Page 115 of Swift Wings Shadowed Heart
Zephyros flies in my direction, then starts circling overhead. From a different perch, Fragor takes to the air, too, going after Zephyros.
Goddess, what’s happening?
—What are you doing?!I demand my dragon.You’ll give away our position to the Screechclaws.
—I do not care. I am taking you with me, away from this place. Humans have made a mockery of our legacy for centuries. It was cowardly and corrupt human kings who feared Weavers that led to their persecution. Those men upset the balance we carefully crafted. I will not fight for this monarchy any longer.
I stare up at him, jaw unhinged.
—Zephyros… but your oath to protect Embernia,I say.
—For a long time, I have sat quietly and watched our values degrade for the enrichment of worthless men. No more!He roars, louder than the first time.
Someone grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “Answer me, Wyndward.”
I blink and lower my gaze to Vaylen.
“What is going on?” he demands.
I shake my head.
Vaylen looks all around, thoughts moving at a million knots per hour behind his eyes. Arriving at a decision, he shouts, “Everyone, we’re going in.”
He continues issuing instructions, but a voice I’ve never heard before rings inside my mind, a sound like a volcanic eruption. Dumbfounded, I realize it’s Fragor’s voice. He’s also circling above me, a distance above Zephyros.
—Zephyros, heed my order. Land now and calm yourself. You are letting anger control you once more.
I thought Weavers could only hear their own dragons’ thoughts, but it seems Fragor has been blocking me!
—You do not command me, Fragor,Zephyros spits. When will you understand that the day you abandoned my offspring was the day our old alliance ended?
What? Offspring?I barely have time to assimilate this latest information when a Vortex Lift starts under my feet, and I start to rise.
—No!I exclaim.Let me go.
—We’re leaving, Zephyros informs me.
—Leaving? Where would we go?
—The isles.
—And what? Hide there? For how long?
—Forever, if we have to.
—No, Zephyros. I can’t hide. That’s not who I am.
I start using my own wind power against his, pushing down on his Vortex Lift. I begin a shaky descent.
Vaylen is done issuing orders, and he’s facing me again, watching the tableau with bewilderment: Fragor, Zephyros, and I locked in some kind of strange struggle.
Zephyros redoubles his attempts to lift me, and I jerk upward—my strength nothing against his. I try to fight him back, but it’s no use, so I do the only thing I can. I beg.
—You can’t make me do something I don’t want to do. Please.
—I will protect you against your stupid loyalty to an Embernia that is no more.
—You have no right.
