Page 90 of Ash and Feather

Most of them were looking toward the east, where two figures loomed on an adjacent hilltop, looking down on them. These figures were the only ones speaking above a hushed tone. Calling out orders, it sounded like; I could make out their imposing voices, but individual words were difficult to decipher over the distance and the sound of my own pounding heart.

Who were they?

I started toward them to get a closer look, but an arm closed around my waist and pulled me backward.

I nearly cried out. Dravyn clamped his hand over my mouth before I could. I immediately recognized his scent along withhis energy… I would have recognized him sooner, but something about those distant figures had me entirely too rattled to focus my senses.

Dravyn dragged me away from the tents and the camp, far away from the dark figures and everything else, waiting until we reached the cover of a shallow cave before he spoke.

“There are already more elves here than we expected. Mai’s gone above to get a clearer picture of things.” He cast a worried glance skyward.

I followed his lead, searching the moonlit clouds for flashing scales or other signs of her favored serpentine dragon form.

“They seem to be stealing their way in from all directions,” Dravyn continued. “It looks like tonight is going to be more than just a small, strategic strike.”

I settled my rattled nerves and told him what Cillian had said—though I still didn’t understand what he’d meant by tonight being about more than just blowing things up. How much more? And what other rebels were coming?

Was Andrel here?

Was my sister here?

“What should we do?” I wondered aloud.

“Valas is already moving toward the outer defenses of Mindoth. Whatever the planned attack against this keep is, we’re going to try and soften it. Maybe warn the humans who will listen. Hopefully, we can prevent a complete massacre.”

I nodded, but I didn’t follow him as he started toward what I presumed were those outer defenses. I was frozen, looking in the direction of Cillian’s tent.

I don’t know why.

What was I hoping for? That Cillian would come racing over the hill, begging me to stop, telling me he was sorry and that he wanted to find a way to secure peace after all?

I stared at my boots, feeling foolish for even letting such a thought enter my mind.

“Are you all right?” Dravyn asked, softly.

No.

I lifted my head and set off at a brisk pace. “Let’s keep moving.”

I could sense his concern—it settled like a second layer over my own thoughts—but he didn’t ask for any more details. Later, maybe.

After we survived this night that was spiraling rapidly into our worst-imagined scenarios.

We raced through the forest, eventually making our way out of the trees and onto a plain covered in long, swaying grass that appeared pale blue in the moonlight.

Here, I got my first clear look at Mindoth’s Keep in the distance.

With no trees or hills obscuring the view, I could see just how impressively wide its footprint sprawled. More buildings than I could count crowded the peninsula. High stone walls cut the compound off from the rest of the kingdom, their wide tops lined with torches and flags that fluttered in the humid breeze. The air smelled of salty sea and smoking chimneys. A warning bell was ringing somewhere deep within the heart of the training grounds, each of its echoing peals urging my pulse to skip a little faster.

I looked skyward again. This time, I caught a glimpse of gold weaving in-between the clouds.

Mairu shifted her scales to a mixture of pale amethyst and deep blue—blending better with the night sky above—as she descended to earth. The ground trembled as she touched down.

By the time we made our way over to her, she was sliding out of her dragon form and back into her humanoid one, though parts of her skin retained shimmering scales of purple and blue.Like armor. Like she was preparing for war, even though we’d all agreed to avoid it by any means necessary.

“We have a decision to make,” she told us, frowning as she caught me staring at the beautiful patch of violet scales along her throat. “The situation is escalating beyond what we expected. If we intervene, we’ll be committing to a bloody battle, it looks like.”

Shades of fiery red flashed in my vision as Cillian’s question whispered through my thoughts.

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