Page 40 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
A mighty boom like thunder rippled through us as the dragons crashed together. I’d thought Zion and Zariah couldn’t fight the queen, but they weren’t fighting, were they? My golden dragons kept their bodies between the queen and the Fireguards and refugees, using themselves as literal shields to protect everyone. The queen raged as she tried to duck and dodge around them, but there were two gold dragons to her one silver.
White fire exploded from her mouth, and one of the golden dragons (they were moving too fast for me to keep track!) screamed in agony as he took the full blast to his flank.
I picked up a rock and threw it at the queen, tears coursing down my face. They couldn’t fight her, not really! They’d kill themselves at this rate. It wasn’t fair!
My princes held firm, and their patient, self-flagellating tactics only threw the queen into more of a fury. In a fit of pique, she took the air and fled back toward the kingdom.
We all watched, confused, as she turned tail and ran, the Fireguards and refugees cheering with victory. My heart wasn’t with them; the sinking sensation in my chest refused to let go. What was her plan?
BOOM! BOOM!
The silver dragon shot through the massive hole in the wall the Fireguards had charged through, and fire lit up the sky, flaring high up to the dome. It served no protection at all now that the dragon wasinside the city.
YOU HAVE TO STOP HER! PROTECT YOUR PEOPLE!I screamed mentally, but they were both in the air already, wings pumping hard as they took off after the queen. I turned toward Ell, who was racing toward me.
We seized each other in a tight embrace, tears pricking at the corner of my eyes. There would be plenty of time for sobbing reunions later. For now, I had to keep it together and keep these people safe.
I said, “Get everyone close to the cliffs, and out of the open air. At least it’s some cover.”
Ell nodded and barked out orders to the other Fireguards, and quickly we had everyone moving toward the large outcropping of rocks, which provided cover and a view of the devastation going back on in the kingdom.
Zion and Zariah were nipping at the queen’s heels, unable to attack but certainly able to annoy and frustrate her. They knocked down as much of the outer wall as they could, trying to herd the queen out of the kingdom’s bounds and away from the city. Single-minded in her mad quest to destroy, she refused. It was almost as if she were trying to kill everyone inside.
“Come on, I’ll take you. The others will look after them all.” Ell gently took my elbow and gestured to the queen’s chariot, which sat innocently a few feet away, the two white horses calm and docile.
I nodded, too thankful to muster up any words. Ell helped me step up into the chariot, pressing himself in behind me. He squared his hips and shoulders so I was locked protectively in front of him, and I grasped the edge of the silver chariot with my fingertips. Ell grabbed the reins and snapped them, the horses jerking to attention. My heart pounded as we flew across the charred land back toward the kingdom, rocking and bumping wildly. I was glad for Ell’s strong, steady presence holding me in place, or I’d have surely been thrown from the chariot and trampled on the rocks.
My throat tightened for a reason other than fear or anxiety. Was this what Azalea and Leilani had had—a father always by their side to defend and guide? Warmth spread through my body that had nothing to do with Ell’s chest pressed protectively against my back.
Focus, Mari.
Boys! Divide and conquer!I forced the thought to them with every bit of will I had. The golden dragons twitched in midair, then flipped their strategy. One of my boys nipped continuously at the queen’s wings, forcing her to fly around and around in circles as he subtly moved her out away from the city center. The other dragon stood guard between the two ‘playing’ dragons (because nipping at your wings apparently didn’t count as fighting), ensuring the people in the quarters could run to safety.
And run, they did.
Ell guided the chariot toward the biggest hole in the west side of the wall, hordes of terrified people from all quarters and walks of life streaming past us. There were bakers from the bread district, artists from the artisan quarter, and masons from the stone quarter. Men, women, and children pushed past, crying and yelling, fear widening the whites in their eyes.
A niggling thought pulled at the back of my mind.Where the fuck was Zephyr?
All thoughts in my head came to a screeching halt as the silver dragon screamed in distress. The sound was devastating and threw every living creature to their bellies. The horses pulling our chariot screamed in fear and broke from their harness, sending us careening toward the ground. Ell pinned me to his chest and tucked and rolled, using his body to shield me as we smashed against the hard, black earth. His weight pinned me down hard, and I struggled to free myself. Twin flashes of gold winked before my gaze, but I could’ve been hallucinating. My eyes were fuzzy and it was hard to see. Ell’s arms fell away limply from me.
The queen’s silver dragon screamed in frustration again, and I thought my head would explode. Nothing existed beyond the pain and agony. Was it from the fall, or the dragon? Was I dying?
Magick pounded around me in an angry torrent, setting my hair on edge and crawling over my skin. I held my breath as nausea clawed at my gut. After a few seconds, it passed like a strong gust of wind that had run its course.
“Ell, can you shift a bit? I need to get up.”
Ell didn’t move from on top of me. I flipped over on my back, unprepared to come face-to-face with a head that looked like it had been thrown through a meat grinder and bent at an unnatural angle at the neck.
I twisted my own head to the side and just managed not to vomit all over myself. With shaking hands, I dragged myself from underneath my father, the pads of my fingertips bleeding at raw from the jagged stones underneath me.
“Ell. ELL!”
I knew he was dead. An idiot knew he was dead. But I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t tear from gaze from his raw face, blood oozing down to collect in a dark pool.
But I had to. Ihadto. There was nothing else to be done for him. I would come back and collect him. I’d build him a proper grave. I’d bring my mother to it.
Mother.
