Page 77 of The Storm of the Empire

“He’s a friend of Jaxus’,” Nyx said exchanging a look with Zaria. “How does Luka know him?”

“Luka met him on his voyage to storm. He was first mate on the ship.”

Nyx looked ashen and turned to Zaria. “We need to wake Jaxus and Kiera. They need to be here for this. Let me go.”

I grabbed him. “Please, let me get through this. It gets so much worse.”

“I’ll go get them.” Zaria changed and left in a hurry.

“What is worse?”

“There is more to the story, but we found what looks to be an army of the undead amassing on Damona Island” My words went off like a bomb.

Nyx’s expression worked through a wave of emotions. “Where? That’s an active port. We would have had reports.”

“No, not at the main port. There is what used to be a temple, long abandoned, on the coast to the West side of Damona Island.”

“That’s all cliff face. No ship can dock there.”

“Or so we thought.”

“How did you even get there?” Nyx sat back like he was trying to process all the information I’d given him.

We didn’t have time for anything more before Zaria returned with Jaxus and Kiera. They greeted me warmly, but everyone wanted to get more information, so the niceties were soon put aside.Nyx filled them in while Zaria made tea. And before Nyx finished, a cook brought in an assortment of breakfast foods they must have called for on their way here.

“Tell me how my old friend Faolan is doing,” Jaxus said with a small smile.

“How do you know Faolan?” I couldn’t believe the connection.

“He’s like a brother to me,” Jaxus said with a measure of pride that made me question my opinion of Faolan. He hadn’t exactly done anything that made me suspicious of him other than being on the boat and knowing Luka. But hearing that he was so important to Jaxus changed things slightly. It left even more questions, too.

I suddenly thought of something that didn’t fit. “Wait.” I turned to Jaxus. “I thought you came from a fringe village with no other dragons. Faolan is a dragon.” It wasn’t a question, more of an accusation.

Jaxus opened his mouth, then closed it and sighed, looking down at his hands.

Kiera smoothed her hand over his shoulder in a soothing gesture, and he nodded to her. She looked at me. “I will have to tell you that story because these three are bound by an oath and cannot.”

I frowned. “An oath?”

“Jaxus is from a place hidden away from the kingdoms.” She took his hand in hers. “It’s a land of only dragons hidden in the Wild Mountains called Kerani. Faolan is from there, too.”

I drew in a sharp breath and pressed my hand to my chest. “How can this be?”

“I know it seems unfathomable, but it is true, I’ve seen it myself.”

“So why can’t they talk about it?” I asked, taking in the stricken faces of Jaxus, Nyx and Zaria. They looked almost fearful of the information Kiera was sharing.

“After the attack on the flight in the Second Kingdom, Nyx and Zaria were making an escape and headed into the Wild Mountains to evade pursuit. Nyx was injured, and Zaria had no choice but to set them down within the mountain range itself.”

I gasped. “Nothing can survive in there!” I knew from having grown up adjacent to the mountains. The storms kept even our kind out. There was magic in the mountains that didn’t want fae there.

“That’s just part of the protection they use to conceal themselves from the reach of the King,” Kiera informed me. “They’ve been there since the unification of the kingdoms, hiding away from the new order they disagreed with. And they will keep it that way at any cost. Hence the oath they had to swear to be allowed to leave.”

“And you didn’t?”

“When Jaxus took me there, we were told we could never leave, so I was not made to swear any such oath. We escaped with Faolan, so he and I are not bound to silence. Although we keep the secret nevertheless.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

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