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But somehow, Valtik did.

She glanced at Corayne once, her hair streaming. And winked.

With a single beat of massive wings, the dragon sprang a hundred feet into the sky, its shadow covering the castle gateyard. Its wings pounded and another gust bore down on them all. Corayne fell back again, landing like a turtle on its shell, the weight of her armor holding her down. She choked on the smoky air, fighting to keep her eyes open.

There was only the dragon above her, the red sky behind it.

Corayne did not need to pass through another Spindle to see the hell of What Waits.

I am already there.

Then she was sliding across the stone, dragged like a sack of washing.

Valtik remained, silhouetted against the sudden blast of smoke.

“The gods of Asunder have spoken,” the old woman chanted, raising a hand to the dragon.

It roared down at her in an ear-splitting screech, so powerful Corayne expected the stone to crack beneath them. Weakly, she reached for the old woman, as if she could still catch Valtik. Kastio. Whoever the bone witch might truly be.

Her fingers met only smoky air, embers raining down from the dragon’s jeweled hide.

In the sky, its jaws opened wide, lines of relentless heat spilling from its mouth. Corayne knew what came next.

Valtik held her ground.

“And the gods of the Ward will answer.”

The world slowed and flames bloomed, pouring out of the dragon’s jaws. Its wings splayed wide, its jeweled body dropping to land. Below, theold witch waited, her face upturned, hands bowled at her sides, as if she might simply catch the dragon flame.

Corayne wanted to shut her eyes but could not, squinting through the smoke.

The first curl of fire licked at Valtik’s face. The rest consumed and Corayne screamed.

The dragon screamed with her, changing directions rapidly, flapping its wings like a spooked bird. Its eyes widened, its flames glowing hotter and bigger, red giving over to burning yellow, then searing white.

Then icy blue.

A second dragon burst upward and out of the flames, its hide like ice and turquoise, like glacial water. It wore no jewels, but scales like a fish. Its wings unfurled in graceful arcs, the skin of it like cold winter sky. Beautiful somehow. And lethal. Its low neck bowed, its own fangs bared. It was smaller but agile, fast as a winter wind.

Then the second dragon’s eyes flared open, pupils surrounded by a bright, familiar blue.

The demon dragon screeched, curling in the air to dodge the blue dragon’s snapping jaws. When the second beast roared, it breathed an arrow of cobalt flame. But instead of heat, it threw off a blistering cold.

On the ground, Corayne could only watch, slack-jawed, as the blue dragon drove the other higher and higher into the sky. Their wings pumping, their bodies twisting, all snapping teeth and ripping claws. Red flame and blue ice battled into the hellish sky, until both looked small as birds.

Corayne’s head spun. Then the doors of the castle passed over her, and marble slid beneath as she was dragged inside.

39

Ghosts

Domacridhan

As his own people assembled in front of the castle, Dom expected to feel some kind of fellowship. He knew the soldiers around him, the Vedera of Iona, his own immortal kin. He thought of Ridha, and what he would give to have her standing there with them, ready to fight for the survival of their people, and the realm itself. It only made him feel more hollow, disconnected. He did not want to die on the battlefield below the city, alone but for the thousand other soldiers slaughtered with them.

His breath caught. He wanted to die right here on the castle steps, with the Companions beside him.

If we cannot live, we can at least go together.