Page 18 of The Broken Prince

We spent the day traveling, looking for signs of humans or trouble. We hardly said a word to each other, never left our dragons unless it was to relieve ourselves, and ate from our packs instead of hunting for game.

At the end of the daylight, we stopped in a field. The darkness descended, and we spotted fire.

“You see that over there?” Ian pointed far into the distance.

“Torches. A lot of them.”

“We didn’t see that the other night.”

“Maybe the ring of fire was so bright, it masked everything else.”

“We’re getting close. The dragons may be too visible and too loud.”

“I agree.” Their size alone was noticeable, even at great distances.

“We’ll need to leave the dragons behind and proceed on foot.”

No.

I don’t like it either.

I’m supposed to protect you.

You owe me nothing, Storm.

But I promised your mate I would guard you with my life.

Now I understood why he felt so obligated to look after me. There’s nothing I can do. I have to leave you behind. I can call for you if I need you. “We’ll call for them if we need a quick getaway.”

“I’d prefer not to get caught.”

“Perhaps I should go and you stay here alone.”

“Forget it, Huntley. We do this together.”

“Then we should move under the cover of darkness.” I hadn’t slept in a day, but the tension was so high I didn’t feel an ounce of fatigue. “Take advantage of the poor visibility. Find a good position before morning.”

Ian nodded in agreement. “Let’s do it.”

We hopped off our dragons and kept them hidden behind a dense group of pines then made our way on foot, moving through the snow at a much slower speed than we could traverse with our dragons.

Slowly, the torchlight became brighter and brighter as the leagues between us diminished. Once we were able to make out a stone structure, we kneeled behind brush and examined the fortress.

Guards were positioned along the wall, fully covered in armor, including their faces. There were archers as well, carrying crossbows instead of traditional bows. A black gate surrounded the territory, hiding our view of whatever they were guarding.

Ian was quiet beside me, and together, we both watched, the night fading and turning the sky a dark blue.

“The guards will switch at the end of the shift,” Ian said. “That’s when we make our move.”

We had no idea if the guard change happened at daylight, but that was how we did it in the Kingdoms and HeartHolme. The day shift and the night shift. “Make our move to what?” I’d stared at the fortress a long time, and there was no indication of how to scale the wall without being caught.

“The fence is damaged there.” Ian pointed. “You can see the soot now that daylight is coming. Looks like someone sent a volley of fire arrows against it at one point. Or something unleashed fire…”

“Like a dragon?”

“Maybe.”

I stared at the weakened part of the wall, and once we got closer, we would be able to determine whether our blades could hack away the brittle pieces.