Eona: The Last Dragoneye

could all feel the presence of something dark ahead — a distant disturbance that shivered across the air and lodged in the teeth like a blade drawn across stone.

Another scout turned from his surveillance as we approached the edge of the precipice. It was the same keen-eyed man who had been on duty yesterday. He bobbed his head into a bow as we clustered around him. Everyone except Ido. I looked back at the Dragoneye. He had fallen to his knees, bent double, every breath holding a wheeze of pain.

“It started just before dawn,” the scout said, pointing to a dark cloud of dust on the horizon.

Something was moving through Sethon’s camp toward us, slicing through the soldiers as they tried to stop its progress. Every few moments a surge of men rushed at it, herded forward by a column of cavalry. And each time, the front line of foot soldiers broke against the force of the single moving figure and disappeared into dark dust like black foam on the crest of a wave. An ominous pink mist hung above it all, sweeping rain across the men that churned the mud beneath them red. Their distance from us stole any sound, but the morning breeze brought a stink of fear and offal and the dank metallic edge of blood.

Sethon wanted the black folio so much he had created a death ground for his own men. My stomach lurched. I turned my face away, fighting back an acid rise of vomit.

“In Bross’s name, what is that moving through them?” Kygo said, pressing his hand over his nose.

“It is a boy.” The scout squared his shoulders. “I swear that is what I see, Your Majesty. Yet the soldiers that approach him shrivel into dust and a rain of blood.” He shivered. “It must be a demon.”

“Whatever it is, it’s doing a good job of culling Sethon’s men,” Tozay said.

Kygo looked at Ido, hunched and panting, and then back down at the tiny figure carving its way through the army below. His quick mind was forging the link. He would soon arrive at the answer, and I would be left behind, forever caught in my silence. Forever caught in betrayal.

I had to offer this truth, before it was too late to offer him anything. The huge risk clawed at my breath. But it was now or never.

“It is Dillon and the black folio,” I said. The momentum of truth quickened my words. “I compelled Lord Ido to call him to us. Before Sokayo.”

Kygo’s head snapped up. “Before Sokayo?” he echoed. The suspicion in his face was like a hand around my throat. I heard Ryko hiss.

“A long time for a Naiso to stay silent,” Tozay said caustically.

Ido straightened on his knees, his face gray. “Eona, do not say any more.”

I shook my head. “Dillon is here, Ido. It must all come out now.”

Kygo turned on me. “Are you in league with him?”

“No!”

“Of course we are in league.” Ido swayed with the effort of speaking through his pain. “We are the last two Dragoneyes. Our destinies are locked together, just like our power.” His eyes flicked across to me. “And our desire.”

I froze. What was he doing?

Kygo lunged and grabbed the Dragoneye by his hair, wrenching his head back. “What do you mean by that?”

Ido looked up into Kygo’s face and bared his teeth in a smile. “Ask her what happens when she compels me.”

“Your Majesty, please, we must focus on this boy and the folio,” Tozay said. “He is killing everything in his path and heading straight for us!”

“Lady Eona has some questions to answer,” Kygo snarled. He drew his short blade and laid it across Ido’s straining throat. “Leave us.” Kygo’s hard glance swept the order around the circle of men. “Now!”

“Your Majesty,” Tozay said sharply. “This is not the time—”

“Leave us!”

Tozay glanced around the circle and jerked his head back toward the copse of trees. With deep bows, they all backed away. My eyes skipped over Ryko’s devastation, only to be caught by Tozay’s savage mix of accusation and demand. This was my fault, and it was up to me to stop it.

I gritted my teeth; it was only the start of the truth. There was a lot more to come.

Kygo pulled Ido’s head back harder, forcing a grunt from the Dragoneye. “I should have killed you the moment I saw you.”

“We have been here before,” Ido said, eyeing him steadily. “You will not kill me while you can use my power.”

I flung my hand out at the plain below. “Kygo, Dillon is coming to destroy us. I cannot stop him by myself.”

He glared across at me. “Why didn’t you tell me the boy was on his way? Why are you keeping secrets with this whoreson?” He jerked the Dragoneye’s head back even more. “Tell me everything, or I will cut his throat and be done with it.”

“I am telling you everything,” I snapped, my fear blazing into anger. “I made him call Dillon because I wanted to protect you!”

“From what?”

“From me, Kygo. I know what ‘the Hua of All Men’ means. It is the Imperial Pearl. I was hoping the black folio would have another way to save the dragons.”

Kygo’s jaw clenched, but it was not in shock.

Ido’s labored breathing broke into a harsh laugh. “He already knew it was the pearl, Eona. You can see it in his face.”

Ido was right: Kygo knew. I felt the last few weeks shift under me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I gasped.

Kygo narrowed his eyes. “Why do I need to be protected from you, Eona? Are you about to rip the Hua of All Men from my throat?”

“He does not trust you,” Ido said. “That is why he did not tell you.”

“Hold your tongue, or I will cut it out!” Kygo pressed the sword harder against Ido’s skin. The Dragoneye froze under the blade.

“It is not me who wants the pearl, Kygo. It is my ancestor.” I dug my knuckles into the pain that clamped my skull, desperately searching for the right words to make him understand. “The red folio was written by Kinra. She was the last Mirror Dragoneye. The one who tried to steal the pearl from Emperor Dao.”

“You lied even about that? Kinra was a traitor!”

“No, she wasn’t, I am sure of it. She was just trying to save the dragons.” I took a deep breath. “She is in my mind, Kygo. In my blood. Whispering, driving me to take the pearl and save the dragons. She’s even in my swords. Remember at the village inn? She tried to take the pearl then. But I have always stopped her, always held her off. I have always kept you safe!”

“She is in the swords? In your mind?”

“Not all the time. Just when I am too close to the pearl.”

“She is there when we kiss?” His hand went to his throat. “When you touch it?”

“Yes.”

His voice hardened. “Is everything between us just this Kinra driving you toward the pearl?”

“No!” I stepped forward. “It is me. With you. I swear it.”

“And what about me, Eona?” Ido said. “Was it an ancestor or you wrapping your legs around me in the cabin?”

Kygo stared down at him. “What?”

“She never told you about my visit to her cabin on the boat, did she?” Ido said.

“Kygo, that is not what—”

Ido raised his voice over mine. “We used the compulsion power to save the boat from the cyclone.” His smile was a taunt. “You know the power I am talking about, Your Majesty.”

“Is that true, Eona?” Kygo’s voice was ragged.

“We saved the boat.”

“Did you take pleasure from him?”