mage lights are overhead and deep into the structure,
00:01:23where I can make out several seating groups of low-back furniture.
00:01:25The ceilings are the height of S-G-A-E-Y-L, the space divided by not only column sticker
00:01:29stairs legs, the murals intricately carved into each circular block, which are white staircase
00:01:33that must lead to the next story.
00:01:35Pretty sure if I were to call out my name loudly enough, it would echo back in here, if
00:01:39not for the crowd of people in many different forms of attire milling about near a set of
00:01:42graduated pillars in various shades of black.
00:01:44Brown is definitely the dominant clothing pillar, and we are definitely the topic of conversation
00:01:48as we pass by.
00:01:49We landed a few hours ago, Zedin answers, we changed direction as soon as S-G-A-E-Y-L felt
00:01:54and on the move.
00:01:56You will not be happy with the welcome we are about to receive.
00:01:58That's what Dan said when we landed.
00:02:00You and I are going to have a discussion, I sent his direction.
00:02:03You promised.
00:02:04I promised what to tell, not that she couldn't sense me.
00:02:08Fucking dragon semantics.
00:02:09Is that, oh cool.
00:02:11Mira stares at the winding decoist path that curves around the staircase and disappears out
00:02:14onto the terrace.
00:02:15You get used to them, Zedin remarks, leading us over a flat.
00:02:19Marble bridge wide enough for two people.
00:02:21Just be careful if you've been drinking.
00:02:22No railings.
00:02:24We won't be here long enough to drink.
00:02:25Brennan's words slow with us stepped as a group of a dozen people descends the staircase
00:02:29in front of us.
00:02:30But Zedin's been here often enough to drink.
00:02:33To have fallen into this pool.
00:02:34Here we go.
00:02:35Zedin's voice lowers.
00:02:36Try not to set the case on fire.
00:02:39Two crimson uniform guards stationed themselves at opposite ends of the curling banister.
00:02:42And at all, dark head man in a deep blue tunic with bold brocade walks forward,
00:02:46looking over us with drag fascination.
00:02:48His uniform is tight about the waist, his flushed cheek soft and round.
00:02:51Why count?
00:02:52Zedin addresses him.
00:02:53This is the dead Violet Sorengale and her sister, Lefton and Mira Sorengale.
00:02:57I believe you and Lefton and Colonel Aesiré are already acquainted.
00:03:00We are.
00:03:00He flashes impossibly white teeth as he smiles at me, etching deep lines into his forehead
00:03:04and at the edges of his eyes.
00:03:05But it's you I am most curious about, Violet.
00:03:08The unnerving amount of knee in his gaze makes it nearly impossible to stand still as he
00:03:11studies me, drawing out his words until he finishes his thruzzle.
00:03:14Is it true that you call lightning from the sky?
00:03:17I do.
00:03:17I keep my focus on the background, but I feel the weight of his entourage staring behind
00:03:21him.
00:03:22How wonderful.
00:03:23He clasps his hands in front of his chest, his legs twinkling with heavy gemstones.
00:03:27Shall we?
00:03:27Brennan starts.
00:03:29It's poor etiquette to discuss business until dinner.
00:03:31You know the rules, Jason, Tickler says, glancing Zedin's way.
00:03:35They certainly can't attend as they are.
00:03:36They'll need to be dressed suitably, as will you, Zedin nods once.
00:03:40You know the rules, I asked Zedin, exactly how many times have you been here, and what
00:03:44part of our uniforms isn't suitable for dinner?
00:03:46I don't exactly keep count.
00:03:48Don't worry if you haven't brought anything fit for the occasion, Tickler says to me.
00:03:52I took the liberty of having a selection of clothing pulled from my best selection once
00:03:55Jason told me you will inbound.
00:03:57My niece will see you properly attired, won't you, cat?
00:04:00He calls back over his shoulder.
00:04:02My stomach hits the sparky marble floor.
00:04:04You have to be fucking telling me.
00:04:06Of course, uncle, Petrina steps down from the front row of the entourage, dressed in a
00:04:10purple, long-sleeved gown that shows her elegant figure to its best advantage.
00:04:13I thought she was beautiful from a distance, but of course, her features are truly so flawless
00:04:17that she's completely, utterly, devastating.
00:04:19Suddenly, I understand exactly why Zedin's been here too many times to keep count.
00:04:24I didn't expect you to be here, Zedin says to Cat in the clip, old tone he uses when
00:04:29annoyed as they lead us down another hallway two stories above where we entered.
00:04:33Where did you think I'd be after Dark Wielders destroyed Zolia and took up residence at Cliff
00:04:36Spain?
00:04:37Cat questions, pausing in front of one of the dozen doors in the swing.
00:04:41Meera shoots me a look, lifting her eyebrows as we stop in the middle of the hallway, Brennan
00:04:45only a few feet behind.
00:04:45Later, I mouth at her.
00:04:48Cat reaches for the golden handle.
00:04:50Why don't you take AC to dress to dinner while these two wash up?
00:04:53She gives Zedin a longing look, and my eyebrows rise.
00:04:56Is she seriously eyeing him up in front of me?
00:04:58We kept your room exactly how you left it, of course.
00:05:01She opens the door, revealing a sizable bedchamber with two large beds and a matching board
00:05:04brocade sofa between them, then walks inside, leaving Meera and me to follow.
00:05:08Wait, he has a room here.
00:05:10What else has he not told me?
00:05:11Or what haven't I asked might be the better question.
00:05:15Why don't you come get dressed in my room?
00:05:16Zedin asks, and it doesn't sound like a suggestion.
00:05:19Your room, I think I'd like a little space.
00:05:21Heads him is beneath my skin, and I breathe deeply to keep the car gaged.
00:05:25Now is not the time to lose control, not that I have it to begin with.
00:05:29Violet.
00:05:29I turn in the doorway to face Zedin and grasp the door handle, lifting my brows at him as
00:05:33Meera edges around me into the chamber.
00:05:35I'm the next door down, he assures me, then glances over my shoulder.
00:05:39Close enough to hear you scream.
00:05:41Good to know, I force a smile and his eyes narrow.
00:05:44Surely you can't be worried that she's in any danger from me.
00:05:47I roll my eyes at the incredibility in Cat's tone.
00:05:49Violet can, Zedin starts.
00:05:52Violet can handle herself.
00:05:53I interrupt, startling Zedin.
00:05:55I never wanted you to have to.
00:05:56Not here.
00:05:57He lowers his head and his voice, narrowing the conversation to the two of us, anger and
00:06:01all.
00:06:02Picarus might want to keep you, but every other flyer in this palace will happily sit your throat
00:06:05and my rest in the name of revenge against your mother.
00:06:08Brennan's anonymity is all that saves him here.
00:06:10You have no idea how much danger you are in, the lengths I've gone to in order to keep
00:06:13you safe.
00:06:15Stop keeping me safe.
00:06:16I immediately regret raising my voice with Cat in the room and try to study my eye with
00:06:19a deep breath.
00:06:20You never would have killed this bullshit last year.
00:06:22You never held me back.
00:06:23Never case me in the name of protecting me.
00:06:25You were the one telling me to find another way on the bonnet, watching me fight off other
00:06:29threats of threshing.
00:06:30I wasn't in love with you then.
00:06:32His hand grasps the nape of my neck, and his thumb skates over the pulse in my throat.
00:06:36During bonnet, threshing, I had no idea which you would become to me.
00:06:39And he couldn't kill me thanks to the deal he made with mom, the deal he still hasn't
00:06:42trusted me with.
00:06:43I sure as hell had been sat by your bedside for three days, knowing my life, if it even existed
00:06:47beyond yours, would mean nothing.
00:06:48Without you in it, the gold frecks in his eyes catch the light, and I can't help but
00:06:53think of what I see there.
00:06:55You're, scared, aren't you?
00:06:57I grasped the doors left to keep from reaching for him.
00:06:59Of losing you, more like terrified, and when S.J.E.Y.L. told me 10 was headed this direction
00:07:04I nearly lost my fucking mind.
00:07:06Shit, where do I see to that?
00:07:08My plan to raise the wards failed, and you need the luminary.
00:07:10I'm not going to sit tucked away in Aritya just because you're worried something will
00:07:14happen to me.
00:07:14If I did, I wouldn't be the woman you fell in love with.
00:07:18Your first attempt at translation fails, so you sneak off with his siblings into enemy
00:07:21territory.
00:07:22His anger is palpable, matching mine as he lifts his head.
00:07:25Make no mistake, this is enemy territory.
00:07:28We both know we need the luminary, and I wouldn't have had to sneak if you'd been remotely reasonable.
00:07:32We could have had it months ago.
00:07:33I take a step back into the room, leaving him in the hallway.
00:07:36Months ago would have prevented the attacks on the outposts and so many deaths.
00:07:40Reasonable, his voice drops to that icy calm timbre, for looking for another way before
00:07:44serving you up to take risk.
00:07:45Let's get one thing straight.
00:07:47If I ever see a way to keep you safe, I'll take it, the fuck he will, do you know who
00:07:50you sound like right now?
00:07:52Please, enlighten me, he folds his arms across his chest.
00:07:55Dane, I shut the door in his face.
00:07:57T.
00:07:58Thank you, I tell Zara, the ladies made me have been assigned, as I smooth the lines of
00:08:02my waist, awestruck she was able to find multiple downs in my size on such short notice.
00:08:06Even the lightweight black flippers on my feet fit.
00:08:08You are sure this is how everyone dresses for dinner?
00:08:11With the Y count, every night.
00:08:13How, I'm practically beautiful.
00:08:15Done, Zara motions to the opening, and I step out from behind the dressing screen.
00:08:20Mira chose the black velvet bound with the square neckline and sheer, busy sleeves, but
00:08:23I know it was the tea pockets that sold her.
00:08:25I can't help but grin as I see her tuck two of her daggers into the folds.
00:08:29I don't think I've seen you out of uniform in years.
00:08:32Well, it's black, so close enough.
00:08:34She grins as I move to peek in the mirror.
00:08:36You look gorgeous.
00:08:37The dress is spectacular.
00:08:38I've never worn anything like it, and it suits my mood perfectly.
00:08:42The bodice, which dormits in a deep way to the base of my ribs, is made of woven, black
00:08:45leaves, never bigger than the size of my palm, narrowing above the sills of my breasts to
00:08:49single vines that draped tiny leaves over my shoulders and down the sides of my back,
00:08:52giving the majority of my spine and all of my relic exposed.
00:08:55What kind of material is this?
00:08:57I ask Zara, fingering to see a black fabric that falls from my waist to the floor in a
00:09:00multitude of layers.
00:09:02Were it just the one, the gown would be see-through.
00:09:05It's definitely silk, Zara says.
00:09:06So fine, it's nearly transparent.
00:09:08From the aisle, it's softer than any fabric I've ever touched.
00:09:11Used to trade with them, never hasn't in centuries.
00:09:14She nods, we did until the last few years, but the merchants think it's too dangerous to
00:09:18come here now.
00:09:19Anyway, the Viscount likes to keep the most exquisite of objects for himself.
00:09:23So, it's true the Viscount collect rare objects.
00:09:25Meera asks, coming to stand behind me.
00:09:28He does.
00:09:29What about people?
00:09:30I ask softly.
00:09:31Her eyes flare, only if they agree to be collected.
00:09:34Kidnapping isn't his thing.
00:09:35I take the sheathen alloy hilted bag where Meera hands me, then reach into the long slit
00:09:39at my thigh to fasten it against my leg.
00:09:41Hopefully one weapon is enough to make it through dinner.
00:09:43If they...
00:09:44Viscount doesn't object people, then why was Zayden so scared to bring me here?
00:09:48Someone knocks.
00:09:49No, Zara shakes her head and walks toward the door.
00:09:52He won't walk you away, but he will make you a proposal that will tempt you to be collected.
00:09:56Singers, weavers, storytellers, they all eventually remain, she says as she opens the door.
00:10:01There's nothing decorous could offer me, but Zayden must think there is.
00:10:04You went with black, cat stares from the doorway.
00:10:06I'm a rider.
00:10:08Of course, she tilts her head to the side.
00:10:10I just would have chosen something more colorful.
00:10:12Zayden always laments how monotone everything is at Viscount.
00:10:15There's still time to change if you would like.
00:10:17Her smile is anything but kind.
00:10:19And that's it.
00:10:19I officially loathe her.
00:10:21Zayden doesn't lament anything.
00:10:22An ugly, and silly scream ignites in my stomach.
00:10:25And it takes every ounce of restraint I have to keep from flicking a dagger at her snide head.
00:10:28Or at least flows to it.
00:10:30And I are capable of having a discussion that doesn't revolve around him.
00:10:33Sure, if it makes you more comfortable, we can discuss how your mother has perpetuated a lie that's caused thousands of Purimish lives,
00:10:39some of which your own sister is responsible for taking.
00:10:41My brows rise.
00:10:42Did she really just?
00:10:44Mira catches my eye, confirming that she did.
00:10:46I was going to remind you that it's probably a bad man is to stab our hostess, but you know what?
00:10:50She shrugs.
00:10:51Fuck it.
00:10:52We don't need a luminary.
00:10:53Cat thinks it Mira.
00:10:54Stop being a wretch, cat.
00:10:56Serena steps into the doorway, dressed in an navy blue formal tunic that's hemmed asymmetrically to a higher line in the front and embroidered big bull feathers.
00:11:02Needs to see you, or fit dragon, Sorengeal.
00:11:04Is Rioson hiding somewhere in there, or did he actually let you out to his side?
00:11:08Good to see you, Serena.
00:11:10A smile curves my mouth at her teasing tone, and the fire in my stomach dissipates a little.
00:11:14And he does get a bit protective, doesn't he?
00:11:16He wouldn't be if he thought you were strong enough to stand at his side, cat counters.
00:11:20Never mind, it flares brighter than ever, hot, nauseating, and annoyingly strong.
00:11:25Serena levels a look at cat that almost makes me pity her.
00:11:28Almost.
00:11:29Serena, this is my sister, Mira.
00:11:31I change the subject.
00:11:33Serena's mouth tightens as she studies Mira.
00:11:35Your reputation precedes you, I had friends that split more.
00:11:37Well, shit, from tense to tense, sir.
00:11:40I have no remorse for winning battles.
00:11:42Mira shoots the next dagger at her waist in plain sight.
00:11:44And if you're Serena Kodla, then your reputation reaches across the border as well.
00:11:49Dining amid hundreds of flyers the truth for your death, and you choose to wear a gown.
00:11:52Serena arches a brow, where is the shrewd judgment I've heard so much about?
00:11:56I can kill just as easily in a gown as others.
00:11:58Want to see, only a fool would call Mira's expression a smile.
00:12:02Serena laughs, her shoulders shaking.
00:12:03Ah, I see why little Soaringale is so tough if she had to grow up with you.
00:12:07Let's get going, the men are already there.
00:12:10I shoot Mira a look once the flyer's backs are turned, and she shrugs unapologetically.
00:12:14We move into the hallway, and regret stabs deep at my choice of gowns when I see cats in the light.
00:12:19Her hair is pinned in an intricate style and she is wearing a bold, red silk that leaves her shoulders there and matches the color she's painted on her lips.
00:12:25Suddenly, I feel a little washed out.
00:12:27Doubt makes my steps unsteady.
00:12:29Maybe I should have gone with color.
00:12:31Maybe she was telling the truth and Zayden is sick of all the black.
00:12:34Maybe.
00:12:35She knows him better than I do.
00:12:37You all right, Mira asks as the flyers lead us down the hall, making us the most unlikely for some to ever walk the continent.
00:12:43Yes, I roll my shoulders, trying to shake off the feeling.
00:12:46What the hell is wrong with me?
00:12:47I never judge myself against other women when it comes to how we look.
00:12:50How we fight?
00:12:51Sure, right, definitely, but nothing ever as shallow as appearance.
00:12:56Being pretty doesn't save you at this time.
00:12:58I hear you have an older brother, Mira says to Serena when we reach the first staircase.
00:13:02I keep the marble bannister in a dead grip as we start down.
00:13:05The last thing I am going to do is trip and fall in front of Cat.
00:13:09You're thinking of Drake, Serena says over her shoulder.
00:13:11Same last name, but he's a cousin, and come to think of it, you are just his type.
00:13:15He likes women who might actually kill him.
00:13:18Too bad I don't bow for griffin flyers, Mira responds as we round the corner to the next flight of stairs.
00:13:23Yeah, he'd probably draw the line at a dragon rider.
00:13:25Serena laughs, but it's short-lived.
00:13:27He's with the Nightwing Drift in the north, along the Bravik border.
00:13:30I don't know their unit terminology, but the Bravik border means he is on the front line.
00:13:35We make it to the middle terrace, the one we first arrived at this afternoon,
00:13:38and they turn left, away from the winding pool of water and pass the line of guards.
00:13:42Did Zara not know how to attend your hair?
00:13:44Cat asks with a pity and glance back at me as we approach about its set of double doors.
00:13:48Surely, she could have come up with something a little more refined than just leaving it down like that.
00:13:52I thought you always wore it up in case of a fight.
00:13:55How does she know that?
00:13:56I've had enough.
00:13:57It would be a pity to kill her now.
00:13:59I'm hunting ten minutes away and I'd miss the show, Tane says.
00:14:02Power surges within me.
00:14:04Control it.
00:14:04Now, Tane demands, all trace of suckers and one.
00:14:07Swallowing hard, my fingernails biting into my palms, I fight the urge to bless her.
00:14:11What is it about Cat that brings out the irrational in me?
00:14:14How sweet of you to worry about me, but you're not the one I'm picking a fight with tonight, I assure Cat.
00:14:19With Zayden, her eye is narrow, then rip with false sympathy.
00:14:22If you don't already know that he's not the kind of man who gets flustered and loses control,
00:14:25then there's really no hope for you.
00:14:27Save yourself the energy, because you simply think any fight you pick is childish.
00:14:31Shit, she's right, what am I doing?
00:14:33Zayden doesn't get flustered, and definitely not by me.
00:14:36Wood groaning as it splits, then shatters.
00:14:38The sound of daggers clattering to the floor.
00:14:40The feel of my heart pounding, my breath stuttering as bliss it is in the marrow of my bones.
00:14:44I've never lost control like that.
00:14:46The flash of memory rocks me to my core, tearing my head just long enough to breathe around
00:14:49the insufferable jealousy I feel toward a woman I don't even know.
00:14:53The guards nod at the flyers and move to open the doors.
00:14:56Give it a rest.
00:14:57Serena's tone sharpens at her sister.
00:14:59You are all a few years older than Violet, and it's been longer than that since you two
00:15:02were together.
00:15:02He's just a man, but she's the best weapon we have against the dark-wielders.
00:15:06Are you alright?
00:15:07Mira asks, how worried he is killing my face.
00:15:10No, I whisper, but I don't know what's wrong, either.
00:15:13The doors swing open, and we walk into the largest dining room I've ever seen.
00:15:17The glass doors that fly in the back wall are propped open to the terrace despite the
00:15:20threatening clouds darkening the sky.
00:15:22A humid evening breeze flickers the candles along the table as the guards shut the door behind
00:15:25us.
00:15:25There must be over 50 people at the long, or neatly decorated table that runs the length
00:15:29of the space.
00:15:31And every single one of them has turned to look at the four of us.
00:15:34My gaze finds Satan's in under a second, and it's not because he's seated at the center
00:15:38of the table, or because he's one of only two men dressed in black, or even because he's
00:15:42turned around as if he sensed me coming, which he probably did.
00:15:45I look at him within a heartbeat because he's the center of my gravity.
00:15:49As pissed as I am that he lectured me, that he refused to bring me, that there are years
00:15:52of history behind both of us we haven't discussed, that the tunic he's walking toward me in isn't
00:15:56just tailored to perfection but obviously made for him, it doesn't change the fact
00:15:59he's a fucking mad before my heart.
00:16:00That breath, his gaze fleets over me and heats with an intensity that makes my cheeks flush,
00:16:05my pulse race.
00:16:06You are playing dirty, violence, but why is he headed for me when the obvious choice is
00:16:10a woman in red just a few feet away?
00:16:12I am still really damned angry with you.
00:16:14I lift my chin, just as furious with myself for getting into this position, for feeling
00:16:18whatever all this bullshit is.
00:16:20Feeling is mutual, he slides one hand into my hair, then sucks a breath through his teeth
00:16:23when his fingers meets skin at the base of my spine.
00:16:25But it's possible to be angry while still madly, wildly, uncontrollably in love with
00:16:29me.
00:16:31His mouth crashes into mine in the same instant the world goes dark around us, blocking out
00:16:34everything, everyone, but Satan.
00:16:36We might as well be the only people in the entire province.
00:16:39My body ignites, gods, the chemistry between us is the only thing stronger than the anger.
00:16:44There's only the press of his lips parting mine, the quick, the reclaiming of his tongue,
00:16:47the jolt of instant need to fizz me gripping the fabric of his tunic as he kisses me breathless.
00:16:51Just like that, the hottest of my jealousy, the infuriating insecurity that had made second
00:16:55guessing myself is gone.
00:16:57It's as if the wall of shadow he's thrown up.
00:16:59What did you do?
00:17:00I break the kiss, breathing deeply, and he leans his forehead against mine, keeping us
00:17:04the cooned in total darkness.
00:17:06What I should have done the second I saw you this afternoon.
00:17:09His hand tightens in my hair, tugging slightly, and probably sharp cat enough to make her stop
00:17:13fucking with your head.
00:17:14What do you mean?
00:17:16She has the gift of heightening the emotions of the people around her, and she's exceptionally
00:17:19powerful.
00:17:20If you hadn't blocked me out all evening, I would have told you sooner.
00:17:23My jaw hangs for a heartbeat before I snap it close.
00:17:26First at the knowledge that I actually managed to block him out, and second, no wonder I can't
00:17:30get a grip on myself.
00:17:31She's been waiting a war one didn't even realize we were in.
00:17:34Wait, he would have told me sooner.
00:17:36He's had weeks to tell me.
00:17:37You win, Zedon whispers.
00:17:39Shadows fall away as quickly as they appear as he lifts his head, locking his eyes with mine.
00:17:43I haven't even started fighting with you.
00:17:45I drop my hand from his chest and throw the new rush of power rising within me into my
00:17:49shields.
00:17:50How the hell did she get past them in the first place?
00:17:52If they blocked out Zedon, surely they strong enough for her.
00:17:55Fine, we can fight as much as you want later tonight.
00:17:58Just know that you've already won.
00:18:00I heard what you were saying.
00:18:01His grip softens in my hair, and he slides his hand to the nape of my neck.
00:18:04I'm sorry I didn't listen to you.
00:18:06Sorry that I've been overreacting since pulling you out of that interrogation chamber,
00:18:09helped since recent.
00:18:11When S.T.A.U.I.R. told me they were torturing you, and I couldn't get to you, his eyes closed
00:18:14for a second, and when they opened, the fear I spotted earlier is front and center.
00:18:18I can't fucking breathe when you're in danger, but that's not your fault.
00:18:21I should have brought you here when you asked me to.
00:18:24My lips part and I bling, certain I misheard him.
00:18:27Now it's your turn, can you admit that you should have waited for me to bring you so
00:18:30we could have formulated a plan?
00:18:32His fingers shaved deliciously up my bare back.
00:18:34No, I shivered the touch.
00:18:36I'm sorry for not telling you but not sorry for coming.
00:18:38We need that luminary now.
00:18:40A corner of his mouth coats up.
00:18:42Figured.
00:18:42If you two wouldn't mind joining us, you are essential to this evening's discussion.
00:18:46The Viscount states over the hushed room, mild annoyance in his tone.
00:18:49Oh, every single person is out of their seats, waiting for us by the open glass doors.
00:18:54Be ready for anything, Zayden says before turning toward Tichyris.
00:18:57I make no apologies.
00:18:58He laces his fingers with mine, and we walk around the table toward the crowd where Tichyris
00:19:01waits.
00:19:02Maintaining control is nearly impossible around Violet.
00:19:05My face heats.
00:19:06What the hell?
00:19:07Did he hear her out there?
00:19:08That's impossible.
00:19:10Cat stiffens next to her uncle, her face falling like Zayden's just delivered a killing blow
00:19:13in a battle I hadn't realized they were in.
00:19:16So I've heard, Tichyris motions to follow him outside, and we do, stepping onto a marble
00:19:20patio, Mira and Brennan filing in closely behind us.
00:19:23Word travel fast when you ruined that little war college of yours for her.
00:19:25Tichyris tooks his wineglass my direction as if saluting me, split your quadrant right down
00:19:30the middle.
00:19:30Bravo, been trying to take the place down for years, and you did it in what?
00:19:34Six days.
00:19:35Gil settles on my chest with the weight of a dragon.
00:19:38Five.
00:19:38Zayden's hand tightens on mine as we cross the patio, coming to the top of a wide staircase.
00:19:42No.
00:19:43Not a staircase.
00:19:44Seats.
00:19:45The entire north side of the sloping hill has been carved into rows, forming an oval-shaped
00:19:48outdoor rain at the depth of 10's height and twice his length.
00:19:52Five days.
00:19:52Tichyris shakes his head in disbelief, then turns to me.
00:19:55Marvelous.
00:19:55Now, I assume you'd like to discuss acquiring the luminary I have in my possession.
00:19:59And I assume you've brought us out here to see me before you open yourself to this question.
00:20:04I asked as the thick, rain-centered wind blows my hair back.
00:20:07We're minutes, if not less, from a downpour.
00:20:09It's only prudent that I see what you're capable of before entering into negotiations for such
00:20:13a valuable item.
00:20:14He motions toward the mage like.
00:20:17Illuminated the rainer.
00:20:18Seem fair, my hand sits from Zayden's, and I reach for my power.
00:20:22Oh, not from up here.
00:20:23Tichyris shakes his head as others join us, lining the edge of the patio, drinks in hand.
00:20:27Down on the field, it's a performance after all, isn't it?
00:20:30Would be a shame to waste the gaming rainer, since it took me years to construct.
00:20:33It's quite special, all the stone was quarried from Bravik, from east of the Dunus River.
00:20:37Oh look, they're wheeling out your target.
00:20:40Target, oh shit.
00:20:41A fosum of uniformed guards pushes a metal chest the size of an arm by into the middle
00:20:45of a grassy field in the base of the rainer.
00:20:47I can't even hit the trio of boulders, Felix pointed me at, and I'm supposed to hit the chest.
00:20:51This is going to be over before discussions even begin.
00:20:54You might recognize the rival star chest, Zayden.
00:20:56It's the very one your father brought me when we were in negotiations for what some might
00:21:00consider a greater treasure.
00:21:01That chest belonged to your father.
00:21:03It was one of the most valuable items he owned.
00:21:06Zayden tenses, I'll walk her down.
00:21:08No, Tichyris says, his voice devoid of emotion.
00:21:10Both our heads turn in his direction.
00:21:13How would I know what she's capable of without you?
00:21:15Tichyris's eyes narrow on Zayden.
00:21:17My offer is simple, as long as you don't step foot into the arena,
00:21:19reason, and she doesn't leave the field until she strikes the target,
00:21:22we'll open discussions for your luminary.
00:21:24Take the deal or leave it.
00:21:26We'll leave, Zayden starts, his voice clip.
00:21:28Deal, I look up at Zayden.
00:21:30You don't have to protect me from my own segment.
00:21:32If he wants me to blow up your father's chest, I'll blow up your father's chest.
00:21:36His gaze narrows for a second, and then he sighs.
00:21:38Oh, and maid, I gather the layers of my skirts in my hands and start down the steps.
00:21:42Nerves tighten my ribs, but I shake them off.
00:21:44If I wield enough strikes, certainly one of them will hit.
00:21:47Wasn't that what got us through Resson before and when I arrived?
00:21:50I'm coming, Meera announces from behind me.
00:21:53It's not like I have anything to do with the signet.
00:21:55She yells back at Tichyris as she catches up to me.
00:21:57The Viscount doesn't die you.
00:21:59And mine isn't effective this far from rewards.
00:22:01She finishes in a whisper.
00:22:03I cried earlier and nothing happened.
00:22:05Don't worry, we don't need you to shield.
00:22:07Just dodge the chest if it explodes.
00:22:08I respond, giving her a tight smile.
00:22:10What greater treasure was your father negotiating for?
00:22:12I asked Satan once we're about halfway down the sandpill it's stone.
00:22:16I can't even imagine how long it would have taken to query in it's stone to build this,
00:22:19let alone bring it back from the edge of Bravik.
00:22:22An alliance my father made that I officially denied last year.
00:22:24The chest is priceless.
00:22:26If he wants you to destroy it with lightning,
00:22:27then this is more a statement about me and less about you.
00:22:30Why am I not surprised?
00:22:32My hand brushed the delicate silk off my gown as I put the pieces of the sickening puzzle together.
00:22:36Would that alliance have anything to do with Kat?
00:22:38The hesitation I feel along our bond answers before he does.
00:22:41Yes.
00:22:41That information would have been valuable before arriving.
00:22:44To say the fucking least.
00:22:46No wonder she despises me.
00:22:47I'm not self-centered enough to think I'm the reason he called off whatever alliance they had,
00:22:51but I'm definitely a barrier to resuming it now.
00:22:53Her uncle wants me to blow up the very symbol of whatever it is they'd agreed upon.
00:22:57Still fighting, burnt it.
00:22:59Mira and I reach the grass as the first rain drops fall.
00:23:02We should have won letters, she matters, keeping pace with me.
00:23:05I can't aim, I tell her quietly,
00:23:07losing what feels like 20 feet from the chest,
00:23:08just close enough to see room carved into the thick doors.
00:23:10Kat focused on quantity over quality,
00:23:13and Felix and I just started lessons, so this might take a while.
00:23:16Two of the guards move to the front of the chest that's taller and tickled in both of them.
00:23:20Thanker Murray it's huge, a bigger target will be easier to hit.
00:23:23A guard pulls a small item from his pocket that I can't quite make out from here.
00:23:26I don't think they're interested in how long it will take.
00:23:30Mira nods to the top of the arena.
00:23:31Dozens of bow-wielding griffin flyers have surrounded the top row of seats,
00:23:34all the arrows knocked out direction.
00:23:37There probably were reduced right to Chris instead of the table.
00:23:40Right, no pressure, lifting my hands, I reach the 10th power.
00:23:43Funny how the normally brutal heat of it is a comfort after so many days and a various torture without it.
00:23:48You guys might want to move.
00:23:49I call out to the guards as the stocky one in front holds his fist to the front of the chest
00:23:52like he thinks he has a shot at stopping it if the giant iron box shifts and topples onto him,
00:23:56or like he has a key.
00:23:58A shiver of apprehension skates along my spine.
00:24:01The arctile ocean to the south is known for calm, warm waters and what were once lucrative trade routes,
00:24:05and as I, calming my racing heart.
00:24:07Mira lifts her brows at me.
00:24:08Only when I am.
00:24:10The double doors of the chest burst open,
00:24:12sending both guards sprawling across the ground with starting force
00:24:14as a man jolts forward and falls to his hands and knees on the grass.
00:24:17His maroon tunic and trousers are thatched,
00:24:19like he has been kept prisoner for weeks.
00:24:21What the fuck, Mira matters.
00:24:23His head jerks up to look at us,
00:24:25and my heart ceases with pure, umovable terror.
00:24:27Her own words without extreme emotional distress.
00:24:30I am sorry to report I doubt this ability will develop in time.
00:24:33I had such hopes for her.
00:24:35Memorandum from Professor Kato General S-O-R-R-E-N-G-I-L
00:24:38Chapter 42
00:24:40I
00:24:41Estat, Mira whispers, already palming her daggers as the dark wielder digs his hands into the soft green grass of the arena flow,
00:24:47laughing maniacally.
00:24:49Breathe, I have to breathe, but there's no air.
00:24:51Purple robes bellowing, Soleil charging forward, fear running behind her.
00:24:55The spread of death and decay reaching them both.
00:24:57The fall, their bodies becoming nothing more than haste, brain of power and life.
00:25:01Silver one, tense raw splits my head, ripping me from the past before it swallows me whole.
00:25:05Rain splatters the ground around us, falling in heavy but sporadic rocks.
00:25:09This isn't recent, this is Gordon, and I have to protect Mira.
00:25:12Move, I scream at the guards, two of whom run while one other scrambles backward, leaving the last stare in frozen shock.
00:25:18Get out of here, I auto Mira, sizzling heat filling my veins as I open the floodgates on Tern's power.
00:25:22I am not leaving you with that thing, she flicks her dagger, no, I shout, but it's too late, the dagger lands in the villain's shoulder.
00:25:30He hisses, ripping the weapon free and grabbing for the petrified guard in same breath.
00:25:34Great, and now he has a knife.
00:25:35I lift my hands and release the energy burning through my limbs.
00:25:39Lightning cracks, so white it's almost blue, and I throw up my hand to shield my eyes as it strikes the iron chest as though drawn to it.
00:25:45Spark shout the arena, one singeing the back of my hand before I can brush it off.
00:25:49Tern, I need you.
00:25:51On the way.
00:25:52Panic pretends to grab hold of me, and I waste precious seconds looking over my shoulder at where Zayden is already lunging for the steps.
00:25:58Stay put and keep your emotions to yourself.
00:26:00We need that luminary.
00:26:02Violence.
00:26:02I can do this, if I can't take on one emaciated villain, then what chance does the continent stand?
00:26:08The wind shifts, blowing my hair into my face, and I twist to see the villain's hands wrap around the guard's neck, but I don't need to watch to know exactly what's about to happen.
00:26:16Only the alloy hilted daggers can kill him, I tell Mira.
00:26:19Yanking my dagger from its sheet and slicing through a strip of fabric in my hame.
00:26:22If I can't hame, this is coming down to hand to hand.
00:26:25The screams of the guard put straight through me.
00:26:28Holy shit, he's really, what's the plan, V?
00:26:30Mira asks, gripping her other knife.
00:26:33Tell him before he kills us, and whatever you do, don't let him get his hands on you.
00:26:36I grab my hair into a low ponytail and wrapped fabric from my dress around it to secure it quickly.
00:26:41I'm dead if I can't see.
00:26:42The villain holds the guard like a shield, blocking me from any potential knife throw.
00:26:46The screams talk as the man slowly desiccates before my eyes.
00:26:49At least two of the other three are already off the field.
00:26:52Letting tense power consume me, I wheel again and again, scorching the grass around the villain without fucking hitting him.
00:26:57The guard falls to the ground, parts of him flaking off as the rain pelts harder and faster.
00:27:02Damn it.
00:27:03It's you, the dark wheeler says over the growing noise of the storm.
00:27:06The one who commands the sky.
00:27:08His eyes widen in eerie excitement.
00:27:10Oh, how I'll be rewarded when I return with you.
00:27:13And here I was thinking I was the only soaring girl with reputation beyond the border.
00:27:17Mira takes a fighting stance, keeping only inches between us.
00:27:20By your sage, I ask him, cracking his movements as rain falls in sheets.
00:27:24Shit, I can't chance throwing my dagger.
00:27:26If I miss, I'm defenseless, and it's not just me on this field.
00:27:29I need daggers.
00:27:30With sage, I promise, you'll wish, he starts, raising his arms.
00:27:34For death, I interrupt.
00:27:36Already heard it, I killed that messenger, too.
00:27:39But I wasn't in a cumbersome ball gown.
00:27:40This thing is a fucking liability.
00:27:42Behind you, Zayden says.
00:27:44I glance back and see too while I hinted daggers embedded in the ground five feet away.
00:27:48Mira.
00:27:49She follows my line of sight and is already moving when I flip my dagger to its tip and flick my wrist,
00:27:54throwing for the dark wheeler's throat.
00:27:55The dagger sinks into his side.
00:27:57Shit, I didn't thorn for the downward pressure of the driving rein.
00:28:00The villain shouts in pain, yanking the dagger loses Mira hands near one of the two Zayden flung away.
00:28:05My fingers grip the water slick handle, and I prepare myself for the worst when the villain lifts his hands.
00:28:10But it's not the daggers he throws.
00:28:12The right start chest hurtles toward us, coming so quickly that I barely have time to knock Mira to the ground before it passes by,
00:28:18close enough that I hear it split the air.
00:28:20A dagger immediately follows, then another, missing me but pinning the left side of my dress to the ground.
00:28:24I use our momentum to keep rolling, the diaphragm still tearing away as I am pulled to my feet by Brennan,
00:28:29who's decided to join us, I guess.
00:28:31Gods, no, I can't lose them both in this.
00:28:34We need to surround him, Brennan says, grabbing the alloy-hilted dagger from the sword and grass.
00:28:39What a collect foot cake, soaking my feet, my hair, and what's left of my dress.
00:28:43And how would you like to do that if we can't see him through this shit?
00:28:46Mira asks.
00:28:47I'm minutes out, ten bellows.
00:28:50We might be dead in those minutes, but we're all dead eventually if I don't secure that fucking luminary.
00:28:54We have to keep him on the field, no matter what.
00:28:57One of them is capable of draining everyone in the palace, I tell my siblings.
00:29:01Back to back, we scan the field, and my breath catches when the dark wheel becomes into view, dropping to a knee about twenty feet away.
00:29:07No, time shows to service heartbeats as I watch him reach for the ground.
00:29:11There's no time to run, we won't make it.
00:29:14My worst nightmare is seconds away from becoming reality, our mission is going to kill my brother and sister.
00:29:19I'm so sorry, it's barely a whisper.
00:29:21His fist slams into the ground, and through the storm, I watch in breathless horror as his eyes burn fire red, the grass around him shoveling into brown blades.
00:29:28Mira, Brennan shouts, shield.
00:29:31I, I can't this far from the wards.
00:29:33Her mouth drops his dead faces for us, the ground rippling as it surrenders its magic.
00:29:37Shield over we are dead, Brennan grabs onto us both and yanks us into a tight hole.
00:29:42I take in, hoping to make a trio as small as possible, while Mira throws her arms up over us.
00:29:46Her body trembles, and Brennan and I wrap our arms around her back to keep her steady.
00:29:50She screams as though she's being ripped apart.
00:29:52She's going to burn out.
00:29:54Shadows scream toward us, but they won't make it.
00:29:57I love you, I push the thoughts aiden's way and wait for my power to bleed out, wait for my death to make the women unstoppable.
00:30:02But it doesn't come.
00:30:04You will live, Zayden orders, as if it's that simple.
00:30:07Mira collapses, and Brennan takes the print of her weight as I scan our surroundings.
00:30:12The entire field is dead with the exception of the tiny circle we occupy.
00:30:15She saved us, but it's just the field that's drained.
00:30:18The spectators are all alive and well above the steps from what I can see through the downpour.
00:30:22All the stone was quarried from Breivik, from east of the Donis River.
00:30:25Isn't that what Dekiris said?
00:30:27I wipe the water from my eyes and stand to face the Darkwielder.
00:30:30He rose his shoulders in satisfaction, a blissful smile distorting his features as he throws his head back.
00:30:35If you can't strike him with lightning, then we'll have to get close enough to engage.
00:30:39He can't take both of us, Brennan says, lifting an unconscious Mira into his arms.
00:30:44How far are you?
00:30:45I ask 10.
00:30:46Rain doesn't strike the remains of the grass as much as it splashes into water that has yet run off.
00:30:50Less than a minute.
00:30:52I don't have to strike him, I whisper as the idea hits, scanning the flooded field.
00:30:56Get Mira to the steps.
00:30:57You'll be safe there.
00:30:58Brennan looks at me like I've just suggested our world is flat.
00:31:01Until the next time he drains.
00:31:03I need you to trust me.
00:31:04Get our sister to the steps.
00:31:05I glance up at my brother and soak myself in tense power, giving it free rain, letting it fill every inch of my body.
00:31:10Violet, there's so much love and worry and fear in his gaze that I can't help but force a smile.
00:31:15I know what I'm doing.
00:31:17Now, run, I take the alloy-hilted blade from Brennan and turn away from them both.
00:31:21What the fuck are you doing, violence?
00:31:23Zayden demands.
00:31:24Shush, I'm concentrating.
00:31:26I slam my shields up, blocking him out as the wind pivots.
00:31:29The arsehole smiles wider when he sees me.
00:31:32You'll be quite surprised, he calls out over the rain, striking toward me as if we have all the time in the world.
00:31:37And to think, you'll bring a dragon.
00:31:38With you, you can't be parted for long, can you?
00:31:41I grasp an alloy-hilted dagger in each hand and wait.
00:31:44If I lose my temper, I'm dead.
00:31:46Charge him and lose, I'm dead.
00:31:48Wait too long and let him get his hands on me.
00:31:50Yep, dead.
00:31:52The female I killed on 10's back watched my fighting style and instantly adapted, which means I have to wait until the last possible second to show my hand.
00:31:59Rain sizzles as it hits my heated skin.
00:32:01If I reach for much more, I'll lose the ability to control it and burn out, so I hover on that edge as I hear another sound overpower the rain.
00:32:06Wings.
00:32:08I don't need to stress the importance of timing, do I?
00:32:1110 asks, my timing will be perfect.
00:32:13The pounding of my heart studies with each step the wind intakes show off my course.
00:32:17There's no room for error.
00:32:18I glance right just long enough to see that Meera and Brennan made it off the field.
00:32:22I expect nothing less.
00:32:23The dark wielder is only feet away, his gaze raking over me, no doubt looking for my weaknesses, when I feel the gust of wind from 10's things at my back.
00:32:31Now, I throw the daggers at the Winnin simultaneously, this time calculating for the force of the rain.
00:32:35The instant I see them slice through his boots, pinning his feet to the ground, I whip my arms out to the side, releasing all my power in a scolding torrent of lightning.
00:32:43I stiffen my arms and lock every muscle.
00:32:4510 salons wrap over my shoulders in grasslight exactly as lightning strikes behind the enraged Winnin, lighting up the sky in a brilliant flash, and charging the water that covers the arena and the Winnin's feet with lethal energy.
00:32:56The dark wielder shrieks in agony, then falls dead, splashing into the field as we fly overhead.
00:33:00I did it, Brennan be blessed, I did it.
00:33:03You cut it close.
00:33:04I roll my eyes and breathe deeply despite the rain that runs down my face as 10 banks left, taking us along the curb of the arena, back to the palace.
00:33:12S-T-A-E-Y-L, Tyne, and Murb have all taken up defensive perches on the terrace above, positioning themselves to incinerate the crowd.
00:33:19I will devour anyone who makes a move against you.
00:33:21My patience has ended.
00:33:2210 swings beat slower as we approach the patio.
00:33:25I'll be sure to warn them.
00:33:2610 waits until I have my balance on my soul, slip it fade, then stalks forward through the crowd to the cries of flyers and aristocrats alike, cracking the marble beneath his claws until he reaches the grass and pivots, swinging his tail like the weapon it isn't completing the four-corner defense the dragons have structured.
00:33:40Brennan falls into step with me, Meera propped under his arm but walking on her own beside him.
00:33:44You alright, I ask under my breath as we pass no bills with umbrellas.
00:33:48This was fucking entertainment for them.
00:33:49We are not the ones you should be concerned for, Brennan matters as the last line of aristocrats, including Cat and Serena, parts, revealing the situation far more dangerous than the one I was just in.
00:33:59Zayden's lifted hand is raised to his chest, clenched in a partial fist, and Rod chills his eyes as he stares up at the Viscount, whose feet kick to the ground.
00:34:07Tecureus tears ineffectually at the shadows strangling his neck and, from the garbled sound of his breathing, he slowly eschets the ending.
00:34:13Zayden, please don't, Cat cries.
00:34:15Zayden's grip only tightens as the rain dissipates to a drizzle.
00:34:18Tecureus gurgles, and flies throughout their weapons, but when growls from S-G-A-U-I-L is enough to keep them from advancing on Zayden.
00:34:24I lower the portion of my shield that allows Zayden in, then send every ounce of my love down the bond.
00:34:29I'm alright.
00:34:30He tears his gaze from Tecureus, the barely caged fury in his eyes making him nearly unrecognizable.
00:34:35Loosen your grip on his throat, I say calmly.
00:34:38He can't answer questions if he's dead.
00:34:40Two lines appear between Zayden's dark brows, and his big pieces.
00:34:43Moving to his side, I make sure that my shoulder brushes his arm, that he can feel me physically as well as mentally.
00:34:48You're lucky you're not dead, I say up to Tecureus's blotchy face.
00:34:51If you'd put Zayden in that kind of danger, I'm not sure I would have been as merciful.
00:34:55You call this mercy, Tecureus asks through vast breaths, still kicking for the ground.
00:35:00Yes, Zayden says softly.
00:35:02You quarried the stones from east of the Dunus River, the land that borders the barons.
00:35:05It had already been drained of its magic.
00:35:08Yes, Icarus shouts.
00:35:09Zayden swears under his breath.
00:35:11You built a pit for them, which means you captured more than just that one.
00:35:15Offs of steam rise from my skin, but at least I don't feel like I'm burning alive.
00:35:19I'll tell you everything we know, Tecureus issues us.
00:35:21Just let me down.
00:35:23And we're supposed to trust you, Brennan asks from my other side.
00:35:26We were able to keep that one from feeding for days.
00:35:29Because the runes on the ripestar chest hold items placed inside suspended in midair,
00:35:33Zayden interrupts.
00:35:34He couldn't reach the ground to drain it until you opened the chest.
00:35:37I don't need you to tell me things I already know.
00:35:39He drops his hand, and the shadows evaporate.
00:35:42Tecureus slams into the marble patio, grasping for his throat.
00:35:45Zayden crouches down.
00:35:46If you ever want to have words about why I severed better lines, then you come for me.
00:35:50While it is beyond your reach, if you so much as look a direction with anything with the utmost kindness and respect,
00:35:55I'll kill you without a second thought and let's you not take a case as your care.
00:35:58Do you understand me?
00:35:59His voice says that I see softness that sends chills up my spine.
00:36:02Tecureus nods.
00:36:04Apologize.
00:36:05I'm fine, he's taking this too far.
00:36:07This man is second in line to the Poromish throne.
00:36:10You do not take punishments designed for me.
00:36:12You have my most sincere apology.
00:36:14While it's Orangale, Tecureus croaks through abused vocal cords.
00:36:17Now where does this leave us?
00:36:18Jason, Zayden stands.
00:36:20Now we negotiate.
00:36:21A.
00:36:22An hour later, we are fed and changed into tri-flight letters.
00:36:25The four of us sitting across the care dining room table from Tecureus.
00:36:28Cat, Serena, half a dozen aristocrats, and one general immediately to Tecureus's left.
00:36:33Every person in the room is unarmed with the exception of Zayden and me, but our signals make it so we are never defenseless.
00:36:38May I present my offer first?
00:36:40Tecureus asks, putting his collar away from the red walls across his throat.
00:36:44You me, Brennan answers.
00:36:46Zayden's hand slides over my left thigh and stays there.
00:36:49He's had one hand on me since leaving the patio.
00:36:51It's amazing I managed to get into my flight letters, but I get it.
00:36:54If I'd just watched him face down a woman, I'd probably be in his fucking lap right now.
00:36:59Your power is astounding.
00:37:00Tecureus shakes his head slowly at me, as if I was struck.
00:37:03And you're still untrained.
00:37:04Just think of it you'll be a few years from now, or even when.
00:37:07Zayden's hand squares wide, and I lace my fingers over his.
00:37:11That doesn't sound like an offer.
00:37:12I keep my voice as level as possible, trying like hell to ignore that this man nearly killed not only me but Brennan and Mira.
00:37:17Anger rises to boiling rot swiftly, too swiftly.
00:37:21I glance at Kat, stay out of my head or I start wielding inside.
00:37:25She leans back in her chair, but that narrowing of her eyes isn't defeat.
00:37:28Oh no, she's sizing me up as a worthy opponent.
00:37:31Game on.
00:37:32Do you know why I am such a successful collector?
00:37:34The Viscount asks, practically vibrating with excitement.
00:37:37I have a gift for knowing what it is people want, what motivates them to give up their treasures.
00:37:41Gods, he's various opposite.
00:37:42R's admits really under different than Minberg.
00:37:44I think you and I could strike a deal if you consider that I could deliver your wildest dreams.
00:37:49Zayden strokes my thigh absentmindedly, but it helps keep me grounded.
00:37:52And what do you think my wildest dreams are?
00:37:54I ask.
00:37:55Peace, Tecureus nods, his movements growing more erratic the more excited he becomes.
00:38:00Not for you, of course.
00:38:01That's not what motivates you.
00:38:02Peace for the people you love.
00:38:04Zayden's fingers still.
00:38:05Peace for him.
00:38:05Tecureus finishes.
00:38:06My next breath is shaky.
00:38:08I'm listening.
00:38:08He presents his offer.
00:38:09And I have to admit, for a second, it's tempting.
00:38:12Spending a few years as his personal guard dog, monitoring the rivalis Yvan who have begun
00:38:16flying over routinely in patterns that look suspiciously like control, in return for living
00:38:19out the rest of my days with Zayden, our dragons, and my loved ones on an Isle committed
00:38:23to peace sounds perfect.
00:38:25It's also the coward's way out and completely infeasible.
00:38:27The Isles don't accept Nervi and Siv in his visitors.
00:38:30Running away from the continent to whatever land you've secured from the devil really
00:38:33isn't going to help the people I like or the ones I don't even know.
00:38:36It's just that, running away.
00:38:37Tecureus is Joe flexes, and I get the impression he's not used to being told no.
00:38:41Even if I give the luminary to Tyrande, he glances at Brennan, word spread quickly that
00:38:46never let your cadets go without so much as a drop of blood spill.
00:38:49Though I do wonder why that is, don't you?
00:38:51Yes, every day.
00:38:53Dragon's owe you no explanation.
00:38:55Brennan shrugs, and my sister just turned the luminary.
00:38:57Or are you going back on your deal?
00:38:59I would never break my word.
00:39:01Tecureus glances Zayden's way and leans forward onto the heavily embroidered forms of
00:39:04his tunic.
00:39:05Everything we know about the dark wielders, he nods at the silver-proud general, who slides
00:39:09the leather-bound book across the table to Brennan.
00:39:11My fingers immediately itch to open the cover, but I never said I would give you the luminary
00:39:15if she wielded.
00:39:16I said we would enter discussions.
00:39:18You have to be fucking killing me.
00:39:19My hand tightens over Zayden's, like that's going to stop him from strangling the Viscount
00:39:23with shadows or me from losing absolute control of my power.
00:39:26I should have brought the conduit into the meeting.
00:39:27Then let's discuss, what do you want in exchange for us leaving with the luminary today?
00:39:32Weapons, Brennan asks, because that's what we are offering.
00:39:35The luminary is useless here, but we'll put it to you supplying your grifts with the weapons
00:39:38they need for the winning you can capture.
00:39:40Hopefully the details of how they managed to catch that one are in the book.
00:39:44Weapons are a good start, Icarus agrees with a nod, his gaze sliding to cat.
00:39:48And we take the hundred flyer cadets I've given shelter to after their academy was destroyed
00:39:51back to Aritya with the luminary.
00:39:53I'm sorry, what the fuck?
00:39:55And what would you like us to do with your cadets?
00:39:57Zayden asks, tilting his head slightly.
00:39:59Griffins don't fail well at altitude.
00:40:00They've never been given the chance to adjust, Icarus argues.
00:40:04And I want you to educate them just as I assume you were doing with rider cadets.
00:40:08Keep them safe, teach them to work together, and we might have a chance of surviving this
00:40:11war.
00:40:12We've seen riders wave in patrolling the skies, no doubt reporting what they see instantly
00:40:15to their creators, in the last few weeks.
00:40:18Our reports say they've ventured as far west as Rathis.
00:40:20It won't help the flyers to stay safe here in the south, not when they want to fight.
00:40:24And who better to teach the flyers how to kill wyvern than dragon riders?
00:40:26Train with griffin flyers, take cat back to Aritya.
00:40:30I would rather face down a dozen men in, unarmed, without ten or randuna.
00:40:34There's no way to fly them into Tyrande, Meera points out.
00:40:38A muscle in Zayden's jaw fixes.
00:40:39There is, but there's no guarantee they'll survive it.
00:40:42We'll take the chance.
00:40:43It's the cadet's best shot at living long enough to fight the dark wielders.
00:40:47This is my offer, take it or leave it, take it as demands.
00:40:50There's no way.
00:40:51Then, Brennan answers, as long as each flyer we take brings a cross-court with them.
00:40:55I'm going to throttle my brother.
00:40:57Oceano L by Griffin.
00:40:59While there are three well-carved paths within Navarre to ascend the plateau, along the Krowland
00:41:02border exists only one, and it is deadly to both Griffin and flyer.
00:41:06Do not attempt under any circumstances.
00:41:09Chapter 2, The Tactical Guide to Defeating Dragons by Colonel Elijah J.O.B.E.N.
00:41:14Chapter 43, M.
00:41:16Why Nike exercise tear up, and up, and up the cliffs of Brilla to where they disappear into
00:41:20a thick layer of cloud cover?
00:41:22It's been four days since we stripped the deal with Ticaris.
00:41:24Three nights ago, we delivered the luminary, a ring nearly as tall as SGAE vial of vibrant
00:41:28blue crystals, to an offshoot of the valley above Aritya where the new forge is located.
00:41:32Yesterday, all critics were ordered to get a good night's sleep, back for a three-day mission,
00:41:36and assemble for flight formation at four in the morning, and now we are standing in
00:41:39a field west of Drathis, eyeing the drifts gathered on the other side of first wing as
00:41:42the sun burns off the early morning he is.
00:41:45He can't be serious, Redoxy is beside me in formation, his neck crammed at the same
00:41:48angle as mine.
00:41:49Between the hundred are Russian cadets and an equal number of flyers packed into this
00:41:52grassy field, I'd guess 95% of us look exactly the same, walking at the steep, barely
00:41:57visible, narrow trail my brother just pointed it with absolute incredulity.
00:42:01The series of ledges and switchbacks carved into the granite cliff looks more suitable
00:42:04to a mountain board than a griffin and blends so well into the terrain that it's no wonder
00:42:07the Medro Pass has been kept secret.
00:42:10Until now.
00:42:11Agreed.
00:42:11Vizier nods, he has to be kidding, that's not a trail, it's a death trap.
00:42:16The path Brennan's so excited about isn't wide enough to support a full wagon, let alone
00:42:19the width of a griffin, and he wants them to hike it.
00:42:22For us to hike it with them while dragons fly patrol.
00:42:25Pretty sure he's serious or we wouldn't all be here, Rhiannon sees over her shoulder.
00:42:29What the hell does he expect us to do besides climb with them?
00:42:32Arak asks, keeping his voice down.
00:42:34Catch them if they fall off, Redock suggests.
00:42:37Right, because they are capable of catching a griffin, Imogen remarks.
00:42:40My brow froze as I still eat the steep trail.
00:42:42It's not the narrow paths or even the griffin traps Brennan described that worry me, but my
00:42:46own endurance.
00:42:4712 hours of constant climbing is going to torture my knees and ankles.
00:42:51Watch your back, Zayden warns, his voice already fading as he flies as he is to the STA
00:42:55YL on a mission I am not privy to.
00:42:57I didn't have time to question every flyer about their intentions, as if his personal
00:43:00recommendation would help the lack of trust between our two colleges.
00:43:04You've already warned me, I remind him, feeling him slip away.
00:43:07Don't die, I'll see you in a few days.
00:43:09There's a rush of warmth, and then it fades along with his shadowy presence in my mind.
00:43:14Ahead of me, Verica was a joke-wracking yawn with his fist as Brennan continues to lecture
00:43:17us about the length of the journey ahead from where he stands on a bound stack of crossbowls,
00:43:21amplifying his voice over the field.
00:43:22The journey should take you 12 hours, though I recommend taking time to rest along the
00:43:26trail.
00:43:26His gaze glans over us, as if getting a reaction, which is mostly, speechless.
00:43:31The only sound is the fall breeze wrestling the leaves from the scrub or crease at the
00:43:34south end of the field.
00:43:36Even the dragons and griffins fall silent around us, as if they can't quite believe what's
00:43:39being suggested, either.
00:43:41So they can push us off, a rider from third wing asks, and I don't think he's joking.
00:43:46That question is exactly why you'll be going with them, Brennan says, avoiding my gaze entirely
00:43:50as Serena climbs up the pile of bound crossbowls to stand with him.
00:43:53Not only have the wingletters been given the locations of the griffin tracks to disarm
00:43:56them, but you need to learn some mutual respect and trust before you can be educated together.
00:44:00No rider will respect a cadet who hasn't crossed the parapet.
00:44:03He gestures at the trail behind him.
00:44:05Behold a parapet for them to cross.
00:44:07It's narrow, but it's not that narrow.
00:44:09Reda calls out, earning a few scores of agreement from the riders around us.
00:44:12And if we were just risking ourselves, perhaps it would be appropriate to deem it inferior
00:44:17to your death bridged bizarre, Serena states, casting her hand behind her back and facing
00:44:20the rider's half of formation.
00:44:22Sunlight catches on the palm-sized metal rings that fall at the front of her shoulders,
00:44:25connected to the leather bar.
00:44:27But consider while you climb, while you decide if you'll truly accept flyers into your ranks,
00:44:31her gaze catches mine, that while this trail is perfectly safe for humans, it's perilous
00:44:34for griffins.
00:44:35And ask yourself if you would risk the lives of your dragons climbing a trail build specifically
00:44:39to kill them into hostile territory so you can learn how to better destroy your enemy
00:44:42with the very people you considered your enemy up until last week.
00:44:45Riders all around me shift their way.
00:44:48She's right, I tell only Ted, since Androna is more than a three-hour flight away, no doubt
00:44:52in the midst of her morning training with the elders.
00:44:54Yesterday she almost managed the full wing extension.
00:44:56Almost.
00:44:57I wouldn't risk either of you.
00:44:59Of course you wouldn't.
00:45:00Why would you, when I am quite capable of carrying you all over the world?
00:45:03I can feel his eyes roll.
00:45:04You did not bond the inferiority that are griffins.
00:45:07You bonded dragons.
00:45:07Take them for a walk and let them prove themselves.
00:45:10The way the flyers look at us is more like they expect us to prove ourselves.
00:45:14You were chosen by dragons.
00:45:15That is enough.
00:45:17Each squad will be paired with a drift of equal strength to make us and, Brennan says.
00:45:21Hopefully by the time you reach the top, you'll find some mutual ground on which to build
00:45:24a framework of partnership.
00:45:26This is all in the spirit of comradery.
00:45:28Highly doubted, Red Orc matters.
00:45:30In the meantime, your dragons will remain close, Brennan asserts.
00:45:33I'll never be more than a minute's flight away, 10 promises.
00:45:36Have fun hi team.
00:45:37I hold him to it when we are given our assignment.
00:45:40That's Drif.
00:45:41T.
00:45:42Three hours later, my pulse is screaming from the constant climb, and silence in our small,
00:45:46force group has grown from uncomfortable to painfully awkward.
00:45:49Removing my right hand from the sheer rock wall, I adjust the weight of my pack on my shoulders
00:45:53to ease the growing protest in my spine and check on Sloan.
00:45:55She is climbing steadily a few feet in front of me, giving the griffin ahead of her plenty
00:45:59of room to flick its lion-like tail.
00:46:00We are climbing single file, with four things leading the way.
00:46:03Only cross-section is above us.
00:46:05The trail itself is challenging although not impassable, and while up to six feet wider
00:46:09paths, it narrows to a quarter of that in places where the path has disintegrated, leaving
00:46:12gaping holes to have the humans hugging the cliff wall to get by.
00:46:15Every time we reach one, the griffin spreads their grappling talons across while balancing
00:46:19on clawed back paws, and I find myself holding my breath did they make it.
00:46:22Considering the ones we are walking with are easily a couple of feet wider than the path,
00:46:25I am surprised only two have fallen that I know of.
00:46:28They are able to catch themselves for now, but at higher altitudes.
00:46:31It could get ugly.
00:46:33I look back at Marin, the flyer I have been paired with until evening, and her griffin
00:46:36as we approach an already triggered trap, the battering ram.
00:46:40Sighs log now lying harmlessly along the cliff wall where the path narrows.
00:46:44Be careful here.
00:46:45Right at chest high, nice, she offers me a press with smile.
00:46:48She is pitiful flyer, but still taller than me, with a heart-shaped face and a
00:46:52dark hair woven into a long single braid that falls along the bronze storker's thin of
00:46:55her neck.
00:46:56Her dark, hooded eyes meet mine without hesitance every time I look back to make sure she is
00:46:59still following, returns my respect, but she is also Pat's best friend, which is me watching
00:47:03my back in more ways than one.
00:47:05I look back again to make sure they pass safely.
00:47:08I am not going to fall off the cliff, she promises as we make the sharp turn of the fourth
00:47:11switchback.
00:47:12Or maybe it's the fifth.
00:47:13The curves are the only places on the trail wide enough to walk in pairs.
00:47:17Neither is Darjele, the brown and white griffin's friend left crosslips off the trail, and
00:47:20her talon screeches against rock with the most birdsawful sound I've ever heard as she regains
00:47:24her balance.
00:47:25So and I create a look that's surprisingly empty of hostility.
00:47:28I hear certain about that.
00:47:29I ask Marin as all three of us pause, watching to see if any stones break off the rocky terrain.
00:47:34Anything that falls can be deadly to those climbing below us.
00:47:37The griffin arches over Marin and snaps its beak in my direction.
00:47:40Yeah, that thing could definitely crush my head.
00:47:43Got it, you're certain, I say.
00:47:44Putting up my hands and praying to donate the griffins don't punish humans for speaking to
00:47:47them like dragons do.
00:47:49Marin nods and scratches the feathered chest of the griffin.
00:47:52She's shoved in a little temperamental.
00:47:54The griffin makes a churtering sound, and they begin walking again.
00:47:57The narrow ledge is exactly why they aren't allowed to fly any portion of the cliff.
00:48:00There's no guarantee they'll be able to stick a landing without causing a rock slide and
00:48:04keying everyone beneath them.
00:48:06Even if she fell from this high, we'd just have to fly down and start again, Marin says
00:48:09like a piece of string.
00:48:11It's the upper portion of the trail.
00:48:13That worries me, another 5,000 feet, and she'll struggle to beat her wings.
00:48:16She's not meant for the summit wing grifts.
00:48:19Summit wing grifts, I can't help but ask.
00:48:22Those best suited for altitude, for flying the summits of the Esden range.
00:48:25She explains, Dare might not want to admit it, but she's a lowland girl.
00:48:29Her smile brightens even as the griffin snaps her beak rapidly a foot away from Marin's ear.
00:48:33Like you wouldn't rather be stationed with the searing grifts after graduation.
00:48:37She laughs softly, no doubt it's something the griffin said.
00:48:39That's what I thought, trust me, we don't want to be headed into Tyrande any more than
00:48:43you want us to be there.
00:48:44So why come, Sloan asks, walking too close to the next griffin and getting flicked in
00:48:48the face by its tail.
00:48:50Like Suna said, it's our best chance of survival, not just for us but for our people, too.
00:48:55After another few minutes of 10th silence, I ask, so where are you from?
00:48:59Greatest, Marin answers, I'd ask about you, but everyone knows you grew up moving outpost
00:49:03to outpost until your mother was assigned to this guy.
00:49:06My footsteps almost falter.
00:49:08Sloan glances back at me with raised eyebrows.
00:49:11You've been a hell of a ransom target, Marin explains as we come to a series of calves
00:49:14that planted the two wagons.
00:49:16Honestly, most of us figured Ryerson would nab you after Harvest his first year and gift
00:49:19you to us.
00:49:21You mean Cat figured, Sloan stone his suspicious bike.
00:49:23Cat definitely figured, Marin agrees.
00:49:26Harvest, I ask, skipping over the whole Zayden should have kidnapped my insinuation.
00:49:30You mean threshing?
00:49:31Right, Marin checks on day's progress on the stairs before continuing upward, whatever it
00:49:35is you call it.
00:49:36When you drive inside the key, you will choose you.
00:49:38So, our entire first year, Sloan laughs.
00:49:41Imagine our surprise when he shows up ready to defend you to the death last year.
00:49:45I look back at her because I don't hear the animosity I'd expect.
00:49:48There's none of it in her eyes, either.
00:49:50We're disappointed, she shrubs, the metal rings of her shoulder catching the sunlight with
00:49:54emotion.
00:49:54I was disappointed for Cat, but I wasn't exactly rooting for that toxicity any more than
00:49:58you would for your best friend.
00:49:59She's the one up there with Cat, now, right?
00:50:02You're squad leader.
00:50:02I'm not, moving forward along the narrowing stairs, keeping my body as close to the cliff
00:50:06wall as I can without scraping up my fly jacket.
00:50:09Rihanna doesn't want Cat trying to hurl me off the trail.
00:50:12She probably would have, Marin admits, a smile in her voice.
00:50:15She's a little unhinged, Sloan offers, keeping a good ten feet between her and the griffon
00:50:19ahead of her with the dog, vizier, and the flyer.
00:50:22I think that one is Luella, but I'm not completely sure.
00:50:25Hopefully she doesn't try any of her minberg on Rihanna, or she might find herself dangling
00:50:29off the edge.
00:50:29Rihanna isn't someone to mess with.
00:50:31My eyebrows rise.
00:50:33Shock, Sloan says over her shoulder at me, keeping her hand on the cliff wall as we reach
00:50:36the end of the stairs.
00:50:38Don't be, Liam didn't hate many people, but Cat was on that list.
00:50:41Right, because he and Zayden were fostered together, he would have met her.
00:50:45Angry, Marin corrects her.
00:50:47I was going to say, angry.
00:50:48And relax, Sloan, none of us would dare channel power from our griffons when they need to stay
00:50:52completely focused on not falling to their deaths.
00:50:55At least it's not just me, you hear.
00:50:56I bite back a smile at Sloan.
00:50:57I don't hate you, Sloan says so quietly that I almost question hearing it.
00:51:01It's hard to hate you when Liam didn't.
00:51:03My confused look must be enough for her to continue.
00:51:05I'm in the October letters now.
00:51:07Ah, when Zayden forced him to become my bodyguard.
00:51:10We turn at the switchback and start the next descent.
00:51:12This one get a little steeper into thick.
00:51:15Harsh gray rock off the cliffside.
00:51:16I look up and immediately regret the decision, my stomach churning at the view that's nearly
00:51:20identical to the one below.
00:51:21It's cliff and more cliff.
00:51:22We both knew my brother well enough to say for certain that no one forced him, Sloan
00:51:26replies, her shoulders dipping.
00:51:28I just wish Zayden had asked someone else.
00:51:30Anyone else?
00:51:31Me too.
00:51:32I admit in a whisper, focusing on my footing where the path has trumbled to nothing more
00:51:35than a few yards.
00:51:37Look out.
00:51:37Panic voices call out above us.
00:51:39Our attention jerks up.
00:51:41The sky is gray and falling rapidly toward us.
00:51:43It's not sky.
00:51:44It's a boulder.
00:51:45We're about to become debris thanks to a triggered trap.
00:51:48Take cover.
00:51:48I shout, throwing up my hands and pushing back against the cliff wall, making myself as
00:51:52small as possible while I reach for 10th power as a boulder hits the edge of the legend
00:51:55center above and battles toward us.
00:51:57My heart beats in my ears.
00:51:59It's just like turning a door handle.
00:52:00Just like twisting a lock.
00:52:02It's a lesser magic.
00:52:03I can do lesser magics.
00:52:04With a boulder the size of a feather tail.
00:52:07I envision the boulder changing course and twist my hands.
00:52:09Black streaks through my vision a second before an explosion sounds above me, and I cover
00:52:13my head with my hands as pebbles rain down.
00:52:1510th pilvrides the boulder with his tail.
00:52:18I sag back against the rock wall and take a couple of deep breaths to slow my hammering
00:52:21heart.
00:52:22Wee.
00:52:23Rhiannon yells from up ahead.
00:52:24We are alright.
00:52:25I shout back.
00:52:26Holy shit.
00:52:27Maren leans next to me, her hand on her chest.
00:52:30Morningstar tail.
00:52:30Sloan asks.
00:52:32Morningstar tail.
00:52:32I confirm, watching 10th level out, then fly back our direction.
00:52:36Within seconds, he's hovering in front of me with precise gaze.
00:52:39Heads of his wings, his boulder eye is narrowing.
00:52:41Maren ducks her head, and Sloan looks away.
00:52:44Hey, that wasn't my fault.
00:52:46I didn't see.
00:52:46I lift my eyebrows at him.
00:52:48It would be a shame to have gone through the last year just to have a killer son of
00:52:51easy hike.
00:52:53I scoff, noted.
00:52:54He flexes his wings, air dusting against my cheeks before he dies again.
00:52:58Is, um, that normal?
00:52:59Maren asks as we resume the trudge, my heart pounding through the surge of adrenaline.
00:53:03Which part?
00:53:0410.
00:53:04Saving my ass, or being grumpy about it.
00:53:07Because yes, both are normal.
00:53:09When you walk a parapet, there are rocks thrown at you.
00:53:11She clarifies.
00:53:13Oh, I shake my head.
00:53:14No, you just have to cross it, which is harder than it sounds.
00:53:17Where do you go through to be chosen?
00:53:20We walk to the edge of cliffs, look out over the river.
00:53:22It's about 30 feet deep at that point, and wait for the drifts to fly by.
00:53:25Her tone lightens, and when I glance back, she's smiling.
00:53:28When they approach, we jump.
00:53:30You jump.
00:53:31Sloan whips her head back.
00:53:32Her eyes wide.
00:53:33Maren nods, and a dimple forms in her cheek.
00:53:36We jump, and if we can land on a griffin, climb into position, and hold on, they bond us.
00:53:41She reaches up and scratches under the edge, there's chin where we turn to feather.
00:53:44That's pretty badass, Sloan admits begrudgingly.
00:53:47What happens if we miss?
00:53:48Do the bodies wash up on the shore?
00:53:50We both pause, turning fully to watch Maren respond.
00:53:53Have to admit, I'm curious, too.
00:53:55Maren blinks, bodies, no one dies.
00:53:58It's just like cliff jumping.
00:53:59If we miss, we swim to shore, dry, and shake off the embarrassment, and pick another branch
00:54:03for service.
00:54:04Infantry and artillery are popular.
00:54:06Sloan and I exchange another look.
00:54:07You just, swim to shore, I say slowly.
00:54:10Yeah, Maren nods, then points between Sloan and me.
00:54:12And, before you ask, it's you all who are the weird ones, being turrets on your conscription
00:54:17day.
00:54:18I draw back, letting her words sink in.
00:54:21Technically, they're candidates, Sloan matters.
00:54:23We're only to let Sloan speak cross.
00:54:25Well, I guess it makes it better, Maren could sarcastically.
00:54:28Hey, are we moving or what?
00:54:30Sawyer calls from behind us.
00:54:32Moving, I answer, then turn and keep hiking up game client as a pulse of star bright energy
00:54:36goes down the bond from 10.
00:54:38Whoa, Sloan says, putting her hand over her heart.
00:54:41What was that?
00:54:42I felt it, too.
00:54:43Maren blinks.
00:54:44Arash's first hatchling has chosen to emerge, 10 tells me.
00:54:47His tone clip, considering the news.
00:54:50We have hatchlings.
00:54:51I grin.
00:54:51Why don't you seem happy about it?
00:54:53The hatchling's choice transforms the valley back into a hatching ground.
00:54:56It changes the magic.
00:54:58Every channeling creature within a four-hour flight to the valley will know.
00:55:01That's just us.
00:55:02We're on the edge of about three hours away.
00:55:04I glance around, noting that the others seem to be in conversation with their bonded ones,
00:55:07too.
00:55:08Well, us and the flyers, and they'd find out once we get there anyway.
00:55:11My smile widens at the thought of narration born for the tale.
00:55:14We have to trust them for this to work.
00:55:17I suppose we do.
00:55:18B.
00:55:19While late in the afternoon, I'd rather commend my soul to Malik than take another fucking
00:55:22step of this never-ending trail.
00:55:24No wonder Tyrande never suffered an invasion from Korumil.
00:55:27Their troops would either be exhausted or dead, picked off by patrolling dragons, by the
00:55:30time they reach the top.
00:55:31Every missile aches, somehow simultaneously burning with exertion yet stiff from how calculated
00:55:36my steps have become the higher we climb, a result of the dizziness I can't quite shake.
00:55:40Even reciting facts in my head isn't making it feel connected to my body anymore.
00:55:44My heart beats at a humming, stress pace, and I would give almost anything to lean against
00:55:47the cliff on my right, stop, and rest for an hour.
00:55:50Or two, or four.
00:55:52We've halted at least twice in the last hour.
00:55:54The griffles are slowing to a pace that's starting to make me worry about reaching the
00:55:57top at all, but at least then have fallen to their deaths.
00:55:59And the fights breaking out between flyers and riders aren't helping, either.
00:56:03We've had to stop the march three times just to switch up where certain tidbits are walking.
00:56:07Brennan might be right that we respect the flyers for having climbed, but the day-long
00:56:10hike isn't going to solve the errors of hatred we've borne for each other.
00:56:13The afternoon is extra fun as we enter a thick layer of cloud that only allows a dozen feet
00:56:17of visibility and our progress shows to what feels like a crawl.
00:56:21Hopefully these clouds mean that we're close to the top, right?
00:56:24Marin asks, glancing with concerned air, whose steps have grown slower with each ascend.
00:56:27Her head hangs and her fitted chest rises faster, shallow with every step.
00:56:32Hypoxia, Marin's in the same condition, as is the pair in front of us, Sibyla and his
00:56:36flyer, Dweller.
00:56:37His silver-spec wings aren't just tucked in at his side, they're drooping.
00:56:41While the riders have been conditioned in the mountains surrounding the sky and often
00:56:44fly at 12,000 feet, the flyers can't stay the same.
00:56:47The highest mountain in Perumil talks out around 8,000 feet, which explains why only the
00:56:50cimiting griffs would carry out the high-altitude militarys we heard about in battle brief.
00:56:54Even Sloan looks worried.
00:56:57Let me check how much farther we have to go, I tell Marin, softening my tone.
00:57:00Please tell me we're almost off this damn cliff.
00:57:03You're feel closer, perhaps 3 or 4 ascents from the top, 10 answers, but none of us can
00:57:07see a thing through the fog.
00:57:08To our section is.
00:57:10Tresting now.
00:57:11I think we have less than an hour left.
00:57:13I offer Marin what I hope is an encouraging smile but probably looks like a weary grimace.
00:57:17You sure you can't just pick them up in your craws like the crossbows and fly them to the
00:57:20top?
00:57:20I ask 10.
00:57:22They'd never tolerate the ambiguity of it.
00:57:24Besides, all they have to do is press the cliffs.
00:57:26We have wagons waiting to carry the ones who will allow it.
00:57:29Right, because they can't fly to Aritya.
00:57:31Not in this condition.
00:57:33We can make it an hour, Marin says between half-breaths.
00:57:36Luella, she calls ahead.
00:57:37It should be about another hour.
00:57:39Are you holding up?
00:57:40We'll make it.
00:57:41A weak voice responds ahead of the silver-spec'd griffon.
00:57:44Sloan braces a hand on the cliff and looks back at me.
00:57:47She and Rizio have been arguing, she whiskers.
00:57:49It's getting quieter, but I can't tell if it's because they worked out their differences
00:57:52or because Luella can't breathe.
00:57:54And I think she just threw up.
00:57:56Altitude sickness, I respond just as quietly.
00:57:58And we don't have to whisper, Marin states.
00:58:01Griffins have remarkable hearing.
00:58:02Just like dragons, I'm utter.
00:58:04No privacy.
00:58:05Exactly, Marin scratches just above DSB, reminding me of that spot above her nostrils that
00:58:09and in her lights.
00:58:11Bossipping busybodies, she says with affection.
00:58:13Don't worry, Luella will win her over.
00:58:15She's the nicest of us.
00:58:16I wouldn't be so sure.
00:58:18Sloan slows, waiting for us to come up with her.
00:58:20Vizier's family was killed in the Somerton raid last year.
00:58:23Lue wasn't even a threat when that happened, Marin argues between shallow breaths.
00:58:27If riders thought straight this, Sloan quips, arching a brow, would you care if you were
00:58:30walking with someone from the northern wing?
00:58:32Or would you simply love all riders?
00:58:35Good point, Marin admits.
00:58:36But it's hard to hate Luella.
00:58:38Plus, she bakes really good cake.
00:58:39She'll win Vizier over with butterscotch once we get to Aritya, just watch.
00:58:44A flash of dragon wing appears through the fog, whipping through the cloud like a knife
00:58:47before disappearing again.
00:58:49At least they're still trying to do patrols, Sloan says as we continue forward.
00:58:53Brave, considering they can't see the cliff's edge, I add.
00:58:56A wave of tension, of awareness barrels down my bond with ten.
00:58:59Guess he's not too happy about the lack of visibility, either.
00:59:03Not there, our familiar voice shouts up ahead, and the line halts.
00:59:06You'll trigger it.
00:59:07Dane.
00:59:08What the fuck is he doing back here?
00:59:10Sloan mutters.
00:59:10It doesn't matter how many times I explained that Dane didn't understand the consequences
00:59:14of stealing my memories, Sloan still despises him.
00:59:17There's an overwhelming part of me that still does, too.
00:59:20Sibyla begins moving, picking his way carefully up the path, and we follow, eventually coming
00:59:24to where Dane stands rigidly against the cliff wall, making himself as small as possible
00:59:27so that Griffin will be able to pass by.
00:59:30There's a pressure trigger, he warns, gesturing to a section of the trail just ahead of him
00:59:33with a map pushed in one hand and holding out his other arm so the Doken Willow don't
00:59:37continue.
00:59:37We know it sends out arrows but don't know from where, so we can't be summoned.
00:59:41Hence why I am standing here, warning everyone about that particular section.
00:59:45I glance up the cliff wall, noting the numerous cracks in the face that could hide any number
00:59:49of munitions, then back to the trail, where a rope has been laid across the rock to mark
00:59:52the untouchable area.
00:59:53It looks to be five, maybe six feet across, which would already give me a little pause on the ground.
00:59:57But jumping in an area that big on an unforgiving ledge, at a level of fatigue, let alone the
01:00:01Griffins, is flat out intimidating.
01:00:04And I can barely see a damn team pass the rope in this fog.
01:00:07We have to jump, the rock says, hang the trail.
01:00:10Everyone's made it across so far.
01:00:11Dane nods.
01:00:12Luella, Maren leans out over the cliff to see past Sibyla.
01:00:15A small flyer with pale, nearly white hair and freckles that remind me of Sawyer looks back.
01:00:20I don't know, it's farther than I've ever jumped before.
01:00:23She's the smallest of us.
01:00:24Maren doesn't bother whispering, like you, Sloan adds, looking my way.
01:00:28Redog, can you and Dane throw her across?
01:00:30I ask.
01:00:31You mean can I throw you across?
01:00:33Redog asks with his tipped to sarcasm.
01:00:35I thought, I'll be able to jump it.
01:00:37Like hell is Redog going to throw me?
01:00:39Luella's head draws back in a fence.
01:00:41Shit, I'm used to the altitude.
01:00:43I remind her, hoping to cover my accidental insult.
01:00:45What has everyone else done?
01:00:47I ask Dane.
01:00:48Raining leap, he answers.
01:00:49We're just making sure whoever's on the other side is done recovering first so there's no impact.
01:00:54Gods, I wish Satan were here.
01:00:55He'd simply take Luella up with shadows and ferry her across.
01:00:58Then again, he just might let her fall.
01:01:00I never quite know when it comes to other people.
01:01:02Rhiannon can't retrieve something as big as a person.
01:01:05Sienna, our executive officer from last year, is a bear, but windwielding isn't going to help here, either.
01:01:10Our sickness are useless to this.
01:01:12You jump first, Redog, then orders.
01:01:15So I am not throwing Luella.
01:01:17She either makes it or she doesn't.
01:01:18Just like parapet, Vizia says, tying her shoulder-length hair back.
01:01:21I'll go first.
01:01:23Sid says he goes first, Luella announces, then all three flatten themselves against the cliff
01:01:27wall next Dane so the drifting can pass.
01:01:29Sloane's right, Luella's physically similar to me, small and shorter than average.
01:01:33She's even my age, since flyers start a year after right is.
01:01:36But she's suffering from altitude sickness, and I'm not.
01:01:39I'm just lightheaded, which might be a death sentence up here.
01:01:42The tip of another dragon wing appears in the mist, the flight pattern coming from the opposite
01:01:46direction.
01:01:47A brown, maybe, is the teotrome, I asked Redog.
01:01:49At this point, I'm about to beg for his aid, flyer cried be damned.
01:01:53No, he's uptock with the others.
01:01:55They just finish carrying the crossbows and complaining about being treated like pack horses.
01:01:59A corner of my mouth rises.
01:02:01Sounds about right.
01:02:02Sibyla rocks back on his phone and Oka haunches, then launches forward, clearing the trap and
01:02:06skidding on his landing.
01:02:08Luella sucks in the breath as Sib's talons skim the edge, but a quickie sacks against the cliff,
01:02:11his back rising and falling with stutted breaths.
01:02:14I'm torn between sighing with relief that the griffin made it and acknowledging the
01:02:16growing pit in my stomach that tells me there's no will-will-will.
01:02:19Mind asking him if he'd serve as a railing.
01:02:22I ask the flyer, we are both going to have to run and leave, and he'd be good at keeping
01:02:25us both from falling off the cliff.
01:02:27Sib's head drains back at an unnatural angle, and he chortles aggressively in my direction.
01:02:32He, a small smile tugs at Luella's mouth.
01:02:34He reluctantly agrees.
01:02:36Vizier and Redog, get over there, Dane orders.
01:02:38We need to keep the line moving.
01:02:40Vizier backs up to where we stand, bounces up on her toes, and runs, pumping her arms
01:02:44and legs, then launches herself across the rope-toff area and lands keenly on the other
01:02:48side.
01:02:49See, if she can do it, we're fine, I assure Luella, hoping it's not a lie.
01:02:53She's six inches taller than us and not nearly as winded in.
01:02:56Luella follows, and no offense, but you look like you're about to pass out.
01:03:00I'm not, I lie, taking a second to adjust the slipping wrap on my left knee.
01:03:04I haven't had enough water or enough time off my feet today, and my body is more than
01:03:07happy to let me know about the neglect.
01:03:10Boards, I never would have made it through Burnlet if I'd felt like this that day.
01:03:14Burnlet, an idea takes hold.
01:03:16I'll, Redog starts.
01:03:17Wait a second, I brace my right hand on the cliff to keep from losing my precarious balance
01:03:21and steady the area above the trap, noting one of the thinnest tracks in the rock.
01:03:25Redog's the best climb will we have, so it just might work.
01:03:27What are you thinking, Dane asks, don't tell me anything, you have those little lines between
01:03:32your eyebrows.
01:03:33I'm wondering how attached Redog is to his sword.
01:03:35I bleed through the nausea that always accompanies the dizziness.
01:03:39It's standard issue, Redog replies, then follows my line of sight.
01:03:42Oh, you're thinking.
01:03:43Yep, I glance at Luella so he catches on, and he nods slowly.
01:03:47I can't guarantee it will hold.
01:03:49Try, I lift my brows.
01:03:51Redog reaches for his sword.
01:03:53No, Dane draws his short sword, leaving the long one shade.
01:03:56Use this one, it has a longer pommel, and it will be easier to work in.
01:04:00He hands the sword to Redog, then looks over at me.
01:04:02I still know how your mind works.
01:04:04Sloane scoffs.
01:04:06Redog takes Dave's short sword and shades it in the empty spot at his left, then climbs
01:04:09up a few feet before scrambling horizontally across the cliff face.
01:04:13What is he doing, Luella asks.
01:04:15Watch, I see Cartley so I don't startle Redog.
01:04:18Hand over hand.
01:04:19You hear me?
01:04:27You know how you do that?
01:04:32You know, it's been the first after I had she slips.
01:04:36All right, oops, bro.
01:04:38Eu know what I'm doing now.
01:04:39I just want to put them in the next place.
01:04:40Watch.
01:04:41Over hand.
01:04:41Okay, so just wait.
01:04:42Not so long.
01:04:43Okay, sorente with the commanders,
01:04:45��는 triple mereka.
01:04:45We call your men.
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