He wiped the bloodied blade on the bark, hooked it on his back, then climbed.
Rain quenched the fire on the tree. Luella was saving him, in a way; though, he’d never tell her that.
The swinging bridges groaned as he thundered over them, dust and leaves falling as he kicked them up from their rest.
He couldn’t see well in the treetops. He followed only the feel of Luella in his soul—that fractured bond that felt like everything he should never have and everything he may want.
Finally, he broke through the treetops and came to a stuttering halt as the trees gave way to another cliff’s edge. Thebridge stopped, slats broken, railing brittle; it turned to dust at his touch.
He stared below. The ground was far. A fall from this height would crush every bone in his body.
He turned, finding the other side much the same, except instead of grass and rocks, it was the sea. A thick branch wavered in the wind, jutting over the water. He didn’t think—he hooked his leg over the branch and crawled, until he stared down at the abyss of the dark water. Rain slicked his grip. He slipped. Nails cracking.
Tharen took a deep breath.
Then jumped.
Rain and air swept around him, and he?—
Fell into the water.
It was disorienting. It took him a moment to remember which way was up. He gagged, seizing as he tried to hold onto his breath and…
A thought hit him as lightning split the sky above the surface of the water, urging him. Pulling him from the dark maw that threatened to drown him.
He swallowed water, lungs screaming.
Up. Up.
Was this what it felt like for her?—
When she nearly drowned in the lake?
Tharen broke free of the surface, a wave cresting over him and sending him spinning back down. He fought his way up, gulping down air.
In the distance, fire raged. A large shadow flew in the sky.
Vale.
Tharen inhaled a shaky breath, exhausted, as he began to swim.
62
FUCKING BURN EVERYTHING
AZ
The tip of the small boat knocked against the large ship, anchored near a mountainous cove.
Water sloshed over the side.
The towering height of the ship before them cast everything into darkness. No voices echoed above—only the lapping waves, the gusting wind, and the dragon’s ear-splitting roars.
Az pressed a finger to his lips as he stared back down at Bastian, who braced a hand on either side of the small boat, crouching until he stood by Az’s side.
Vale’s dragon kept circling overhead, fire lighting up the sky. He was careful not to burn the ship. Even the dragon, in all his possession, knew they could not risk burning Luella.
Az tugged on a stray piece of netting thrown over the side of the ship. It was brittle and coated in slime from mildew. He tugged. Firm.
