“This is her doing!” Cried Stella, beautiful even in her anger with silver hair down past her shoulders. Astrid whipped around and slashed the witch across her face, drawing four angry red lines. The witch shrieked and fell, while Astrid stood over her, blood dripping from her claws.
“Any other opinions?”
A few more shot me angry glances, but no one said anything out loud. Some witches broke down at seeing their sisters burnt bodies, falling to their knees and weeping. I felt like a pathetic worm and looked away. It was my fault.
“It is likely they attacked before finding us in the woods. Do you see?” Astrid said quietly, every witch frozen to listen. “This is our punishment; our penance for stepping aside last time. We did this, not the female draken. The indecision of our ancestors pushed the burden to us, to now. Comb the forest, look for survivors.”
Astrid turned towards me, unshed tears in her eyes.
“You do not control the actions of monsters, so don’t pretend you do.”
I nodded mutely, managing to keep from crying. I admired her strength and hoped I could one day be just as strong of a leader for the drakens. Benedict deserved someone he could trust to help lighten his load.
Benedict. That empty place in my heart panged with need, and I pushed it away. I couldn’t think about him here; not until I got to Lyoness. Wait. Lyoness.
My pulse raced, a mad idea hatching in my mind. I reached out and grasped Astrid by the shoulder, squeezing hard.
“I know where you could live, safe from the hordes. It would be my apology for ruining your forest.”
The witches went still, every eye turning to me. Astrid lifted an eyebrow.
“You have a place for us?”
I grinned.
“Ever been to Lyoness?”
Three
I’m not sure what the drakens expected to see as I flew side-by-side with Astrid, our hair flying wildly behind us. Following closely was the remainder of her coven, thirty-three witches strong. The dead lay in the woods, blank faces tilted up towards the sky. As much as it pained the witches to leave them, it would be far worse if they were still around when the demons returned.
As soon as I set my heart on home, my wings automatically adjusted and tilted me in the proper direction. Astrid smirked, and fell back to her people. The air witches elegantly rode on large brooms—including bits of wood from the remnant of their homes. Dangling from the wood were the tied remains of the possessions they had decided to bring with them—favorite clothes, utensils, and jewelry that had survived the demon hordes and could be quickly gathered. Luci rode with Astrid, her eyes wide as she flew through the open sky. The witches from the earth and water covens had gone home to spread the news, but one earth witch rode on the back of another’s broom, excited to see the land of the drakens.
“You wouldn’t get to do this with your old coven,” Astrid bragged to Luci, throwing her hands wide to the open sky and crying out in delight. I careened and tumbled in the air with them, ecstatic to stretch my wings and test my limits. I was still sore, but the more I flew, the better I felt. Astrid had given me a band to wear across my breasts and a skirt made of leather, covering all the important bits, but still allowing me freedom of movement. Astrid mentioned seeing female drakens dress similarly in the past, which made me wonder exactly how old she was. Regardless, it was kind of her, and it made the scandalous collection in my wardrobe back at the mountain make more sense. My draken body wasn’t interested in wearing clothing—in fact, it wanted to show off. How else would I attract more mates to give me strong children?
Wait, more mates? I shook my head, dismissing such irrelevant instincts.
I lowered my head and bared down as we quickly left the mainland of Dorea behind. An endless expanse of blue stretched out before me, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I had never been to the ocean, and to be flying over it...it was surreal. Astrid gave another whoop of joy, and the witches behind her echoed it. I pumped my wings harder, faster, having no other desire than to find Lyoness and be with my mates. What would I do if Benedict hadn’t made it out? Don’t think about it.
Quicker than I had thought possible, a small sliver of land appeared on the horizon.
Lyoness.
I left the witches behind, pushing my body harder than I should have. I didn’t care, I needed to go home, to a place I hadn’t even seen yet, but had everyone I had ever cared about on its shores. The rocks surrounding the island greeted me first, sharp and jagged as they jutted up out of the ocean. Each bit of land on the eastern side was covered in rocks and high cliffs, the western end sloping down into black sand beaches. It was difficult to tell what the land might have been like, before it was covered in layers upon layers of magma and hard, unyielding black rock. The entire landscape was wrecked, left as a desolate wasteland. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it didn’t matter. My mates were on this charred bit of land.
Astrid pulled up beside me, a questioning look on her face. It just didn’t seem right—the absolute lack of any life upon a mountain of yielding rock. How would we live here?
“Shouldn’t it have grown in?” I asked her, doubting my plan. “It’s sat like this for centuries!”
Astrid frowned; her brow furrowed in worry.
“Not if it was magical. Then it wouldn’t heal.”
I thinned my lips. “So it was planned by the Overlord. I would bet anything on it!”
I twisted my head back to Astrid, embarrassed and ashamed.
“I’ve brought you from one pit of ash to another.
