Page 29 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

TWENTY-EIGHT

LUKA

H er wingtips skimmed over the water as we flew over the Middle Sea. Being on her back was like something I never could have dreamed of. It was like being in the nest of a ship, clipping at full speed. She opened up a freedom for me I could never have hoped to feel for myself. One I’d been chasing my entire life.

My chest heaved with emotion. After last night, I didn’t know how to talk to her or what she would say if I even tried. I shoved it down as we approached the island.

There were no ships. No sign of life, but since most of it existed inside the caves, we couldn’t be convinced until we went inside. Hazel landed, perched on the old dock, and let me slip off her back before she shifted. I opened the pack I’d brought, looking right at her as I handed her the clothes.

“You are incorrigible,” she laughed, but I could tell it was forced. We were both on edge.

We hadn’t told anyone we’d left. I didn’t know if Nyx would allow it or if he’d even notice. After the healers from the Forest Kingdom arrived, the only other fae he’d see except Zaria were the King and Jaxus. And frankly, I couldn’t blame him.

“I can’t help what I like.” I lifted a shoulder.

“We have to be serious here,” she whispered, straightening her tunic.

I handed her one boot at a time, and she put her hand on my shoulder to balance as she put them on. “Ready?” I asked when she finished.

“Yes.” She put her hand on her sword. “Are you?”

I adjusted my sword belt. “No, but we’ll either find something or we won’t.”

“Remember, jump on my back the minute I shift if we are being chased.” She took the torch I handed her and lit it with her breath.

“Why is that so hot?” I lit mine with hers, too. “Let’s do this.”

We followed the dock into the cave, finding the temple cut out as we left it. Not a stone looked out of place. The silence sunk into my bones, setting my nerves on edge. It wasn’t meant to be quiet. It wasn’t meant to be empty. How many other missing fae were here before I left with Kol? I hadn’t even thought to look at the other faces. So many families were left without answers, and I hadn’t helped.

With all of this gone, I was left without purpose again.

We searched for hours and didn’t find any sign of them. Not a secret passage, not a scrap or signal of life. There was even dust covering every surface and spiderwebs in the corners like no one had been here at all.

“Did we hallucinate being here?”

She met my eyes, setting her jaw. “We didn’t.”

“Could they have drugged us? Or could it have been magic that made us think this place was real?” My mind reeled, and I didn’t like where it was going.

“To what end?”

“To throw us off the path of the eggs? Maybe they caught on to us?” Maybe Faolan was right and I wasn’t careful enough.

“I don’t think such magic exists.” She slumped against the wall, sliding down to a seat. “Or if it does, I’ve never heard of it.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t know.” She pressed her fingers into her temples in thought. “I just can’t get my head around what they want dragon eggs for. Where could they be taking them to?”

“If they were in the crates that went overboard, I have no idea. There’s nothing on that coast except the foothills of the Wild Mountains.”

Hazel scoffed. “Which is right where that place Jaxus and Faolan said they escaped from is—wait—” Rage flashed in her irises like they were ablaze.“You don’t think…”

“You think the eggs are being smuggled there?”

“It’s not a terrible theory. If they are completely isolated, how else would they add new dragons to their breeding pool and not have it burned out after centuries? What if the priests are working with them?”

“Wouldn’t Jaxus and Faolan know?”

She lifted her shoulders. “Depends on how much they tell their people. None of us knew about their home’s existence. Anything is possible”

I didn’t like any of it. I especially didn’t like not knowing. I needed to go on. Something deep in my chest drove me. I couldn’t stop now. “Are you up for another flight?”

“What do you have in mind?” she asked.

“Why don’t we go check out the temple?”

“The one we went to in the Storm Kingdom?”

I nodded. “I think we have to.”

She was quiet for a long moment, and I was worried I’d lost her, but slowly, she pushed to her feet. “Let’s go. Neither of us will rest until we do.”

I loved that she felt the same way I did.

We took off again, staying low over the ocean and taking nearly the same path we had on the ship. It was an easy flight, but she dropped off as soon as we met the shore a few hours later, coming in for a rough landing.

I slipped off her back, waiting for her to shift and fill me in. “What’s up?”

She shook and rolled her shoulders as she came out of it. “I can’t keep flying I’m exhausted. I thought I could do it, but after the sprint back to the First Kingdom and then today, plus carrying you.” Her brows pulled together. “I’m sorry. With the storms coming, I don’t think I can do it.”

I stared at her. “A storm is coming?”

“Yes.” She turned her face to the sky, shielding her eyes with her hand. “I can smell it.”

“And you didn’t think to warn me before we left Damona Island?” I turned in a slow circle. “Where are we taking shelter?”

“I used to fly up here with Alora when we had breaks from training. I know a place.” She held out her hand, and I took it. She led me to a path through the dense trees, winding us through the uneven terrain.

We cut through the massive, sloping landscape, working our way further into the hill country. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the hair on the back of my neck rose.

I scanned the horizon for clouds, but none were visible yet. “How much longer do we have?”

“Half a candle mark, maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“I’ll protect you.” She patted my cheek before moving on.

We walked until the thunder rang through our bones and the wind whipped around us, blowing her hair in every direction.

“Do you hear that?” she yelled.

“The wind or the thunder?” I screamed, sure she’d only hear me because of her dragon hearing. I couldn’t even hear myself.

“The waterfall! We’re nearly there.” She took off at a run.

I had to sprint to keep up with her, and in another minute, we came around a cut in the landscape to find a sheer wall of rock with a waterfall cascading down it.

“We made it!” She pushed her mass of curls out of her face, gathering the flyaways back into the band.

“Doesn’t water attract lightning?” I cupped my hands to yell, the gale further wiping out my voice.

“We aren’t going to be in the water.” She hopped on stones across the river, walking right up to the side of the falls.

I hesitated as lightning lit the entire sky, cracking right over us. My teeth rattled, and I steeled myself against it. I trusted Hazel, so I followed on the rocks she’d crossed on, mirroring her path to join her right at the water’s edge.

The spray hit us before the rain did, but she pulled me through the falls as huge drops began falling. Instead of meeting the cliff face, we passed deeper through weathered away stone and found a small cave.

She shook the water off herself and shivered slightly in the cooler air of the cave, which made me want to wrap her up in my arms. For a moment, it felt too familiar, and I questioned whether she would want that from someone she’d only casually connected with. But I kicked myself in the arse. What was I to her if not the person who could warm her chill when she needed it?

I opened my arms in offering, and she gratefully settled against my chest. We stood in the dark for long moments. The roar of the water was dulled by the cave walls, and beyond that, we could barely discern the storm outside, save for the odd flash of lightning which flashed and bounced off the walls, lighting the cave briefly.

After the initial chill from entering cooler air, wet from the start of the storm, it was actually pretty balmy in the cave. Her shivers did not last long.

“Shall we sit?” I suggested, knowing from experience now that we would be here until the storm hours passed. Which just made me hard thinking about the storm hours we’d fucked through to pass the time.

“Sure,” she said, slipping from my arms. She took a seat on the ground and rested her back against the cave wall, and I sat beside her, adjusting myself. I reached for my pack and rummaged around inside, struggling to make out the contents in the relative dark of the cave.

A glow of light appeared, and I looked up to see Hazel forming a ball of her lightning in her hand. It would never not be impressive to me that she could just will it into existence. Once formed, she seemed to stare at it, and it rose to the ceiling, suspended by nothing and stayed there, filling the cave with light.

“That’s amazing,” I breathed in awe.

Hazel shrugged. “A kid’s trick for a storm dragon.”

“Well, to me, it’s impressive. All that stuff is.” I rummaged in the bag again and found what I was looking for. I pulled out a bundle wrapped in cloth and unwrapped it to reveal bread and some meat and cheese I’d packed since we had a long flight.

She studied me, wide eyed and I smirked. “I thought we’d end up hungry.”

“You are a genius,” she said, accepting the offered food and taking a big bite.

“I can’t imagine growing up not knowing about magic,” she said incredulously after she’d finished chewing.

“And I can’t imagine growing up with it. It’s just what you know.” It almost made me wonder what I’d missed, being raised so far outside of any kingdom’s culture.

“Do you never wonder if you have any?” she hedged.

“Me? Nah!”

Hazel smiled and shook her head. “Most fae do, you know. Whether they know what to do with it is another matter, but you’ll never know unless you take that pendant off.”

I touched the pendant and thought on it for long moments. It warmed to my touch slightly, something it had been doing ever since it had burned her. “I can’t see it for myself.”

I could tell from her face that she didn’t get it.

“Have you ever felt like your life is completely out of your control and nothing you do ever helps you get on top of it?

Her chewing slowed, and she stared. “Sometimes.”

“I’ve never really had choices, only decisions between one bad situation and the next. The pendant was never even a thing until Zaria took hers off. And while I get that, to you, I should just take it off and see what happens, to me, it’s a choice not to rock my boat any more than it rocks all by itself every day.”

She nodded in understanding, taking another bite and not pushing the subject.

But I wanted her to understand so I went on. “And while I don’t have too many fond memories from how I grew up, it’s the one thing I have left of where I came from.”

She placed her hand on my knee and smiled. “I understand.”

I covered her hand with mine, and for a while, we just stared at each other until she gave a shy chuckle and looked away.

We ate the rest of our food in companionable silence while the storm raged outside. Then I packed the remains in my bag and held open my arm for her to settle against me. “Get some rest. We will be here a while, and you’re exhausted.”

She nodded and curled up under my arm, her head resting on my lap.

I threaded her hair through my fingers and stroked soothingly until her breathing evened out and she went slack with sleep.

I didn’t sleep while the storm blew through. I just watched her sleep by the light of her magic and wondered if she was right. Would I have magic if I took the leap to find out? Then I shook off the thought.

My life was complicated enough.

We left the cave once the storm had passed. Hazel was rested enough to fly us up to the temple, but we landed a distance away so as not to be seen. We approached the same way as we had before and took up a place in the trees to watch and plan.

“We’re both going in this time,” she insisted.

I didn’t argue with her. We were past that.

We watched priests come and go from the temple into the gardens, and nothing seemed different from any other place of worship in the kingdoms. Until I noticed a face I knew.

“Goddess, save us,” I whispered.