Page 101 of A War of Embers

Alyvia yells a string of profanity behind me before she reaches us. Her body slips between Zeke and I a moment later, hands braced outwards like she’s going to hold us back of her own will.

“You can’t be serious,” she gasps, heaving giant lungful's of air into her body.

Zeke’s mouth twitches in amusement as he takes us in. Clearly having no idea what this is about, but finding the humor in it nonetheless. “How about you ask me what you came to, little monster? And I’ll tell you whether or not to go fuck yourself.”

Charming. Before I can open my mouth, Alyvia interrupts me.

“Do not agree, Zeke.” She glares at him with all her worth. “This idea is crazy and Lord Rowan will murder someone.”

“Well now you have my full attention,” Zeke chuckles. He jerks his chin further away from where the guards are training.

Alyvia huffs as we move, chatting on about how he needs to simply go back to his task and ignore whatever I’m about to ask him because it’s bound to get us killed. While she’s not wrong…

“Alyvia,” I firmly say, “shut up.”

Zeke snorts while Alyvia turns her glare to me.

“I promised Rowan I wouldn’t go gallivanting around without informing anyone or without someone by my side,” I tell the dragon. “I need your assistance.”

“To piss off Lord Rowan?” Zeke asks, moving to stand against the base of a tree near the iron fence protecting the gardens outside the kitchen. He crosses his arms and swings his gaze between the both of us. “Why do you need my help with that? You’ve been doing smashingly well all on your own.”

“The war,” I answer bluntly.

Zeke stills, but the aloof look on his face remains. “What about it?”

“If Lady Gwenyth crosses the sea, she’ll be on this side of the veil which is currently hiding me from her. The moment she crosses, she’ll have full control of the immortal souls in my body again. I could hurt people.”

Zeke merely raises a brow. “And this is different from your usual goal?”

Don’t kill him before he agrees to help you, I remind myself. “Rowan and I have come to an understanding.”

“Then ask him,” Zeke says in a bored tone, moving to walk past me.

Fuck. “I need you to fly me across the Blood Sea into Tellus so I can have a High Lord remove the immortal souls from inside of me.”

Zeke freezes, his head twisting back around to stare at me. “You want me to do what?”

“The godlike soul inside of me can’t be removed,” I rush to explain. “But I need the immortal souls removed or Lady Gwenyth could continue to control me.”

His eyes widen dramatically. “And you think going into the viper’s den to get these souls removed is a smart idea?”

“I don’t exactly have any other ideas.”

“You’ve been back a day, Keres,” Zeke reminds me. “A fucking day. Do you have any idea how absolutely insane Lord Rowan is going to be if he finds out you left?”

Might as well be honest. “Yes. But I’m hoping you can get us there and back before he loses his mind.” It won’t be a quick hop over the sea, but it’ll be faster than the alternative of doing nothing and praying Lady Gwenyth doesn’t cross over or remember me if she does.

“I know you’re suicidal, but what gave you the fucking idea that I was?” Zeke asks. He sounds almost amused even though his eyes are narrowed dangerously. “You’ve barely been around. Lord Rowan’s not going to be okay with this.”

Tell me something I don’t know. “He’ll be okay with it in the long run. Plus, I’m not going by myself. You’ll be escorting me.”

“I don’t have a fucking death wish,” Zeke counters.

Some would argue that, but I’m trying not to piss him off. “We all agree,” I look to both Alyvia and back to him, “that Rowan is not going to be a fan of this. He’s not going to like it. I’m not asking you to keep it from him.” This time I turn directly to Alyvia. “But,” I emphasize, “I would greatly appreciate it if he wasn’t told until after we left.” Switching back to Zeke, I rest my hands on my hips. “Getting over the sea is the hard part. I know where you can land to not gain anyone’s attention. I also know how to get to the Godlands. We can fly out from the Godlands for all I care to rush back here, but getting to them is going to require stealth to not draw attention to us in the sky.” Provided the High Lords and Ladies don’t kill us before we arrive.

Zeke scoffs. “What part of me being a fucking dragon are you choosing to ignore for your little crusade? I’ll be spotted.”

“Not if we go at night.” Glancing towards the darkening sky, it’ll be upon us soon enough. “No one will see us. And we’ll be back before dawn.” Hopefully. Though pointing that out goes against the entire ordeal of getting him to agree. It should be relatively easy. Plus, if we get trapped once the immortal souls are removed, I can take care of things from there until we reach the water’s edge.

---