Page 194 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection

Chapter 193

“I know what we have to do!” I said, stumbling into the tent.

“Where the hell have you been?” Flynn’s hands slapped down on my arms. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. I, we, thought one of the duke’s men took you!”

“No, no…” I fought to catch my breath. Glimmer strolled in, completely unfazed, but I had used all the adrenalin Drathnor’s skull inspired to run back to our tent. With shaking hands, I pulled out the folded map Marcus had given me. “Here. We’ll go in here!”

“Go in where from where?” Ged peered over my shoulder, then stared at me. “Gods, is that Marcus’ map again? Pippin, if you know anything about that bastard, then this has to be a trap. Setting the queen of all Nevermere up to be captured? Bloody hell, he’s probably been in the Duke’s employ the whole time.”

“I saw it,” I gasped out. “We went to the cave.”

“‘Drathnor’s cave?’” Brom’s eyes met mine. “That’s where you were?”

“You know it?” Soren asked. “What kind of place is that?”

“A place the lads of Blackreach used to dare each other to enter, yet few did.” That shudder was a replica of Rosie’s. “It’s a cursed place and?—”

“Perfect for smugglers to use to get in and out of the city,” I finished for him. “Think about it. Everyone knows where it is, but they rely on the customary horror of the place.” My hands scratched at my arms, as if that would dislodge the gooseflesh there. I felt like I’d walked right into a massive cobweb full of spiders, my skin crawling in response. “To keep people out. I saw some that came out of the caves.”

“What Marcus wanted you to see,” Ged growled.

“One of them was his sister.”

When I frowned, he sighed.

“Pippin—”

“The caves aren’t important,” Soren said, stepping forward. I knew that stern look. We’d all been on the receiving end of it at one point or another. “What do you want to do if we get through them? That’s what matters.”

“The duke.” Getting the words out, explaining the plan, that helped settle me. My breath started to even out as I stood up straight. “He has the eggs, will use Beatrice or some other girl he favours to try to impress upon the hatchling queen. He’s the one spearheading this fight. If we?—”

“Cut the head off the snake, this whole civil war dies.” Brom nodded slowly. “Gods, that might just work.”

“So we get revenge for my family’s death by sneaking into Blackreach and assassinating the duke?” Flynn straightened up. “Kill the bastard that orchestrated this all?” I knew what his answer would be as soon as I saw the bitter twist of his smile. “I’m in, Pippin.”

“This is just what Marcus wants,” Ged groaned.

“And?” I looked at the map. “Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t want to see all of his networks collapse in Blackreach, but right now, what he wants and what I want are the same thing. I’d be content to turn a blind eye to his activities if it means sparing the rest of the city.”

“This is how he gets you,” Ged grumbled. “Makes you think his idea is yours.”

“Can see another way forward, Rider?” Soren snapped. “No? Then you know what we need to do.” His focus shifted back to me, that warm gaze reminding me of my dream. “You’ll do this anyway, with or without us, right?” I nodded sharply. “Then you’ll have me by your side. Always, Pippin.”

“Brom?”

“I should’ve known you conceded defeat too easily.” He smiled slowly. “Of course I’m with you. To be honest, I’m not sure if the dragon-led attack will even work past the first wave. We don’t mind rape our bondmates. They’ll feel the deaths of all those people as they happen. I’ve raised this with the general, but he won’t hear it.”

“He doesn’t want to,” I replied. “A glorious victory, one he achieves by blasting Blackreach to hell, that’s all he can see, but we’ll show him, won’t we, Ged?”

“Bloody hell…” He shook his head sharply. “Let me look at that map. Commander, can you verify which parts are accurate and which aren’t? Anything that comes from Marcus needs to be checked twice.”

“They can do that.” Flynn swept in, directing me towards his bedroll. “While we work out a plan.” My eyes went to the tent flaps and watched Soren tie them closed as I sat down with Flynn. “Now, tell me more about these caves…”

It was just a hole in the ground, I told myself over and over. It was now an hour or so past midnight and we each walked with careful steps, trying to mask the sound of our passing. We needn’t have worried. At this hour, no one was near the cave entrance, and for good reason.

You know that strange feeling you sometimes get, when in a house all by yourself, or when walking into somewhere dark and gloomy? Your skin prickles, as if sensing unseen eyes watching you. Initially, it’s just uncomfortable. You’re more aware of yourself and your surroundings than you usually are.

Then it gets worse.

“Gods above…” Ged hissed, rubbing at his arms.

A face with needle-like teeth appeared before me in the darkness, yet when I stopped still, stifling a scream, it was gone in the next blink. I felt something brush against my side, yet when I whirled around, I realised it was just a breeze. By the stifled grunts from those around me, I realised the others were dealing with the same thing.

“This place…” Ged muttered. “Surely there’s another way.”

“Not without blowing a hole in the wall.” Brom tried to smile but failed utterly, his eyes wide and haunted. “And that might draw attention to what we are doing.”

“We aren’t even in the cave yet.” Soren looked down into the dark mouth of it with a terrible frown. “Well, it's not as if I haven’t walked into a fight wanting to piss my pants before.”

“Yes, but this is the first time it feels like it’s actually going to happen.” Flynn’s hand went to his sword. “We need to keep going. Once we go in… there, we need to move fast. Run, if we have to.”

“Good idea.” Ged shot him a withering look. “So we can get lost in the cave of doom? There’s too many bloody chambers to this cave. Is it too much to ask for just one clear path.” He stared at the lot of us. “We can’t get separated. If we do, we could end up walking around and around for hours.” He swallowed hard. “Days even. Did we bring enough water? Food? Why the hell didn’t we bring supplies? What are we going to do if we get turned around? What if this map isn’t even accurate? Marcus would be laughing on the other side of his face if he?—”

This way.

We all turned around to see my dragon had appeared.

Glimmer , we talked about this , I told her. You and your mates will stay here. The dragons loyal to the duke will sense your presence and report us to him. We need the element of surprise to make this work.

You need me.

I felt it as soon as she walked past. Muscles released, my spine straightening, no longer bracing for an unseen attack.

“So I’m guessing the little queen is joining us?” Flynn asked, but I could see the palpable relief on his face. Her glow seemed to settle something in us.

“If this is what we’re doing, then we need to get going,” Brom looked up at the sky. “We’ve got a couple of hours of darkness to complete this mission. The faster we get in…”

The faster we’d find out if we could abort this war before it could really start.

The rocks around the cave entrances were still demons ready to pounce, but for some reason, I could walk past them without disgracing myself. I eyed them closely, waiting for them to move, but they didn’t. They were just rocks, this was just a cave, and that was just?—

“This is Drathnor?” Flynn asked as we approached the skull. “Gods, how the hell did a beast like him fly?” Like I had the first time I saw it, he fought to take it all in, let alone the rest of the dead dragon’s bones. He turned to the others. “Imagine riding such a creature. Everyone would bow before you.” A strange gleam filled his eyes. “No one would dare raise a hand against you, against your family.”

“Flynn—”

When I stepped closer, he wrapped an arm around my waist.

“No one would ever hurt you.” That was whispered into my neck. “I’d be able to protect you, Pippin.”

“Protect her by getting moving.” Soren’s voice was far harsher than it usually was. “It’s madness bringing a first year cadet on a mission like this.” His eyes widened as he stared at me. “Perhaps you and the little queen should go back. I never got a chance to prepare you properly, lass. One sword play lesson isn’t enough for what we intend to do.”

“No.” I was tugged from Flynn’s grip and held against Brom’s chest. “Pippin isn’t going anywhere. You’re not taking her from me… Us. Here, I can keep her safe. Here, I know that none of them will try to get to her.”

“Them?” Ged looked up from the map. “What them? We don’t need shadowy cabals trying to take Pippin from us. We’re wandering around amongst the remains of a dead dragon, using a map a master criminal gave us. We’re going to kill ourselves before anyone else does.” His eyes slid over the cave walls. “What if the cave collapses and we’re still in it? What if?—?”

“Unhh…”

I bent over, feeling that sharp pain again. Right now I was cursing the day I was born a woman because this was unbearable. My menses were normally messy but straightforward and over in three days. I wasn’t even bleeding, so why…? My teeth sunk into my bottom lip, trying to bite back a cry. Was I already pregnant? If so, what was this pain? Gods above, had my womb quickened and before I even realised I was with child, was I losing the baby? A groan escaped my lips despite my efforts.

“Pippin…!”

Brom’s voice echoed throughout the cave, but I couldn’t heed it. Something drove me on. Don’t touch , the bones of Drathnor said. Leave! Yet my palm slapped down on one smooth rib bone turned purplish white by the mushrooms’ glow. It burned my palm like it was made of ice, not bone, searing my flesh. I tried to pull away, but my fingers refused to obey. The waves of pain were coming faster and faster now, some terrible pressure building in my abdomen. My spare hand pressed down on it, as if that would help. Nothing did.

“Pippin! Pippin!”

They shouted my name, tried to tug me backwards, but as my body shook, I felt the hot burst of something inside me. Not my womb, but my nose, it appeared. I felt the blood flow, caught sight of one drop falling free in slow motion, and then I was gone, replaced by her.

They kept referring to Drathnor as male, perhaps due to her size, but now that I was inside her body, her mind, I knew differently. My flanks convulsed and the big gouges on the cave floor weren’t naturally occurring, but from my claws as I strained with all my might. The eggs, that’s what preoccupied me. I was dying, the slow seep of blood from my side making that clear, but I could not let the growing cold swallow me whole. If I died with them inside me, they would not survive.

My daughters, my sons, I thought of them as I marshalled the last of my strength. Stifling back a roar, because I did not want to alert my enemies to what I was doing, my head rose, my whole body feeling like it rippled as I bore down and birthed the first egg. I spun around, sniffing at it, and saw that it gleamed like a vein of bright gold. A queen… Tanis , I thought, pressing my forehead to the side of the egg, but not for long. The next wave of pain heralded the birth of my next child. My back arched, my claws raking the air as…

My hand closed around a curiously rounded rock found within the ribcage of Drathnor.

“Pippin!” Someone tried to turn me around, but I refused, not until I’d dug it up. Another gleaming crystal egg shone in my grip.

Whatever it was, how I’d known it was here, I couldn’t dwell on, because it appeared some of our fears had a basis in reality. Our heads all jerked up as we heard the muffled roar of explosions.

“The general…” Brom said. “He’s started the bombardment already?” And that was very bad news for us. The walls shook, the roof of the cave as well, as rocks began to fall around us.

“We need to go, now!” Ged barked, wrenching me back towards the entrance, only for our exit to be blocked by the partial collapse of the roof.

This way, Glimmer said, turning and scurrying off deeper into the cave.

“I am never, ever, ever going into another cave,” Ged gasped as we clambered out of a hatch cut into the floor of what looked like a warehouse. We saw the shapes of bags of flour and other goods stacked up around us. “Ever. I’m sorry, Pippin, but if you want to go off on some hare-brained scheme again and it includes caves, you’re on your own.”

“Perhaps we could focus on successfully completing this hare-brained scheme first?” Soren said. “Then we can debate what we will and won’t do in the future.”

“So where do we head now?” Flynn looked over Ged’s shoulder. “Looks like that way.”

He pointed to a large door. We crept closer, dislodging the bar and then stepping out onto the streets of Blackreach. Water dripped from a downpipe and the alleyway stank of rotting refuse, but we were forced back against it seconds later.

“We’re under attack!” someone shouted and we watched guards in the duke’s livery go running past, swords in hand. Flynn drew his own, a dangerous smile on his face. He was obviously spoiling for a fight.

“Keep your head!” Soren hissed, nudging his fellow rider, and we all stayed perfectly still as the last of the guards raced past. Several heart beats went by until we dared move again.

“Yes,” another voice drawled as a hooded man stepped out from an adjoining side street. “Keeping your head would be wise.” We all jerked our weapons from their scabbards, but Glimmer stepped forward. “You got caught up in this as well, little queen?”

That’s when I realised who this was. Draven flipped his hood back and surveyed the lot of us with a frown.

“I went to the trouble of infiltrating the city to try and resolve this issue with my uncle once and for all, only to find the lot of you here. Care to explain why you’re not back at camp in your tents?”