Maleshi nodded at him, then turned stiffly toward Corian. He stood empty-handed behind the supply carts and shrugged. “It’s getting pretty late, isn’t it?”
“Depends on your definition of late.” The general looked at the sky, which glowed with the orange and pink hues of sunset, even in this hidden plane. “I guess that’s a decent qualifier.”
Cheyenne turned around to stare across the valley. “Wait, how long were we on that mountain? Or I guess just me.”
“Long enough, apparently.” Maleshi readjusted the collar of her military jacket and took a deep breath. “There are pros and cons to staying or leaving now, I suppose.”
“Sure. I vote for leaving.” Cheyenne started to nod toward the place where they’d entered Nor’ieth, then stopped. “However we end up doing that.”
“We can’t leave.” L’zar approached their group looking calm enough, but his eyes darted away from Cheyenne’s face and back again. “Not yet.”
“Something else you’re trying to get out of this visit and failed to tell any of us?”
“We need more, Cheyenne.”
“There is no more.” She swept her arm at the valley. “Neros doesn’t want anything to do with the Crown or us. Neither do the olforím. We have to move on and look somewhere else. Not to mention that I have a life back home.” Neros might know what I am, but I doubt shouting it across the valley is gonna help us.
“Yeah, me too.” Ember nodded. “I mean, I can’t say I’m anywhere near as busy as Cheyenne, but I definitely have things.”
“Things.” Corian folded his arms.
“Yeah. Stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with us being here.”
“Maleshi’s in the same boat.” Cheyenne raised her eyebrows at the general. “Right?”
“You have a point.”
“No.” L’zar shook his head but couldn’t look any of them in the eyes. “There’s more. We just have to find it.”
“What’s there to find? We didn’t get what we came here for, which is fine. We’ll find another way. At least we got a clear answer from someone for once. Neros refused to step foot out of Nor’ieth, and he doesn’t want anything to do with the Crown or Hangivol or anywhere else, so for any of your purposes, L’zar, he’s useless.”
An earsplitting screech shattered the air in the peaceful valley. Lumil and Byrd jumped and ducked at the sound. Cazerel and his raug warriors broke off from their own conversation to turn in surprise, wondering at the sound.
Another screech and a high-pitched, trembling bellow echoed from the stone ridge on the far side of Nor’ieth, then another and another. The crack and whip of thick fabric fluttering through the air made Cheyenne spin with a frown. Not even a little windy right now.
The ridge on the far side of the valley was moving.
“What the hell are those?” Ember whispered.
“I don’t have a guess, Em.”
Chapter Forty-Six
No way does Ambar’ogúl have dragons too.
But they weren’t dragons. Cheyenne recognized that a second later when dozens of the massive, glowing blue beasts took to the skies over Nor’ieth and headed toward the party. Their wings cut effortlessly through the air in slow waves as the creatures swooped and dove and glided down from the top of the white stone ridge.
The two fastest cut a straight path to L’zar and his rebels, casting massive shadows over the glistening city. A small smile spread across Yilas’ thin, pale lips.
Ember folded her arms and gazed at the creatures filling the sky and blocking out at least half the sunlight. “Nobody mentioned giant glowing flying stingrays.”
Cheyenne snorted, and the fae girl shot her friend a glance. “Took the words right out of my mouth, Em.”
“The luré,” Yilas said in his multiple ringing tones. His long three-fingered hand stretched out to gesture toward the creatures. “Aut Na’mor is fond of them, and they of him.”
“Endaru’s balls.” Byrd clapped a hand to his bald head and rubbed it vigorously.
L’zar’s eyes widened at the largest, brightest-glowing luré swooping across the valley. It headed right for their group, unaffected by the other creatures diving and spinning around it. “A mount fit for a drow.”
“Are you serious?” Cheyenne shot her father an exasperated stare, but he ignored her. Didn’t think we’d have to fight O’gúl wildlife. She summoned a crackling orb of black drow energy in one hand, her face illuminated by the purple sparks at its core, and turned to face the creature heading toward them. When she focused on it again, she cocked her head and snuffed out her magic. “Oh. Seriously?”
Neros stood on its back, arms hanging casually by his sides as his pale, flowing robes and bone-white hair whipped around his body and head. The luré slowed to a gentle glide, then hovered four feet above the ground. Its massive wings undulated like ocean waves. Two huge black eyes glistened at the front of the creature’s wide, flat body as it glanced from one visiting magical to the next.
The blue light glowing in the luré’s eyes flashed behind Neros’ own as Cheyenne’s cousin leaped from the creature’s back. His bare feet thumped softly onto the pale grass, and he ran a hand along the luré’s sleek body before stepping away from it to join the other magicals, who were staring at him in awe.
The luré gave something between a snort and a moaning call but stayed where its rider had left it.
Neros’ pale gaze settled on Cheyenne, his face expressionless as he stepped toward her. “Cheyenne.”
“Here we go.” She shot Ember a sidelong glance. “What’s up, Neros?”
“We could not let you leave without saying goodbye.”
Ember leaned toward the halfling and muttered, “Please tell me you’re not going all Game of Thrones on us with your cousin.”
Cheyenne snorted. “If I didn’t get that vibe from him too, that’d probably be funnier.” She met Neros’ unblinking gaze as he moved slowly
