Page 78 of Of Scale and Blood

She gulped and lightly saluted. I didn’t respond. I didn’t like chastising people and didn’t do it often, but both she and Rua had to be made aware that there would be severe consequences if they ever disobeyed direct orders again.

By the time I’d finished, Kele had returned, the ends of her coat bunched up in front of her stomach to form a basket. “Nothing in the way of caves, but I did find a couple of butternut trees. They’re a little off full ripeness but will still be edible.”

I nodded. The butternut nuts were slightly oily but lovely and sweet, though the shells could be bastards to crack, especially if still a little green. They were also extremely good at filling an empty belly, though eating too many of them could have you running to the bathroom. “Good find.”

She dropped onto her knees and poured the nuts onto the top of my pack. “There’s no sign of life other than a bunch of birds roosting on an outcrop of rock just off the shore. Unless the gilded riders do a sweep this way, I think we’re pretty safe.”

I nodded. “Let’s create a rough shelter, then I’ll contact Esan and let them know what is happening.”

“Four-hour rotating watch shifts, as usual?”

I nodded again. The drakkons would undoubtedly sense and see anything long before we did, but it never hurt to be cautious.

By the time we’d constructed our lean-to, tiredness was riding me, and my stomach rumbled with hunger. As much as I would have loved to do nothing more than simply eat the last of my rations, then curl up on the warm sands like the drakkons and go to sleep, I couldn’t. Not yet. As Kele began cracking nuts open with her sword hilt, I dragged out the quill and tablet and scribed home.

That, came my father’s reply,suggests they plan to hit us on two fronts.

Yes,but hopefully the riders will move their barges to another location to prevent a second attack and give us more time.Though we were definitely running out of it.Are we any closer to finding a means of neutralizing their acidic spray?

The engineers have worked out a system that can spray water across the outer wall and neutralize the acid, and the earth mages believe they can alter the stone’s molecules to better enable them to withstand acidic attacks.

The latter was going to take time—probably more than what we had—but it was pointless saying what everyone already knew.Has Damon said anything about the fire transfer spell?

The cursor pulsed for several seconds before the answer came through.Damon here. I’ve asked Angola to send additional witches. That way, we can do all three drakkons at the same time.

It took a couple of seconds for his words to actually register, because my silly mind had zeroed in on the fact that he’d been in the war room, very likely waiting for word from me. Maybe I was reading too much into such a small action, but it nevertheless had my heart singing.

It’ll take them too long to get here from Angola, though.In fact, given the build-up of both the Mareritt and the riders, there was a very good chance we’d be under siege before they even got close to Esan.

No. They will be here within the day.

I frowned. Even with the strongest wind at their back, it was, at best, a two-day sea journey from Angola to Hopetown—not that they could dock there now—and from there, on the fastest, strongest coursers traveling non-stop day and night, it would take a further two to three days to reach us. All of which meant it was logistically impossible for them to arrive here that quicklyunlesshe’d called for their help almost immediately after our marriage, and at that point, we hadn’t even discussed the possibility of giving the drakkons fire.

How?

Explain later.

Frustration stirred through me, but I did my best to ignore it. His aunt no doubt lurked on the wall above them, mind snooping to gather all pertinent details to report back to Aric. While I had no idea why he’d want to keep this sort of information from his parent, maybe it was tied up with the whole “lives on the line” concerns that seemed to be the basis of all he was doing.

Including our marriage.

I take it this means you’ve sorted out the spell?

Not entirely. Risks remain.

All magic has risks.And I suspected neither Yara nor Rua would be happy to wait until we knew whether the spell was successful or not. They wanted fire…now.

Yes, but it’s theoretically possible that by giving the drakkons fire, you’ll lose yours. And, as I mentioned earlier, it remains possible that it will kill you both.

I would hate to lose my fire—I’d long depended on it as a means of protection, whether personal or when I was with my squad on scouting missions—but strangely, I wasn’t so worried about the possibility of this spell killing me. I trusted Damon. Trusted that, no matter how dangerous it might be to me, the drakkons, or—given the amount of personal strength it would take to perform a blood spell like this—himself, he wouldn’t do it unless there was a very good chance of success. No matter what his secrets, he was on our side when it came to the riders and protecting Esan. I was sure of that, even if everything else about he and I remained uncertain.

It’s a risk we’ll have to take. I paused.Not that I can speak for Kaia, or the drakkons as a whole.

There are some here who believe that by giving the drakkons fire, we are giving them the means to destroy us.

Who are these “some”? Not my parents.

No. Vaya, to name at least one. She believes we should be more cautious.

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