Page 109 of The Last Slayer
Ramiel turned to me as if he’d heard my thought. “We’ve been anticipating this battle and had spies in strategic areas for quite some time.” He glanced at Kenji. “Unfortunately I couldn’t involve you earlier. I wanted Madainsair to wonder where your loyalties lay. I apologize.”
Not an eyelash flickered on Kenji’s face, but his entire torso inclined forward in a seated bow. “You were clever to do so.”
After the dragonlords had engaged in a bit of mutual admiration, Tiamo stood and started to go over strategy for the upcoming battle. They apparently didn’t expect me to contribute to the discussion, which was just as well. I had no idea what they were talking about, and having studied Sun Tzu’s The Art of War at the Academy wasn’t enough to make me an expert. Besides, I always hunted solo. I wasn’t used to thinking about large groups.
A terrain map had appeared over the table, more real than any hologram, and they pored over it. I couldn’t follow, because I couldn’t read the elaborate script on it and didn’t know the names of all the valleys, gorges and rivers everyone was talking about. But I wasn’t completely clueless. I managed to gather that about a tenth of Lapslora’s ground units would initiate a straightforward assault. The rest would penetrate the enemy line underground and come out from below while Madainsair’s ground units were occupied by the attack. Besade’s wyrms were already making tunnels big enough to let the drakes through. A careful campaign of disinformation had it that we planned to attack at one point, when the real assault would be brought to bear on another.
I raised my hand. Tiamo said, “Milady?”
“Why don’t we just use the wyrms to tunnel all the way to Eastvale?”
“It would defend itself against the intrusion. Since you haven’t been officially recognized yet, it won’t allow you passage that way.”
So much for my brilliant idea.
The rest of the group continued to discuss strategy. While the wyrms and drakes engaged the enemy on the ground, the rest of us—meaning the wyverns—would attack from the sky. When they noticed me, Nathanael and Semangelaf would undoubtedly focus their attention on me. Depending on the situation on the ground, Kenji and Ramiel would lead the wyverns and possibly intercept one of Madainsair’s dragonlords.
Finally I couldn’t stand it any more. “So what’s my role in all this?”
Tiamo bowed. “Milady, we’ve prepared a regiment of elite wyverns for your protection.”
Uh-huh. I hoped he wasn’t going to tell me to stand back and twiddle my thumbs while they fought on my behalf. I wanted to do something.
He continued. “We cannot directly engage a dragonlord, as it would mean our decimation.”
Oh yeah. Draco perditio. “So…”
“You, Kenji and I will fight Nathanael and Semangelaf,” Ramiel said. “And the generals will lead the troops.”
Fight Nathanael again. Or maybe this time it would be Semangelaf.
Nah. Nathanael really wanted me dead, and since our encounter in the Mystic Forest, I was betting he would relish finishing me off himself.
Besides, the glass was half-full. It’d be three versus two, even though I only had one heartstone. Put that way, it wasn’t so bad. Seven heartstones versus six. And Apollyon supposedly wasn’t coming, although not really knowing for sure made me slightly nervous. I’d bet on his cunning over any fairy dragon’s, no matter how good she was supposed to be. God only knew what he was plotting behind everyone’s backs.
“If we can injure them, their troops will retreat,” Kenji said. “Of course, killing one’s enemy is always better.”
With the unspoken implication being if one of us got injured or killed, our troops would pay dearly for it.
I remembered the mastery with which Nathanael had wielded his sword. Maybe I could just focus on staying alive while Ramiel skewered him for me, and Kenji took care of Semangelaf. I shook myself mentally. What was I thinking? Attitudes like that would get me killed. Had to think positively. Aggressively. Doubt can be fatal in a fight.
Kenji left to talk to his troops. Besade’s generals marched out in single file, Tiamo leading the way. Ramiel came to me.
“Here.” He handed me an elaborate white helmet that matched my armor and covered my head entirely, including my face. An inch-wide gap ran up the middle, then split horizontally, making a design that was somewhere between a T and a Y.
Our fingers brushed as I took it from him. The heat from his skin was scorching, but nothing on his face betrayed his thoughts. Other than one small compliment on my armor—which was probably nothing more than him being polite—he had focused on business all morning. He might as well have been a chunk of rock for all the vibes—or lack thereof—I was getting.
Well, he doubtless wanted me gone, and who could blame him? No matter how good I looked now, wanting my body just wasn’t going to do it, not when I attracted trouble like bees toward honey. When his vow was fulfilled, Ramiel would have no real reason to stick around.
So it was my turn to act with dignity. I could throw away a lot of things, but never my pride. Sometimes that’s all a girl’s got.
“Thank you.” I twisted my hair up and put the helmet on.
Ramiel was already striding away. “To the landing platform. Our amphiteres await.”
Nineteen
Darkness pressed down like a heavy blanket. Not a single unbroken ray of sunlight penetrated the layers of wyverns hovering over us, their wings snapping in the air. The sound reminded me of bats, except the dragons were much louder and eerier, like large plastic tarps being cracked on a distant hillside. The cacophony made my skin crawl and slickened my palms.
