Page 116 of Queen of Legends and Lies
Celeste snarls in frustration and gives Dame’s side a vicious kick.
An unnatural gale shrieks across the courtyard, staggering both friend and foe. Wings twist and become useless. Moise and Serle hold tight, struggling to stay in place as their mounts are thrown about.
I pivot to find Alannah standing at the edge of the chaos, frail arms outstretched and nearly white hair whipping about her lined face.
The dowager queen’s emerald dress snaps and billows as she summons a ferocious wind, disrupting the traitors’ spells and buffeting the dragons’ wings. I stare in awe at the raw power she wields, the strength of will that keeps her on her feet despite her age and grief.
In that moment, she is a figure of legend, a queen of old reborn.
As before, her presence rallies the other air users. The winds grow stronger, beating the fires back.
But even legends can fall. Alannah sways, the gale faltering. I sprint to her side just as her knees buckle, catching her before she crumples to the ground. Up close, her skin is papery, her breathing labored.
She’s killing herself to give us a chance. She’s going to burn out.
“I can’t…keep this up…much longer,” she wheezes, clutching my arm with a trembling hand. Her sharp brown eyes drill into mine. “Lark, you must…stop them. No matter…the cost. Do not let them…take our dragons.”
Magic flares across the courtyard as Moise, Serle, and Celeste combine their power into a vicious blast aimed straight at Sterling.
Too late, I realize their plan.
With me distracted, they’re going after the one I love most.
“No!” The scream rips from my throat as three separate strands of magic—Serle’s water and Moise’s and Celeste’s air—slam into Sterling. He’s hurled against the castle wall with a sickening crunch.
He crumples to the ground, dark hair obscuring his face.
I race toward him, but before I can reach him, a fiery wall blazes up between us, singeing my hair and forcing me back.
The dragons have rejoined the attack.
Kaida, Tanwen, Dame, and Chirean rear up as one, their massive jaws gaping wide. Fire spews forth in blistering torrents, engulfing the courtyard in heat and smoke.
They’re aiming for Sterling too.
Out of sheer desperation, I thrust out my hands, my own magic surging to meet the inferno.
It’s like trying to hold back a tsunami with a paper shield.
The dragons’ fire is relentless. A living, roaring thing that devours everything in its path. I pour every ounce of strength into containing the inferno, but I can tell I’m weakening and my control’s slipping.
Through the shimmering haze, I catch a glimpse of Eldor atop Kaida’s back, his body bound by ropes.
His eyes meet mine. And to my horror, blackness swirls in their depths, the expressive russet hue darkening.
My gaze darts to the well at the center of the courtyard that provides the palace’s drinking water. That would explain how Moise poisoned the prison guards so easily.
The dragons are an impassable wall of flame and fury, blocking the path between me and salvation. As the inferno rages on and my strength wanes, icy fingers of despair tear into my chest.
“Grandfather!” I scream. “Fight the corruption! Don’t let them control you!”
For a second, when those black-streaked eyes widen, I see a flicker of the man I love. Then Kaida lunges, belching fire, and the connection vanishes. I dodge and roll, hurling my own flames to counter the attack.
Sterling is down but not out.
His massive shield of ice shimmers along the wall. He repairs it after each assault, but I can tell he’s weakening.
I need to save him first. I can cure Eldor later.
