Page 18 of Of Scale and Blood

“The latter we were already aware of, but we need to develop a means of firing the water with far greater accuracyanddistance than our current hoses are capable of,” I said. “We could certainly pump water onto the walls to protect the stone, but that doesn’t help anyone manning them if those things attack en masse.”

“Using air mages to create a shield of wind and rain should certainly take care of both their ridersandany acid cloud their mages send our way,” Damon said.

“Yes,” I said, glancing at him. “But these bastards are brutal enough to sacrifice one attack force to ensure a secondary assault from a different direction is successful.”

“Air mages are a finite resource,” Vaya added. “And let’s face it, it’s not like Zephrine will send us some of theirs.”

“Indeed,” Damon said, in somewhat dark amusement. “Sharing is not a word that often enters my father’s vocabulary or indeed his thoughts.”

“Which is why I’ve set the engineers the task of designing a safe means of flooding the walls while protecting our soldiers,” my father said. “It’s also why we’re re-establishing watch stations on the peaks.”

My gaze snapped toward his. “I hope you placed them well away from the drakkons.”

“I thought you said they don’t eat humans?” Jarin said.

“They don’t. But if they feel threatened, they’ll certainly sweep you up and spit you out.”

“Charming.”

“It’s a more humane fate than we probably deserve, considering what we’ve done to them over the centuries,” Damon commented mildly. “Remember, it wasn’t only the so-called threat to human population that saw their near eradication, but also the value we placed on the ivory of their horns and claws.”

And in some of the wilder parts of Arleeon, that ivory wasstilla greatly sought after commodity for both medicineandjewelry.

Jarin grunted, though I wasn’t sure if it meant agreement or not. His expression was more annoyed than contrite, though I think its cause was more Damon’s gentle chastisement than any real disagreement with what was said.

“We’ve only reestablished two so far,” Rion said. “One at Brimstone’s Pass, and the other at Crooked Thumb.”

I nodded. Both were situated well away from the aerie’s entrances and the drakkons’ usual hunting grounds, and the Thumb also had an additional advantage—it overlooked the Eastern Sea and the sweep of mountains past the Beak, where the riders were establishing a series of look-out points. Keeping an eye on their movements was vital.

Of course, it’d be even better to get rid of the bastards, but to do that might well prompt a full-on assault we weren’t yet prepared for. We needed as much time as we could get for our earth and air mages to find a way of countering their weapons without draining so much of their own energy that they killed themselves.

“Anything else, Captain?” my father added.

I hesitated. “What news of Jakarra?”

What news of Garran, my cousin, and his heir?is what I really wanted to ask. And the flicker in his eyes suggested he was well aware of that.

“Nothing more than what is known to date. We’ve begun evacuating women and children from the Helvede caverns, using a newly created tunnel that exits at the closest point to Zergon.”

If Rudy—who was the only earth mage left on Jakarra—had created that tunnel in the short space of time since I’d seen him, he was far more powerful than he’d let on.

“Your mother,” he continued, “is helping to register and settle the first intake.”

No doubt hoping to get news of her sister, Glenda, who was Garran’s mother. “Was Hanna in the first intake?”

“No. She wished to remain on the island until news is had of Garran.”

While that was understandable, it was also very risky given she now had their infant son to worry about.

I stepped back, then hesitated yet again. “Could a message be sent to Hannity Gordan this evening, asking if she’s interested in becoming a drakkon rider? If she is, can you order her to meet Kele and me at the stables an hour after sunrise? Our new queen has decided Kele is to be her fire weapon, so Rua will need another rider.”

“New queen?” Vaya said as she returned. “We’ve more drakkons?”

“Kaia brought the Hopetown aerie back here for safety reasons,” my father replied before I could. “What response from Hopetown?”

“They’ve begun evacuations. Their earth mages spent the day hollowing out the hills surrounding the city and will continue to do so during the night. They should have multiple shelters done within two days.”

And if they’d started the shelters when they should have, they would have been ready to be used by now. “The earth mounds won’t stop the acid.”

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