Something was wrong.
A flash of gold caught my eye. I turned to the bow and watched as a large, winged ur’gel appeared, a towheaded woman in a deep red dress in its arms, her hands laced around its meaty neck.
Savarah.
The ur’gel placed her on the bow and she walked forward as if she owned the place, unnoticed by anyone but me. She raised her hands in the air, palms out, and the fighting around us died as everyone—elf and ur’gel—turned to look at her. How had we missed it before, her ability to manipulate people? It was so obvious now.
She stopped a few yards from us and looked from me to Estrid, and then down to Erik, who was breathing hard, a hand on the wound in his chest.
“Erik, darling.” Her voice was like honey, smooth and rich. “Give me Frida and I will let the rest of you go free. I’ll even heal those nasty scratches before you go.”
I turned to Erik, ready to stop him. Ready to defend myself if he went after me.
But he just smiled. It was a weak smile, but still a smile. And he said, “Not a chance, Savarah. We know who you are, but you forget who we are.”
She put her hands on her hips, eyebrows raised, clearly not used to being defied. “And who is that, exactly?”
He looked away from her and nodded at me. “We’re D’ahvol.”
That was all I needed to hear. I rushed Savarah while everyone else was still frozen under her spell. She screamed, and that scream released them, but it was too late. I was already on top of her. She had her throwing knives in her hand, but they were small, feeling like insignificant pinpricks on my arms as I shoved her back. Pressing her to the railing, I grabbed her wrists and squeezed until the knives fell from her hands.
“Frida, stop,” she said in a voice that was used to being obeyed.
But not by me. Without an ounce of mercy, I took her by the shoulders and threw her over the side of the ship. The ur’gels who were left on the Duchess took off after her, swooping down and disappearing below the veil. Maybe they would save her, maybe they wouldn’t. One thing was for certain, though.
Savarah would never again be able to control the Svand siblings.
Chapter 25
The other sailors returned to their airships, some of them carrying bodies, others mourning the loss of bodies not found. Soon we were alone again on the Iron Duchess, just the four of us. For once, we were able to breathe.
With the ship hovering and not in any danger, Arun was walking around, taking stock of anything that had been broken. With every new bit of damage he found, he would say her name in a low, apologetic voice and rub her lovingly. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was, though. The railing was smashed in several places, and one of the masts had been knocked askew, splintering slightly beneath the first sail. Other than that, and scratches in the wood paneling and blood stains on the deck, she was largely intact.
The same could also be said for Erik. The bleeding had stopped in all but one scratch, and Arun assured us the medics on Lamruil would be able to sew it up and give him something to prevent infection. Estrid had him on his feet and together, we watched Arun make his rounds, lamenting the damage done to his ship.
When he finished his rounds and returned to the helm, I followed.
He seemed quiet, thoughtful, as he took the wheel and began to guide us toward the city. Stiarna was beside him. He rubbed his fingers through the fur on her back. She purred loudly, the strumpet.
I leaned against the railing beside him and broke the silence between us with a question. “Are you excited to return?” What I really wanted to know was if this was where we parted. If this was the end of his time with us. With me. Would he go back and marry Tsarra? Settle down on his estate? Sell the Duchess?
He looked at me like I was crazy. “Certainly not. But we’ll have to stay for a time to repair the Duchess before continuing our quest.”
“You could, you know … stay here. Go home. If you wanted.”
He glanced over at me, his face changing from serious to playful. “Are you trying to get rid of me, Svand?”
I didn’t want him to leave, but it seemed only fair to give him a way out if he wanted one. “No, I’m just saying.”
“Do you want me to go?”
This time it was my turn to be serious. I put a hand on the wheel just beside his. “No.”
He placed his hand over mine and squeezed. It was warm, rough, and comforting. “Then I’m not going anywhere.”
“What if I can’t find the heir? How long will you search with me? How long before my lost cause isn’t fun anymore?”
“There’s no time limit.” He smiled again. “But I believe you’ll find her. I believe you’ll save the world, even if you don’t want to.”
I didn’t like the blush that rose in my cheeks, so instead of responding, I wandered away to the back of the ship. The sky was completely black now, and the stars had come out, the small lights of my ancestors winking down at me. I wondered if my mother was up there, and if she was glad I finally knew the truth. That she had fought for me until the very end.
Never forget to look up, my father had said.
And so, I did.
Arun eased the ship into a slip at an air dock, barely bumping against the sides. I put one of Erik’s arms around my shoulders and Estrid took the other. We disembarked single file, Arun in front and Stiarna bringing up the rear.
But we didn’t get halfway down the dock before another group was walking toward us. Their leader was a woman in a tricorn hat with curly black hair and more weapons strapped to her than I could count. I itched to draw my ax but knew that would only cause trouble. She was flanked by two elves who seemed to be in some sort of uniform—red jackets and black slacks, with long swords slung over their shoulders.
Our two groups met in the middle of the walkway and stopped.
“I am Captain Wynleth of the Wind Wraith,” the woman said in introduction. She looked down her nose at us, clearly finding us barely deserving of her attentions. “The high king requests your presence.”
Part of me wanted to fight back, to argue with her. But looking around, I knew we were done fighting, at least for now. I nodded at Arun, who had looked back at me. He, in turn, nodded to the woman, motioning for her to lead the way.
Our motley crew followed—three D’ahvol, a High Elf, and a griffin—ready to face whatever the next step was on our journey to find the Suun heir.
Continue reading this series, Legends of the Fallen with book 6, Finding the Suun
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About the Author
J.A. Culican is a USA Today Bestselling author of the middle grade fantasy series Keeper of Dragons. Her first novel in the fictional series catapulted a trajectory of titles and awards, including top selling author on the USA Today bestsellers list and Amazon, and a rightfully earned spot as an international best seller. Additional accolades include Best Fantasy Book of 2016, Runner-up in Reality Bites Book Awards, and 1st place for Best Coming of Age Book from the Indie Book Awards.
J.A. Culican holds a master’s degree in Special Education from Niagara University, in which she has been teaching special education for over 13 years. She is also the president of the autism awareness non-profit Puzzle Peace United. J.A. Culican resides in Southern New Jersey with her husband and four young children.
For more information about J.A. Culican, visit her website at: www.jaculican.com.
About the Author
Cassidy studied English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and won the Bill Hooks Award for Young Adult Fiction in 2007. She lives in beautiful North Carolina with her husband, two kids, two dogs, and one cat who thinks he's a dog.
For more information about Cassidy Taylor, visit her w
ebsite at: http://cassidytaylor.net/
Acknowledgments
Editor: Frankie Blooding
Cover Artist: Christian Bentulan
Formatting: Dragon Realm Press
Breaking the Suun Page 15