Page 51 of Daghel

Faded eyes tear, and she sighs, a tired smile pulling at her mouth. “You hear that, Deihedra, you rotten bitch. We were right. Through Daghel, Durethikal rises and his bride has come as promised.” Her smile brightens, tears flowing down her cheeks as she turns as much as she can toward Linahna to cup her cheek in her hand as her free slides to her chest, her finger dig into what appears to be a healed wound—the healer’s work I presume—her blood flowing sluggishly as she drags out an ice-blue stone on a golden chain with a pained cry. She presses the bloody token into Linahna’s hands and my friend’s face pales in shock as her fingers curl around it. “Rise, daughter of my body, daughter of my spirit, and take back all which the gods deem as yours.”

Her hand brushes over Linahna’s clenched fist but drops away as she sighs her last breath and her eyes drift shut to closeforever. Linahna clenches her mother, sobbing her grief as I stand beside the bed with my head bowed and my heart hurting. I refuse to interrupt these last moments and do not look until my friend finally stands, brushing away her tears with her bloody hand as she loops the pendant around her neck. Her head turns to me, her expression grim.

“Let’s go get that fucking sword.”

I nod and follow her as we rush from the chambers and into the corridors as we take a direct shot for Vorn’s residence within the palace. I am rather surprised that not only are the guards notably absent in the halls but that the prince’s chambers have been left unguarded. I glance curiously at Linahna but she smiles grimly and opens the door as a sound shakes through the palace.

“Looks like they were all called away. Drisk’s timing for causing trouble is impeccable,” she observes with a chuckle as she slips inside.

I follow her in, worried that the sword will be so well hidden that our presence will be discovered before we are found. I am, therefore, surprised to see it mounted on the wall like some kind of trophy instead of hidden and secured somewhere. I exchange a glance with Linahna and the female shakes her head with a bark of scathing laughter.

“My brother always was short on intelligence and far too vain for his own good. Of course, he would display a trophy of living enemy right where someone can just… pluck it off the wall,” she says emphatically as she removes it and hands it to me.

I stare down at the sword, nonplused. “That was stupidly easy,” I remark.

“My brother is a cruel, evil bastard, but he is not the mastermind he thinks he is,” she observes dryly. “I will bet you anything that if Ajek had seen it, he would have birthed a pup on the spot. He is the cunning one between the two that you haveto watch. I guarantee he told Vorn to hide the fucking things.” She chuckles again and nods toward the sword. “Wrap that up in your cloak just in case someone spots us. Two females in the hall will draw a lot more attention if it is obvious that one of us is carrying a sword.”

I nod in agreement and wrap it snugly inside my cape and tuck the bundle tightly against my chest. Linahna watches patiently and then tips her head to the door as soon as it is secure so that we can make our escape.

“Where do we find Drisk?” I whisper from behind as we take several narrow, largely hidden, servant’s corridors.

I had never been down these halls before, but I am still a little surprised when they take us right out of the palace. I immediately shiver a little when an ice-cold wind sweeps over us and glance over at her

She glances back at me and her lips twist in a faint smile. “There is only one place near the village where a wyvern might be kept: the cavern that connects to the common gathol rookeries. This way! There is rarely anyone that loiters near the rookeries because the gathols get peevish about it, but we can likely expect guards as we get closer.”

Sure enough, the route to the cavern is remarkably clear but the commotion from within the cavern is audible so that we duck down and wait it out. And thank the gods for Drisk’s wyvern fire or else I would be a lump of ice already. I am not the least bit warm but it is better than freezing.

Eventually a group of males storm from the cavern and I recognize Vorn and Ajek at their head. Linahna’s hand tightens on her blade, but she exhales heavily and shakes her head before looking back over her shoulder at me.

“I will see to it that they all are murdered soon enough. Right now, we need to free Drisk,” she whispers, and I nod in agreement.

Although I do not doubt her ability, the odds are currently insurmountable. Daghel and Drisk need to be free.

We slip into the cavern and take the main tunnels that head deeper into the cave system but at an upward angle that lets me know that the shaft somehow connects to all the rookeries in some fashion. We duck into a side tunnel when a group of guards suddenly appear in the main tunnel, their voices echoing around them.

“Fucking wyverns. The gathols all believe that they are so superior to the rest of us. I cannot abide them. Vorn has taken them down a peg at least, but I would be happy if not a single wyvern ever returned to our peaks.”

The other males mutter in agreement and joined in, though I catch no more of the conversation as they head away from us. Linahna shakes her head in disgust as we move back out into the open and take the tunnel they left.

“Short-sighted fools. How do they think they would transport goods easily from the nearby villages, or during raids? Who looks for clan members who become lost on the snow or watch for attacks from the peaks? How do they imagine our way of life continuing without gathols much less wyverns?”

“They think of nothing, but Vorn’s promises,”Drisk’s voice rasps, echoing around us as we run down the remaining length of corridor to him.

I want to cry when I see my mate. Although he still wears his harness as if he were just captured, I know that he has suffered for many hours bound even tighter than Daghel to compensate for his great physical strength. His wings are pinned with chains at his side, and several more attached to stacked manacles around his neck. His gaze shifts to me and he croons softly as I run to him and press against his chest with a sob of relief.

“I’m getting you out of here,” I promise him, my voice wobbling with emotion as I step back and draw the sword from my cloak.

I allow the fur-lined material to drop to the floor as I brandish it and eye the nearest chain grimly. Throwing all my strength behind my swing, I strike the chain and magic flashes, nearly blinding me. I blink my eyes rapidly but, when my vision clears, I am dismayed to find that the chain is still very much intact.

I stare down at the sword dismally as Linahna groans with disappointment. “And of course here is where things get complicated.”

Chapter

Thirty-Four

DRISK

“Ican help,”I hiss, drawing her attention to me as I hold her within my stare, my heart clenching with what I must ask of her.“But I will need to access my ice fire,”I admit in a long hiss.“With it I can reforge Daghel’s sword with it, assume my true form and break from these chains.”

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