Page 65 of Of Steel and Scale

The words of Damon’s spell filled the air, a rich, melodious sound I could listen to all day. As before, he’d spanned the arch with the siphoned blood, added several drops from the vessel that held mine and Kele’s blood, then drew his knife and sliced open his left arm. The minute his blood joined the darkly glistening line on the stone, smoke rose and fizzed back along it. But again, there was no explosion. Instead, Damon raised a hand, and the smoke followed his movement, filling the entrance’s void. When he closed his fist, the smoke briefly solidified. Then it simply disappeared. The only indication of its existence was the slightest shimmer, and even that was fading fast. There’d been no evidence of the spell he’d raised in the olm cavern, either, but for some reason I’d just thought something this big would be at least partially visible.

Winged ones magic not, Kaia said.This no different.

I looked up at her. Dark eyes gleamed back at me, filled with what I swore looked like tolerant amusement.So the winged ones do use blood magic?

Same darkness, different feel.

Blood magic feels dark to you?

Yes.

Interesting.In what way does the winged ones’ magic feel different?

No life.

Which made sense given Damon’s magic was all about protection rather than destruction. Even if our attackersdiduse it for protection, its base—philosophy?—was very different.

I watched him walk over to the next entrance, noting the weariness that now haunted each movement and the slight gauntness in his cheeks. All magic had its costs; for blood magic, that cost was obviously physical strength. And one man could only do so much—protect so much.

Worry slipped through me, but I pushed it aside. The man would surely know his own limits, and given he appeared far more sensible than me, I doubted he’d push them too far.

I dragged the small flask from one of my packs, took a drink, and then squinted up at Kaia again.How many other drakkons are there?

Not know number of sun beasts, she said.Most nest on drifting land beyond black shore.

Sun beasts being Zephrine’s golden drakkons, and the drifting land the floating islands that lay deep in the sea beyond Zephrine’s fortress.None remain in Zephrine?

I sent her an image of the fortress, and she huffed.That place kill. They always kill.

My gut clenched.Even now?

Few remain to kill. Would.

I swore and scrubbed a hand across my eyes, trying not to think about my impending move there even as I wondered how in the wind’s name I was going to survive. No matter how attracted I was to Damon, it would never be enough. Not for me. Aric may hate Esan’s bleakness, but at least a beating heart lay underneath it. I was beginning to think that was not the case in Zephrine.

What about in theRed Ochre aeries? I sent her an image, so she knew I was talking about the mountains she called home.

Nine flights.

Images accompanied the answer—a flight was basically what we called a grace, and consisted of a queen, the other, generally younger, breeding females, a gaggle of males who vied for the attention of the smaller females, and the elders who helped tend and protect the eggs and the drakklings.

And in the Black Glass Mountains?

I knew drakkons existed here, I just had no idea how many.

Reds scattered.Warm caves big enough hard find here. Two flights known. Why ask?

Curiosity, mainly. I scrubbed a hand over my eyes. If I was doing the sums right, that meant there were twelve, maybe thirteen, queens in all, if we included her.If Damon can come up with a means of protecting drakkons, do you think any of them would trust him enough to allow the magic?

Not trust him. Trust me.

Surprise rose.They would listen to you?

Am queen.

Yes, but not the only one.

Biggest.

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