Page 27 of Of Blood and Banes
In the valley below, a black ash settles over the land like an ominous veil, reaching up to the edges of the hills and mountains. Stone buildings are either crumbling or toppled over completely. Piles of stone and brick lay buried by dust. Scattered throughout the ruins are black, withered tree trunks with mangled branches curling in on themselves. Violent, ragged lines shred the streets, as if claws tore across the town.
“What…what happened?” I murmur. “Dragonfire?”
“No. Not dragonfire,” Sethan whispers.
“Then what? Why are you showing me this?” I drag my gaze away from the decimated town and to him, terror settling in my chest like a heavy stone.
Sethan’s brown eyes are set on something in the distance. An aching sadness pulls at his brows. “Because this is all that’s left of them, and we need your help. This is what happens every time and will continue to happen if we don’t stop King Aaric.”
“What do you mean every time? What is this?”
“When I was still in the King’s Close Circle, we were dispatched to Wynnban one night. It was the closest the rebels were rumored to have ever gotten to the castle, and when we got there, it was night. There wasn’t a single person stirring—no one to fight back. We were instructed to bar the doors and set fires to the homes. Every. Single. One.” He looks down and clenches his fist. “They commanded us to leave no one alive. One home, I recognized the family’s sigil. And that’s when I knew I couldn’t do it. There were so many innocent lives—so many people who didn’t deserve such a cruel death. Children, elderly, the sick…I had to get them out. Even if I couldn’t save them all. But the fire grew so fast…toofast. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. It was almost as if it had a life of its own. As I broke through someone’s window and climbed into the house to save them, Ifelt something. The air turned cold, heavy, and sharp. As if it crackled with the electricity of a storm, despite the raging fires. I turned back to the window and watched the fire bleed through the streets at a rapid pace. The King appeared in the flames and walked through the fire without even flinching. I watched him pull a canister out and pour the liquid on his hand. He coated every inch up to his wrist. And as I watched it drip—I could be wrong—but Iswearit looked like blood. He reached into the fire and it flared brighter. Stronger. And as he moved his hand, the fire followed him as if it were…”
“Alive?” I murmur. Remembering the night I passed out in Arterias, and how the flames almost responded to each sweep of my hands.
He nods. “That night I managed to rescue the family whose house I’d broken into. We ran as fast and as far north as we could. When we got to the hills on the outskirts of town, the ground shuddered underneath our feet. We turned and saw the flames engulfing Wynbann morph from red, to blue, and then white. And as quick as it had transformed, something sucked all the flames into the center of town like the receding of a tide…”
He drifts off, staring at the demolished town before us as if he’s reliving the memory. After a few moments of silence, he blinks and shakes his head, finally looking at me. “You might not trust me. And that’s fine, because I don’t necessarily trust you, either. But we must work together if we’re going to save Arterias, the Dragon Lands, and all the dragons. Wehaveto start somewhere. And maybe you don’t believe you’re the key to all of this…maybe you think we’re wrong. But that’s all we have left—our hope. And if that means betting on you, then I suppose I’ll bet on it.”
My mouth parts as I register the information. What if all along the fire that happened in Hornwood hadn’t been the rebels, and it had actually been the King’s men? That the oneswho killed the little girl, her family, and her entire town wasn’t who I thought it was? Nausea at the thought of something so cruel churns in my stomach. The realization rushes over me and drowns out all of my senses, pulling my attention toward it.
The sword I took from the ‘rebel’ who tried to kill me and Daeja back in Hornwood had the symbol of the King’s Close Circle. I think some part of me wanted to believe a rebel had taken it from a battle they won against the Arterians. I favored that idea more than this one, a reality that sickens me to my core. Denial is a powerful negotiator—but now there’s no rejecting it. No matter how hard I try to ignore it or refuse to swallow the reality.
A low, rumbling cry splits across the vast expanse, shuddering the blood in my veins. Daeja at my side winces, tucking her head low as she squeezes her eyes shut. A’nala mirrors her discomfort, and Sethan cringes.
The menacing sound alone unnerves me. A tingle flickers in my hands, and I nearly squirm out of my skin. “What is that?”
Sethan tics his head to the side at the next ringing wail. “A ripple.”
“A ripple?”
“Yes. When a dragon is slaughtered by a magical weapon and its magic isn’t returned to the earth, it’s stuck here, somewhere…else. Trapped reliving its final moments.”
A’nala’s top lip curls up, her pupils narrowing and widening repeatedly.
Daeja shakes her head as if trying to rid the sound.“Make it stop.”
“Let’s go.” Sethan motions for me to mount Daeja, and he climbs into his saddle on A’nala’s back.
The four of us take back to the skies, and the ripple’s wails fade into the distance, replaced by the sound of the whipping wind. We land back in the forest outside of the Midkeep.
“Why have I never heard a ripple before?” I ask Sethan and slide off Daeja. “Back in Padmoor, I watched the King’s military kill a dragon. I never heard anything then?”
He works on tying up some of the loose straps from the saddle. “Had you bonded your dragon at the time?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that question. At the time, she hadn’t even hatched. I wasn’t even aware of her existence.”
“Then the reason you didn’t hear it before is because only those with magic can hear it. You can now since you and your dragon are bonded. That, and I imagine King Aaric is careful to not create ripples in his kingdom—it serves as a better reminder for us in the Dragon Lands and our people.”
“So…that creature is stuck there? For eternity?”
Sethan tosses me a side-glance. “Unlessyourelease it.”
“Me? How?”
He strides forward and holds out an open palm. “Remove your gloves, and give me your hands.”
I snort, taking a step back. Marge had mentioned the ring on my finger was tied to being a dragon rider and I should keep it hidden. But now knowing Sethan is also a dragon rider…does that make him trustworthy? I’m still unsure how I feel about him.
