Page 213 of Brimstone

I hadn’t noticed it before: the monstrous palace of bones protruding from the snow and ice to the right of us on the slope.

Arched ribs, soaring up to meet the brightening sky.

Notched vertebrae, the size of small houses.

It made sense that the remains of the dragon were still here. Fisher and his friends had slain it and ended its tyranny. Belikon had troubled himself to claim its head as a trophy. But the rest of it was too big to clear from the mountainside. The Ajun Fae had let the beast’s bones rest where they had fallen, and now they formed a megalithic structure almost as impressive as the city of Ajun Sky itself.

People were gathering along the parapets of the city. Someone shouted down to us again, waving frantically.“Lo! Hurry!they cried.“A black tide comes!”

Fisher twisted automatically, peering down the mountain, and cursed. It took me a second to see what he was seeing. The Hazrax was gone. But farther down the hillside, the dark outline of guards with bows and swords in hand could be seen, scrambling toward us with startling speed.

“Shit,” Fisher hissed. “Belikon.He shouldn’t have found us. Notthisquickly, anyway. Come on. We have to go.”

I didn’t need telling twice. I had enough energy to sprint toward the towering black metal gate that encompassed the city. I didnothave enough energy to face Belikon a second time in one day. I sure as hell wasn’t losing Onyx again, either. I ran like the wind. If the fox knew we were in danger, he didn’t seem to care; he chittered and relentlessly licked my face, and he wasstilldoing so when we pitched up in front of the ominous black gates that barred our way into Ajun.

They were closed.

“Hey!” Fisher hollered. “Let us in!” His shout rebounded around the abandoned courtyard on the other side of the high metal bars.

Belikon’s guards were gaining ground, still more than two hundred feet below, but they were coming. They’d catch up to us eventually.“Hello?”Fisher bellowed.

Hello . . .

Hello?

Hello!

Suddenly, the black gate jerked. It let out an almighty, metallic groan . . . and very slowly, it began to slide. The sound of thick chain feeding through a winch system rattled my bones for a moment, and then the ancient gate began to open.

How many souls called Ajun Sky home? From the outside, with its huge recess pushing deep into the mountainside and its glittering towers of quartz and calcite, it looked like it could house thousands. Tens of thousands.

But onlyoneperson calmly descended the stairs that led down into the courtyard and crossed the cobbled stones to greet us. He wore a shit-eating grin that would have put Carrion’s to shame when he came to a stop before us.

“You should have told us you were coming,” he said, with that warm, lilting accent of his. “It’s a point of pride for the people of Ajun that these gates shouldalwaysopen toyou, brother.”

Renfis.

By the time Belikon’s soldiers reached Ajun, we were already moving.

Furious shouts boomed beyond the walls, bouncing off stone. The sound traveled strangely through the bitter air. Salvos of magic, blue and green, burst harmlessly against invisible wards that protected the city from attack. Even the arrows and hurled spears crashed into the boundary magic and were deflected, shooting off in other directions or splintering to shards upon impact.

The mountain shook as they attacked the battlements. The tall struts of iron remained unmolested, though. Belikon’s guards were still Fae, after all. They wouldn’t touch thegate.

“How sure are we that they won’t get through?” The wind caught my words and carried them away. I wasn’t even sure my mate had heard me until he replied.

“Very sure,” he answered. “This city has never been breached. And there are only a thousand or so guards out there. Far greater forces have tried and failed to bully their way intoAjun Sky. There’s only one way in or out, and Belikon has no friends here. No one in their right minds will justlet him in.”

“Nevertheless, we should hurry,” Renfis said. “Time is of the essence.”

Lorreth had explained more of what had happened at Ajun, particularly with Merelle, Ren’s twin sister, but there had still been more . . .

The city of Ajun was made of stone. Its foundations were robust and deep. The tall, terraced houses that lined its streets were pretty, their ice-adorned fascias glowing a soft pink in the early morning light. Ren hurried ahead of us, though still took time to tousle the hair of Faelings with rosy cheeks who ran up to him and tugged playfully at the pristine white cloak draped around his shoulders, marking him as a knight of the Orrithian.

I’d heard him referred to by that name plenty of times: Renfis of the Orrithian. Foolishly, I’d never questioned what the title meant. Now, as he guided us through the mountainous keep, he explained everything that had happened to him after he’d left Cahlish, and it all began to make sense.

“The Gilarians listened, thank the gods. They were already making preparations when I left them. I was almost at the border of the forest. I would have reached Ballard inside a day at the rate I was traveling, but the second I hit the foothills of the Shallow Mountains, I felt a searing, burning sensation in my chest. It knocked the air right out of me, and I fell from my horse. Thought I was being attacked. I figured I’d triggered some kind of ward, but . . .” He shook his head. “I ripped off my chest plate and tore my shirt open, and there it was.”

Kingfisher had been making frustrated, grumbling noises ever since Ren had stopped hugging him and clapping him on the back—there had been alotof hugging and back clapping once we were inside the walls of the city and the gate had closedbehind us. Now, my mate was audibly berating himself for not solving the mystery of the general’s disappearance sooner.