Page 68 of Between Fear and Favor

Flying higher, Lux roared, letting her divine fire set enemy soldiers ablaze as she flew from the western edge of the city northward, toward the pit the Supreme had created. The heat from her attack warmed me, fanning the flames of my anger ever higher. Houses in the Wend were reduced to ash, as Folterrans and Nythyrians took shelter in them. Occasionally, I spotted Vestian soldiers, and all I could do was close my eyes and lift a prayer to the gods for their safety.

We’d been sacrificing our people to protect us for weeks now. This final act would be the last of it.

As we approached the pit, I felt Rain’s affection, and it sent shivers down my spine. As light as the sun in our meadow and as dark as the space between stars, he sent his devotion to me through our bond. It was a goodbye—I could feel it with such certainty, I thought he might have already been dead. My only glimmer of hope was that I hadn’t felt the gut-wrenching pain associated with a bond being torn by death. But I needed to make a move immediately—I just didn’t know what.

Just as I spotted the Supreme, standing at the edge of the pit, Lux shrieked. As her body slammed into an invisible barrier, I couldn’t help but scream as I slammed forward. I wasn’t sure if it was some type of warding or elemental divinity, but whatever it was violently stopped my dragon from approaching. The shadow-formed saddle kept me attached to her, but as she tumbled through the air, I wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

“Come on,” I gasped, growing dizzier by the minute as she collected herself, finally able to get her wings to move. She was in pain; my head and neck were aching, and there were spots in my vision, mirroring what she must have been feeling. But as she recovered, rearing her body nearly vertical as she positioned her deadly maw to deliver a devastating blast of divine fire, I screamed at her to stop.

Because Ryo had screamed, and my stomach felt as if I’d been impaled. Lux flew higher, adjusting her body so I was able to collapse forward against her. Agonizing spasms tore through my stomach as Ryo was dragged to the ground. Though Lux had destroyed the ballistae on the other side of the walls, I hadn’t expected the smaller one, dragged through the city on a cart.

They pulled Ryo down, and Nereza used her shadows on him to hold him in place. He writhed, shrieking and fighting, and my heart shattered. Thankfully, they didn’t do anything more to harm him, or else I wasn’t sure I could withstand the pain. As it was, Lux was hurting, and I wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to keep us in the air.

Desperate for intervention, I prayed to Rhia. This dragon had been captured while trying to protect us. He was part of me, part of my family. After losing Hyše, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him too.

Though all of the gods had cursed me with their divinity, I thought perhaps I could find guidance. If I was their Beloved, the least they could fucking do was help me. At first, I thought perhaps I should retreat. If they decided to hurt Ryo any further, I would probably lose control of the shadows keeping me strapped to Lux, and then I’d certainly die. But if I left, they could kill him. I’d be devastated and useless, and they’d still have Rain. And who knew what kind of torment they’d put him through while I nursed my wounds.

No, I couldn’t leave him. I couldn’t leave Ryo either. The pain in my stomach was tremendous, and I found it hard to breathe as Nereza’s shadows squeezed my smallest dragon. But I had little choice. Lux was growing more tired by the minute, and my own exhaustion had tainted my decisions.

Many of the houses near the courtyard, though shoved together side-by-side, had already fallen victim to the quaking earth from the Supreme’s destruction and Rain’s divinity. Barely standing, those that were left were certainly uninhabitable. But when my dragon landed upon them, they were obliterated.

Lux was enormous, and I’d had no choice. Even with her wings tucked tightly against her body, she was far too wide for the street running through the Wend. She didn’t move as I dismounted, using the shadows from her saddle to help me down. Reaching for the vial around my neck, I breathed as deeply as I could. Ryo was just out of sight on the other side of a group of soldiers, but I could still sense the restraints tying him down, making my own body feel constricted. The pack on my shoulder was far too heavy, and I struggled to maintain my balance, stumbling over the rubble beneath us. I was dizzy, and my head had throbbed since the moment Lux slammed into that barrier mid-air. If I wasn’t wary of using too much of my divinity, I would have healed her then and there.

I walked around my dragon, tracing my fingertips over her opalescent scales. Lux was a beautiful death my enemies did not deserve. But, be it by ward or divinity, I couldn’t get close enough to the Supreme or Nereza to use her.

I scanned the crowd of soldiers, searching for Rain. The bond throbbed, as if I felt his heartbeat on the other end, but his emotions were too tumultuous to pinpoint. I couldn’t see him. Certain he was in that deep pit with his soldiers, all I could do was wait.

If the Supreme wanted my blood, he would have to come and fetch it.

Chapter 34

RAINIER

My muscles ached,and I could barely catch my breath. Bodies pressed against me from every direction. The woman who’d died was being crushed beneath us, as even more Vestian soldiers were thrown into the pit. I was certain there were more people dying, being trampled beneath our feet or starved for air. We were barely alive.

The shadow wolves continued to circle, attacking the soldiers who were already battle weary and disoriented after falling into what would likely become our grave. I’d given up on my divine fire, knowing it was not enough. I was more likely to injure someone with it than make a difference.

And I didn’t dare try to move the earth again, certain we’d be buried immediately. Although that might have been preferable.

Maurice was beside me, his armor digging into my own and denting the iron. I could only see him out of the corner of my eye, but his pale face was covered in tiny red dots, his eyes bloodshot as he panted.

“Can’t...breathe.”

I couldn’t respond without losing too much of my limited air. Though I’d seen Em flying overhead with Lux, I realized now I must have been hallucinating it. Lux wasn’t nearly close to the size of the creature I’d seen overhead. It had been ages, and I was so hot and growing dizzier by every second. She hadn’t been real.

“Pull him out!”

The Supreme’s voice boomed from above, and I groaned as shadows twisted around my arms and shoulders. At first, I thought they meant to wrap around my neck. Dragging me out to display my body, the Supreme and Nythryians could proudly proclaim their victory.

But it wasn’t anything of the sort.

As Nereza’s shadows lifted me higher, pulling me from the throng of bodies, Maurice grabbed onto my foot. As I was raised through the air, the boy’s attempts at escape nearly broke my ankle, but I didn’t kick him off. How could I?

Nereza didn’t appreciate the added resistance, using her divinity to fling him back down into the pile of bodies. My knees buckled when she placed me on the ground, and I could barely stand as I gasped for air. Bending over, I sucked in desperate breaths. My vision had blurred, and it felt as if the earth spun below me. I would have fallen if the Supreme hadn’t forced me to the ground first.

Someone bound my wrists behind my back, but I was too exhausted to fight it. I blinked, my vision clearing, as I took in the massive beast before me.

It hadn’t been my imagination at all.

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