Page 22 of Of Blood and Fire
“Any close encounters?”
“None to date, but they are keeping their distance as much as practical. Kerryn reports they are definitely using concealment shields around their watch stations. Apparently they can be seen when moonlight hits them.”
Which didn’t help during the day or when the moon was hidden by clouds. I glanced at Jarin. “Might be worth considering adding air mages to tonight’s patrols. If they can break the cloud cover enough to allow the moon’s light, we can at least start mapping the watch locations.”
Jarin nodded. “Be careful when you fly over there, Commander. Whatever they’re building is big, and it may just be designed to bring down a drakkon.”
Which is why we burncame Kaia’s lazy reply.
Until we know what lies under that fog, we burn nothing.You and Yara ready to go?
Have fed and now wait.
Then come to the wall.To Jarin and Neera, I added, “I’ll scribe once we’re out there and know what we’re facing.”
I half turned to leave, then hesitated. “Have we gotten a response from Harris about that flag yet?”
“He said he’s unfamiliar with it, but will search the archives and let us know.” Neera wrinkled her nose. “He doesn’t hold much hope of finding anything recorded, though.”
No real surprise there, because it had always been a long shot. I nodded my thanks and walked out. Kele was waiting at the base of the wall steps. She was a fierce-looking blonde-haired woman with a puckered scar that ran the full length of the left side of her face—something she could have had fixed, but, like most of us scouts, considered it to be a badge of honor.
“How’d the flight over the Blue Steel Mountains go?” I asked as we took the steps two at a time.
“It was nowhere near as exciting as the flight you and Kaia undertook, from what I heard, though apparently the true excitement happened when you returned home and found a fake husband waiting for you.” She grinned at my sharp glance. “Drakkons natter, in case you didn’t know.”
What natter?Kaia said.
It’s another word for gossip, and means light, informal conversation that’s usually about other people’s business.
Your business my business,she said. Am queen. Need share.
You don’t need to share my personal business.
Personal business interesting.
I rolled my eyes and tugged on my coat. “Technically, he’s not a fake husband. The treaty has me married to my Damon, but the church has me married to the other.”
“But they’re both Aric’s get?”
“My Damon is one of his bastards.” I pulled on my harness, then shaded my eyes against the storm of dust being blown about by the drakkons’ arrival to watch them land.
“Who he fobbed off as the real thing?” Kele said incredulously. “The Zephrine king has balls, you’ve got to give him that.”
“Apparently he’s been using his illegitimate children that way for years.” I glanced at her. “And this is a discussion best had over a large flagon of mead. Did Jarin update you on today’s mission?”
“Yep. As did Yara.”
“Then let’s get flying.”
Once the two drakkons had landed—and taken up a good percentage of the upper wall doing so—we ran under their wings and scrambled up their legs. The second I was clipped on, Kaia rose, the force of her wing sweeps sending buckets, tools, and ladders tumbling into the courtyard below us. Lucky it was early, and there weren’t many people about to be similarly blown away.
We soared along Esan and then out over the Eastern Slit. The cloud cover was light, and the moon glimmered, its brightness silvering the boglands far below. There was no tail wind this time, but we still made good time, reaching the fog barrier in a little over an hour—just in time to catch the weird green light that ran languidly across parts of the fog.
Fly past the barrier and do a circuit of the hill that lies above it.Though dawn’s flags were beginning to stain the sky, the moon should still be bright enough to glimmer off any other concealment shields that might be there.Tell Yara to hold position here while we check.
She passed on the message, then banked, beginning a long, lazy turn toward the hilltop. I retrieved my long viewer from my pack and carefully scanned the ground below but couldn’t see any sign of a watch station, concealed or not.
That didn’t mean they weren’t there, of course.
