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The creaking of the front doors hinges sounded through the quiet house and we pulled away from each other as I let out a small breath. Landers placed one last kiss on my forehead, then stepped from the room. I followed behind him to see Andrues standing in the doorway, his features sculpted into hard lines and hand pressed firmly to the pommel of his blade.

“It is time,” Andrues said.

Landers gave a small nod and turned to me. “Andrues is going to fly with you and Nithra over the Essor Waters and Dread Sea to show you the way. If anything happens to him or me, I need you to promise me not to do anything reckless. I need you to promise me you will get our people out.”

I stared back at him for a long moment as the air filled with unease, the fear of what we were about to do finally beginning to sink in. I nodded as my fingers tightened around the belt of daggers strapped to my chest. Landers’s hand slipped to the small of my back, gently rubbing as he turned back to Andrues and I leaned into his warmth.

“Show her all the landmarks—make sure she knows the way home,” Landers commanded. Andrues placed a hand over his heart as he dipped his head toward us then extended his hand to me.

I glanced down at it, taking a step toward Andrues as I glanced back at Landers. “I’ll see you soon.”

Themidnightairtangledthrough my hair as mist from the Essor Waters kissed my skin. Waves crashing below us clashed with the sound of Nithra’s beating wings as I sucked in a deep breath. This was the scent of my childhood—the sea, the salt, and brine that filled every inch of the academy.

My heart ached knowing that my home had fallen. Myrealmhad fallen. If we won this war, I would restore it. I would rebuild that fortress brick by brick and put Asrai as the leader of Redelvtum, where she belonged. Where she should have been all this time.

Nithra dipped closer to the water, her tail slicing into the waves as Andrues pointed to a small island to the east of us with towering stones.

“That is the island that marks the shift from the Essor Waters to the Dread Sea. We are now in The Silliands. If anything goes wrong tonight, get everyone across this line on Nithra’s back.” Worry drenched the edge in his tone as I dipped my head in response.

I could smell it, the shift in the air, the death and decay that filled The Silliands blend with the smells of the sea. Not even their waters were safe from the carnage that wrought this realm.

“How much further?” I asked against the smog that began to fill the air as I pulled the fabric of my tunic up to cover my nose and mouth.

“Not long. The island sits a few miles south of Ammord’s mainland on The Silliands’s border, right before the strait between the two realms. When we round the final curve of The Silliands, you will see it.”

How many of us do you think you can carry?I asked Nithra, my mind already spinning with worst case scenarios as I tried to formulate a plan to get everyone out if we were overpowered.

It would be too dangerous to tether back to Ithia and risk a necromancer getting caught in the tether with us. To risk them following our scent before we could cover it.

All of you, child. I may be ancient, but I still have my strength,Nithra said as I pressed my palm to her neck.

Your tears, they brought life to the mountains in Ithia. Can they heal?I asked down the fastening.

Only the earth, and those with dragon’s blood.The fastening went silent on the tail of her words as the lump in my throat grew.

The smog began to part and I could see it come into view as Nithra dipped low to the water.

Camp Bane.

Lights flickered from the island, growing larger as we approached, Nithra’s scales reflected the water, melding her with the flow of the tide, making us almost invisible against it. I swallowed as my eyes took in the buildings carved directly from the tall hills rolling over it.

Andrues tapped on my shoulder then pointed to the left of us where moving shadows began to come clearer. “That is them. The sandbar they are on should be large enough for Nithra to land.”

Nithra banked toward the rest of our group as I relayed the message, and with only a few more beats of her wings, we were lowering ourselves onto the water. Andrues slid from her back, his boots splashing onto the shallow bank as Landers strodeover to us. I climbed down her side, my boots slipping on the seawater covering her scales as Landers caught my elbow to keep me from falling.

My eyes flickered to his as I regained my footing then over the rest of the group. “Where’s Ata and Wren?” I asked, my eyes darting back to his as panic flooded my chest.

“They are scoping out the city, looking for a good place for us to enter. They should be back soon.”

I blew out a large breath, the smallest amount of relief working to calm my nerves. “Have you learned anything about what happened in Ammord?

Landers shook his head. “No, we were waiting for you to get here so they would only need to say it once.”

I leaned into him, watching as Nithra dipped her snout into the water and clamped her jaw around a large fish, swallowing it down as she caught another.

“Will you shift?” I asked, turning my eyes back to Landers.

“If I need to.” His jaw flexed as he slid an arm around my waist. “I have almost no control of who I am when I let myself completely shift. The person I am now is just a whisper in the back of my mind. Everything is a threat when I am fully dragon.” He paused, taking in a deep breath. “Once I learned where the line was in my emotions that caused me to become the beast, I learned to control when and how much I shift. If I let go of that control, I could kill you.” His voice was strained as he spoke and my fingers tightened around his arms as I turned to face him.