by Eve Langlais
Her friends eyed her warily as she stomped toward them. They were gathered in the warehouse on the first level.
“Did you know?” she snapped.
“Know what?” Lila replied.
Only one gaze refused to meet hers, and it wasn’t Gorri’s puzzled one.
“Do you have something you’d like to tell me, Milo?” Kayda crossed her arms, and the air around her turned frosty.
Milo shifted, uncomfortably. “Cam might have told me he was going to try and stop the volcano.”
“And you talked him out of it, obviously.” Kayda arched a brow.
“Er, no.” He ducked his head. “He has a solid plan. And he was determined.”
“He went on a suicide mission.” Stating it aloud left her cold to the bone.
“Why are you assuming he’s going to die? He’s not that incapable,” Lila observed.
Kayda glared.
“Don’t be pissy at me because your lover has a hero complex,” Lila snapped
“He thinks he’s expendable,” Kayda muttered.
“Like fuck, he is,” Gorri exclaimed. “He knows things about fighting I never imagined.”
“The guy is pretty handy.” A rare compliment from Lila.
“He’s been teaching me stuff, too,” Milo added.
It explained what he’d been doing when they weren’t together. Plotting with her friends. It brought a scowl. “I can’t believe you let him go. How long ago? Maybe I can catch up.”
“She’s in lu-u-r-v-e,” Gorri exaggerated and then gagged.
“He shouldn’t have gone alone.” Overland, with only a knapsack and some weapons. “Do you even know where he’s going?”
“Where else?” Milo said.
“The volcano.” Which was a few days by foot if she remembered the old long-range scout reports. Did she dare follow on foot? He might have too much of a head start for her to catch up to him.
“He’ll never make it.” Lila the pessimist almost got slapped.
Kayda chose to glare once more.
But it was Milo’s words that turned them thoughtful. “At least he’s doing something. We don’t have much time if we’re going to save anyone.”
A reminder that this new home would only be temporary. Ruby would send another ship with soldiers, and soon. They might not be able to fight the next group off.
“You can’t go after him.” Milo provided the voice of reason. “You know Ruby’s coming back. We’re going to need you if we escape.”
“Escape where?” she said, flinging her hands in the air. “On foot we’ll never get far enough. Not with the obstacles in our way.”
“If only we could fly.” Lila looked at the ceiling, where one very large transport still sat.
“Actually, we might be able to use the ship.” Milo’s statement had them all gaping. He squirmed under their scrutiny. “It’s not that hard actually. Part of what Cam’s been teaching me is how to pilot this thing. He went through the controls, explaining to me how it works.”
“But you didn’t actually go up in the air?” Kayda stated. “Because then I’d have known he was teaching you and I would have tied his body to a bed.”
“Kinky,” Lila slyly muttered.
“Don’t be mad at him,” Milo hastened to say. “He didn’t want to leave without showing someone how to fly it first.”
“Did he tell you how to re-energize it, too?” Kayda felt a need to sarcastically add.
“Actually, he did. Since it has no electronics, due to disturbances the ship flies through, it uses fuel, of which we found a tank full inside the base.”
“We could make it to the Marshlands?” Hope almost poked its head in her tone.
“Not quite. The tank isn’t large enough to go that far. It’s meant for short jumps. Still, we could get pretty far from here, hopefully over the giant crevice.”
Meaning they could possibly escape. Without Cam. She knew the right thing to do, but it didn’t make it any easier to push the words past her stiff lips. “Is there enough fuel for you to practice and still refill?”
Milo nodded.
“Get it in the air. Try not to crash, and once you know for sure you can fly it, let me know. Gorri and Lila, get the crew packing but in a compact kind of way. Everyone needs food, water, a blanket, and a weapon.” She ticked off her fingers.
“We’re leaving?” Lila asked.
She nodded. “Yes. I want everyone out of here as soon as we can be sure that thing will fly us safely.”
“But what about your Marshlander?” Lila tried to catch Kayda’s gaze.
Kayda avoided eye contact and looked to the distance. He was out there, alone, thinking he had no reason to come back.
She could give him one. But her responsibility was getting the kids to safety.
Her heart broke. “He’ll have to handle the volcano alone.”
Chapter 19
Being alone sucked.
Cam had not realized how much he’d come to enjoy the intimacy formed with Kayda and the others. Younger than him, but that didn’t matter. They accepted him in their midst, made him part of their family.
A family that would be wiped out unless someone did something.
He was the outsider. The expendable one. It made him aggressive. He dropped into hunting mode. When he’d embarked on this mission, he’d not been able to use his more subtle skills. The air in the tank didn’t let him filter and find what he was looking for. The helmet also messed with him.
He had no excuse for what had happened in the basement. He must have still been weak from his wounds at the time since he’d failed so horribly to notice anything.
But he was fully healed now. Rested. Energized, and somewhat pissed. He’d found something he didn’t know he wanted. Someone to fall in love with. He just couldn’t have her.
He channeled that angry disappointment and breathed deep of the ash, no longer afraid of it or the heat. He closed his eyes and felt around him. The air currents brushing across exposed skin. The smells hinting at things burnt. And then there was the acrid one he recognized. Dragon.
I’ve got your scent now. They wouldn’t be sneaking up on him again.
Cam trod lightly on the ash, the goggles keeping it from stinging his eyes. It puffed around his feet. He’d almost reached the valley between the mountain and the next peak. Then he’d go sideways to the volcano.
But first…
He caught its scent well before it came for him with claws extended. Cam ducked and swung, the dagger he’d chosen to fight with honed with the tools in the base. Sharp enough to slice dragon flesh.
Oh, the screeching when that happened.
It flew off. But another took its place, coming at him from downwind. Yet the very shifting of the ash caused enough disturbance to alert him. He too leaped into the air, higher than most could even imagine and then slammed down.
The large dragon did not get back up.
He eliminated all the dragons that attacked, as well as some he came upon along the way. The fewer of them in the air, the better for Kayda and the kids. It only cost him a few extra minutes and some scratches.
He encountered fewer than expected. It seemed odd, especially given the number of abandoned roosts. There were piles of cracked shells larger than his head but few actual beasts. Had they moved on to another kingdom for fresher pickings? Or was it simply a lack of thriving here above ground?
Whatever the reason, it made his journey less dangerous. But still long.
It took him days to make it to the summit of the volcano, the rock hot enough to make his feet blister through his boots—and heal so they could blister again. But he kept going. The pack at his back heavy but necessary to his plan.
At the top of the volcano, he was blinded by ash and smoke. The heat of it singed his skin, dried every bit of moisture he had. He ducked under an outcropping where he had some cover and rested, waiting for night. He counted off the explosions as they happened. Two to seven minutes apart. Each
barrel full of the waste the countess had bragged about. Highly flammable and the root of all of Diamond’s problems.
He was in the right spot.
The explosions finally stopped late afternoon by his estimation. The volcano began to calm, and the ash-filled air lightened. Once night fell and he could see the stars, he rose from his hiding spot, stretching his limbs, inhaling deep to reset his olfactory senses. He trudged right to the edge of the volcano and peeked down.
Then reeled away quickly. He proved more cautious in his next glance, lying on his belly and carefully easing far enough to see over the edge.
He’d found some of the missing dragons.
Dozens of the flying creatures were highlighted by the molten glow that bubbled at the bottom. The lake of lava had to be half a mile across. Although it did seem to have a few islands, all being used as perches, every inch covered in dragons. Except for one massive beast lording it over the largest rocky outcropping in the middle of the lake.
Could it be the drake they’d set free?
It didn’t matter.
Cam couldn’t let them see him. He’d taken one of the cloaking devices, which camouflaged his presence. Still, he hurried past lest they smell him and decide he’d make a good snack.
The rim was draped in shadows, making his other senses key. He realized it was much quieter now. The earlier clanking of metals parts a subtle hum in the background.
The machine that transported the barrels of waste stopped at nightfall. Was it run on solar? Or just employees who didn’t like to work at night? Didn’t matter. It shut off at night, which meant it could be stopped. And if it stopped, the ash would, too.
Spending more time than he should watching the hypnotic display of diving dragons, he almost ran into the object of his search. He placed his hand on the metal rail. A machine built to deliver deadly cargo.
He was going to stop it. Setting his heavy backpack down finally proved a relief. He rummaged through it, pulling forth the grenades he’d found in a weapons locker. The excitement he and Gorri shared upon finding that treasure trove could only be expressed in a reverent, “Holy shit.”
Seeing the grenades had given him the idea.
He shoved the grenades in the straps of his vest, the only thing he wore other than pants and boots. Hoisting himself onto the metal track, he stood and used it as a path down the steep far side of the mountain. Partway, he came across a barrel held by a simple C-clamp, halted on its journey to the edge where it would eventually fall into the lava along with its contents.
He moved lower still and noted the squat building at the base of the conveyor. Lights glowed in the windows. The workers stopped for the night.
He unhooked the barrel and let it roll down the track. It smashed hard enough into the next that they bumped off and to the side.
Did the workers hear their doom in that rattle inside?
He unhooked the crossbow from his back and lit the tip of the quarrel already wrapped in a rag. The flaming bolt hit the barrel, and it exploded, splattering the building. Another flaming missile and everything was on fire, including the depot with the stacks of flammable barrels.
He hiked back up the second rail, and at each halted barrel, he planted grenades then ran a string through their triggers. He did that all the way to the top of the track, creating a thorough path of destruction that would halt Ruby’s evil. At least for awhile.
At the top, he held the string, knowing he’d have to sprint once he yanked it because it would start a chain reaction.
Only the sudden change in the air currents warned him. He ducked and yet still felt the swipe of claws over a bicep, drawing blood. He cursed and went to yank the string, only to have a second dragon dive in and tear it from his grip.
Oh fuck no. Cam thought of Kayda and the others in need of a miracle.
What of his sister and the Marshlands?
This had to stop.
Now.
He ran and jumped for the string on the ground just as the dragon returned. He kept hold of it as he dodged the claws. His feet teetered on the lip of the volcano. The dragon came for him, and in that moment of calm clarity, there was only one thing to do.
Even though he wasn’t clear of the blast zone, he yanked the string hard enough to pull the pins. The explosion flung him off the edge, and he plummeted for the molten surface.
At least death would be quick. He closed his eyes as he heard boom after boom.
He’d fulfilled his part of the prophecy.
Ozz was saved.
Chapter 20
She was too late.
Milo had landed the transport in the valley, but the hike up the side of the volcano had taken too long. Kayda had arrived in time to see Cam teetering on the edge, a pair of dragons in the air overhead.
Before she could warn him to run, something exploded! The momentum took him over the edge of the volcano.
“No!” she screamed.
And it was as if she yelled with more than a voice. The sound, the thought, the devastating emotion of it blew outward in a cold frost, rimming the ground around her, misting her breath.
It sent small wheeling bodies scurrying for the heat. All except for one. A single dragon pierced the icy mist falling into the volcano, a big shadow arrowing for Cam.
Was this where Cam’s prediction the dragon would eat him came true? The trembling fear and sadness in her only served to chill her further, and her lashes frosted as she fluttered them shut so she didn’t have to watch.
Kept them shut tight even as the air around her shifted when the drake landed close by.
It had shuttered its mind from her. She didn’t even know it could do that.
I can do many things when strong. The drake chose to speak.
“Go away.” She didn’t want to see the beast that had killed her lover.
I plan to, but first…
She got an impression more than words that conveyed a debt repaid. It made no sense until he spoke.
Or more like harangued. “What the fuck are you doing on the volcano?”
Her eyes flashed open. It couldn’t be…
She looked up to see Cam, slightly red and singed, his clothes partially scorched, but alive.
“You’re not dead.” Disbelief saturated the statement.
“Not I’m not, and luckily neither are you. What were you thinking coming here?”
“I came to save you.”
He might have replied if the dragon didn’t bugle. Farewell.
The massive creature didn’t so much step off as it threw itself from the edge, and she gasped to see it plummet only for a moment before the wings snapped and it headed down for the lava, its level lower than before. It was sinking, exposing a network of caves.
Uttering an ululating cry, the drake arrowed into one. Sharing a bugling call, the smaller dragons joined him.
Cam tucked her against his side and joined her in watching all the disappearing dragons.
“What’s happening?” he said.
“They’re going home,” she whispered. Lucky beasts.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Can you walk a little more tonight?” she asked.
“Do I have to?” he groaned. “I fell off a cliff and got almost eaten by a dragon you know.”
“You’re exaggerating a bit, don’t you think? You don’t even have bite marks.” She swept her hand up and down the length of him, relieved to see no holes in his flesh.
At this incredulous look, she laughed. “You should see your face right now.”
“Not funny, Kay,” he growled.
She sobered. “I know it’s not. I’m sorry. I am really grateful.”
“So grateful you won’t let me camp here,” he grumbled.”
“I know you’re tired, but what if I said you only to walk a little further to hitch a ride?”
His expression brightened. “Milo flew the ship.”
“He did.”
“And you let him come here!” He s
cowled.
“The correct response is, ‘thank you.’ Don’t you know I’d do anything for you?”
“Why?”
She could see the yearning and trepidation in him. “Because I love you, Marshlander. Even if you have a hero complex.”
“Do not.”
“Oh yes you do.” She rolled her eyes. “But I don’t mind. I’ve been searching for a hero for a long time.”
They didn’t make it far off the mountain before their pants were shoved down and he was inside her. It was a frantic lovemaking, full of harsh pants and faster thrusts.
He held her to him after as their hearts slowed and whispered, “I love you. I love you so much, Kay.”
She cupped his face. “If you ever leave me again, I will tell a dragon to eat you.”
He laughed. A happy sound. They returned to the valley and the others. The children, including the mature ones who would resent being called kids, cheered at the sight of them. They had strung out along the circumference of the field, guarding their means of escape.
Cam’s eyes shone as he was tackled in hugs.
Kayda hated to break it up, but she clapped her hands. “Everybody on that ship. It’s time we got out of here.”
“Yay!” The cheer might announce their presence, but she didn’t rebuke them. Let them finally rejoice at having hope.
Cam sat beside Milo, who piloted, but the advice tapered when he fell asleep.
The transport went as far as it could before the gas petered out. The landing proved bumpy. Their surroundings were less than promising. They were still in Diamond. A kingdom with clear skies now, but—as they learned that first night out in the wild— not all the dragons left when their king drake did.
A good thing they had Cam.
He had an uncanny sense when it came to detecting them. Often dispatching them before they even knew there was a problem. If only her father had a dozen Cams when he was trying to get them away.
She was starting to think they might just escape when they hit the impassable chasm.
Chapter 21
Cam could see the despair in Kayda’s gaze as she looked at the crevice. Too wide to cross. It was the last flake of ash that crumbled her.