Page 389 of Born of Blood and Ash

“I would target you in battle,” I said. “If I knew someoneon Kolis’s side had just Ascended into Primalhood,I would go after them. Not only because they would be vulnerable but because itwould make others vulnerable. We would seek to protect you. That’s why Saioncannot be on the battlefield.”

Lailah’s mouth opened, but after a moment, it closed.

“I know it’s hard not to be out there when your brother andthose you care about are.” I held her gaze. “Just as it is hard for Aios, Ione, and Penellaphe. Andif you hadn’t just Ascended, we would have you out there instead of Bele.”

Bele scowled. “Rude.”

“However, as Nyktos said, we needto do everything we can to lessen the impact on the mortal realm,” I told her.“That is why we seized the other Courts. Not just to gain more numbers but alsoto prevent the Primals from fighting and adding tothe harm that we—that I—have already caused.”

I could feel Ash’s gaze on me as I watched Lailah. Secondsticked by, and then she finally exhaled heavily and nodded.

The meeting continued. Further plans were established.Draken blood had been drawn and sealed in the basalt vials. The bone chainswere already deep underground in Oak Ambler, and once we were done with ourdiscussions, I spent the better part of the day with Reaver and Jadis, soakingin as much time as I could with them while practicing finding Nektas’s imprint and communicating with him.

I was sure after about fifteen minutes he wanted to throw meout a window.

Then we all had dinner together, a fine current of uneasehumming under each laugh and smile. Ash and I made love, and each kiss, everysigh carried with it the hum of dread fueled by the knowledge that if we failedtomorrow, we would lose…

Our children.

Each other.

Our future.

Those we cared for.

Everything.

CHAPTERSIXTY-ONE

Ash and I stood in silence among the thick,gnarled roots of the sweeping trees that jutted out from the sides of the rockybluffs overlooking the coast of the sun-speckled Bonelands.The absence of birds singing or even the rustle of the smallest critters movingthrough the heavy foliage left only the sound of the salty breeze rattling theleaves.

My gaze swept over the land below surrounded by the bluffsand the dense forests bordering the fields. The wind whispered over the rockyhills and flowed through the valley, but the tall, thin, purple-and-redwildflowers that bloomed from the soil that cradled the bones of gods andmortals were still. So was the knee-high grass. It was almost as if the winddidn’t dare disturb the final resting place of the long-forgotten warriors thathad fallen like leaves in an unforgiving autumn during the battle with theAncients.

Under the sword strapped to my back, a chill tiptoed down myspine. “I don’t remember this place being so…”

Ash’s hand tightened around mine, and he tore his gaze fromthe horizon. “What?”

“Creepy,” I murmured.

“It only feels that way because you know what took placehere,” he said, a strand of hair that had escaped the knot at his nape blowingacross his cheek.

“That and all the dead bodies in the ground,” I pointed out.“How many do you think are buried here?”

“Tens of thousands.”

Gods.

I swallowed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.”

Ash’s chuckle tugged at my lips as I eyed the forest. To theuntrained or unsuspecting eye, it appeared as if Ash and I stood alone on thebluffs.

That was not the case.

The trees were so thick that only the thinnest rays ofsunlight penetrated the depths, but every so often, I caught a brief reflectionbouncing off our regiment’s sharpened shadowstoneswords where they waited to the east. Just as we’d discussed, our ships layshrouded in the heavy mists bordering the SkotosMountains. Tucked within the embrace of the jagged cliffs and within the cavesbeneath us, Attes stood with the bulk of our armies,their discipline ensuring no clank of armor nor murmur betrayed them. Seven ofour draken were nestled among the crags of thecliffs, their scales blurring the line between rock and beast. Bele and Rhain,along with Thierran and a smaller regiment, werehidden in the trees along the bluff we stood upon.

I took a deep breath and held it for the count of five as Iturned my attention to the ancient, sprawling Temple on the bluff to our right.The thing was massive, the length the same as the House of Haides.

“It was one of the first Temples erected,” Ash said,following my gaze. “Where Ancients once greeted mortals.”

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