Page 392 of Born of Blood and Ash

“Whoops.” My gaze went to the shard of bone the Rev haddropped. It was more like a spike. I saw then that the Revenant wore gloves.

Damn, we should’ve thought of that.

“They have Ancient bones,” I shouted as Ash withdrew hissword from a Revenant’s chest.

“I see that.” Ash grunted, sending a Revenant over hisshoulder.

I picked up the fallen bone, wincing as it burned my lefthand. I didn’t hold it for long. Without hesitation, I thrust it into theRevenant’s back, hoping it would keep the fucker dead until it was removed—likeit incapacitated a Primal.

Ash snapped the bone of a Revenant’s arm. Its Ancient-bonespike hit the rocky soil as Ash grasped him by the throat. “Where is Kolis?”

The Revenant said nothing, and energy suddenly ramped up,causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.

“I will only ask you one more time.” Ash lifted the Revenantinto the air. “Where the fuck is Kolis?”

Slowly, I turned toward the eastern mountains. White, puffyclouds thickened, darkening into steely gray before turning a deep charcoal.They rolled over the peaks and the forests of the Bonelands,casting an ominous shadow. The temperature started to drop, and I knew Ash wasonly partially responsible for it.

My heart slowed. My breathing evened out.

Awareness throbbed in my chest as eatherpulsed hotly through me.

Kolis was here.

A loud rumble echoed through the skies like heavy thunder,muffling the sharp clang of blades striking against one another.

“Finally,” Ash muttered, dropping the Revenant.

Off the cliff.

Well, that was one way to get rid of a Revenant.

A dark shadow glided through the churning clouds over thefield. My grip on the sword firmed. The pulse of death continued to flare fromthe battlefield below.

A large draken broke through theclouds, casting a foreboding shadow over the valley. I knew this draken, recognized the onyx scales that looked as if they’dbeen dipped in crimson.

Naberius.

I felt Nektas draw near as the draken’s battle-worn wings swept out, slowing his descentover the cliffs above. His hind legs touched down on the ridge above us,shaking the land when his forelegs lowered. Talons dug into the rocky ledge,sending soil and rock tumbling. The draken, with hiscrown of immense horns arching back, turned his head toward us. Snarling, hislips peeled back over sword-sharp teeth. Nab snarled and lowered himself,revealing the—wait. My mouth dropped open. There was no way, but unlessI was hallucinating, the figure in crimson astride his colossal back was Kolis.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I sheathed the shortsword. Glancing at Ash, I saw that he didn’t look surprised to see Kolis ridingthe draken.

A rush of powerful air flowed up the side of the bluffsbehind us as Nektas made his presence known. Hiswings swept over Ash’s and my heads as he landed beside us, shaking the groundand the Temple ruins. He prowled forward, wisps of smoke wafting from hisnostrils when he lifted his head toward Nab, releasing a long, low rumble ofwarning.

Nab huffed, his eyes narrowing—his crimson eyes. I stiffenedas I stared. The irises encircling the thin, vertical pupils were still red.That didn’t make any sense. All the draken—

Then it struck me, filling me with another wave ofdisbelief. What Ash had said about Naberius being asold as Kolis now made sense. Nab wasn’t a normal draken.

Naberius was the bastard’s versionof Ash’s Odin.

The true Primal of Death and the true Primal of Life didn’tride upon horses. I should’ve known that, but the information had been buriedwith all the other stuff I’d learned during my Ascension.

My eyes widened again as another realization slammed intome. That meant that when I was ready, and that cuff magically appeared, itwouldn’t be a horse I summoned—

I stopped those thoughts. Now was so not the time to focuson that.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Ash spoke, his voice calmbut each word laced with hatred.

Kolis leaned back, letting go of one of the spikesprotruding from Nab’s back. His golden hair fell over his forehead, obscuring apart of the crimson wings he’d painted on his face. How cute. Now, he matchedhis minions. “You burned my ships.”

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