My eyes drifted down to the rest of him—or what remained of him. The lower half of his body was completely crushed beneath the stone and judging by the blood that slipped from his lips and labored breathing, I knew he had little time left.
The man’s eyes slowly lifted to Jace’s, but they appeared cloudy and unseeing.
“What happened?” I had never heard my mate’s voice so soft when speaking to someone who wasn’t me. “To the city. Did an army attack?”
The man’s voice was strained. “No,” he said, the word ending in a cough. “It came from the sky.”
My eyes widened, and my heart sank. “The sky?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
Dread flooded me, hoping that my hunch wasn’t true.
“We thought it was you.” He pointed his trembling chin in my direction, and my sinking heart cracked in two.
“Me?” The word left me in a whisper.
“Nox.” The word traveled through my mind, and my eyes met Jace’s.
“The beast came from the sky, screeching its warning with glowing eyes the color of blood.” My jaw locked, my memory taking me back to when I stood under Azenna’s stare. “Once it reached the city gates, it unleashed its flame in the streets. There was no time for escape.”
I swallowed thickly. “I’m so sorry.” I hated the words as they left me, knowing they held no weight to the situation—an apology to a dying man as he lay crushed beneath stone next to the corpses of his brothers in arms.
“It left as quick as it came, breathing its fire onto every street, and bashing its tail against the buildings that remained.” His words left him at a sluggish pace, his voice diminishing with each passing syllable.
The man's eyes drifted to the sky before he continued. “I will get to see my family again soon.”
A tear slipped from me as I tried to steady my voice, realizing that his family must have remained here with him and perished in the fires. “You will.”
As if that was all the confirmation he needed, he took his final breath—his eyes remained open as they looked at the sky. Jace blew out a breath and gently closed the man’s eyes with a hand.
“We must burn him,” I reminded him, and he nodded in answer.
I called for Nox, and fallen stones crunched beneath his steps until he stood before us. I motioned to the wreckage, where the man's body remained beneath the boulders. “Ignystae,” I commanded, voice hoarse with regret and brewing rage.
Nox's jaw opened wide, and I felt the scorching heat of his flames as they erupted from him. When the fire winked out, his vertical pupil narrowed in on me.
“That’s why you were growling, isn’t it?” I asked, and Jace curiously looked at us. “You could smell the other wyvern that had been here. The one that destroyed the city.”
A purr-like rumble sounded to acknowledge my guess, and I took it as my answer.
“It appears that our worst fear has come true,” I said to Jace.
“It does indeed,” he answered. “Ellecaster is lost. We need to get back to the valley and regroup with everyone.”
“Agreed. Everyone must be there.” He nodded at my words. “And I do meaneveryone.”
Chapter fifty-three
The Queen
My eyes blinked rapidlyas my vision focused on the room I stood in, morphing back into the throne room when my consciousness had just been wherever Elianna hid within the realm.
Locking eyes with Azenna, who stood only feet from me, I shot her a sinister smile. My stare then moved to the crone, who stood in a near trance beside her, eyes glowing as she used her magic to see through our wyvern’s mind.
“It’s done then?” I asked.
Her lips curled into a smile that I assumed mimicked my own. “It is done. The wyvern found a large city at the foot of the Ezranian Mountains.”
“Silcrowe?” I wondered aloud. “We had destroyed it.”
