Page 143 of Enchanted Crown
Esta turned her dragon head to me.Tell them what needs done. They will help.
I looked to her, wondering why she was asking this of me.You can.
You are the reason only one hostage life was lost today. Tell them what needs done, Keir.
“The tunnel needs to be collapsed,” I began. “The hostages need to be looked over. Esta’s lair needs to be checked for further weapons or traps. Check all the other lairs as well. Who knows how long she had been holed up here, how many other lairs she dared to enter. I’ll put Nyx and Zaire as the leads on that, since they are well familiar with The Drak.”
There were numerous sounds of disgust, none directed toward me, but at Morana’s cowardice and dishonor.
What do you want done with her piles of treasure?I asked Esta in the pause.
Give it to the hostages and their families.
“The treasure of Morana’s lair needs to be removed so that the other dragons can go through it and make sure nothing of theirs was stolen. Then Esta wishes to give what remains to the families of the hostages Morana took,” I continued. “And then.” I paused to swallow. “Then we cave it in. No one will ever use that lair again. No one will ever threaten Dra Skor like this again.”
Esta granted a few teams temporary entrance to The Drak and with that, Dra Skor’s shifter army got to work.
Esta flew me back over to The Drak and went to check on the hostages and her lair. Her lair with one such hostage dead. I wondered if she’d be able to stay in this lair, or if she would take Serkan’s.
As soon as Mina saw me, she moved toward us.
She looked dirty and exhausted, but I noted no burn marks on her skin. No blisters like Morana had. “Are you all right, Mina?”
She gave her head a shake as she patted my arm. “I am shaken up, otherwise fine. What was all the noise? Did you find her?”
“Morana has been dealt with. A death without honor.”
Her eyes welled with tears, so I reached out to give the poor woman a hug.
As I did so, the farmer Ronan gave me a nod. “Thank you, Prince Keiran.”
“Thank you for fighting with us, for warning us, though I do regret you all had to be here.”
Esta in her human form moved to check on each person. The hostage who had died was covered with a blanket, waiting to be taken to the castle. Learning from the remaining hostages how Morana had been starving them, she immediately ordered food be brought to The Drak for them. She insisted they stay at least the night in the castle infirmary for observation.
Within the hour, we stood near the purple lake and watched as the land and winged shifters alike worked to cave in Morana’s lair. They used rocks first to close in the tunnel, then the winged dragons and land dragons smashed the cave from the top.
I smiled as I watched Kian, who had arrived only a few minutes ago, throw his monstrous body into the side of the cave, dirt and dust falling under his weight.
At one point it got aggressive enough we had to call the rest of the shifters off, as we didn’t want to cave in any of the other lairs in the area, only this specific one. From that point on, the winged dragons took turns dropping down onto the top of the cave and crushing it.
And then finally, with a final land from Jagen, Morana’s lair finally gave out, the cave collapsing.
Every shifter cheered in that moment. I did as well, but I found I was taking in huge pulls of air, glad that the threat was finally gone. A huge problem taken care of. I wished like hell it hadn’t had to end with both Morana and Oziel’s deaths within hours of oneanother, Oziel’s entirely unnecessary, but in the end, he had made his choice. As had Morana.
This darkness had started with one person. One person who could recognize it in others and use and manipulate that to her advantage. She fed on that darkness within herself and others until she used it to attempt to destroy Dra Skor from the inside out.
And though she may have been successful dividing Dra Skor in life, as I sat on a boulder to catch my breath for a moment and watched the army of shifters work and move around me, I decided she had united Dra Skor in death. United it against her. The real enemy within.
The rather intelligent enemy who had always had a way out, but in the end found none.
Dra Skor was victorious. And so long as there was blood in my veins and breath in my lungs, it always would be. The scars would remain, as would the pain of those we lost, but the war was finally over.
We need to get you home,Esta said from her dragon form.
I can’t shift my wings back,I admitted to her. The pain from where I was stabbed was still too great.
Leave them out,she demanded.It doesn’t matter.The distraction of when they shifted forward might have very well saved your life. It was exactly the distraction we needed.
