***
“Are you clear on the plan?” I ask Siri one final time. After Lerual separated the grieving Ddraigs from the rest of the group, I explained my reckless idea to the others. Siri paces between me and the rest of the Ddraigs, her thin lips turned down at her disapproval.
“It’s too dangerous. You don’t even know if you can—”
“I’ll do what’s necessary. Just get everyone else out of here,” I bark back, a little louder than I should. Murmurs radiate through the Ddraigs the way water drops bring ripples. They disapprove of a Cadogan and Ddraig arguing publicly, but I don’t have time to stand on the basic rules of etiquette. We have to get Cyrus and the other potential Cadogans to safety, and even if Siri understands this, she doesn’t have to like it.
“Just be careful. Keep moving so you don’t end up a target,” my Ddraig mutters, her nose smoking as she lowers her eyes to my level. We stare at each other in silence, my heart breaking as memories of Wolf’s finer moments in our past parade through my memory. Why did he help me try to save Antero? Why did he protect me in Omphalos? Unless he does have some shred of true feeling for me. What if there is something good in him, buried deep in his heart because this brutal world does not allow for kindness? What if—?
“You seriously don’t believe that, right?” Siri answers my unspoken thoughts with a snort. “The Carreglas is never wrong, Iris. How much more proof do you need to rid yourself of these silly fantasies? At least seven Cadogans are dead because of him, and that’s just the ones that were freshly killed. There could be fifty more that we didn’t save! How many more must die before you realize how evil he is?” Siri motions to Lerual and the rest of the Ddraigs, whose heads are bowed low in their unspoken agony. “How many more grievers will you see?”
“I know…it is just a fool’s dream,” I murmur, heat flooding my cheeks with embarrassment. “Haven’t you ever just fantasized about things being easy to fix? Like it’s all just one big misunderstanding?”
“You’re being as bull headed about him as you accused Warbler of being about Creeper. And you know how that story worked out,” Siri barks, her blunt words piercing my heart.
Yet as much as I would love to shout at her, to disprove her argument, I know I cannot. “Enough, Siri,” I mumble, shutting my eyes in defeat. I know what’s true, Siri. I just wish I didn’t have to go through this.
“I just don’t want to see you end up dead by the likes of that monster! Can’t you understand? You cannot let yourself get distracted by these fancies! I’m trying to keep you safe, and—”
“I said enough, Siri.” I growl in annoyance. “I know what must be done. I’m just worried about the aftermath.” He’ll never stop hunting me after I betray him. He will lust for my blood or my head on a pike. This land makes us monsters; Cane had told me something similar once before. He was living proof of that statement, and soon enough I would be too. “I know this is the right plan. Just allow me a few moments to mourn for the illusion that had taken residence in my brain.” Everything will change after tonight. The ally that I’ve always counted on will become my greatest enemy.
“I am sorry,” Siri replies, lightly touching her chin to my head in a gesture of comfort. “Truly.”
Facing the Ddraigs who observe us, I command, “Fly low over the corrals, and if you find your Cadogans, pluck them out of the pen and get up into the skies where arrows and spears cannot reach you. Even if the Cadogans are screaming and wailing for mercy, do not stop.” Patting Siri’s nose absentmindedly, I wait and wonder where Suryc is hidden in all of this. Why has he not joined us? Is he still waiting for Cyrus? I hope that this evening’s escape attempt will bring the black Ddraig out of the shadows and back to our sides.
Siri smiles, a deep rumble of satisfaction pouring from her throat. “It sneaks up on you, doesn’t it? Caring for Suryc and his Cadogan. There’s just something about them that is alluring.”
“I agree, in part,” I whisper with a smile, anticipating the moment when I see Suryc safe and sound, back where he belongs beside Siri. “I’m not sure Cyrus will ever forgive me for what he’s faced though.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Siri declares, but she cannot hide her own tremor of fear.
The golden hour finally makes its debut, the sun a gleaming spotlight as it sets in the west. I hurry to my position, testing out my plan as I run. Swirls and eddies of dust rise under my feet. If I concentrate, the wind will writhe at my command. How had I not noticed this before, all those years I spent running through the forest? I have missed a great many things in my life, haven’t I? Wolf’s cruelties, Cyrus’s virtues, the fact that my mother survived the windstorm. Just add not seeing my own Windwalker abilities to the pile of blindness and mistakes I’ve made.
When I’m sure the sun’s blinding rays will assist me in camouflage, I begin to dance. At first, I am unsure of how to move to build a strong enough storm, but the Windwalker’s powerful voice whispers and corrects my movements. Within the span of a few heartbeats, I am spinning along the earth, a line of tornadoes appearing in my wake. Shouts of alarm rise up from the people loyal to Wolf. Keep moving, the magic in my blood sings to life, intoxicating me deeper into its thrall.
“It’s the Windwalkers! They are coming
