He shrugs. “Strong emotions make it easier. You can do it. You just need practice and motivation.”
My mouth opens wide on a sharp yawn. “Damn. I’m not practicing anything tonight. It feels like my battery is on empty.”
“Shifting does that to you in the beginning. Here, let me help you.” He cleans me up and then sweeps me into his arms to carry me to the bed. I’m still a little damp when he slides us between the crisp white sheets. I’m asleep the second my head hits the pillow.
20
War Room
Damien
Ten thousand men. The next morning, I stand at the end of the resistance’s war table, a tactical map of Tenebris spread out before me. White pegs denote where our spies report New Stygarde has stationed troops. Two thousand in Willowgulch, Thane tells me—mostly dark elves, based on his surveillance. Five thousand around Stygarde Castle. Another three thousand patrolling the west villages, the Borderlands, and even Aendor, although Stuart at the Maiden’s Voyage and other spies around the port are good about sending word when they spot the silver coats in the area.
Our possible plan of attack is depicted with black pegs. Our east flank would attack from the forests of Aendor. Our mountain dweller regiment would come in from the west, taking advantage of the secret underground tunnels to leverage the element of surprise. Wecontemplate various ways to split up the units, various strategies of attack.
Ultimately, though, we are outnumbered. No matter how we spread our troops, no matter the strategy, we don’t have enough warriors to take New Stygarde, especially considering the silver coats’ access to elven magic. Our vulnerability is still the Borderlands that bisect Tenebris. Without our having a regiment in that area, New Stygarde and Willowgulch have uninterrupted territory that runs from north to south. We cannot win. Our defeat is an inevitability.
I spend the morning monitoring the rebels as they practice inside Aendor’s training facility. These people are the best Tenebris has to offer. Some, like Warbill, I know from my time here. But the younger shades, ones who earned their stripes after I was taken, are just as capable. These men move fast, strike hard, and are ready for battle.
New Stygarde’s soldiers may be less motivated than these men, less loyal. But Brahm and Nevina will use the rebel’s own children against them. In some cases, their own brothers and sisters. Will these warriors be able to kill their own when the time comes? Under different circumstances, we might be able to spare the young shades poisoned by Nevina’s magic. But with such a shortage of fighters, any hesitation is a death sentence.
Heavy with dread, I return to the war room. It’s impossible. It will be a bloodbath.
“Where is that better half of yours?” Thane asks, noticing my sour mood.
“I could ask you the same.”
“Tempest usually helps cook in the kitchen this time of day. It takes a lot to keep these men fed and a lot more todo it without drawing the attention of New Stygarde. Tempest buys meat straight off the ships, before any of it is registered in port. She’s the only one stealthy enough and with enough sway to keep it all our little secret.”
I’m thankful for his honesty and feel I can be honest in return. “Eloise is preparing for a journey to investigate some additional options to help us. Magical options.”
“The rumors are true, then. She’s a witch and a shade?”
“She is.”
“Tempest said you spent time with the witches of Dimhollow and that your mother claimed Eloise was the dragon.”
I sigh. “One of the wise witches, Aurora, saw a future on her deathbed where a son of Malek would rise up to defend them with a dragon at his side. Eloise was born with dragon’s blood in her veins and has resurrected the dragon from the bowels of Mount Damocles.”
“But that would mean…?”
I meet the man’s eyes. “Yes, the very dragon we fought the war over.”
“By the goddess, Damien, an actual dragon? I thought Tempest was speaking metaphorically when she said your matewasthe dragon.”
“Eloiseisthe dragon. It’s her magic that animates the beast. Without her power, the dragon would be nothing more than a pile of bones.”
“If she’s one of them, can she convince the witches to help us? A legion of witches would greatly increase our chances of success.”
“No. She is a witch but not of Dimhollow. She comes from Earth.”
“Then the witches of Earth.”
“It doesn’t work like that. She has no coven. Not like you think.”
He frowns, bracing his hands on the table and leaning over the map. “Then we are doomed. We don’t have enough men. Even with the thousand or so you say we can count on from the mountain dwellers, we don’t have the numbers for an offensive against New Stygarde. Considering what you told me about the Rivertoads, I don’t see any scenario where we can win this war.”
“I agree. I’ve tried every strategy. We don’t have a chance unless Eloise comes through for us.”
