Page 121 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

“They’re free?”

A deep scar cuts across Riven’s chin. Self-inflicted. Difficult for a highborn to achieve without deliberately keeping a wound open. Riven disfigured himself so Galla would never conscript him into her Court like she did with Rohan.

“They’re free,” I say, taking a rare moment of peace from Riven’s grateful smile.

Azul doesn’t waste time swooping at Riven, who quickly leaps onto the eagle’s back. As they soar across the air above me, heading directly east, Riven leans over and calls, “Take the dragon’s hide with you! Maxim will need it. I folded it for him.”

Stellen is already bending to the ground, picking up the dropped hide before alighting on his wolf’s back.

“Move, Antony!” he calls as he races by. “Unless you’re keen to meet your end.”

I hesitate another heartbeat.

Fuck, but my mother was clever. She gave the missing page to me and not to Stellen, forcing me to return to Thyra. For now.

Starlight explodes in the distance and my survival instincts kick in.

Time to find Thyra and pray she’s unharmed.

Chapter Forty-Three

Thyra

Arush of air hits me amid the explosions of starlight breaking across the sky behind me.

Maxim’s serpent appears through the wash, dipping toward me, and I don’t miss a beat, breaking into a run, just as I would for Nara, sprinting fast enough to match the serpent’s speed before leaping up onto his back.

The beast hisses before soaring back into the air, speeding toward the mountains, which rear up at us within seconds.

Below, a flash of white reveals Stellen riding Nara, the wolf’s speed nearly matching the serpent’s, her powerful strides carrying her up the side of the mountain.

On my other side, flashes of darkness draw my focus to another figure dashing through the air.

Antony. He stayed.

He keeps his distance from me but matches our pace, following the serpent’s flight path.

Where we’ll go now is a different issue.

Maxim disappeared into one of the narrow corridors within the mountain range and my quick scrutiny tells me that between the narrow passes and the vast debris of burned-out towers, finding him will be very difficult. I look for his fire, hoping to see it gleaming in the dark, but to no avail.

The serpent heads due south across the mountain range and heads toward the spot where the Mothers had grouped themselves to wait for me. Right at the eastern side of the dark channel. More difficult to make out now because the channel is quickly brightening. Dispersing.

Natural starlight breaks through the air ahead of me and moonlight beams over us.

A final ripple of brighter, magical starlight floods the air overhead, spearing far into the south.

Antony dips into the shadow of a final mountainous crevice as the pulse of starlight breaks across us.

Then the darkness is gone.

A glance back tells me that the edge of the bloodlands must have reverted to where it was before, much farther into the north, since the landscape appears clear for as far as I can see.

More confronting are the burned-out towers, both Iron and Ember. Maxim will need to move fast to shore up his border.

Although…

A horn sounds in the distance, coming from the east, and groups of serpents rise into the air, headed in the direction of the now-exposed border. Hopefully, one of those riders is General Kaiba since Maxim seems to trust him.