Page 105 of Blood of the Stars

Riveran and Gaeren exchanged glances.

“Your father asked me to get you to safety,” Gaeren lied.

Riveran frowned, but at least the boy came to Gaeren. He lifted the boy in his arms, surprised at how light he was. The boy instinctively snuggled against Gaeren, allowing Gaeren’s cloak to wrap around them both.

“How old are you?”

“Three. I’ll be four next moon. Da’s going to teach me to ride his horse.”

Riveran looked away, swallowing hard. Even Gaeren felt a lump in his throat. Hopefully there were other survivors who could take on the task of explaining what happened to his father. For now, they had to find a safe place. But where was a safe place in the midst of all this death?

A low rumble interrupted Gaeren’s thoughts. The boy whimpered in his arms, and Riveran’s eyes widened.

“The southern gate,” Riveran suggested, nodding toward the edge of the forest. They’d come almost halfway through the city, and the gate to the south was closer than the east or west. But were the woods any safer? Durriken hadn’t touched them yet, so Gaeren had to believe they could be.

The two men ran, tripping over debris, and soon the infant’s cries drowned out any warning they might have of the dragon’s approach. As they squeezed through the fallen gate, Gaeren glanced back. A dark figure loomed in the sky, finally below the clouds, but far enough away that they should be safe.

They climbed the valley’s edge until they reached the tree line, grateful for the cover—not just from the dragon but from the rain. Riveran paced, hushing the baby and singing to it, distracting Gaeren for another surprising moment.

“This is the road to Grandpa’s.” The boy gazed down the path deeper into the forest.

“How far away does he live?” Riveran asked.

The boy shrugged. “We always get there before lunch. Mama doesn’t even have to stop to feed Adella.”

Gaeren glanced back at Islara. There was nothing there for them anyway. He needed to get to Orra. He needed Orra to trace Daisy again.

“I could take them and meet you back here,” Riveran offered.

“What if I don’t stay here?” Gaeren asked. “I have to keep going if Daisy keeps going.”

Riveran frowned in thought, but a flutter of wings exploded from the trees, and Gullet landed on his shoulder.

Gaeren couldn’t help grinning. Despite all that had just happened, the hawk had found them. And solved their problem. “He’s making it harder for me to hate him.”

A strange look crossed Riveran’s face, and Gaeren realized he could say the same about his old friend.

“We can regroup tonight,” Gaeren said, passing the little boy off to Riveran.

“I’ll send Gullet as soon as I reach the cabin,” Riveran said.

“May the Sun’s light always shine upon you,” Gaeren murmured.

Riveran’s eyes flashed with hope at the farewell. “And may the Stars’ light always guide you.”

Gaeren turned before he could examine the meaning behind the words too closely. The dragon still circled the town as if it sensed there had recently been people there, alive. Gaeren eyed the woods to the west, wondering if he could skirt Islara and meet back up with Orra without having to go back through the city’s remains.

A flash of movement in the distance caught his eye, and he squinted toward the blackened city. Several forms darted in and out of the buildings. More survivors? He tensed as the people progressed deeper into the city. They weren’t trying to escape, so maybe they weren’t from Islara.

“Daisy,” Gaeren breathed out before taking off down the hill, back toward the city and the dragon that had demolished it.

CHAPTER 43

Aeliana and Lukai entered the fourth building on their street and still found no survivors. Panic clawed up her throat at the massive devastation. Holm had said thousands lived here, and thousands more had been gathering on the eastern edges to form an army. Were they all dead?

Lukai’s shoulders slumped as they met back at the front door. Only the frame remained around it, but habit and the obstacle of surrounding rubble had still made them open the door and walk through. Lukai’s face held weary lines, drawing Aeliana out of her fears enough to remember that Lukai knew these people. Maybe he’d been to this home before its destruction.

Somehow his grief made her braver. She had no right to be swallowed up in anxiety when everyone else here had lost so much more.

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