Page 29 of The Flame King's Queen

Sundra’s dragon is next to Scourge, and she calls to me, “Ma’len, how will we proceed if Kane does not come?”

I’ve tried to tell myself that we will find another way, but we won’t. We can’t. The warlocks who run the magical archive in the city have already made it clear that they’re not powerful enough to disrupt this barrier. One of my spellbreakers is dead, and the other is a traitor. Only Kane can do this.

On the other side of the barrier, I can feel Emmeric laughing at me. He must be aware that we’re here. I’m sure he’s entertained by the sight of the dragon army assembled where they can’t get to him. He’ll be delighted when we all have to turn around and slink back to where we came from.

There’s a shout from one of my soldiers. “Dragon approaching from the northwest.”

I look around. A golden dragon is skimming toward us through the skies. As he lines up to pass over us, his throat glows golden. Auryn is preparing to deluge us with dragonfire. Scourge rumbles a warning and gathers his legs beneath him.

I’m about to call out for the army to scatter when the golden dragon veers away. The flare will not panic if we do not. I press a steadying hand to Scourge’s scales.Hold.

Auryn passes overhead, and Kane shouts, “Nah-vahneh.”

The word echoes through the skies, loud, but not loud enough. The barrier shudders and crackles with menace, but it doesn’t break. All the dragons grow restless at the sound, clawing at the dirt and raising their heads with their jaws parted.

Auryn wheels around to fly by the barrier a second time, and as he whistles past us, I’m close enough to see the sweat gleaming on Kane’s brow. His chest expands as he draws in a deep breath and he opens his mouth to shout, but changes his mind and closes it again. Auryn’s talons flash over our heads, almost close enough to decapitate. Kane seems to be struggling to control his dragon.

Behind me, Nilak screams. I just catch Stesha’s furious words. “What is hedoing? Can the idiot not control his own dragon?”

Auryn makes a third pass, and this time, I feel the heat from his soul core. As he shouts once more, there is a deafening crack, a flash of light, and a great rush of wind.

I fling my arm up to shield my eyes from the blinding light and dust. When I lower it again, what a different sight I see. Not the pulsating barrier, but an expanse of open ground, and a ramshackle castle of old dark stone.

Auryn hovers in midair, his great wings beating while his rider surveys what he has done. There’s a wild gleam in his eye as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

I raise my sword in thanks, and it catches the rider’s attention. When I tilt my head toward the castle, inviting Kane to join in the battle against a man he despises, he casts me a haughty look with a curling lip. Auryn beats his wings, climbs into the sky, and heads for the northwest.

No matter. I already have an army.

Scourge and I swing around to face Emmeric’s castle in unison. There is an open, dusty expanse of ground between us and the battlements, one I do not trust.

I shout so the dragonriders around us can all hear. “First group, on me.”

The dragons take to the skies, and dragonfire rumbles in the throats of one and all. We lay down a path of fire, the smoke from which obscures the foot soldiers as they maneuver to flank the castle. Figures appear on the battlements and flashes of green light flicker among them. Mages casting spells. Behind me, the wyverns shriek as the wingrunners are given orders from their captain to attack. The wyverns shoot over and between the dragons, becoming silvery blurs as they dive for the mages. Several of them are caught up in the wyverns’ talons and hurled to the ground, which is a long, long way down.

Amid the smoke, the screaming, and the sight of dragons soaring over the unprotected castle, I feel my lips curve into a smile. We are coming for you, Emmeric. Do you understand your numbered days are over?

Do you fear me now?

I imagine him shaking in fear, pitiful and outmatched. Vulnerable now that his barrier has been turned down.

The ground churns and boils, and up from the morass, human figures rise, dressed in rags and rusted armor, clinging to blades with skeletal hands. Some have yellowed eyeballs. Others have no eyes at all.

An army of the undead. Emmeric was never going to make this easy for us.

I grit my teeth and raise my sword, signaling to the riders to attack. We must clear a path for the foot soldiers, and dragonfire will be the fastest way to do it.

Maddeningly, these undead seem to have some protection from fire. Abandoning our first plan to burn them to a crisp, Scourge flies low over the slow, shuffling army and rips into them with his talons.

Flying this low, I can see that the undead army is made up of not only fallen Brethren Guard, but fallen Maledinni soldiers as well. I recognize their tattered armor and rusted weapons. I pray that I don’t recognize any faces.

Behind us, Merrex breathes fire over the injured undead, and they burst into flames. But there are still hundreds more, and they have reached the foot soldiers. I can hear the clashes and screams of battle.

A boulder sails over us and crashes into the undead, rolling over a dozen of them. Scourge follows up with fire as white wings flash overhead. Nilak dives down and picks up the boulder in her talons, her enormous wings laboring as she rises back into the air. She turns, banking to the left, and once she has reached a good speed, she hurls the stone at one of the castle turrets. This must be near Shar’s prison. The structure shakes but does not fall. Nilak screams as she dives to collect the boulder once more, but I must turn my attention elsewhere and focus on the battle.

It’s an exhausting fight for the dragons, and they breathe fire again and again. Every now and then, one is gripped by a lightning or darkness spell, and they’re engulfed in lightning or inky shadows until a wingrunner is able to find the enemy mage and kill them.

Scourge roars in pain as white-blue chain lightning dances and crackles over his wings. I feel his pain in my chest and stabbing through my fingers. He’s paralyzed in midair while we are far above the battle, and he starts to fall. This is how riders and their dragons die. I remember my best friend Onderz, who flew into an electrical storm so that he and his dragon would perish. We found their bodies broken upon the ground after falling from a great height, the dragon’s wings scorched by lightning.

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