Page 28 of Of Blood and Fire
I hoped Garran was okay. Hoped his wound hadn’t bled out.
Hoped Túxn hadn’t given me some family back, only to allow Vahree to snatch him away again.
Kaia slowly descended, but as careful as she was, the cage still thumped down hard. She banked away, giving Yara room to drop her cage beside mine, and landed some distance away, close to the small stream that ran along the platform’s base. I unclipped myself, collected all my packs and weapons, then slithered down her leg.
“Good hunting,” I said to her, scratching the offered eye ridge. “Just keep watch for the riders and the Mareritt.”
Will,she said, and took off. I slung everything over my shoulder, then, once Yara had set Kele down, limped over and handed her my knife. “Use this to break the chains, both on the door and men, in your cage.”
She accepted it, her expression grim. “Let’s just hope that the captives all survived that flight. I can’t hear any fucking conversation coming from their direction, and that’s worrying.”
“But not really surprising.” We began climbing the hill to the platform that held the cages. “They’ve been held by the riders for at least a week, had to watch their numbers dwindle as fellow prisoners became sacrifices, and then today had two fire-breathing drakkons swoop in and cart them away—would you be saying anything right now?”
She laughed softly. “I guess if you put it that way, no.”
“Which is also why we need to be cautious—explain who we are before you unlock anything.”
“Might be better if you talk to Garran before any unlocking happens. He’ll surely recognize you and be able to reassure the rest.”
“Good idea.” I undid the lacings on my sword in preparation for cutting the locks, but didn’t draw it, not wanting to cause immediate panic inside the cages. Though, to be honest, our clothing and our coloring should, at the very least, reassure them we were not the enemy, but who knew what state their minds might be in right now, after everything that had happened?
We reached the platform and split, Kele going right while I limped left. Some of the men inside were standing, others were sitting, and there were plenty of fresh wounds and what looked to be a number of broken limbs. But all of them were watching me, their wariness so evident in their expressions that it was overriding any sign of pain.
I couldn’t see Garran. Not immediately. But he’d been standing to the front of the cage’s front when we’d swept in, so it was possible he was being deliberately hidden?—
“Bryn?” a gruff voice said sharply. “Is that you? Or am I fucking delusional?”
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I blinked rapidly against them. Despite the aching weariness and pain so evident in his voice, he sounded exactly the same as when I’d last seen him somefour months ago, when he and Hanna, his pregnant wife, had returned to Jakarra to have their firstborn on home soil.
“You’ve always been fucking delusional, Garran, but it is indeed me.”
There was a shuffle of movement then he hobbled forward as far as his chain allowed. He was a tall man and, like most Jakarrans, had red-brown skin and thick wiry hair the exact same color. His eyes, however, were as blue as the summer skies—the same color as his mother’s and mine. Not surprising, given they’d been sisters.
“What the fuck are you doing riding adrakkon?” He stopped and gripped the bars hard, as if the small amount of movement forward had exhausted him. And it probably had—he and everyone in the cage had lost a good amount of weight, leaving their faces clearly gaunt even through the shaggy, unkempt beards they all now had. “And how in Vahree’s name did they gainfire?”
“Long story, and one we haven’t time for, given the riders will be looking for us. Can you give a shout to the men in the other cage and tell them not to attack Kele when she opens the cage?”
He did so, then hesitated slightly before adding, “What of Jakarra? Any news?”
He didn’t directly ask about his wife, but I knew that was what lay at the heart of the question.
“Hanna and a good portion of Jakarra’s people remain safe in the caverns. The riders have made no additional move against them at this point.” I paused and smiled. “And you, my dear cousin, have a healthy son and heir.”
His grip on the bars tightened—as if, just for a moment, his strength gave out and his knees buckled—and a sob briefly escaped. Then he sucked in a deep, somewhat quivering breath, and said, “That is welcome news indeed, but why do they remain on Jakarra? Why haven’t they been evacuated?”
“Because the riders still occupy the island, and they come out in force at night. We can only evacuate during the day and, given that restriction, can only use the cutters. Anything else is too slow.” I motioned toward the door. “Can everyone please step back while I break the chain on the door?”
They shuffled back. I drew and raised my sword then brought it down hard between two bars; sparks flew briefly as the steel met the unbreakable force that was Ithican glass, then the chain shattered and fell heavily to the ground. I opened the door, picked my way through the piss and shit that stained the cage’s rough wooden floor, and threw my arms around Garran’s neck, hugging him hard. He responded, his grip no less fierce than mine, though his arms shook with effort.
Tears escaped past my lashes, despite my best effort of control. “You have no idea just how glad I am to see you, cousin.”
“No more than I and everyone else here is to see you, I’d wager.”
“How the hell did you all survive? After the destruction of the port and most of Illistin, we presumed you and your men were dead.”
“Many are, but they kept a select few alive. From what we can gather, it’s generally those of us who put up the most resistance; apparently, they consider only our blood to be good enough to use for their sacrifices.”
“But how were you captured?”
