Page 286 of Of Empires and Dust

And so they sat for hours, talking of everything from Rhett, to Haem, to their parents, to Calen’s visions, and all that had happened since they’d last seen each other. Never in his life hadhe spent so long sitting with Ella and just talking. There had always seemed to be more important things, like drinking with Rist and Dann, practicing sword forms, working in the forge. In truth, everything had seemed more important than just sitting and talking with his sister. But at that moment, there was nothing in the world he wanted to do more.

After silence had settled on them for a while, Ella spoke again. “Calen, earlier, when you asked me what was wrong…”

“What is it?” Calen had never known Ella to dance around something so much in her life. She was usually as blunt as a hammer. It worried him. “Are you all right?”

“No, I’m fine.” Ella shook her head.

“Ella, talk to me.” A touch of panic settled in, and Valerys rumbled in the back of his mind.

She leaned forwards, ran her hands through her hair, and whispered to herself, then turned back to face him. “Rist is alive.”

“That’s not funny, Ella. It’s not?—”

“He’s alive, Calen. I saw him with my own eyes.”

Calen stared back at his sister, his pulse quickening. He stared into her eyes, searching. On the plateau above, Valerys lifted his head, his frills standing on end. “He can’t… I went to Berona… He wasn’t there… He?—”

“With my own eyes, Calen.” Ella clenched her jaw, and Faenir growled beside her. His head lay on his paws, his snout creasing as he bared his teeth and stared into the night. “He’s a mage. He fights for the Lorian Empire.”

“No,” Calen argued, shaking his head. “No. That’s not possible. He wouldneverfight for them. They took so much. They killed our parents.” A rage twisted in Calen, coiling in the pit of his stomach. “They killed Mam and Dad. Rist knows what they did. He would never…”

“Ask Farda. He was there.”

“And why would I believe a word out of the mouth of the man who burned our mother alive?”

“Because for some reason you don’t seem to believeme,” Ella snapped.

Calen looked back out towards the valley, his hands shaking at his sides. How could it be true? None of it made sense. How could Rist be alive? How could he be fighting for the same people who had imprisoned and tortured his parents, murdered Calen’s, and destroyed everything? “He wouldn’t…”

“I told you that when I was captured after the Battle of the Three Sisters that Farda broke me free. Probably the only decent thing he’s ever done. But there was a part I left out. Rist was there too. He’d come earlier that day with other mages. I recognised him, and he recognised me. He came back that night to rescue me.”

“Then why isn’t he here?”

“It was all chaos. I was exhausted and angry. I wasn’t in my right mind, and we needed to get out of there.”

“You left him?”

“I wasn’t in a position to leave or take anybody.” Ella twisted her tongue in her mouth. She always did that when she was trying to stop herself from getting angry. “I didn’t leave him, Calen. He stayed. There is a difference. He never asked to come with us.”

Calen pressed his hands into his face, then ran them through his hair. “None of this makes any sense. Why? I just… I don’t understand. If he was alive, why did he not come back to us? He fought at the Three Sisters? He fought for the Lorians?”

“I don’t know, but I think so.”

The rage that swelled in Calen was a tangible thing. It rose from his stomach, burning in his blood and twisting in his chest, his hands clenching into fists. His mind melded with Valerys’s, and the dragon’s fury burned with his.

“I didn’t want to say anything earlier. I wanted to talk to you first. I don’t know what to say to Lasch and Elia… if anything.”

“We need to tell them.” Calen drew in slow breaths, attempting in vain to calm the fury that swelled within him. “They need to know he’s alive. Whatever else comes with that will be dealt with. But I know what it’s like to think someone you love is dead, only to find out you’ve been lied to. Even hard truths must be swallowed.”

He looked to his sister, but in an instant, Ella’s eyes shifted to pools of gold, her pupils dilating.

Every hair on Calen’s body pricked, and he leapt to his feet, opening himself to the Spark. On the plateau above, Valerys rose, the rumble in his chest echoing through the Eyrie, Varthear, Sardakes, and Avandeer grumbling in return.

“Calm yourself, Wolfchild.” A pair of golden eyes shimmered in the darkness, gleaming. “You asked me to come to you tonight, and so here I am.”

Chapter 68

Path of the Wolf

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