Go! he repeated.
Inara didn’t waste another second. She climbed down and returned to street level having already planned her route to the northern edge. Passing numerous houses, she saw fearful onlookers daring to peer out of their windows to catch a glimpse of the violence. The Guardian, however, didn’t plan on stopping to explain, even if it would put them at ease. She continued through the streets until the pines of The Evermoore stood in her way. Leaving Athis to his work, she entered the forest.
Her progress would have been slow, given the lack of light with which to locate their tracks, but the Guardian was shown the way in the most unexpected manner. At first, she feared it was a trick or perhaps fatigue on her part, for she had never seen trees move as they did now. The needles of particular trees blew in the breeze, revealing a distinct direction that led deeper into the forest. Whenever she displayed caution and considered another route, the trees in front of her would blow in that same direction.
Adan…
It had to be the work of the Drake. Inara knew of no other who could manipulate trees this way. It gave her hope.
And so she followed the breeze that blew through the forest, watching for the movement of the needles and the rustle of the trees. When the sound of destruction was too distant even for Inara’s ears, she came across a disturbing sight. Pinned to a tree by a piercing branch, one of Alijah’s Reavers writhed and struggled to free itself.
“You found us,” came Kassian’s voice from behind, his tone hinting at some relief. Adan’Karth soon appeared beside the Keeper, his hands clasped inside his voluminous sleeves.
“I’m not the only one apparently,” Inara replied, eyeing the Reaver.
“It followed us with a Seeker,” Kassian explained, “but I took care of it.”
“You should have killed it,” Inara chastised as she removed Firefly for a third time that night. Using her free hand, she cast a simple spell that tugged the Reaver away from the tree. Before all of its weight came down on its feet, the edge of her scimitar cleaved the fiend into two parts, separating head from body. “Alijah knows you are here now,” she told them, returning Firefly to her hip. “And worse: he knows what you’re doing here.”
Kassian frowned and opened his mouth to argue until his eyes tracked down to the headless corpse. He swore.
“I have had the displeasure of speaking with my brother,” Inara continued. “He has heard you speaking of our plans and, as we speak, is commanding Reavers to attack the dig site. We need to move, now.”
The Keeper stepped aside, revealing a handful of Drakes huddled in the light of the moon. “I think we’re going to need more than six if we’re going to save the tree.”
Inara took in the sight of them, noting the caution that each carried in their demeanour. “Do they know why you have called on them?” she asked Adan.
The Drake shook his head. “This is a decision that must be made by my people as a whole. They will arrive at their answer with haste if they are altogether and convening as one.”
Inara couldn’t hide her impatience but, from his place of dominion over Vangarth, Athis reminded her, Theirs is a great sacrifice, wingless one. They cannot be pushed. We must wait.
The Guardian took a breath. “As you say,” she reluctantly replied to both Adan’Karth and Athis. Considering the options that now lay before her - one of which was sitting on her hands - Inara turned back to the south and made to leave.
“Where are you going?” Kassian questioned.
“You’re safe here,” she answered, gesturing to the dead knight. “I’m going back to the town.”
“What for?”
Inara’s hand tightened around Firefly’s hilt. “To kill some more Reavers.”
38
The Future Lies in the Past
It was a privilege to accompany a dragon in flight, something most would kill to experience. For Galanör Reveeri, this was his ninth time soaring through the heavens and he hoped he was never going to have to stop counting. He wondered if he had enjoyed such an honour more than any other in the realm who was not bonded with a dragon.
Of course, they had not all been as exhilarating as sitting astride Ilargo. His first flight, on the back of Malliath, had been terrifying at times. And he could still recall, with horrifying clarity, the time Rainael the emerald star had scooped him up in her claws and taken him to Dragons’ Reach. Given that he had also had the pleasure of flying with Athis, during The Ash War, and one of the elder dragons, during The War for the Realm, he was sure he held some kind of record for non-Riders.
For Aenwyn, however, this was her first time and it showed. Galanör was certain her cheeks must be sore from so much smiling. Even after the sun had gone down and they flew through the night, she had beamed with glee to observe the stars from so high up. And now, as the glorious sun bounced off the waves of The Adean, she grinned with pure happiness.
Her joy was infectious and Galanör lapped it up. The days they were leaving behind had been of misery and exhaustion and the days ahead of them only threatened to be worse. The elven ranger was glad to have his mind taken elsewhere and his mood uplifted, even if it was only briefly.
His wings flexed and held steady, Ilargo glided away from The Shining Coast, Illian’s eastern shore, and set his sights on the archipelago on the horizon. Galanör narrowed his vision to try and see it in better detail. How long had it been since he had laid eyes on The Lifeless Isles? It had been longer still since he had last set foot on them.
The closer they got, the lower Ilargo flew, bringing them
