pieceof stone, a fragment of the masonry wall that he had picked up at random while he stood in Gaven’s cell. On it, scratched with the metal stylus the Dreadhold guards had allowed him, Gaven had written the same words, or at least the last two lines. Part of the Prophecy.
Aunn pushed that page aside and read the next. The hand was the same, presumably one of Gaven’s jailers, a dwarf of House Kundarak. Another verse of the Prophecy:
Showers of light fall upon the City of the Dead, and the Storm Dragon emerges after twice thirteen years
.
“How did Kelas get these?” Aunn said, looking up at Gaven as if he expected an answer. But Gaven’s eyes had closed and his chin dropped to his chest.
“You’re right, my friend. It has been a very long day.”
C HAPTER
6
J ordhan wasn’t the Storm Dragon, but he was a dragonmarked heir of House Lyrandar, with the Mark of Storm etched across the side of his head. When he needed to, he could bend the wind to his will and urge it to fill his galleon’s sails. And with a dragon rising up from the Blasphemer’s horde to pursue them, there was great need; he coaxed the wind to speed his little airship along.
Rienne clutched the bulwark rail at the aft of the ship, squinting into the darkness behind them for any sign of the dragon. A ring of elemental fire surrounded the airship, arching high above Rienne’s head and bathing the deck in warm firelight, which hurt her ability to see far beyond the lit circle. She strained her ears for the beat of the dragon’s wings. Just as she started daring to hope they might have outdistanced it, she saw the glitter of its eyes reflecting the light of the fiery ring.
“Here it comes!” she cried.
A gust of wind shot the airship like an arrow away from the onrushing dragon, and its eyes disappeared into the darkness again. Rienne heard it roar, and a liquid sound like the eruption of a geyser, then the wind brought a spray of fine mist that stung where it touched her skin.
“We’ll never get away from it,” she called to Jordhan. “It can see us from miles away.”
“But if it can’t catch us, it might give up,” Jordhan said.
“Who do you think can keep this up longer? You or the dragon?”
“What’s your plan?”
Rienne looked over the railing to the darkened ground below. They had flown over the barbarian horde, and its fires were a glimmer in the distance. The dragon was still shrouded in the darkness behind the ship.
“Take us down,” she said. “Let’s fight this thing on the ground.”
“You want to
fight
it?”
“I don’t think we have a choice. We’re outrunning it now, but you’regoing to get tired eventually, and I’m guessing it can outlast you. But we
can
choose whether to fight it in the air or on the ground. In the air, it can wreck our ship and send us plummeting to the ground without ever coming within our reach. On the ground, we have a chance.”
“Even without Gaven?”
Rienne’s heart was a jumble of emotion—regret over the harsh words she’d said to Gaven on their last journey together, grief that he wasn’t there to fight by her side, an irrational anger that he’d left her to take care of herself. She found a scrap of joy and clung to it: she imagined telling Gaven the story, when it was all over and they were together again, of the dragon she killed.
“Even without Gaven,” she said. “Trust me.”
Jordhan clutched the helm and the ship veered downward. “How high are we?” he asked.
Rienne leaned over the bulwarks. The airship’s fiery ring lit only empty air below, as far as she could see. “I can’t tell.”
“Pretty high, then. You have to be my eyes, Ree. I’ll try to watch for the dragon, but I need you to shout as soon as you see ground—or anything else we might hit on our way down.”
Rienne nodded her understanding and took a slow breath to focus her mind. She heard the faint roar of the elemental fire, the creaking of the wooden hull, and the rush
Aunn pushed that page aside and read the next. The hand was the same, presumably one of Gaven’s jailers, a dwarf of House Kundarak. Another verse of the Prophecy:
Showers of light fall upon the City of the Dead, and the Storm Dragon emerges after twice thirteen years
.
“How did Kelas get these?” Aunn said, looking up at Gaven as if he expected an answer. But Gaven’s eyes had closed and his chin dropped to his chest.
“You’re right, my friend. It has been a very long day.”
C HAPTER
6
J ordhan wasn’t the Storm Dragon, but he was a dragonmarked heir of House Lyrandar, with the Mark of Storm etched across the side of his head. When he needed to, he could bend the wind to his will and urge it to fill his galleon’s sails. And with a dragon rising up from the Blasphemer’s horde to pursue them, there was great need; he coaxed the wind to speed his little airship along.
Rienne clutched the bulwark rail at the aft of the ship, squinting into the darkness behind them for any sign of the dragon. A ring of elemental fire surrounded the airship, arching high above Rienne’s head and bathing the deck in warm firelight, which hurt her ability to see far beyond the lit circle. She strained her ears for the beat of the dragon’s wings. Just as she started daring to hope they might have outdistanced it, she saw the glitter of its eyes reflecting the light of the fiery ring.
“Here it comes!” she cried.
A gust of wind shot the airship like an arrow away from the onrushing dragon, and its eyes disappeared into the darkness again. Rienne heard it roar, and a liquid sound like the eruption of a geyser, then the wind brought a spray of fine mist that stung where it touched her skin.
“We’ll never get away from it,” she called to Jordhan. “It can see us from miles away.”
“But if it can’t catch us, it might give up,” Jordhan said.
“Who do you think can keep this up longer? You or the dragon?”
“What’s your plan?”
Rienne looked over the railing to the darkened ground below. They had flown over the barbarian horde, and its fires were a glimmer in the distance. The dragon was still shrouded in the darkness behind the ship.
“Take us down,” she said. “Let’s fight this thing on the ground.”
“You want to
fight
it?”
“I don’t think we have a choice. We’re outrunning it now, but you’regoing to get tired eventually, and I’m guessing it can outlast you. But we
can
choose whether to fight it in the air or on the ground. In the air, it can wreck our ship and send us plummeting to the ground without ever coming within our reach. On the ground, we have a chance.”
“Even without Gaven?”
Rienne’s heart was a jumble of emotion—regret over the harsh words she’d said to Gaven on their last journey together, grief that he wasn’t there to fight by her side, an irrational anger that he’d left her to take care of herself. She found a scrap of joy and clung to it: she imagined telling Gaven the story, when it was all over and they were together again, of the dragon she killed.
“Even without Gaven,” she said. “Trust me.”
Jordhan clutched the helm and the ship veered downward. “How high are we?” he asked.
Rienne leaned over the bulwarks. The airship’s fiery ring lit only empty air below, as far as she could see. “I can’t tell.”
“Pretty high, then. You have to be my eyes, Ree. I’ll try to watch for the dragon, but I need you to shout as soon as you see ground—or anything else we might hit on our way down.”
Rienne nodded her understanding and took a slow breath to focus her mind. She heard the faint roar of the elemental fire, the creaking of the wooden hull, and the rush
Similar Books
