Page 85 of Of Steel and Scale

For the moment, we were safe. I took a deep breath and called back my flames. It was only then that I realized the ground tremors had stopped. I glanced up at the ceiling. There were a few minor cracks closer to the entrance, but dust no longer fell.

The three soldiers hunkered behind the barrier rose and turned. I recognized the one armed with the Ithican glass arrows. His name was Tayn, and he was tall and thin, with a scar across his right cheek, the result of an arrow coming a little too close for comfort during a stupid hunting game he and Garran had been playing as teenagers. I hadn’t been a part of that one, though I’d certainly witnessed the fury that had descended on Garran for taking such a stupid risk.

It had never stopped him from taking risks, though, simply because caution was not part of his nature. It was probably why he was now missing—though as heir he should have retreated, it wasn’t in his nature to do so, just as it wasn’t in my father’s or even mine.

The injured had stopped screaming and writhing, but the silence remained heavy with their pain, and the scent of their agony and burning flesh still rode the air. I hoped the shock of their wounds had simply pushed them into unconsciousness rather than death, but I feared Vahree might have already claimed at least some of their souls.

Tayn ordered the woman standing next to him to go fetch the medics, sent another soldier to check on the injured and do what he could do to help, and the surviving entrance archer back to his post before finally turning his attention to me. “Bryn, I mean, Captain Silva, that was a well-timed intervention.”

“Not timed well enough, I’m afraid, and there’s no need for formalities right now, Tayn.”

He half smiled, then glanced past me. “You’re alone?”

His surprise was barely evident but understandable, given the situation and who I was—meaning the captain of a twelve-strong scouting squad rather than a princess.

“I just came here to get an update, as you’ve no working scribes and they damaged our harbor.”

He frowned. “How did you get here, then?”

“Long story.” I glanced around as footsteps approached. It was Rudy, looking drawn and yet triumphant. “I take it the chasm idea was a success?”

“Indeed. There were three of them out there—there was no way I could have held or repaired the earth against the combined might of whatever spell they were concocting.”

Three blood witches dead was a good win for us, but I couldn’t help but wonder how many more they had tucked safely away.

“When you were feeling for the mages, did you get any idea how many others were out there?”

Kaia and I had only seen a dozen birds, but that didn’t mean there weren’t also “regular” soldiers here on the island, well hidden from even a drakkon’s keen sight. Maybe it was nothing more than wishful thinking, but surely a force of twelve, however deadly their weapons, couldn’t so totally erase a town as large as Illistin, though I guess itwaspossible some of their numbers had already left for Esan. The Black Glass Mountains were vast, and an armed force could hide up there for years without us ever spotting them.

Not that I thought we had years. Hell, I doubted we even had months.

Rudy hesitated. “There were at least five close to the entrance and an odd weight on a ledge halfway up the mountain that’s obviously a sentry point. I couldn’t feel anyone farther down the slope, but it does get harder to differentiate between the weight of trees and stone from that of man the further away we get. It’s possible they are in the forest, just standing beyond my ability to sense them.”

I glanced at Tayn. “I might head down the tunnel to investigate?—”

“We’llhead down the tunnel to investigate,” Tayn cut in. “Forgive me, Captain, but I’m more familiar with the area than you.”

I half smiled. “Fine, but I will lead the way if you don’t mind. My flames are a little more effective at wholesale destruction than your Ithican arrow.”

“Or even your sword.” He smiled and motioned me forward. “We discovered the hard way that those bastards have a long reach despite their short stature.”

I glanced at him sharply. “Do you mean the riders? Or have they a ground force here?”

The men who’d attacked us here were certainly wearing the armor, but that didn’t mean they were riders rather than regular soldiers.

“The riders, though they may well have a ground force here by now.”

I frowned. “How, though? They destroyed the harbor, and those birds are not drakkon-sized and wouldn’t be able to lift more than a couple of men.”

“There’s plenty of areas beyond the main harbor where a longship could be run aground easily enough.”

Such an action would make military sense, especially if you wanted to ensure your foe were kept unaware of the true size of your force. “Were you with Garran when the attack went down?”

He shook his head. “After your father sent word of Eastmead’s destruction and a warning to be alert for a possible attack, we enacted emergency procedures, getting everyone ready to move at short notice. I was in charge of covering the retreat, Riana’s crew were on the watchtower, and Garran the harbor guard. The latter was hit first. No boats survived, but I can’t say how Garran and his team fared. From the little I saw, the raiders seemed determined that none of us escape. They certainly weren’t taking prisoners.”

“That was their tactic at Eastmead, too.”

I slowed my pace as we entered the tunnel, my grip tightening on my sword and flames flickering around the fingers of my free hand. Like the antechamber, the tunnel’s stone was rough and uneven, and just wide enough to walk through single file, while its walls tapered to the right and up to a point. Anyone over six foot would have a painful journey if they weren’t mindful of their head.

---