As if in answer to her High Witch, a book materialized in the crone’s hands, and she then began chanting words I couldn’t understand as she read from its pages.
As her spell echoed through the stillness of the cavern, the wyvern scale on the ground began to quiver. Ethereal wisps of smoky essence curled and danced in the air as tiny cracks appeared on its surface.
With each word uttered by the crone, the fractures on the scale widened, revealing a ghostly light that gleamed like liquid moonlight.
“Holy fucking gods,” I breathed as my eyes were locked on the scene.
The ground beneath the scale trembled as violent shadows swirled and intertwined with the blazing embers that shot out from its cracks.
Flowing shadows took shape as tendrils of darkness emerged from the fractured scale, twisting and contorting within the confines of the dungeon. A deep, ferocious growl rumbled through the air, putting us all on edge as the tendrils solidified, taking the form of enormous, leather-like wings and a serpentine neck.
My heart raced as I tore my gaze from the madness that was unfolding before us all. My eyes found the queen as she watched—the female was unafraid and completely awe-struck by all that was occurring in front of us. It was in that moment that I kneweverythingregarding this century-old war was about to change.
A fully grown wyvern, conjured from dark magic and the sacrifice of a single scale, now stood before us as it unfurled its wings. Its scales were a shade of obsidian with an otherworldly, blood-red sheen. Eyes that glowed like burning embers replicating that of its maker were fixed upon the queen, radiating both intelligence and an ancient cruelness.
“Your Highness,” Azenna spoke once the wyvern’s echoing growl ceased. “I present to you my first gift for your war.”
The queen moved to take a step toward the wyvern, and I, on instinct, took a step in front of her. “You don’t know if that beast will harm you.”
I truly didn’t give a damn if it did, but if Idina was eliminated, it would pave the way for Elianna to waltz in through the city gates and take the realm that was promised to her by blood. I still needed to climb my way to the top. The queen said I would never move up to be heradvisor, but sooner or later, she would miss having a warm body in her bed—I wasn’t about to come this fucking far to give up now.
The queen craned her neck to look back at the High Witch. “Will it?” she asked. “Harm me.”
“It will not, Highness, for it is under mind control by my dearest Sylvae.” She gestured to the crone, who looked at us with glowing eyes.
“So you will control what the wyvern does?”
“Indeed, we can by tapping into the beast's mind. However, the magic he will be under when in use with his rider will link their minds together, giving the rider full control and steer the beast as he wishes.”
“Rider?” I barked.
“Do you not wish to ride the wyvern, Captain?” Azenna tilted her head to the side, but a knowing grin tilted her haunting face.
“You stated Elianna rode out of this very dungeon on the back of my lost beast,” the queen snapped at me. “You also declared that she rode the wyvern to battle when you were attacked at the foot of the Sylis Forest.”
“Aye, but I take to the seas, not the sky,” I huffed out.
She took a step toward me, and it took every effort in me to have my gaze not drift over her shoulder to where the eyes of the fire-breathing abomination stared me down.
She put her lips to the tip of my ear, stunning me in shock as she whispered, “Are you stating that your treasonous ex-love is braver than you, Captain?”
A low, wicked laugh left me. “Never.”
The queen took a step back and looked into my eyes, but it was as if she saw directly through me—using me as a pawn in her game for the throne.
“Then prove it and consider the sky your new sea,” she demanded. “You will bond with this beast just as she has with the one she stole from me. And then you will ride it into battle, engulfing both her and her precious mortals in its flames. Have I made myself clear?”
My eyes gradually wandered away from hers and to the wyvern that stood at attention behind her while the witches stood off to the side, listening to the words spoken between us.
“Crystal,” I answered.
“Tell me, High Witch,” I started. “What does bonding with this beast entail? Elianna didn’t have magic to have hers listen to commands. It justdid.”
She looked me up and down. “I can create a link between the two of you, connecting your minds and allowing you to will the wyvern as you see fit. It will bend at your beck and call if you are in near proximity.”
“Show me,” Idina demanded. “Show me this link you can create between them.”
My eyes flared as the queen offered me up to this stranger’s witch magic so freely.
