Page 84 of Of Blood and Fire
No want to lose kin.
It was said with such ferocity that my smile faded.And I do not want to lose my drakkon, so let’s make sure both of us maintain our strength and don’t do anything foolish.
Am queen. Never foolish.
I laughed and, as she lightly landed on the open ground between the forest and the cave entrance, I grabbed my pack and weapons and dismounted. As my feet hit the ground, I heard the briefest whisper of sound and automatically went full flame. The arrow that had been aimed at my back fell to ashes on the ground. Kaia roared in fury and spewed fire at the forest behind me. Screams filled the air but quickly fell silent.
Kaia, rise and see if there’s any movement through the trees.
She immediately leapt into the air. I dropped my pack, drew my sword, and stalked toward the left edge of the flames. There was no military response to my approach, and no sounds aside from the roar of the flames and the crackle of burning wood and leaves. I paused at the tree line, my back against the trunk of a blackwood, scanning the orange-lit darkness ahead. There was no sign of movement, so I continued on cautiously; a few seconds later, I found the scorched remnants of a bunker. The wind played through the two ashy patches that sat on its rim, and, close to these were a number of melted metal puddles that looked too small to have come from the tubes. Bow ends or knives, perhaps?
I moved around to the back of the bunker, but there was no evidence of fresh footprints, suggesting no one inside had managed to flee. There were several blobs of melted metal on the bunker’s floor, along with the twisted remnants of what looked to be stools and perhaps a heating pot or pad. At the far end, tucked neatly under an earthen shelf, were a series of tubes and pouches; obviously, the shelf’s deep overhang had protected them from the wave of Kaia’s fire. My first instinct was to destroy them, but I resisted the urge. I had no idea what weaponry Katter and his crew had remaining, but I suspected they wouldn’t say no to the chance of sending a little acidic payback toward the riders and their soldiers. We might have cleared them from the island, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t come back.
See no movement, Kaia said after a few moments. Trees clear to bay.
Good. Now please, go hunt white fins, then rest.
She made a grumbly reply along the line of “bossiness catchy,” but nevertheless flew away. I turned and retreated from the heat of the fire as it continued to dance across the treetops. As I stepped out of the forest, three figures appeared from behind the standing rock up ahead. One of them was Tayn, a man I’d practically grown up with thanks to the fact he and Garran had always been friends. I didn’t recognize the other two, but one held a bow that was nocked with an Ithican arrow, and the other had the coloring of an air witch. She was either a new recruit or refugee, as there’d been no air witches present the last time I’d come here.
“Thatis what we call an impressive entrance by one and all,” Tayn said, amusement and perhaps a touch of awe creasing his thin features. “And it certainly made those of us who didn’t really believe your initial claim that you rode a drakkon here eat our doubt. Is the island clear of the green-haired bastards now?”
“For the moment, yes.” I lightly returned his salute. “Is Katter inside?”
“Yes, and expecting you.”
I picked up my pack and slung it over my shoulder. “There’s a bunker containing a number of tubes and acidic pouches about twenty feet in. Might be worth confiscating them for use if the bastards come back. And your air witch might also want to direct some rain onto that fire fast, otherwise it’ll explode the pouches and possibly take out you three and a good chunk of the forest.”
“Indah? You want to handle that?” As she moved forward, he returned his attention to me. “Hank awaits your arrival at the other end of the tunnel and will escort you to Katter.”
“Thanks, Tayn.”
I moved on to the cavern’s protected entrance. The guard on this side of the tunnel handed me what looked like two hessian sacks. I raised my eyebrows in query.
“You pull them over your boots,” he said with a smile. “The passage remains greased, and these will help maintain grip.”
I tugged on the sacks, then loosely tied the drawstrings. “What about the trapping pit?”
“There’s currently a plank over it. Don’t fall off or you’ll end up spiked.”
“Then I’ll definitely try not to fall off.”
Like the antechamber that lay at its far end, the tunnel’s stone was rough and uneven, and just wide enough to walk through single file. The walls were also tapered at a sharp angle up to the roof, meaning anyone over six foot would have a painful journey if they weren’t mindful of their head. I wasn’t quite that tall, but I nevertheless made sure there was enough space between me and that roof. I already had a possible permanent bald patch; I didn’t need a scar on top of it.
I crossed the plank without any problem, then continued on. A guard I presumed was Hank waited at the entrance into theantechamber and saluted as I approached. “Administrator Reed awaits your arrival in the war room. Please follow me.”
I tugged off the hessian foot bags, tossed them into the nearby bin, and followed him around the semicircular half-height stone that provided a protective barrier for defenders. We moved through the antechamber, then into a wide, unnaturally smooth tunnel lit by regularly placed light tubes before running up the sweeping stone steps that led onto the wide platform ringing the main cavern. There were two distinct sections—upper and lower. The floor below us was a city of tents and temporary structures that appeared to be bunkhouses, while the wide platform on which we stood provided a walkway between the many hollowed-out caves that functioned as the various areas necessary for medical, military, and organizational purposes. The war room lay to our right, and was filled with people and noise.
As I walked in, they all straightened and began to clap. Heat touched my cheeks, and I made an “enough” motion. It didn’t feel right for anyone to cheer right now; not when the cost of our victory had been so damn high.
And yet, I could also understand the urge, given how long they’d been waiting for Esan’s troops to come here and clear their island.
Katter appeared out of the gloom, his grin so wide it creased the corners of blue eyes bloodshot with tiredness. “Never have I been so glad to hear that drakkons were on our doorstep—but how on earth did they gain fire?”
“Long story, I’m afraid. I’m just here to give you a situational update.”
He nodded, his gaze scanning me somewhat critically. “You managed to eat in the last twelve hours or so?”
“No, but?—”
