Page 140 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
“Hey, calm down.” The slayer moved to put a hand on his arm. “Let’s trust that he knows best, okay?”
“Don’t,” he said.
She dropped her hand. “I’m not…I’m only trying to help. Truce, remember?”
A minute of tense silence passed as he worked through whatever bothered him. Everyone watched with fascination since the others had most likely caught the same tell-tale scents as Aidan. The lone shifter’s body language said he didn’t want Rayna to be too close to him, but hers revealed the opposite. He was the one resisting whatever was between them.
Galadon lifted his head, his gaze briefly pausing on the slayer’s face with frustrationbefore turning to Aidan. “As you wish, milord.”
“Good.” Aidan pulled back his power and released his breath. “I’ll arrange for you to have a guest room in the fortress so that you will be fully rested when the time comes.”
“And me?” Rayna asked.
“Bailey’s brother in the outer fortress village has a spare room in his house.” He gave her a grateful look for her intervention. “Tell him that I asked that you stay there for now.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him an excessive bow. “I’m sure I’ll be comfortable there.”
In other words, not too close to shifters who disliked her. The village only had humans.
“In the meantime.” Aidan ran his gaze across the assembled group. “I’m going to order the sirens be sounded in the city and every town where they’ve been repaired. People need to know danger is coming very soon.”
It was one of the many projects humans had handled during the last couple of months. The sirens could still be used in the future to alert people to tornadoes, but everyone understood that during the war, it meant incoming danger. They needed to prepare to go underground, especially since they’d discovered the fog didn’t dip downward but only rolled forward. That would prevent many humans from getting infected if the Kandoran sent a wave over the city.
“Excellent plan.” Ozara cocked her head. “You should also alert Hank so he can get the word out on the radio. People will be tuning in there for the latest news, and it will reach those who can’t hear the sirens.”
“Of course,” Aidan agreed.
He waited a moment to see if anyone had anything else to add, but they all just looked at him expectantly.
“You’re dismissed.”
All the shifters changed to their dragon forms, and Ozara picked up Rayna again. As much as he feared the battles ahead, Aidan was glad they were in the war's final days. It already felt like years had passed rather than a month.
Chapter 44
Phoebe
She paced the battlements of the fortress, nerves raw from waiting. All night, Phoebe had received regular progress reports as the massive wave of Kandoran edged closer and closer to the Taugud jakhal. The fighters to the south fought valiantly to cut their numbers down, but the enemy kept adding reinforcements to supplement their losses.
They were holding out a little better to the north, and so far, the pure dragons had prevented the Kandoran from entering Oklahoma City. The estimates for the Kandoran attacking from that direction were around ten thousand dragons—after many fell to their allies—and at least fifteen thousand infected humans. An update from the coalition commander said the remaining enemy forces were converging at the remaining section of the shield wall west of the fortress, hitting their defenses hard there as well.
It was only a matter of time before they were surrounded, and Phoebe had to sit there doing nothing. Her most significant act of the day had been sending families to the tunnels beneath the castle, where they’d remain during the night until the war finished.
Titan and Eliam flew toward her, stopping in front of the wall. They couldn’t proceed any farther without injuring themselves with the numerous spikes protruding from the stone. The Taugud fortress was designed so no dragon could fly into it without impaling some part of their body or wings. Instead of shifting and walking a considerable distance to reach her, they hovered in the air fifteen feet away.
The Kandoran have reached the mountains and will crest over them soon,Titan said.
“What about our forces?” she asked.
Eliam swished his tail.They are fighting bravely, but they are overwhelmed and have lost many. It is the same for those at the shield to the west. The coalition has used up their remaining artillery rounds to reduce enemy numbers tonight, and they’ve only held back a small number of bullets for their machine guns to use tomorrow evening.
“Do not engage in battle until the Kandoran have reached past the mountains. I will send Galadon and Rayna to assist youand a few of my sorcerers. With only three hours until dawn, we should be able to repel them until they retire for the day.”
The good thing about the Kandoran failing to get close until near the night's end was that their reserve magic user assets were fresh and able to put up the most resistance without needing to pace themselves. With the enemy penetrating so far east, they’d have to retreat earlier to reach their protected resting places.
The two shifters banked and flew away.
Phoebe hurried down the battlements and entered the castle. She found everyone she needed waiting within as ordered because she didn’t want to hunt for them when the time came.
