Page 40 of Of Steel and Scale

Would you be able to find him again?

Could. Why?

We need to see who kills your kin and mine.

She considered this for a moment.I help. When?

Need to find our missing men first.

After heal Gria?

I hesitated.First we need to head up to the Beak to see if the gilded ones roost nearby.

Beak?

I sent her an image.

Not seen before.

Unless she flew out across the seas—and few drakkons did these days—she likely wouldn’t.I’ll come to you and Gria as soon as I can.

Hurry. Hates waiting.

I couldn’t help but grin. Impatience very obviously was another emotion drakkons shared with humans.

Hunt now,she added.Gria hungry.

Has your wing fully repaired?I asked, surprised.

Some healed. Membrane loose. Flight still unstable.

I’ll fix that when I fix Gria.

Good.

As the mental connection faded, I refocused on Damon and updated him. “She tore one of the riders off during the attack. He wouldn’t have survived the bite or the fall, but if we can find his body?—”

“We can finally get some idea as to who is behind the attacks,” Damon finished for me. “Do you know where we’ll find him?

“The queen said she’d show me.” I hitched my pack into a more comfortable position and walked on. “The birds do have one weak point, though—their underbellies aren’t covered by the feathered armor. She just couldn’t get close enough to take full advantage of it.”

“Should we scribe Esan?” Kele asked. “The sooner they get a description, the better chance they’ll have of designing a counter.”

“The pen won’t work this deep into the mountain. We’ll have to wait until we’re closer to the Beak.”

“Well, that’s damn inconvenient,” Kele said.

“If that’s the only inconvenience we strike under these mountains,” Damon said dryly. “I’ll consider us lucky.”

“A truth I’m unable to argue with, sadly,” she replied.

I felt rather than saw the sharp rise in Damon’s amusement—another indicator of our growing connection. “And do you argue often?”

Kele chuckled. “Why do you think I’ve never gotten my captain pips?”

She actuallyhadbeen offered a promotion, but it would have meant moving to another regiment, as it had for me, and in the end, she hadn’t wanted to leave her many friends there.

It had taken several long, heartfelt drinking sessions between the two of us before she’d reached that conclusion, though.

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