Page 57 of Queen of Legends and Lies (Dragons of Tirene #4)

Chapter Forty-Five

The fiery sun sinks behind wispy clouds, painting the sky in vivid pinks and oranges. I cling to Dame’s scaly back while we soar high above the eyril field.

As the stalks undulate into view, I shiver with both fear and exhilaration. What I had reduced to a smoldering ruin the last time I was here is already starting to regrow. These plants are taller, thicker, and greener than any should be in the short amount of time since I burned the field.

“There!” Agnar points to a shadowed cleft in the rocky foothills bordering the field. “That must be the entrance to the caves.”

I nod as I guide Dame in for a landing. Though the pulsing glow of the eyril mocks me, whispering of madness and despair, I push those dark thoughts aside.

“That’s one way into the caves, yes. But there’s a faster, easier way to get there.” Pointing to the plants, I direct my group toward them. “With our powers combined, we can get to the real root of the problem.”

I glance over my shoulder at my companions flanking me. Sterling, Agnar, and Rafe sit atop Tanwen, Chirean, and Mygist, respectively. Despite the uncertainty ahead, they’re stalwart and resolute on their dragon mounts.

Two days ago, all but Mygist were being controlled. Now, they’re recovered and roaring for a fight. Their riders carry the antidote—vials of my tears—in case they get corrupted again.

Sterling catches my gaze and flashes me a quick wink, his beautiful, brown, gold-flecked eyes filled with love.

“We all came willingly, you know.” Agnar’s teasing comes through easily over the rushing wind, his rich baritone carrying his words like leaves. “So you can stop fretting over us.”

I regard my team, all of them dwarfed by their dragons’ massive forms. “Everyone knew the risks. But none of us can know what we’re truly in for.”

As if to emphasize my sentiments, an ominous black cloud forms behind us, growing larger by the second. It writhes and twists, moving from the ground up into the sky instead of the other way around. That can only be one thing.

A horde of drachen.

No doubt drawn by Xenon’s demise and hungry for revenge.

Sterling stiffens atop Tanwen.

My heart pounds, but I set my jaw. Our dragons are swift and nimble. They’ll outfly those hells-spawned beasts.

They have to.

Agnar guides Chirean in closer. “Orders, Your Majesty?”

Despite the use of my title, his wide grin and sparkling eyes reveal that our bond goes deeper than a soldier and his queen.

I return his smile, drawing strength from my friends, my family. “We stay the course. The merge site isn’t far. Our friends are risking their lives to draw the enemy away.”

Bastian, Leesa, Helene, Elijah—their mission is every bit as critical as ours. In order to keep the casualties low, they’re running attacks in the east and west as diversions. Along with numerous Tirenese soldiers, they’re engaging the forces there and drawing away the reserves stationed here.

That’s our hope, at least.

As one, we urge our dragons onward, racing the dying sun. The ominous shapes behind us spur us faster toward our uncertain destiny, one we approach with only our wits, our magic, and each other.

I can only hope it’s enough.

Dame hovers over the sprawling orange and green eyril fields, and words stick in my throat like glue.

What can I possibly say in the face of such devotion? Such sacrifice?

I take a deep breath, a knot of emotion lodging in my throat. “No matter what happens, I’m honored to call you my friends. My family. Bastian, Leesa, Helene, Elijah, and the troops they’re leading are counting on us. The entire kingdom is counting on us.”

“Is that all?” Agnar shouts, and nervous laughter ripples through the group, easing the tension.

The drachen draw ever closer, the screech of their growing wingbeats scraping down my spine like icy claws.

Soon, the real battle will begin.

And gods help us, I pray we’re prepared.

I straighten on Dame’s back, drawing myself up as the wind whips strands of hair across my face. This is it. The final step. The point of no return. My heart pounds in my chest, a wild drummer heralding the oncoming storm.

“Lark.” Sterling’s voice cuts through my chaotic thoughts. “Ready, love?”

I nod, drawing strength from his presence, from the unshakable bond between us all. Sucking in a deep breath, I begin the call, my voice ringing out across the fields. “We are the water.”

Sterling’s response comes swift and strong. “We are the source.”

Ancient, primal power stirs, awakening to our summons. It tingles along my skin, raising the fine hairs on my arms. “We are the earth.”

Agnar thumps his fist over his heart. “We are the roots.”

Magic pulses, deep and dark and rich, the heartbeat of the land itself. It coils around us—through us—and binds us together as one. “We are the air.”

Rafe lifts his chin. “We are the breath of the world.”

A potent, swirling gust dances around us, filling our lungs with its wild essence.

I lift my arms, fire sparking at my fingertips, flames licking up my forearms.

“We are the fire. We are the fuel of life.” The words leap from my throat, a solemn vow and a sacred oath.

Heat floods my veins, scorching and searing, as if I’m harnessing the raw force of the sun itself. I embrace it, shape it, and hone it into a weapon of righteous, divine destruction.

“We will burn together and cleanse the land.” Our combined voices surge forth like a battle cry. A promise.

As our voices fade, the magic takes hold, ancient powers interlocking and clicking into place like the tumblers of a lock. Energy swells within me, within us all, building to a crescendo.

We are the primal forces of nature given flesh and form.

“Ready?” My blood hums as I meet Sterling’s gaze.

“To back you up?” He smiles, fierce and proud. “Always.”

I turn to face the oncoming horde, hands wreathed in flame and heart alight with purpose. “Then let’s show these monsters what happens when you mess with Tirene.”

Fire and water, earth and air. We are the elements incarnate, the guardians of this world.

On our tails, the drachen shriek. The monsters wheel closer, their shadows staining the earth. Below, an army of the corrupted surges forward, a twitching mass of darkness. I bare my teeth in a feral grin, my blood singing with the thrill of impending battle.

Let them come. Let them taste the wrath of the world itself.

We will not yield. Not while breath remains in our bodies and magic thrums in our blood.

The drachen get closer still, their scaled bodies twisting in midair.

Atop Chirean, Agnar raises his arms, his voice booming with power as he calls upon the earth to heed our summons once more.

The very ground rumbles beneath us with the force of his magic.

Drachen halt mid-flight. Red eyes gleam, and oily wings flap.

Rafe spreads his arms wide, Mygist flying straight and level. “Winds, settle.”

The gusts subside.

Though a gentle breeze swirls around us, the drachen struggle. Like they’re caught in some sort of magical force field.

Closing my eyes, I make a low pass on Dame and focus on my own element. Fire. The blaze burns within me, eager for release.

Then I give my magic what it wants.

Flames dance from my fingertips in a blazing arc toward the heinous creatures.

The drachen scream. It’s a haunting, inhuman sound.

An inferno of fire engulfs them. Some fall to the ground, writhing in agony. Others continue their charge, their wings becoming kindling for my fire. The blaze burns hotter. Flames shoot higher.

Charred flesh and acrid smoke sear my lungs.

Dotting the landscape, thousands of Tirenese soldiers and civilians fight hand-to-hand with the army of the corrupted. Even with the sun setting, I have no trouble watching the battle with my enhanced vision.

Metal clashes. Arrows whiz. Screams rend the air.

My heart clenches at the devastation all around me. Too many. We’re losing too many people. Both Tirenese and?—

Crimson eyes meet mine. A drachen’s. The menacing creature is right beside us.

Hot, putrid breath blasts my cheek. Wicked, razor-sharp teeth gnash mere inches from my face. Terror clogs my throat.

No. It can’t end like this. We’ve come too far for the drachen to kill me now.

Instinctively, I reach for my short sword.

Dame’s fury rolls through me as she blows out a white-hot stream of flame. At the last second, the drachen dodges and rolls. It circles, then dives for us. Dame plummets to escape the creature, but it stays on our tail. It’s gaining. Getting faster. Faster than I’ve ever see one fly before.

Shit.

Dame pulls up just as an icy blast sends the creature barreling away from us. Not dead but stunned.

“Lark!” A note of panic tinges Sterling’s booming warning. “Don’t worry about what’s happening below.”

“Got it.” I release a shaky breath. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Always.” He and Tanwen swoop over to me. And for a second, it feels like I’m face-to-face with the arrogant, powerful instructor I met on this very campus. “I don’t want to live without you, so don’t lose focus and fuck up again.”

I blink, quickly clearing my head.

Now’s not the time for reminiscing.

The four of us regroup, moving on our dragons as one unit. From the air, we attack only those that are a direct threat to us to spare as many lives as possible.

Agnar summons earthquakes and raises walls of stone from the ground. Rafe manipulates gusts of wind to scatter our enemies. Sterling freezes them solid, sending them plummeting on top of their earthbound allies.

But they’re relentless.

Then, I manage to unleash hellsfire that would impress a demon. “Choke on this, you bastards.”

The air shudders beneath the onslaught of my power, the very foundations of the world groaning in protest.

The handiwork of my magic assaults my senses.

The blistering force of superheated steam, churning just below the surface.

Magic coils within me, a living, breathing thing that strains against the confines of my control.

Gritting my teeth, I channel the roiling energies. Shape them. Hone them into a devastating weapon.

The world explodes in a cataclysm of fire and steam. The shockwave rips through the drachen like a scythe through wheat. They tumble from the sky, charred and broken, their screams lost amid the roar of the maelstrom.

But it’s still not enough.

Never enough.

For every drachen that falls, a dozen more take its place. The endless tide of darkness threatens to engulf us all.

But they’re also not my real target.

I shift my focus downward, to the earth.

They’re not there yet. And if our plan works, they won’t be.

Harnessing all our merged powers, I reach deep inside myself. To the very core of my being, of our magical bond.

And I pull.

With a shuddering crack that echoes like the tolling of a funeral bell, the earth splits asunder. A chasm yawns open like an infected wound, a gaping maw of molten rock and angry heat.

The fissure spreads. Widening and deepening, carving a scar into the very flesh of the world.

And still, the drachen come. They coat the horizon like night herself. Driven by a hunger that knows no bounds, the corrupted army advances, heedless of the destruction.

“Sweet merciful gods,” Agnar breathes.

My throat tightens. More. We need more power.

Sterling lashes out, throwing a row of ice spikes at the drachen that have managed to come within firing distance. He pulls on his power, and I can sense the magic leaving his body and taking shape.

The words of the prophecy echo in my mind. “Break the worlds…and save the worlds.”

Tears blur my vision, the enormity of the moment slamming into me like a physical blow.

This is it.

The culmination of everything we’ve fought for, everything we’ve sacrificed. Everything we were warned about.

Before I can lose my nerve, I leap from Dame’s back, plummeting toward the yawning fissure below.

“Come back to me!” Sterling hovers on Tanwen, watching me fall.

“Always!” In those split seconds as I dive, I memorize every line of his face.

Wings tucked tight, I barrel toward the earth. The heat is stifling as I near the surface, the air thick with ash and smoke.

Ash Queen. Is this who I am?

I know this is my destiny. The path laid out before me from the moment I first drew breath. To descend into the heart of the world, to the very bones of Narc himself. There, I will face the final battle, the ultimate test.

I close my eyes, surrendering to the descent, to the fate that awaits me. And as I plunge deeper into the darkness, into the unknown, I carry the love of those I leave behind, the hope of a kingdom reborn from the ashes of its own destruction.

In the end, that’s all we have.

Love and hope and the courage to face the darkness head-on, no matter the cost.

And so, I fall, down and down and down, into the very bowels of the earth itself.

I’m ready to face my destiny.