Shadow of Flame

by Caitlyn McFarland

  Rhys. Cadoc was looking at Rhys, and there was no ice. There were no voices.

  He clutched his damaged hand, thanking the Stars. After months with no one but his increasingly bitter self for company, he could finally go home.

  In the next second, his happy mood faded. Beyond Rhys, in a patch of momentarily clear sky, another flight of dragons was in pursuit of the first. Their leader was as white as fresh-fallen snow.

  Cadoc sucked in air. “Blood of the Ancients. Owain. How did he know we’re here? How did he know Rhys was coming?” As he watched, Rhys, Evan and a green Lung Cadoc couldn’t place broke from the group and made for the eastern side of the island.

  “I’ve got to go. I need to—” Realization smashed into Cadoc, leaving him reeling and breathless. He spun on Mair. “You! You told Owain that Rhys was going to be here! You set him up!”

  Mair flipped the latch on the keeping box—a box that blocked the magic of whatever object she had put inside. Ice stirred deep inside him, waking.

  Mair tipped the box upside down, and something red fell into the palm of her hand. “You said you wanted to help me end the war, Cadoc. It’s time.”

  He shook his head. His mind felt fuzzy around the edges. “What?”

  She slipped her ring—the one that looked as if it had been carved from a single large ruby—onto her finger. It was a sharp, wicked thing, its top all sharp points and twisting curves and red as blood.

  Mair admired the gem. “I thought it wouldn’t work. There were so many reasons it shouldn’t have. I thought you’d realize that the blood charm you stole was a fake. Nothing more than carved stone.”

  “No.” Cadoc’s mind wouldn’t wrap around it. Couldn’t.

  “And then I thought that Seren saw me switch the stone for a replica. Do you know how hard it was to find something that would pass for that stone, but dissolve in liquid?”

  Cadoc swallowed convulsively. “I destroyed it!”

  Mair laughed. “You destroyed a bit of candy, Cadoc.” She tapped her ring. “The blood charm has been in front of you all along. It has been, since Izel gave it to me the day I freed you from the pit. You see, Izel doesn’t mind torturing for Owain, but she’s mine. She has been mine for years. And when you came into her hands, she took the opportunity to make me a weapon. When you went to her for information—you violent little lizard—she sent you right to me.”

  He was frozen, speechless.

  “Go on.” She pointed, indicating the beach on the eastern side of the island where Rhys and Kai had landed. “Go get Rhys.”

  Lladd y brenin ddraig.

  This had to be a nightmare.

  Mair stepped toward Cadoc, a mad light in her eyes, and whispered, “Rhys.”

  Lladd y brenin ddraig.

  Cadoc fell to his knees. “Please.” Ice coalesced in his blood. “He’s your son. Deryn brought you here to help him.”

  “Deryn is too blinded by adoration to see her brother for what he is. Rhys and Owain are going to tear this people apart. With them out of the way, the mantle will go to Deryn. I haven’t been able to give much to my daughter, but I can make her a queen.”

  Mair began to undo a long row of buttons that ran along the outside of her sleeve. It fell away, revealing a white tube strapped to the inside of her forearm. Precious stones rimmed the top and bottom and black runes covered the rest.

  She unbuttoned her other sleeve, revealing a wrist sheath filled with short black shafts, like crossbow bolts.

  He’d been a scalebrained fool. Again. Mair had never sent him to the cache to retrieve his blood charm—she’d had that on her all along. She’d wanted him to do her dirty work. He’d heard of this artifact—it was one of a pair that could kill dragons from hundreds of yards away, encasing them in magic flame and burning until there was nothing left but a pile of ash. Last he’d heard, Owain had them both.

  This was what Ophelia had taken from the cache. She’d probably had the false blood charm in her pocket all along. Cadoc was an exceptionally strong Fire Elemental. Not as strong as Rhys, but close. The second barrier—the one Ophelia had pretended to activate on accident—had been a wall of flame. Mair had needed someone she didn’t care about—someone disposable—to get through it.

  Who could be more disposable than an exiled dragon with a maimed hand?

  She was going to use that artifact to murder Rhys. And if that didn’t work, Cadoc was Plan B.

  His brain grasped all of that in one single, lucid moment. Then the cold returned, his mind flickering, the voices closing in. “Deryn doesn’t want to be the bloody queen!”

  For the first time, Cadoc saw the obsession in Mair’s eyes. Her lips pulled back in a horrible smile. “She may not want her brother to die, but she’ll come to understand. She deserves this. She deserves it for every Wingless who has ever lived.”

  Against the gathering dark, Cadoc tried one last time for reason. “Deryn isn’t Wingless. She’s a dragon. If she heartswore to a human, some man would be ripped out of his life just like you were ripped from yours.”

  Mair blinked. She shook her head slightly, as if something Cadoc said had penetrated her delusion. Then she grabbed his head and forced it toward Rhys, who Cadoc could just make out on the distant beach, crouched behind the stones. “Look at him, Cadoc. He’s right there. Rhys.”

  Cadoc squeezed his eyes shut, but it was too late. The chill in his blood had reached his mind. It flickered, a candle guttering in Arctic wind. His vision narrowed to a single point of crimson with a tiny figure on his back.

  Lladd y brenin ddraig.

  Kill the dragon king.

  Mair leapt back as Cadoc became the dragon.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Utterly Unprepared

  Owain hung back, watching the largest battle in a decade unfold before him in the fog that hung over the sea. Several hundred yards away, Ashem darted back and forth, death on wings. He cajoled, shouted and cured, making sure his soldiers held the line between the island and Owain’s troops. It was enough to make Owain smile. The dragons of Cadarnle might be outnumbered, but they wouldn’t lose today. His little project in the desert garaunteed it.

  Owain knew exactly where Rhys was because Jiang was with him. But so was the midnight-blue Draig and Rhys’s heartsworn. Owain snapped his jaws, turning his head to properly take in the battle with his single eye. Others might not be so wary of a newly minted Wingless, but Owain had experienced firsthand how powerful the girl was when she called her fire, so he ordered Jiang to hold back.

  Until he got there, anyway.

  “Come with me,” Owain called to Demba, the Bida who had taken over Kavar’s duties.

  Owain felt a pang for the quick-tonged Azhdahā. Demba was just as efficient as a killer—perhaps even more so. But if he had to go into a fight, Owain would rather go with Kavar. They’d been friends since before the war. No one was more loyal.

  Not that Owain had returned the favor.

  Owain pushed those thoughts from his mind. Allowing Jiang to go through with her trap had been necessary. It was the fastest way for her to earn Rhys’s trust. And it had worked.

  Perhaps he’d feel less guilty if he’d let Kavar in on the plan, but that had presented too many risks. In any case, Kavar would understand. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.

  Together, Owain and Demba dove toward the wind-tossed sea and waited for just the right moment. Ashem was distracted with the dragons above. When a low-hanging cloud obscured the warring dragons from view, Owain and Demba broke for the island, skimming the waves.

  The lower parts of the island were shrouded in fog. Sounds of battle were swallowed up in the mist. Owain kept the shore to his right. They’d have to skirt most of the way around to get to Rhys, but that was nothing compared to the distance they’d fl
own to get here.

  When Owain reckoned they were halfway around the island—as far from the battle as they could get—he dipped his wing, motioning Demba toward the beach. Their claws had just touched the surf when five dragons emerged from the mist.

  “Stop,” their leader, a bright orange Naga woman commanded. “Surrender, and we’ll take you to Mair.”

  Owain’s lip curled. He let a cloud of frost spill from his lips. “You surrender, or I will kill you. And I don’t want that. Even rogues have a place in the war to come.”

  The Naga and her companions attacked.

  * * *

  The familiar whoosh of wind over wings was Kai’s only warning. She turned, saw the carnelian beast bearing down on them and screamed, “Rhys!”

  He spun, nearly giving her whiplash when he leapt clear of the stones and onto the rocky shore of the beach.

  Their attacker crashed into the stones then pivoted, snarling, his amethyst eyes cold and empty. Kai sucked in a sharp breath, feeling like a hold had given out beneath her hand. “Cadoc?”

  He didn’t answer or give any sign of recognition. Instead, he lunged for Rhys. Before he could get close, Evan hurled into Cadoc, knocking him away. “Fly, Rhys!”

  “No.”

  Kai couldn’t identify Rhys’s feelings at seeing Cadoc again. Relief seemed to be foremost, but it battled with worry and anger. “We’ll subdue him,” Rhys snapped. “Force him to change into a human and take him away from me. It worked last time.”

  Cadoc lunged again, and Rhys swore. “Ancients, what is he even doing here? Jiang! Help him!”

  Evan wrestled with Cadoc, dodging flashing claws. He cried out as Cadoc sliced his shoulder, but then Jiang was there, shoving Cadoc off him.

  “I need you to get down,” Rhys said urgently into Kai’s mind.

  Kai gripped the straps of the harness. “We said I would fight with you.”

  “Are you going to throw fireballs at Cadoc?”

  Kai clenched her jaw, then unhooked and slid down. She dove out of the way as Cadoc broke loose from Jiang and came at Rhys again, flame pouring from his jaws.

  Rhys roared and charged. Cadoc was longer than Rhys by a few feet, but Rhys had more mass. Rhys bowled Cadoc over, but he bounced up in less than a second and came for Rhys again. He ducked under Rhys’s whipping tail and clamped his teeth around Rhys’s calf. His teeth sunk to the bone. When he belched fire point-blank at Rhys’s leg, Kai collapsed to her knees in the sand, overwhelmed by vicarious pain.

  Utterly unprepared for the agony, Rhys roared. Kai sensed his vision waver, blackness closing in. Cadoc let go of Rhys’s leg and lunged for his neck. Evan—more massive even than Rhys—knocked Cadoc away, scales hissing as they slid against each other.

  Out of nowhere, three dragons swooped down to stand at Cadoc’s side. One—a smaller dragon with scales that looked like an abstract stained glass window, helped Cadoc to his feet. For an instant, Kai thought they were saved.

  Then Cadoc and all three of his friends attacked.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Without the Veil

  Seren pressed her ungloved hands to the sides of Deryn’s head, pouring healing magic into her, willing her sister’s body to get rid of whatever sedative Mair had dosed them with. She’d be sleeping, too, if she hadn’t been woken by a premonition so strong she thought it might bring on a vision. And for good reason.

  Outside the tiny window, Cadoc battled Rhys on the beach while near two hundred dragons tried to tear each other apart in the sky.

  Finally, Deryn yawned and stretched. “Seren? What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know.” Seren tried to keep the panic from her voice. “But I think Owain is here. I know Rhys is, and Cadoc is trying to kill him.”

  “What?” Deryn scrambled up and pulled herself up to the port-hole-sized window. “Sunder me! The curse! It’s supposed to be broken!”

  Seren wrung her hands. “It has to be Mair. She lied. To everyone. She used you to get Rhys here so he and Owain could kill each other.”

  Deryn’s skin went ghostly pale. “But...no. She’s his mother. She loves him!”

  “No.” Seren didn’t care that her voice was harsh. “She loves you.”

  Deryn stood and strode to the door, yanking on the handle. It didn’t budge. She tried again.

  They were locked in.

  Deryn pounded, screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to come let them out, but no one responded. Seren guessed that either the rogues had been instructed to keep them locked in until the battle was over or everyone was outside fighting.

  Seren scanned the room—bare except for two cots and two uncomfortable wooden chairs—looking for anything that might help. Her eyes fell on Deryn’s needle-thin daggers, the belt she usually wore them on slung over the back of a chair next to Seren’s discarded veil.

  “Here!” She grabbed one dagger and handed the other to Deryn. Then, to her sister’s horror, Seren shoved the fine tip of the dagger into the door’s hinge, prying up the pin. After a second, Deryn joined her, working the hinge at the top.

  Finally, both pins popped free. The door tipped and fell at a drunken angle, held up only by the lock on the other side.

  “Come on!” Deryn grabbed Seren’s arm and hauled her out of the room. “We have to help him!”

  Seren shrugged off Deryn’s hand and ran in earnest. Dark corridors and torchlight flashed by. Up one flight of stairs, then another, through a wide cavern with an uneven, natural floor. They were in a waystation. Seren barely remembered arriving the night before. Then Mair had insisted they eat. After that, nothing. Obviously, their mother had drugged the food, hoping her daughters would sleep through the murder of her son.

  Could she really want to kill Rhys? If she did, why the elaborate plan?

  Unless...

  If Rhys and Owain killed each other, Deryn—Mair’s beloved little girl—would become Queen.

  Seren smacked into Deryn’s slender back. They’d made it to the door of the waystation, but the entrance was guarded by four of the rogues. Without warning, Deryn shouted a war cry and dove at the guards. At the sight of the berserker princess, they dodged out of the way.

  Then Deryn had Seren’s arm again, and they were running into the ephemeral, foggy light and onto sleet-covered earth. A veil of fog wavered along the ground. Above the sea, visible in flashes and darts through the mist, dragons thrashed and roared. The entrance to the waystation was at the highest of the island—a huge, round hill near the southern cliffs. From where they stood, Seren and her sister could see everything.

  Seren spotted Mair near the cliffs with a cluster of her rogues. She glanced upward occasionally as she fiddled with something on her wrist.

  Deryn swore. “There’s Owain.”

  Their cousin was a flash of pure white, battling Rajani and one other guard down the beach. Two dead dragons in human bodies lay half-submerged in the surf, leaking red into the ocean.

  “There’s Rhys!” Seren pointed to a crimson dragon fighting tooth and claw with Cadoc and another pack of Mair’s rogues, Evan and Jiang at his side.

  A flash of green light caught the corner of Seren’s eye from the direction of the cliff. For a moment, nothing. Something small streaked past Rhys, barely missing him, and connected with a Derkin male—one of Mair’s own rogues.

  The thing—it looked like a crossbow bolt or a huge dart—sank into the Derkin’s pale blue scales. Magic erupted, engulfing the unfortunate dragon in crackling green flames. The world seemed to draw in around him, then erupted, the sound rolling out like thunder ahead of a cloud of acrid smoke. A rain of black ash fell to the earth. When it cleared, the Derkin was gone.

  Seren pressed her hands to her mouth. “If Rhys and Owain don’t kill each other, she’s going to do it hersel
f.” She turned to her sister, gripped her shoulders. “Deryn, she’s doing this because she wants you to be queen.”

  Deryn gaped at her for one horrible, eternal moment. Her mouth worked. Finally, she breathed, “Sunder me. We have to stop her.” Then, her voice coming back, “I have to warn Rhys. They have to get out of range. Stop Mother from shooting any more of those bolts!”

  “But—”

  Deryn was already sprinting toward Rhys and Cadoc. “I’ll come back for you, I promise!”

  Without a pause in her stride, fog collected around Deryn, coalescing until she was invisible within the cloud. It grew, billowing up until an azure dragon sprang from it, mist streaming from her outstretched wings.

  Seren stood frozen for a moment, then started forward. Her foot caught, and she stumbled to her knees. Wetness soaked through her dress, the cold biting her skin. Be strong. Be strong for Deryn. Be strong for Rhys. So you aren’t a warrior. That doesn’t mean you can’t fight for the people you love.

  Seren pushed to her feet and ran toward Mair. The earth seemed to pop up to trip her, the clinging grasses catching her feet. She fell, then rose, her golden dress smeared with green and spattered with icy mud.

  Ophelia noticed her first. She snatched Seren’s arm, calling to Mair. “Queen Dowager, the Seeress has escaped.”

  “Stop!” Seren gasped, lurching forward. “Mother! Deryn doesn’t want this!”

  Mair turned, her impassive face showing fear at the sight of Seren. She looked around wildly. “You! Where is Aderyn?”

  Seren didn’t answer. Her breath was coming fast, her heart beating faster. A vision was pushing in on the edges of her mind.

  “I said, where is Deryn?” Mair dug clawed fingers into Seren’s shoulders and shook her hard.

  “Gone!” The pain kept the blackness at bay. Seren squirmed, trying to pry loose Mair’s hands. The woman was strong. “Mother, Deryn loves Rhys. Please, you must stop! If he dies, she’ll never forgive you.”

  Her face fixed in a rictus of anger, Mair wrenched her hand from Seren’s grasp. With a snarl, she backhanded Seren hard across the face, her large, wicked-looking ruby ring slicing open her cheek.