And innocent people were going to pay the price.
Carys heard Cadell in her head.
Anwyn will think about Cymric lives first, and a dragon attack is the fastest way to end this battle,he said.A dragon attack will keep Cian away from Cymru even if it leads to greater war with the other kingdoms in Briton.
Carys’s heart was racing when she turned to Dru. “We really need to convince Cian’s fae not to fight,” she said. “Because Cadell agrees with Winnie. Anwyn will absolutely order the dragons to attack.”
The deep blue sigils on Dru’s face pulsed with a dark light, and they almost seemed to move. “Alafair, go.”
As they crested the top of the hill, a sweeping, treeless plateau stretched before them.
In the center of the plain, there was a massive stone circle, twice as large as Stonehenge, as if giants had erected it. Beyond the plain on the other side of the shallow bowl, Carys saw the shadows of a tree line and a shimmering cloud of magic that hovered over a line of horse-mounted troops.
A wild fae as tall as an ash tree stepped onto the rolling green land. With each footfall, his rootlike legs broke open the ground, creating fissures as he walked. At his shoulders, two owls flew, and the ground closed behind him, leaving chalk-white scars across the landscape.
Carys spotted Cadell flying overhead, circling the plain with wide, arching sweeps of his wings, joined by two dozen dragons, both small and large, all carrying war coracles that were perfectly balanced to drop and release armed Cymric troops.
A shadowy figure rippled in the periphery of her vision, and Carys turned her head.
On a horse the size of a Clydesdale, Rhiannon sat silently, her finger pressed to her lips as a voice whispered in Carys’s ear.
You must not let them spill blood on Saris Plain.
She watched Alafair walking into the distance, and halfway across the plain, just to the side of the great stone circle, the fae halted and froze. Moments later, one of his owls circled overhead and turned back to Dru, swooping down to fly low over his head.
The animal must have communicated something to Dru, because Carys saw the tall fae freeze.
“What is it?” Lachlan asked. “What did he say?”
The red, twisted crown over Dru’s head glowed, and his voice was cold when he finally spoke. “Fomorians.”
The ancient race of giants and monsters was supposed to be a legend. Something out of even Shadowland nightmares. Monsters from beyond the sea.
Dru’s eyes were fixed on the army across the plateau. “My brother has brought the Fomorians to lead his army.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Without waiting another moment, Dru shouted something at the top of his lungs and charged toward the center of the Saris Plain with the wild fae army behind him.
“What do we do?” Carys shouted at Lachlan. At this point, blood on Saris Plain seemed inevitable, but that didn’t mean Carys couldn’t at least try to stop it.
“Hold!” Lachlan shouted as the soldiers behind them began to stomp their feet. He raised his fist. “Hold!” His face was leached of color, and his eyes were fixed on the center of the field. “The only thing powerful enough to defeat this enemy is the dragons.”
“I thought Fomorians were a legend even here,” Carys shouted.
“Nothing is a legend here.” Winnie’s mount was restless, tossing her head and trying to surge forward.
Nêrys, I am coming to get you.
“Cadell is coming to get me.” Carys jumped off her horse, grabbed her bow and quiver, and patted Leuca’s neck. “Go! Head back to the river and wait for me.”
Without a word, the horse turned and slipped away through the columns of soldiers.
“What are you doing?” Winnie asked. “We have to wait for orders.”
“I’m not your soldier,” Carys said. “My dragon is coming for me, and I’m not going to ignore him.” And if there was anything Carys could do to stop this battle—or at least end it quickly—she was going to find it.
Lachlan eyed her quiver and bow. “Don’t do anything rash.”