“Since Drea taught me. This sword was my grandfather’s.”
“Then swing it well. He’d be proud of you for not giving in to the Warden.”
Charlie shook his head. “I don’t know if he would be proud, after everything I’ve done. But I plan to make him proud today.”
“I’m proud of you,” I added, and a soft smile bloomed on his features. “As long as you keep fighting, I always will be.”
His eyes gleamed before he nodded, taking a quickened breath. “Okay.”
We left for the beach. Oberi transformed into a wyvern once we were outside the palace walls, shaking his scales and stretching out his wings with a long groan. It seemed he hated not being able to shift for so long, and finally felt relief now that he was able to take a different form. Charlie helped boost me onto Oberi’s back and strap me into the saddle, then sat behind me as the wyvern took off. I left my chair behind, because there was no need to take it to where we were going.
Charlie’s hold tightened around me as we flew to the beach. The wind blew back my hair, and I leaned against him as we soared over the city. His arms wrapped tighter once I pressed back, signaling he was there.
Why hadn’t we done this more often? It was so peaceful and freeing. We often took rides on Oberi, though it was rarely together, and almost never through the skies. I let myself relax, telling myself it was okay if Charlie made me feel at ease. We were working on fixing things. Might as well accept the good instead of trying to fight it. He didn’t comment that this was weird, just rested his head on top of mine, and I let him.
I think he enjoyed it, too. I was glad neither of us were fighting this.
“I want to fly around more on Oberi when we get the chance,” I called to Charlie. “Together.”
“We will,” Charlie promised. “Whenever we can.”
Oberi trailed down to the beach. Kallie was near the water, her hands raised as she crafted an illusion to disguise the beach. Thousands of Elvish warriors were there, waiting to go through the invisible hole in my shield. I felt a start of inspiration as I saw the shining red armor of my Firebirds, every woman carrying a shield, sword or spear.
They looked brave and ruthless. I pitied anyone who stood in their way.
Oberi landed, scattering sand everywhere. Kallie dropped her hands and walked over to me, signaling her spell was complete.
“How long have we got before your illusion drops?” I asked.
“It’ll hold until tomorrow evening, but we can’t be messing around,” she said. “Let’s get there and get back.”
Danny approached, his sharp vampire eyes wandering upward. “What’s your little sister doing here?”
I turned. I spotted my sister’s mane of red hair through the crowd. Alana was wearing a light blue bodysuit that was covered with the designs of ancient Hawkei runes. Behind her was a group of around fifty other Toaqua, all around her age, wearing the same bodysuit she was. She marched toward me with purpose, a blaze in her eyes that I often recognized in my own reflection. Her rainbow tigress, Zareen, followed with a low growl.
“Alana, what’s going on?” I asked.
“I heard about what you’re doing, and you need Toaqua soldiers,” Alana said, putting a hand on her hip. “The prison is near water. That’s our tribe’s weapon of choice. We can help you if you let us.”
“This is dangerous,” Charlie argued. “A battle is no place for a bunch of kids.”
I snorted. “Like we aren’t kids ourselves.”
“I’m of age now, and I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing while the Warden destroys everything,” Alana argued. “This is my fight as much as it is yours, so I’m coming no matter what anyone has to say about it.”
“What about your friends?” I looked at all the Toaqua students behind her, but honestly, they looked more like her troops than her companions. They were all gazing at Alana like they considered her to be the one in charge.
“They’ll listen to me,” Alana promised. “We’ll all work together.”
“Yeah, it was Alana’s idea to start a group of young fighting Toaqua,” one of the boys spoke up. “We’ve been training in secret for months, and she’s our leader. We’ll follow whatever she says.”
“I’m no leader,” Alana argued.
“Looks like you are,” I replied. “If you want to help, I’m in total support. I know there’s no stopping a Mitoh woman when she sets her mind to something. You can stay by the lake and prevent The Mission from coming after us as we’re leaving through the portal, because it’s going to happen. They’re going to chase us. Your job is to stop them.”
Alana nodded. “We can easily do that. No one is getting past our waves.”
I smirked. “Do Mama and Daddy know you’ve started a secret fighting group?”
