“If I am to be confined to this body,” growled the woman, “I would rather use my true name. You may call me Rizzala.”
“I am Ethan,” I said, then motioned to the dragons, “the red one is Irenya and the white one is Arieste.” I held out a hand to help Rizzala to stand, which she accepted once she understood I wasn’t threatening her. “Arieste is going to take you back to Whitespire.”
“Ethan--” Arieste began in a displeased rumble.
“Rizzala can’t come with me to Windwall,” I said as I fixed the white dragon with a firm glare. “I can’t risk her safety if any of the Blackguards or Councilors find out who she really is. We need her too much for the war ahead, so I’m not going to let anything happen to her. I trust you to get her safely to Whitespire and let King Obragar know I’ll be returning soon. He and Sir Galfred both know you better than they know Irenya.”
The white dragon let out an angry growl, but she nodded. “So be it.”
“And what of them?” Irenya asked as her eyes darted toward the two Blackguards. “Won’t they be displeased to see you haul their enemy away?”
“Captain Daxos will understand, and Sergeant Dai will follow his orders,” I replied. “Besides, he’s going to have other things to think about when he flies with Irenya and me to Windwall to pay Military Councilor Warrald a little visit.” My face split into a snarl. “He’s going to find out what happens to people that try to betray me.”
Chapter Nineteen
I strode toward the two Blackguards standing at the entrance of Emroth’s lair. Captain Daxos tensed as I called his name, but relief filled his expression at the sight of me.
“Such terrible screaming,” he said with a shake of his head, “I feared the worst for you and your companions.”
“Emroth will trouble Windwall no longer,” I told him.
“She is dead?” The captain cast a glance over my head into the darkness of the cave as if hoping to see the dragon’s carcass.
“No, but she is defeated,” I said. “I’m taking her back to Whitespire, where she will help us in the defense of our kingdoms against Curym and Zaddrith.”
As I’d feared, both men stiffened at the mention of my keeping Emroth alive. I knew they hated the black dragon for what she’d done, and likely they wanted her dead at any cost, so I could see the doubt in their eyes as they exchanged glances.
“Listen,” I told them, “right now, the battle for Windwall may be over, but two dragons are heading toward Whitespire as we speak. What do you think will happen if Whitespire falls? Where will Curym and Zaddrith send their hordes next? There is no longer Riamod, Frosdar, or Emroth to hold them back. The only way we win this battle is by using all the tools at our command.”
“But Emroth is--” Captain Daxos began.
“Emroth is no more,” I said with a firm glare. “The dragon is gone, and only a human woman remains. You have talked to Arieste and Irenya, traveled beside all of us for these last few days. Do you think there is any of Riamod or Frosdar left in them?”
After a long moment, the captain shook his head. “No, I do not.”
“The woman, Rizzala, may once have wielded the power of Emroth and controlled her minions, but she wields it no more. She is as human as you, and she has sworn to help us in the fight against the green and blue dragons. I gave her my word that she will be safe. Is there any reason I need to worry about either of you?”
Captain Daxos shook his head at my question, but Sergeant Dai hesitated. I fixed the stolid, bald-headed sergeant with a hard gaze, and he met it without flinching. He might have been carved from stone, and he didn’t back down despite my distinct height advantage.
“You gave your word that Emroth will be safe,” Captain Daxos said and placed a hand on the sergeant’s huge forearm, “and we will honor it. But if I may make one request, I would ask that Sergeant Dai be permitted to accompany her to Whitespire. I would feel much better knowing a Blackguard is watching her, and I know the Council of Four will feel the same.”
“Only if the Sergeant swears that he will not harm Rizzala in any way,” I said. “She is under my protection, and my dragons and I will be the ones to deal with her should she prove a threat. Sergeant Dai must give his word that he will not do anything to harm her.”
Captain Daxos gave the bull-necked sergeant a meaningful look, and Sergeant Dai nodded.
“I swear,” he said with his usual grunt.
“Good enough for me.” I stepped aside just as Arieste lumbered toward the mouth of the lair. “Arieste will fly Sergeant Dai and Rizzala back to Whitespire, where they will pass word to the king of our success.” I looked up at the white dragon. “Tell the King I will be returning once I speak with the Council of Four about sending the Blackguard to the defense of our city.”
“I will inform him,” Arieste rumbled and dipped her head.
I glanced up at Rizzala, who sat stiffly between two of Arieste’s spines. The woman’s face was hard, her expression unreadable, but I’d gone through this process enough times to have a pretty good idea of what she was feeling. She had found herself surrounded by enemies, in a vulnerable human form, and with no access to her magic. Everyone was a threat, and it would take time to prove to her that she could trust us. The glare Sergeant Dai shot her as he clambered onto Arieste’s back didn’t help, but I had managed to help Irenya and Arieste feel more comfortable in their new world, so I knew I could do the same with Rizzala.
“Hold tight,” I said to the dark-skinned woman with a little smile. “Last thing any of us would want is for you to fall off a thousand feet above the ground in the mountains.”
It might have been my imagination, but I could swear Arieste gave a little snort the moment before she leapt into the air. The white dragon flapped her enormous leathery wings hard to gain altitude, and within a few seconds, she disappeared over the lip of the canyon.
“As for us, captain,” I told Captain Daxos, “we’ve still got a few last-minute details to take care of.”
A hint of nervousness flashed in the captain’s face, but he said nothing. I had made my intentions for Military Councilor Warrald plain, and though he despised his lieutenant’s treachery, he had served as a Blackguard for all his adult life. The idea of what I planned to do in response to the betrayal and the threat to my life had to be unsettling for a loyal soldier.
“And what exactly do you plan to do?” Nyvea asked. “Please tell me it’s something along the lines of shoving his head so far up his ass he can taste his spine.”
“I love the idea,” I replied as I clambered onto Irenya’s back, “but I’ll probably settle for kicking his ass. We need the Council of Four on our side, and Warrald’s going to be the one in charge of the Blackguards. If we’re going to win this war, I’ll have to find a way to coexist with that fucker, even if the very thought of him makes me want to kick his teeth in.”
“Sometimes you’re just too noble for your own good, you know?” Nyvea said, and I heard the sigh in her voice.
As soon as Captain Daxos took his seat on Irenya’s back, the red dragon lumbered through the exit and leapt high into the air. The wind rushed up around me as she gained altitude, and her wings beat the air with powerful strokes. Within seconds, we were hurtling at tremendous speed through the canyon toward Windwall.
My eyes were drawn to the mass of ghoulins wandering along the canyon floor below me. They seemed to move as if they had suddenly lost all sense of direction and purpose. Had their connection to Emroth been so strong that they were totally brain-dead now that her link to the altar was severed? That would certainly make Windwall’s monster clean-up efforts much easier.
“Irenya, what say we give Windwall a hand dealing with their ghoulin problem, eh?” I shouted over the whistling wind.
“Yes, Ethan!” the red dragon rumbled in a delighted voice. She swooped low to fly just twenty or thirty feet above the rocky ground, and the thousands of ghoulins gathered below. Crimson light shone off the red rock walls as
she tapped into her magic, then a massive pillar of dragon fire burst through the ranks of ghoulins. Their gurgling cries were silenced as Irenya turned them into ash and charred bones.
Irenya kept up the steady stream of fire, and she destroyed hundreds of ghoulins in the space of half a minute. I kept my own fire and ice powers handy to deal with the few flying aswang mingled among the corpse-like monsters, and any of the bat-like monsters who tried to attack Irenya found themselves encased in a dome of ice that shattered on the ground far below us.
Irenya banked hard as we exited the narrow side canyon and swooped low along the broad, high-walled canyon that led toward Windwall. The huge black wall was at least half a mile away, and Emroth’s ghoulins staggered along that distance. Irenya’s fire reduced their number by the thousands, but thousands more escaped.
I contemplated turning around and making a second pass to mop up the stragglers, but then I discarded the idea. I had to get back to Whitespire to help prepare the city to fight off the two invading dragons, and the sooner the Blackguards marched out of Windwall, the sooner they’d reach Whitespire. I couldn’t afford the delay right now.
“Fun’s over,” I shouted to Irenya. “Time to take care of business in Windwall so we can get back home.”
The red dragon let out a grumble, sent a last pillar of fire streaming at a mass of monsters, and then veered upward toward the top of the huge black stone wall. I cast a glance behind me as she climbed, and I marveled at the scene of carnage we left behind. Thick black smoke filled the canyon behind me, and the stink of charred flesh hung heavy in the air. Yes, the Blackguard wouldn’t have to worry about a serious ghoulin threat ever again.
I turned back toward the Windwall as Irenya approached the top edge of the black stone construction, and my stomach clenched in anticipation of the inevitable confrontation with Military Councilor Warrald. He’d be lucky if he just gets a beat-down from me, since I should just ask Irenya to bite his head off. He could have seriously put the fate of Iriador in jeopardy, all to protect his position in Windwall.
I felt my brow furrow as one of the ballistas mounted on the wall swiveled toward us. I couldn’t understand why the Blackguards on the Windwall would threaten us. They’d seen the two dragons kicking ghoulin ass, and they’d seen me help fight the monsters. Didn’t they know we were on their side?
The loaded ballista turned to point its glittering steel-tipped missile right at us, and my heart slowed as the ballista arms snapped forward.
A thunderous twang split the air, and a black missile of death hurtled right at us.
Less than fifty yards separated us from the massive crossbow-like siege engine, and I had a split second to react. I threw myself to one side as the bolt sped right toward me, and Irenya veered sharply to the right. The spike-tipped bolt whipped past my head, and I swore that I felt the fletching brush against my cheek.
“What the fuck?” I shouted.
Captain Daxos’ face was white, his eyes wide. A thin trickle of blood slid down his face from where the edge of the bolt had sliced his face.
Irenya let out a tremendous roar, and her wings beat at the air furiously as she closed the distance to the ballista. My eyes narrowed as I saw the man holding the ballista’s firing mechanism. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a dark ponytail that hung below his waist, Military Councilor Warrald’s bushy eyebrows were pressed together in a furious frown, and hatred glittered in his dark eyes as he reached for another huge ballista bolt.
“Light that fucker up!” I shouted to Irenya.
“With pleasure,” she rumbled and then swooped toward him.
I saw Warrald’s eyes go wide as he looked up to see us speeding toward him like a freight train of red-scaled death. He had enough time to mouth a curse, but then the dragon fire reached him.
Red-hot flames engulfed the Councilor, the wooden ballista, and the entire platform upon which it was mounted. Military Councilor Warrald’s military uniform, fancy sword of command, and arrow-straight spine burned in an instant. All that remained of the pompous, self-serving, treacherous asshole was melted metal and a pile of ash that blew off the edge of the Windwall as Irenya flapped her wings.
“Good riddance!” I said to Nyvea, and I doubted many people would be sad to see the fucker gone.
“Serves him right,” Nyvea growled. “He should have known better. No one messes with Ethan. You are here to save these people. Ugh. They don’t deserve a hero like you.”
The Blackguards nearest the platform cried out as the flames engulfed the top of the wall, but Irenya had made sure to keep her blast of fire concentrated on the Military Councilor. A few suffered singed eyebrows and minor scorch marks, but nothing serious.
Irenya let out an earth-shaking roar as she circled the training ground once, then landed gracefully on the hard-packed dust field. The companies of Blackguards training there gave the red dragon a wide berth, and I could see the fear in their eyes. They had seen the red dragon appear, blast the wall with fire, then land within their city. This had to look like an invasion.
“Hold!” Captain Daxos shouted as he dropped from Irenya’s back to the ground and raised his hands. “Sir Ethan and his dragon are no threat to us.”
“But, Captain, the dragon just--” began one of the Blackguards, an older man wearing the white stripes of a lieutenant.
“My father and the council will want to hear what he has to say,” the captain said as he strode toward the officer. “They will be the ones to decide what course we are to take.”
I hopped down from Irenya’s back, then turned toward her with a shrug.
The red dragon let out a rumbling chuckle, then bent low so I could place my hand on her chest. The moment I touched the stone, I felt the fiery power coursing through it and back into my body. It took a surprising effort to pull the burning, willful magic from the dragon, but after a minute the power settled down as the tattoo on my right shoulder flared to life.
“I can’t say I mind this part a bit,” Irenya said with a naughty grin as she glanced down at my hand nestled between her ample breasts. “Reminds me of the fun we had the other night. Can we do that again? Maybe even with Arieste this time?”
“Let’s focus on getting through our meeting with the Council,” I said, but returned her grin with a meaningful wink. “Trust me, we’re going to have plenty of chances to do that sort of thing.”
I handed Irenya a dress from her pack, then turned toward Captain Daxos and the other Blackguards. A company of thirty black-armored men stood in front of us, and there was clear menace in the way they held their weapons.
“Come on, Captain,” I said as I put on my most charming DePaolo grin and strode over to Captain Daxos. “I’m sure your father is going to want to hear how we just killed Vozaath, defeated Emroth, and put an end to the ghoulin threat once and for all.”
I spoke in a voice loud enough so all the Blackguards could hear. Their eyes went wide as they turned to each other with incredulous looks, and shocked whispers ran among them.
“Look into the canyon below, and you’ll see all that’s left of Emroth’s horde,” I told them. “The black dragon won’t be making more anytime soon, so you fellows just need to do a bit of cleaning up and Windwall is safe. You’re welcome.”
I swept a grand bow, held out my arm for Irenya, and together we strode through the group of stunned men toward the entrance to the palace. Captain Daxos followed us, and I heard him give the order for someone to send a message to his father. Two black-armored men sprinted past us and into the huge black-stone building. By the time we reached the Council Chamber five minutes later, People’s Councilor Danikel and Justice Councilor Enton stood waiting for us.
“Is it true?” Enton asked the moment we stepped into the room. “Is Warrald truly dead?”
“Yes,” I replied simply. “He commanded one of his men to murder me, then tried to finish the deed himself. He was lucky Irenya here put him out of his misery quickly, given what I had planned to do to h
im.”
“Good riddance, says I,” Enton said, and his face creased into a harsh smile very much at odds with his role as judiciary and councilor dedicated to upholding justice in Windwall. “Never liked the bastard!”
“Warrald was a good man in his own way,” People’s Councilor Danikel said in a voice heavy with sorrow. “He served this city with pride, honor, and loyalty beyond fault for many years.”
I marveled at the older man’s words. He had openly despised the Military Councilor as well, and they’d had a fractious relationship at best. Yet here he was trying to defend the dead man’s honor and point out Warrald’s good qualities. I could understand where Captain Daxos learned his nobility of spirit and sense of integrity. He’d had one hell of a role model.
“His passing leaves us in a precarious position,” Danikel continued, and his face creased into a frown. “You say that Emroth is defeated?”
“The black dragon will never threaten Windwall again,” I told the man, and I contemplated telling them about the king’s death. On one hand, they needed to know, but on the other hand, the city was functioning fine without the king, and I believed that they might want justice from the woman who had once been Emroth.
I’d have to tell them later, right now I needed to focus on the task of defending Whitespire against the approaching hordes.
“Defeated, but not dead?” Danikel asked with a raised eyebrow, and I realized that I had made the correct decision about delaying the talk of the king’s body.
“Does it matter?” I asked and gave him a nonchalant shrug. “She’ll never create another ghoulin or aswang to attack the Windwall, and we just turned three-quarters of her minions to ash. The city is as safe as anywhere else on Iriador with Curym and Zaddrith attacking.”
“And Vozaath?” the Justice Councilor put in.
“Dead,” Captain Daxos said in a firm voice. “I saw the demon’s body crumble to ash before my eyes, and Sir Ethan dropped its gemstone heart into the depths of the Iron River.”
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