I ask Nilak to head for the meadows to the southwest, because there are wildflowers tangled in the long grasses that Zenevieve likes to pick.
We reach the meadows, and I rest with my back against Nilak, one knee bent and one leg stretched out, and watch Zenevieve moving through the grasses, making a posy. She hums to herself as she goes, and I enjoy the sweet sound.
Returning to my side, she says, “I hope I make you proud tomorrow.”
I reach up and grasp her hand. “I am already proud of you.”
“You’re so overprotective I’m surprised you even want me to go,” she teases, and tucks flowers behind my ear. I leave them there for now, but before we climb back onto Nilak, I’ll tuck them inside my riding jacket so I don’t lose them as we ride through the skies.
“Who, me? I’m just protective enough. No more, no less.”
Enemies are one thing. It’s good and necessary for Zenevieve to face enemies when she’s armed and riding Minta. She and her dragon will learn to sharpen their wits and skills against them.
But the Alphas of Maledin? I will be buried alive before one of them gets his hands on her.
We followthe wingrunner scout’s instructions, and Nilak picks up the lich’s scent high in the mountains. With the trainees on their dragons, we circle high above the cave’s entrance, searching for any sign of danger. I have been informed that the lich isn’t presently in its lair, but I never take what others tell me for granted. When I’m confident it’s reasonably safe, we descend and land on the snow.
The air up here is freezing and cuts into our flesh like knives. The dragons have thick scales and skin to protect them from cold, and internal heat from theirriestas, or soul cores.
Nilak detects no sounds or scents from within the cave that would indicate that there’s something or someone in there. I want to get this mission over with quickly and efficiently, and I cast my eyes over the trainees.
Who to send inside?
The cave entrance seems to narrow the farther it goes on, which means Nilak, Scourge, and Zeith will not fit, but Minta, Shar, and Dianthe could enter comfortably.
Zenevieve and Minta both have their eyes trained on the slopes, watching for danger without needing to be asked. I feel a glow of pride as I witness their good instincts. I’m not in the mood to work with huffy, unpredictable Emmeric, so it will have to be Mirelle.
“Mirelle. Take Dianthe into that cave and retrieve the vessel.”
The girl was lingering at the back and lost in a daydream, but now she jumps and turns as white as snow. “I-I— Me, dragonmaster?”
“Yes. That’s an order, dragonrider.”
“But I…”
Her voice fades as I narrow my eyes.
The princess takes a deep breath and steps toward the cave, her dragon following timidly at her side. Dianthe never used to jump at her own shadow, but she’s learning fearfulness from her dragonrider. I hate to see dragons absorbing bad behaviors from their riders.
I want to snap at Mirelle that she’ll be safer inside the cave than the rest of us who are exposed on this mountainside, but it’s her first mission, and so I rein in my temper. “Mirelle, move.”
Onderz tries to go with her, but I hold him back. Zabriel looks like he has misgivings about seeing his little sister in peril.
“The sooner you get this over with, the sooner we will all be safely home,” I remind her.
“Yes, dragonmaster,” she squeaks.
We watch as she and Dianthe disappear inside the cave. Onderz paces up and down, sweat on his brow despite the frigid air. A short time later, Mirelle reappears, flushed with success, and Dianthe is carrying a small metal cage in her teeth with greenish flames flickering within.
The yellow Omega dragon places it on the snow and deluges it with dragonfire, melting the metal into silvery rivers and sending up clouds of steam. The phylactery screams in anger and pain and gives off an awful stench.
When the flames die down, I stare at what remains of the blackened vessel in disgust, an acrid taste in my mouth. I think we just encountered something that is truly evil. At least now it’s dead.
I glance up at Mirelle and nod sharply. “Good.”
The princess is so overwhelmed by her success that she hugs her dragon and bursts into tears. Emmeric is about to say something nasty until Onderz elbows him in the stomach onhis way to scoop Mirelle up into his arms. A moment later, the young Alpha’s pungent scent fills the air in his efforts to comfort his Omega, and probably himself as well. I wouldn’t have been able to stand by while another Alpha put my Omega in danger and made her cry, but I’m not a trainee. They both have to learn to respect each other’s talents.
Turning away to Nilak, I call over my shoulder, “Trainees, let’s move out.”
