Page 67 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
That would be true in the beginning, but if the war dragged on long, we’d likely slow from injuries and exhaustion by the end of fighting each day.
An older woman toward the front stood. “What is the latest estimate on how large that army will be?”
Sabryn looked at me since I was the one who stayed in contact with the NAC, which sent spy planes to observe the west from far above where dragons or sorcerers couldn’t reach. They gave us our best intelligence.
I stood. “At last count, they think there are about sixty thousand dragons and two hundred thousand humans. They still only see three active sorcerers, but weaker ones could be mixed in there and difficult to identify.”
We still didn’t know what happened to the sorcerers who’d lived in that territory before. Kade suspected they were somehow used to fuel the Kandoran shield wall, but he couldn’t prove it. There were still so many unknown variables.
The woman’s eyes rounded, and she looked between Sabryn and me. “What difference is killing a few of those dragons going to make if there’s that many?”
Sabryn answered, to my relief. “The volunteers here in Norman will be helping fuel the shield stones nearest to us. Other sections could go down, but our goal is to keep ours up as long as possible. The Kandoran are highly unlikely to concentrate their forces on one location. They’ll likely spread them out and attack places north and south of here to prevent us from flanking them. We need to prevent those that attack our front line from breaking through and buy as much time as possible for our fighters to finish them.”
She left out that she and Falcon would be making this same speech up and down the line of Taugud territory to get volunteers farther out. They would also consult with other pendragons to get them to do the same thing because strengthening the shield everywhere was important.
Falcon spoke in a firm tone next, “For those of you who will not be fighting, this is the single most important contribution you can make. It provides a way to protect your friends and family that makes a real difference. Even though we will be sheddingourblood on the battlefield, we are also donating it to power the shield. The question you should ask yourselves and your community is, why wouldn’t you offer such a small sacrifice?”
Murmurs ran across the room. He had a valid point, and they had to see that.
The two shifters finished their part, and then I was called forward. One of the reasons I avoided the meetings was that I hated standing before so many people.It still made me nervous despite being elevated to a pendragon’s mate.
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. If I could fight dragons, I could do this. Forcing confidence into my voice, I updated everyone about the rebels and how we’d disbanded them. Then, I gave an update I’d received from the NAC during my last call a few days before.
“They will be arriving sometime next week,” I said, unable to give a specific date since they wouldn’t tell me that for security reasons. “We will have the advantage of modern weaponry spelled with magic to help fight against the dragons. Those worried about the Kandoran numbers should keep that in mind because we can take down a lot with the right munitions and strategies.”
Not that I could get into those details here, either. The fewer who knew, the better, and even I didn’t know everything. They only told me what I needed to know for planning.
“Where will they be staying?” a young woman asked.
“A small contingent will land at the newly repaired airport here in Norman to set up a forward command post. Most of the rest will use Tinker Air Force Base since it’s better equipped to handle larger military planes and forces. I believe the runways and barracks there are almost ready to go?” I glanced back at Nadine, who had a crew handling that.
“Yes, the work should be completed by tomorrow,” she replied.
Not long after I returned to Oklahoma, she’d arranged for work to begin on that. We couldn’t hope to restore the entirebase after what the pure dragons and looters had done to it, but we focused on the most critical parts, which were now connected to the electrical grid.
“Will the red dragons know to stay off the runways from now on?” a young man asked in a snarky voice. “They’re always leaving craters in the roads and parking lots.”
Conrad rose from his seat. “Yeah, man. We told them they could land on your roof instead.”
I barely contained a smile, but Freya snickered from the back of the room. Even she appreciated Conrad’s humor once in a while.
The man rolled his eyes and retook his seat. “Whatever.”
A few more people had questions, most of which I couldn’t answer. It was a relief once I could return to my seat and get out of the spotlight. The rest of the meeting went by in a blur of war preparation discussions. It was always tense, but it felt more ominous as time passed. There were still so many things to do. I wondered if everything we did would be enough to make a difference and how many lives would be lost, no matter how carefully we planned. It left my stomach feeling queasy by the time we left the courthouse.
Chapter 19
Aidan
He could feel a headache building. Each day felt longer than the last, and he’d only woken up four hours ago. Aidan knew it was partly because he didn’t get enough rest. Except for the weekly dinners, he often didn’t return to his quarters until very late. Once he did, he needed several hours ofspending time with his mate before he could finally relax and fall asleep. Today’s news didn’t help matters.
He stared at the weathered tome on his desk in disbelief. “Tell me where it was again?”
Kade cleared his throat. “Ahem, under the mattress of my bed.”
“It never occurred for you to look there or at least change your sheets now and then, so you might notice it?” Aidan asked, rubbing his temples.
“Of course, I change my sheets, but it was never there before.”
