Page 78 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

Pyralis had made it halfway around the castle when he stopped in his tracks once again. This time, when he spun around, he continued to the stairs. As soon as he took a step up like he was heading back inside, he stopped once more.

Finola, Struan, and Finnian flew to the right of Brenin, where we were all hovering in a line once again.

“What the blast is he doing?” Finnian muttered. “Maybe killing the dragons won’t be a problem after all. They can’teven decide where they want to go. We could just fly around them in circles, and they could make themselves dizzy before succumbing to unconsciousness.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hestia smirk. She wasn’t nearly as annoyed as the Unseelie guards and me.

All of a sudden, the breeze shifted, hitting our wings and backs and blowing toward Tìr na Dràgon. The six of us tensed before flying to the right, trying to get out of line with the castle before the dragon had a chance to smell us.

My gaze remained on Pyralis, who had frozen in place.

Pulse hammering, I pushed farther to the side where one of the mountains had become a volcano due to the dragon magic.

Waiting to see if he alerted any guards, I continued to move so I could see every expression and gesture as we positioned ourselves so that the wind hit us more on the right side, blowing toward the ocean instead of straight down to the island.

Pyralis didn’t even glance in our direction. Instead, with a steady gait, he walked around the castle once more… to whatever destination he’d been originally heading.

“That was too blazing close.” Brenin huffed. “I was certain the ashbreath sensed us.”

I had been too, but for once, maybe Fate was on our side. “I didn’t even feel the warning of the wind shift.”

“We didn’t bring anyone with wind magic.” Hestia shook her head. “We should’ve considered it and taken the time to locate someone.”

“If the wind were usually that volatile, it would’ve crossed our minds, but that change wasn’t typical.” Brenin bit his bottom lip. “It must be tied to the volatility of the land with the dragon magic.”

He was right. In every land we’d lived on, changes in wind direction were rare and usually happened around the solstices. We were nowhere close to the June solstice.

“The castle is surrounded by mountains, so maybe they blocked our scents.” Finnian lifted both hands as the six of us hovered, waiting to see what happened now that we weren’t upwind of them again. He continued, “I doubt Pyralis would’ve carried a plate of food around if he planned on summoning an army.”

“We should stay here and make sure that nothing happens.” Finola’s hair blew into her face. “And if they do something aggressive, we can race to alert the other fae.”

From our position, we would be able to see any dragons that tried to fly toward Aetherglen. “Agreed. Let’s wait.”

Something settled hard in my stomach as we waited for what had to be a couple more hours. Though flying was second nature to us, the amount of time we had to hover in the sky made my muscles grow tired… yet we still had to endure for a while longer.

The six of us remained silent, scanning the land, taking in every indication of movement… waiting for dragons to take to the sky and search for us. The dragon village to the right was situated similarly to the one in the former dragon land, the houses stacked on each other with large windows so they could easily fly in and out. They were at the bottom of a range of mountains on the east side of the island, with one of the mountains smoking from the top like it was transitioning into a volcano.

A few dragons in human form hung out at both edges of the village. I assumed there were guards within the castle, which had my wings moving a little easier. If they knew we were here, they’d no doubt have come out and already be attacking.

Eventually, Pyralis returned. His expression was strained, and he carried the now-empty plate at his side. He didn’t glance around, entirely focused on the double doors as he jogged up the stairs four at a time. He hadn’t scanned the area like he sensed danger.

“I think we’re good to leave,” Struan whispered. “And fly around the entire island to see if we missed anything.”

Right. The night would end in a couple of hours, and it would be best if we were already halfway home so our scents wouldn’t still be in the air if the dragons decided to fly anywhere. “My magic is getting low, so I won’t be able to hold on to the darkness much longer. I agree. We need to do a quick fly-by and head back.”

The others nodded, and we banked to the right, paying attention to the wind so it wouldn’t blow our scents back inland.

As we flew around the rest of the island, we noticed dense copses of trees at each section of the mountains. We found two more additional villages built in the same style with dragons posted on each side, watching for danger. The second one, in the north, was set against mountains like the other, while the village on the western side was nestled between a lake and the ocean that separated this kingdom from our own.

Satisfied that we’d gotten a feel for the land, the six of us headed for home. My magic was drained dangerously low, but I kept tugging on the connection until the dragon land faded from sight. Then I released it.

Hestia shook her arms. “I thought I’d never feel warm again.”

“Be glad we didn’t use our frost powers.” Finnian waggled his brows.

“If you look at my wife that way again, you’ll never have another opportunity to use your magic.” Brenin glowered.

Immediately, I liked the Seelie guard better. “He does the same blighted thing with Lira. It makes me furious. One day, he’s going to die, and he’ll be the only person to blame.”

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