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From the grove, it looked like nothing more than a streak of white circling the distant moon, but there was no doubt that it was something far worse.
Brenna and her ivory dragon had come to the field.
“I need your horse,” I said to the Skaag, who quickly moved to oblige.
I mounted the horse and brought it around to address my troops. “Bring it down or nothing else we’ve done here tonight matters. They’ve all died to buy you the opportunity you need. Do not waste it!”
I turned the horse back toward the river, drew my sword, and I rode out to meet the enemy.
Hooves thundered against the ground beneath me, pulling up dry clods of grass by the roots. Lights spun above as the aerial forces moved into formation. Fear and adrenaline pounded through me, stronger than any drug.
The line was crumbling when I arrived.
Brenna’s forces had pushed into the river where the crossing was narrow and shallow. Even so, that meant fighting in water up to their knees and sucking mud. Morlash had done his damnedest to hold them there. Even back from the front line, I could make out the bodies floating in the river, armor reflecting all the firelight.
So many dead.
A small band of Nightmares had fallen back, breaking from the main force. Whether they were running or just confused in the dark, I had to rally them back to the fight.
I ran the horse parallel to the river, cutting off their path forward. “Back to the line! Fight! Hold them back!”
Some turned back immediately. Others told me what I already knew. They’d seen Morlash get carried away and thought the battle was already lost.
“It’s not lost until I say it is!” I shouted at them. “Now get back to the line! Where are the archers? Get your men back up on that hill, captain! Our friends in the air need cover fire.”
Riding back and forth cost us precious time. The more time Nisang and his people were in the air, the more likely they were to become exhausted and make mistakes. Every mistake was a life lost, someone I didn’t get to bring back to Cian.
As I was rallying the last of the stragglers back to their positions, the dragon swooped out of the clouds. It had to be two hundred feet from its snout to the tip of its tail, and all covered in thick white scales. Bony protrusions jutted from the dragon’s jaw while horns twisted back from its head. Even the underbelly was as white as a stripped skull. Feline yellow eyes scanned the battlefield, taking in all the prey.
Atop the dragon sat a monster wrapped in flame. Red cloth, unburnt in the fire, flapped in the wind behind Brenna, her face locked in a hungry predator’s snarl.
With great white wings, the dragon glided down, down… Well within range, but too far from the grove for a good shot.
The stink of sulfur filled the air. I spat a curse and nudged the horse faster, riding for the river. The column of flame slammed into the ground behind me, swirling up like a great tornado of fire. Brenna’s ivory dragon roared and spat more flame, cleaving a line of it in the ground behind me, cutting me off from riding back to the grove. The dragon and its flame curved, drawing a burning half sphere behind my troops.
We were trapped by fire. No option to retreat or regroup, no chance of pulling in reinforcements.
A war cry roared from Brenna’s forces as the bulk of them charged into the river.
Their push renewed at the same time as the lights above me came into a wedge, headed straight for the dragon.
“Spread out!” I called to the ground forces. “Form diagonals!” They were clumping together, easy targets for dragon fire.
Almost no one heeded my warning.
The dragon and rider ascended, climbing out of range.
I brought my attention back down to the ground. Nisang had his job, and I had mine.
A soldier clad in the Fire Lord’s colors charged out of the water, sword raised and eyes set on me. I tried to spur the horse away, but a Nightmare that had been caught in the dragon’s fire sped in front of us, burning and screaming. The horse shied.
Sword, Nevahn. Raise your sword!But I couldn’t move. My body was frozen in terror, watching the soldier close the distance.
Someone else got there first.
My horse screamed as one of Brenna’s soldiers jammed a flaming spear into its chest. The horse went down, carrying me with it. I slammed sideways onto the hard ground, one leg pinned beneath the dying horse.
Now you’re dead.Nisang’s voice played in my head.
