I need to find Cayden.
“Saskia is still at the house. You need to get her to the wagons. That’s where the portal will be, as well as Cayden and Ryder,” I rush out. We don’t have time for arguing—Saskia and the Vareveth soldier stationed to guard the house don’t know Aestilian as we do. His unease matches mine as he presses our foreheads together. “Shoot straight.”
“Throw true.”
With the blaze at our backs, we sprint toward the town. A row of small cottages splattered with blood are nestled closely together, and Finnian and I dart into an alleyway. I leap over a corpse bleeding outat the center of it, and chaos erupts as soon as we make it through. I cast Finnian one final look before someone pummels into me. I hardly have time to register the throbbing in my shoulder before I’m surrounded by a mob of hysterical people pressing into me at all angles. Basilius successfully lit the pyre because the wispy portal shines like a beacon several yards away, and people practically claw their way to the front to get through.
Names are shouted, tears are shed, and pained screams are everywhere. The main road in town is packed so tightly with the surge of citizens that they can’t move as the beasts begin running through the buildings to pick immobile people off. I jam my elbows into those surrounding me, making my way through them like wading through thick mud, and focus on keeping my feet beneath me. Queen or commoner, whoever trips will surely be trampled.
I can’t breathe.
No matter where I turn, there’s no reprieve.
There is no escape.
We jolt forward as one, and I’m forced to step on someone beneath me. Gods, I hope they’re dead. I can’t even manage to move my arm enough to put them out of their misery if they’re still breathing.
Sweat slicks my skin, and I force the bile down my throat from the sensation of so many people touching me. Sorin flies right toward me, crying out as his green eyes lock on mine, and I manage to raise my hand high as he dives. He hovers above me, extending his claw as people begin grasping on to my shoulders, arms, any part of me to free them from this. They try climbing onto me, but I manage to stay upright. He uses his other claw to free me from them, and wraps his talons around my torso, carrying me above the crowd.
I take my first deep breath, rubbing at my ribs now that I’m safely with my dragon. “Thank you, my sweet boy.”
My eyes water as his flames engulf another hundred trees, and from this vantage point I can see just how many beasts surround us. Too many to count. More than I’ve ever seen together. He swoops back toward the ground once I spot Cayden fighting back-to-back withRyder. The Vareveth soldiers who accompanied us fight with them as a unit, but the pair of them are formidable. I wonder how many times they’ve fought like this. Cayden and Ryder move as if controlled by the same mind, not only trusting each other wholly but knowing when to aid the other without looking.
Sorin lands in the snow, placing me down gently as I draw the sword at my waist and another knife. In a brief reprieve from the creatures, Cayden turns and rushes toward me, wrapping one arm around my waist while keeping a firm grip on his sword.
“Are you hurt?” he asks, scanning me for injuries I don’t have.
Ryder runs toward us before I have the chance to respond. “Where is my sister?” he frantically asks. “Where is Finnian?”
“We had to split up, but he’s bringing her here.”
Houses along the perimeter have caught fire, and netherwraiths swallowed in flames run frantically through the village until they collapse. There is death and gore wherever I look. Claw marks mar the fallen, blood and ash decorating their demise. Sorin takes to the sky again to continue burning droves of them.
Cayden slices through another beast, splattering his boots and adding more to the crimson field littered with entrails. I throw my knife at one leaping for Ryder, giving him time to spin out of the way and stab another.
“There are too many,” I pant. “We must get everyone through the portal and follow before we’re killed. There’s no end to this until we’re home.” Cayden glances at me, and I already know what he’s going to say. “I’m not leaving you.”
I defend my kingdom because it’s my duty, but there is a feral need to protect my friends, to protect Cayden.
“I’ll throw you through the portal if I have to,” he says.
“And I’ll return on dragonback.”
I crouch low, slicing at a netherwraith’s ankles in time for Cayden to shove his sword through its skull. He raises his voice to address our soldiers, keeping his eyes on me. “I will kill all of you myself if any harm comes to the queen.”
“How sweet of you.” An arrow spears the belly of a beast and relief trickles through me. Cayden spins into his next swing, decapitating another that was leaping for him. I narrowly dodge the head and kick it away when the tongue flops out of its mouth. “Gods, that’s disgusting.”
“Sas!” Ryder shouts as she and Finnian come into view. They’re just as blood-soaked as us, but that doesn’t stop Ryder from briefly wrapping his arms around her when she’s close enough.
“A netherwraith has never made it through the mist,” I tell Cayden. “Do you think Thirwen could be responsible for this?”
Thirwen has aligned with Imirath, and the mages born there hone their power through animal familiars. The most skilled magic-wielders can slip into their animal’s mind and control them, but what if they found a way to control beasts? My blood chills. Could they find a way to control human minds? Dragons?
“We’ll figure it out once we’re home,” Cayden answers. “Fall in!” The Vareveth soldiers respond immediately, as well as at least fifteen from Aestilian, ready to receive orders and follow Cayden wherever he demands. “We need to secure the perimeter around the crowd as they escape. Take the first chance you get to enter the portal.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” they respond in unison.
“Stay close,” Ryder says to Saskia.