Page 157 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

My serpent speeds through the air, the Tol-Dakri city a speck on the horizon behind us as we soar directly north toward the charcoal tower.

My truce with Stellen and Antony may be breakable, but they won’t risk Thyra’s life. Above all else, I know that to be true. If they’ve taken Thyra to the tower where I’ve allowed Stellen to stay, then they can get her swiftly out of my kingdom.

Ha. My kingdom. Soon, it won’t be mine any longer.

When Thyra’s safe, I’ll hand over my crown to Kaiba.

Then I’ll seek out Miriam and find out who and what I really am.

And then, maybe then, I’ll be able to do something about all of these fucking blood binds.

My serpent stays high as the northern border comes into view, keeping his path well above the last fae leaving the dunes below so I don’t startle them.

I guess tonight was the first night my people felt safe enough to come up to the surface, but they’ve clearly packed up earlier than normal, the final lines of fae disappearing into the underground cities.

Sudden movement on my right forces me to lean abruptly left, taking evasive measures as the wind buffets us.

My eyes widen as a flock of riderless eagles soars out from behind the charcoal cliffs in the east and cuts directly northwest toward the Ember Towers.

A monstrous blue beast leads them forward, a congregation of birds so large in number, they could be a storm upsetting the air around me.

I know that beast. A shout rises to my throat. “Azul!”

He’s headed straight for death and I’m too far behind to stop him.

Up ahead, Kaiba’s red flames burst across the sky, a warning shot before his horn sounds the alarm.

He will have seen that the eagles are riderless, but he won’t be able to give them the benefit of doubt. These birds belong to the Iron Kingdom. There is no underestimating what Hadrian could do and Kaiba doesn’t know Azul like I do. That eagle would sooner cut off his own talons than obey a man like Hadrian.

As soon as Kaiba’s horn sounds, the Iron Towers on the other side of the border swarm with Iron Fae. They spill out through trapdoors, onto tower tops, and across the rubble of former battles. Their saddled birds are clearly jittery, many of them lifting into the air before lowering again.

I don’t have time to question why Azul is leading an entire flock of eagles to a fiery end.

“Serpent!” I shout. “Get me there as fast as you can!”

He answers me in an instant, arcing left, away from our destination, the pressure on my body increasing as he shoots toward Kaiba’s tower, gaining on the eagles.

Not quickly enough.

Ember fire blazes through the air, intense plumes of heat blooming ahead of the birds.

The eagles fly straight toward the fire, their feathery bodies about to be engulfed. Fuck, no!

Just as they would be swallowed by flame, Azul shoots directly upward, a near vertical path.

All of the birds follow him, moving in astonishing unison, rising high enough, fast enough that they crest gracefully over the top of the billowing fire. And they do it at full speed.

Their path takes them up and over the towers, drawing the fire as Ember warriors continue to pour flames into the air, the infernos only seconds behind the eagles.

Azul ducks and rolls and every eagle does the same, weaving and dancing between plumes as the flock now plummets across the border, directly at the⁠—

Iron Fae.

Ember fire arcs across the remaining intact Iron Towers and the rubble around them. The Iron Fae’s saddled eagles take to the air just in time to avoid being burned.

Azul’s piercing shriek cuts through the roar of flames and flapping wings, a cry so loud that his call threatens to make my ears bleed.

The Iron Fae scatter and dive for cover.