Page 411 of Kingdoms of Night

Rhianne’s magic fell short of the ship and Dame, the sparks dying in the white foam of the sea.

“I’ll keep trying as you row to shore,” Rhianne said to Werian.

He kissed her, dipping her backward dramatically. “Thank you, my warrior witch queen.”

She smiled, then turned her focus to the first of the fight as Isa took her turn to slip over the ship’s side and onto the ladder leading down to the bobbing skiff.

Twisting as she climbed down, she watched the Brunes’ men charge into the forest, axes and swords in hand. She put her free hand to her stomach. Nico was nowhere to be seen in the chaos of disembarking. He was most likely at the prow, wanting a good view. She wanted to hug him one more time before leaving the ship, but maybe it was better that he was distracted. The skiff bobbed as she dropped onto one of the plank seats, a sailor giving her a hand. Sitting on the end near a slim sailor with no less than three large knives on his belt, she tried to steel herself for battle.

Isa ran over the beach, the afternoon sun making the sand blindingly bright. She glanced over her shoulder to see Werian loosing an arrow at the lapis-lazuli-blue dragon flying over the tree line near the Brunes’ drop-off point. The dragon shrieked, shaking its sapphire wings, then it veered westward. Isa wasn’t certain if it had been hit or merely scared off course temporarily. Werian nocked another arrow.

On the far side of their own skiff, Rhianne’s magic crackled from the end of her wand and shot toward Dame Brune.

Where had Seigneur disappeared to?

John and Eamon could surely have run faster than her with their longer legs, but they kept pace with her as they wove through the thick forest and the tangling ferns. Dew soaked Isa’s skirts and boots and her lungs burned with the effort of running and jumping.

“Do you feel anything?” Sweat dripped from John’s stubbled chin as the big man drew up beside her.

Did she? “Not yet, I don’t think. I truly hope I’m not dragging you two into something really, really bad.”

“We like really bad,” Eamon said, chuckling as they rounded a bubbling creek and rushed up a rise of rocky ground. “It’s our usual.”

John huffed a laugh and ducked under an oak’s low limb. “Anything less is boring.”

Isa shook her head and began to tell them about an adventure she’d had once before the indenture, but a shout and a wail stopped her. She went quiet.

Eamon pushed his hair out of his eyes. “What was that?”

“Something is happening at the village. I didn’t see Seigneur Brune on the ship or the shore, so it might be him, attacking them with his crew.”

The three of them started running again, heading toward the village.

“What could he use to fight these elves? The dragon is still over there…” John jerked his head.

Isa looked up to see the dragon making a wide circle over the beach where they’d pulled ashore. The creature roared and the sound carved a hole in Isa’s middle. Legs trembling, she forced herself to keep on. She eyed the dragon again, and just before it disappeared behind the trees, she noticed a slash through its wing and a line of blood dripping through the air behind it.

“Seems like Prince Werian hit it again. What will it take to get that thing on the ground?” she asked.

“Dragons are the toughest of any creature,” John said. “Our captain’s job isn’t an easy one.”

They ran headlong into the dryad village, then stopped abruptly.

A massive oak had come to life and was ripping up homes and throwing people across the ground.

No, it wasn’t a tree. It was Viridi.

His arms were lengthy branches with knife-sharp tips. Where his black hair had been, now there were only oaken leaves and tall, spindly twigs reaching from his head toward the forest canopy above. His legs and feet weren’t elven anymore; they’d changed into trunks and roots that slid over the earth like great snakes, the sound horrifying and unlike anything she’d ever heard.

He spun toward them. His eyes had turned white again.

Going still, he stared at her. A shudder rippled through his tree form.

He opened his mouth, his lips dark wood. “Mine.” His voice echoed through the forest and rumbled through Isa’s ears. One of his branches shot out and grew around her like a cage, leaves sprouting everywhere. The scent of freshly turned earth was overpowering.

“No. Viridi. They’re coming. The Brunes with their dragon and their fire. They’re here. You have to fight them, not your own people. Viridi!”

A strange heat built in her chest and spread through her limbs. Her back ached like she’d been hit even though he’d only protected her in his mad way, not hurt her. She held out her hands to see her fingertips shift into emerald talons.

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