Page 66 of Of Blood and Fire
“Follow the rise of the mountain at our back, you mean?”
“Yes.”
She pursed her lips for a moment, her expression thoughtful. “It can be done, but the cost will be a lessening in the potency of the current cover. We can only draw so much of our own blood before it affects our strength and our lives.”
I glanced at Garran. As much as I really wanted to say that protecting Esan was less important than getting the drakkons safely back to the aerie, I was well aware that any lessening in the smoke barrier would put the lives of those who remained in the city, looking after the needs of those defending her, in danger. And that, in turn, made me glad it was his call, not mine.
Because there was absolutely no doubt I would have acted in favor of the drakkons.
“Define ‘lessening,’” Garran said.
“It will shorten the timeframe of its usefulness by an hour or so.”
“How much longer will the protection run right now?”
“Two, at most.”
Which isn’t all that much of a loss, I wanted to say but somehow kept it back. Not my decision, I reminded myself sternly
Garran glanced at me. “How many riders were up there when you came through?”
“Ten, but we melted six on the way down. They might have called in reinforcements by now, of course.”
“If they were going to call for reinforcements, they would have done so when our air mages blew half their number back to wherever they came from.” He returned his gaze to the Prioress. “Let’s do it. I’ll have the air mages standing by for when it fails.”
She nodded. “We will need an additional boar to fuel the magic.”
“I’ll organize for one to be brought up.”
As he stepped back and motioned one of his guards forward, my gaze rose to the smoke billowing from the rooftop. “Is thereany means of creating a portable shield along similar lines as either this smoke barrier or the one that protects the aerie? It would be handy to have something that would protect our drakkons from at least the birds, if not their acid weapons. I know Damon?—”
“Damon is a blood witch of unusual power and can achieve what few aside from myself can,” she cut in, “but unless the bonding of drakkon and fire witches is no longer a priority?—”
“And it is.”
“It would not be possible,” she continued crisply. “Beyond that, we witches are not trained—and indeed have no desire—to enter the field of war, and that is what it would take to sustain such a barrier.”
“So there is no magic?—”
“Magic will not win you this war. Only courage, strength, and the bonds of kin and love have any hope of doing that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That sounds like a prediction.”
Her eyebrows rose, lazy amusement briefly running through her expression. “Perhaps it is. Perhaps I have seen multiple possibilities and have no clear idea which one will prevail.”
“Well, here’s hoping it’s the one where we come out the winners,” Garran commented.
“Well, none of us are praying for the opposite.”
No, but the fact that the possibility of Esan losing this war very much remained on the table was not at all comforting. “How long will it take to raise the smoke?”
“It will take as long as it takes, young woman. We do not work miracles, no matter what some seem to think.”
Her tart tone had a smile tugging at my lips. “Then I will do my best to patiently wait.”
“And we all know that, when it comes to patience, your best runs to minutes rather than hours, especially now you have bonded with the most impatient of drakkons.”
Am queen, Kaia commented.I order, it should be done.
