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Noah bowed. “Do not waver. We will outsmart the Seelie and hold Dukesburg. We need only be patient. I will make you proud,” he said. And then, with a final glance of longing mixed with a flash of fear, he fled toward the town to gather what we’d need.
He’d make it. Noah would make it to get help. In the meantime, there was a much bigger problem through the woods.
A loud cry rang out, echoing toward us. Booming a call to charge.
I shook my arms out. “They’ll clear the woods any minute. Stay behind me, far behind me. Sheath your weapons and do not engage,” I said.
“What is wrong with you?” Vara hissed. “We’ll be sitting ducks.
“I have a plan, Vara. Please. We are not trying to fight and die with honor right now. We are trying to buy Noah time to escape back to our own army and bring them here. This is time for strategy, not glory.”
Before anyone else could argue, I ran forward. Two dragons flew overhead and swooped down, blazing fire from their mouths at the edge of the forest. Not yet attacking, but demonstrating. Two Seelie rode their backs. I closed my eyes, trying to keep moving forward with my hands raised and not fall back into the feelings I had the last time I fought a dragon head-to-head.
“Stop! We surrender!” I shouted, screaming as loud as I could.
A few exasperated bellows came from behind me, but I ignored them, shouting again. “We surrender!”
I could hear Ryzel shouting for people to drop their weapons. At least someone listened to Noah and had my back. I looked behind me quickly to see our small group raising their hands one by one.
A horse and his rider emerged from the front of the line shouting at the forward ranks to halt. He rode out until he was within speaking distance of me.
The army obeyed his command and none of the Seelie progressed any closer. The wings of dragons could be heard overhead as they flew, but no more fire rained down on the outskirts of Dukesburg or the forest.
Instead of the man on horseback speaking, though, he trotted his horse back a few paces. The moment an area was clear before me, one of the dragons circled and swooped downward.
I ducked, holding my hands above my head, as if that would stop the attack or do anything.
But an attack didn’t come. Instead, the rider on the dragon slid off gracefully, touching the side of the beast’s neck. The dragon lowered its head, watching me but turning very still.
My fears were confirmed. The Seelie were riding dragons. This was the second one I’d seen. As much as Noah didn’t want to face this truth, it was staring me in the face now.
The rider walked up to me and circled once. “What do you mean, you surrender?”
So the man on horseback may have been issuing commands, but it appeared that the real leader was watching from the skies.
I moved my head to look at him, torn between the anger at the way he circled me like I was his prey and wanting to come across as weak and truly surrendering with no ulterior motives.
“I mean, we surrender. Look at the size of us, and look at the size of you. We’d be idiots to try to fight you. I mean, you have dragons, really? It’s not like we can compete with dragons.”
The Seelie leader was arrogant. His smug grin at my comments spread wide until he actually laughed. “Well, this is pleasing indeed.” He turned to face his army, still laughing until a few others joined in. “I always knew the Unseelie were weak. Weak yet intelligent, it seems. You’ve made a wise choice.”
He stood in front of me and took three steps back. He bowed mockingly low and twirled in a circle.
“If you’re all surrendering, then we’ll gladly take you as our first prisoners of war.”
