Page 19 of The Cruel Dawn
It willhaveto be.
6
The sweet perfume of night-blooming jasmine wafts through the arbor, nurturing this moment of peace amid the chaos of war raging outside this canopy. We lie on the soft grass beneath a bower of old trees, Jadon’s strong hand finding my uncertain one in the dim light. The soft light of the nightstar casts silvery streaks in his dark hair. His blue eyes glow bright as pearls.
I whisper, “Jadon? What—?”
“Listen.” The one word he speaks is soft as the scented air. “I shouldn’t have lied to you, but don’t ever doubt my love. Don’t ever doubt my heart.” His eyes shimmer with devotion as he adds, “I can’t do this without you.”
“Dowhatwithout me?” I push away from him to stand. My leather breeches creak and squeeze my thighs—they no longer fit. I’m too big for my breeches.
Jadon also stands and tightens the buckles of his breastplate. The rune on his right hand—fire, water, ice, earth, each within a circle—sparks with faint light as his eyes search the sky. “Is that a ‘yes’?”
I blink at him and shake my head. “What are you talking about?” I reach for my amulet—my pendant no longer hangs from my neck. “Where—?”
I peer at the ground and search between the blades of grass. The earth rumbles beneath our feet.
Jadon draws his greatsword, Chaos, from thin air. That wide silver blade looks dull and dry, ready to soak in the blood of enemies. “Are you ready?” he asks.
“Ready? For what?”
Red-and-gold moths sweep up from the grass, crying out as they whirl around me.
“Go now, Lady!”
“You’re in danger, Lady!!”
“Lady—!”
BOOM!
The land beyond this grove explodes, flinging dirt and stone into the air.
A giant aburan, a beast in the shape of a bear that glares at me with the eyes of a man, claws through the hedges that protect this bower. Above the canopy of trees, a scavenging gerammoc—its beak crackling with lightning—soars on wings that hide the nightstar.
“Are you ready?”Jadon asks again.
I reach for Fury—Shit.My scabbard is bare. “Where’s my sword?”
The ink on Jadon’s hand flashes like the gerammoc’s lightning. “Time is life,” he shouts.
I nod. “Yes, I know, but—”
He moves closer to me, his eyes bright. “For love, for change, for all that yet breathes.”
With trembling hands, I hold his face and say, “Fight.”
He kisses me—he tastes of iron, sugar, and blood.
BOOM!
Our arbor explodes, and the ancient trees that served as protection catch fire, raining burning leaves down on us. Jadon’s marked hand also catches fire, but he smiles as smoke rolls up his arm and billows across his chest. He shouts, “Stand fast,” as his lips flicker with flame. We kiss one last time,fuck the flames, and my face—
…
It’s too early in the morning to be shouting at the top of our lungs at each other inside a stupid tent. And no matter how many rooms there are,this is still a stupid tent.
I stand with my arms crossed and my gaze locked on Zephar.
