Alliance (2 page)

“Yes, Fimor spoke to Kalesh a little while ago.” They couldn’t see much in the dark, but Fimor had assured him that Kalesh easily kept pace with them. She flew a little off to the side so their wings didn’t touch. “I wonder how Lerran’s getting on.”

“Hmm.” Ryneq stiffened a little at the mention of the elf. Although he’d allowed Lerran to ride with Selene on Kalesh, he obviously wasn’t happy about it. “I imagine he’s overwhelmed with it all.” He squeezed Nykin gently, seeming to look all around them from the way he moved his head. “I know I am.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, and Nykin settled back into Ryneq’s embrace. Despite the ache in his body from sitting in the same position for hours, he loved riding Fimor with Ryneq behind him. When this was all over, he was going to suggest they do it together often.

“Nykin, look. Torsere.”

Nykin strained to see what Fimor was showing him. There in the distance, he could just about make out the soft glow of the torches surrounding the Stone Palace. Farther up the mountain, a few more glowed brightly in the night as they lit up two of the landing caves. Nykin immediately nudged Ryneq in the ribs with his elbow and pointed in front of them. “Ryneq, can you see it?”

He felt more than heard Ryneq’s sharp intake of breath as he finally saw the lights of Torsere. “Thank the Gods.”

Nykin’s heart sped up as they began to descend toward the caves and
home
. The last week felt as if a lifetime had passed, and Nykin knew it must be twice as bad for Ryneq. “Hold on,” he whispered and leaned a little closer to Fimor’s back, gripping hard with his thighs. Landing was more than a little nerve-wracking if you weren’t used to it.

The dragons came to almost a complete stop in midair before entering the cave, otherwise they ran the risk of hitting the back wall. The first time Nykin rode Fimor, he’d been terrified they were going to drop out of the sky. The maneuver still sent a thrill through his body even now.

Fimor flew in on near-silent wings, barely moving them as he approached the entrance. As the mouth of the cave loomed before them, Ryneq had an almost painful hold on Nykin’s hips.

“Almost there,” Nykin tried to reassure him, as Fimor steadied them with a few last beats of his huge wings and landed with only a tiny jolt onto the stony ground.

Ryneq didn’t say anything, but as soon as Fimor settled on the floor of the cave, his grip loosened considerably.

“Sire!” Eldin came rushing into the cave, followed closely by Nysad. “It’s good to have you back.”

“If only the circumstances were less dire,” Nysad added, saluting his king.

“It’s good to be home,” Ryneq replied, the relief at finally being back evident in his voice.

Eldin greeted Nykin with a warm smile and walked over to run a hand along Fimor’s neck. “You too, Nykin. I would love to hear about your experience with the elves when we have time.”

Nykin nodded. “Of course.” Though he had no idea when that would be. With Seran pacing along the border, waiting for his chance to attack, Nykin doubted it would be anytime soon.

Ryneq reached around Nykin to undo the leather strap holding them together. He turned to whisper in Nykin’s ear as he undid the buckle. “When you’ve finished here, bring Selene and Lerran and meet me in the war room.”

Nykin felt the soft press of lips on the side of his neck, and then the heat of Ryneq’s body disappeared as he shuffled away a little and slid down from Fimor’s back onto the ground.

“Thank you, Fimor, for getting me home so quickly.” Ryneq laid a hand briefly on Fimor’s shoulder before turning to greet his men. He pulled Nysad in close and clapped him firmly on the back, then did the same with Eldin. He didn’t say as much, but Nykin knew how much Ryneq had missed them.

Nykin watched them all walk out of the landing cave, already
deep in conversation as Eldin filled Ryneq in on the latest
developments.

Nykin sighed, feeling strange and uneasy all of a sudden. The elation he’d experienced at seeing the lights of Torsere earlier faded, leaving behind only nervous anticipation of what was to come.

“Is everything all right, Nykin?”
Fimor turned back to look at him, his obsidian-colored eyes shining brightly in the glow of the torches.

“Yes.” He tugged at the buckle on his right thigh, eased it undone, and then started on his other leg. “I just… oh I don’t know, Fimor.” Fimor snorted, steam rising in the chill air. “I hate all this uncertainty while we wait for Seran’s attack.” As soon as his legs were free, Nykin swung his left leg over and lowered himself to the ground. He leaned back against Fimor’s flank and let the steady rise and fall of Fimor’s breathing soothe him.

“There is little we can do at the moment but wait, Nykin. If Seran does indeed have another powerful witch with him, then we may struggle to hold off an attack without the help of the elven elders.”

Nykin closed his eyes and let his head fall back. “What about your magic? You managed to break the witch’s spell before with the storm.”

“That is true. But the spell was weak, having been cast so far away from the witch herself. I fear even our magic, as old as it is, may not be enough to counteract her when she is in close quarters. And we have no idea what she is capable of.
”

Nykin’s anxiety built. The witch who attacked Alel had broken through the elves’ magical protection twice, the first time almost killing Faelon, and Torsere had nothing like that in place.
Yet.

Queen Ahlyria had sent Glaevahl to help them, but he was travelling back on one of the ships and wouldn’t arrive for another day and a half at least. Nykin’s heart rate picked up as he thought of all the things that could go wrong before then. He had firsthand knowledge of how ruthless Seran could be and—

“Nykin.”
Fimor nudged Nykin’s shoulder with his tail, effectively stopping Nykin’s thoughts before they had a chance to spiral out of control.
“It will do you no good to stay here and worry. Kalesh has just landed, so I suggest you collect Selene and Lerran and take them to the war room as King Ryneq requested.”

Nykin ran a hand over his eyes and yawned. It must be exhaustion making him react like this, because he wouldn’t normally let things affect him in this way. “Yeah.” He shook himself in an attempt to clear his mind and feel more alert. “You’re right, as always.” Nykin unclasped Fimor’s harness and saddle and set them both down against the wall. “I think under the circumstances, Eldin won’t mind if I leave that there for now.” He waved a hand at all of it, yawning again.

“Yes, I think your presence in the war room is of greater importance. I will speak to Kalesh and the others, Nykin, and connect with you after your meeting with the king.”

Nykin smiled when he thought of Ryneq probably already pacing in front of the fireplace, waiting impatiently for them to arrive. “I’ll talk to you later, then.” His hand lingered on Fimor’s neck. Their bond was strong, and Nykin let Fimor’s calmness seep under his skin. He was a dragon rider of Torsere, and his home was under the threat of attack. He needed to be ready.

Nykin squared his shoulders and shook off any remaining doubts and anxiety. There had only been two landing caves lit up when they’d approached the mountain. The other one, where Kalesh landed, was only a short walk down the tunnel on the right, and Nykin hurried down it to meet Selene.

“Whoa!” Selene put her hands against Nykin’s chest to stop him from barreling into her as he burst through the entrance to the cave.

Nykin grabbed hold of her arms, steadying himself. “Sorry.” He caught Lerran’s raised eyebrow over her shoulder as he righted himself. “Ryneq’s waiting for us in the war room, along with Eldin and Nysad. We need to hurry.”

“What about Kalesh’s harness? I still ne—”

“Leave it. We can put them away later.”

Selene gestured for him to turn around and lead the way, one hand over her mouth as she yawned. Nykin groaned when it made him yawn again too. “Don’t,” he said, barely managing a tired smile. “I’m so tired, I could sleep for days.”

“Me too.” Selene rubbed her eyes, and Nykin winced at how red they looked. His probably looked just as bad, though. Her hair was half out of its braid, long, dark tendrils curling around her face, and for a moment Nykin forgot and began to smooth a hand down the back of his head. But his fingers met his short locks, and he sighed. It would be a long while before it grew back to the trademark length of a dragon rider.

The steep steps connecting the Eyrie to the Stone Palace were lit with torches along both sides, the soft glow from the flames illuminating their path enough to descend safely.

Nykin went first, the familiar surroundings easing his mind and settling him even more. His fingers brushed against the cool stone as he made his way down, a far cry from the heat of Alel. It was good to be home.

When they reached the bottom and entered the palace, the amount of activity surprised Nykin. It must be past midnight, and he’d thought it far too late for half the palace to be up and awake, but obviously news of the king’s arrival had spread quickly. They followed behind four of the kitchen workers as they wheeled a cart laden with food and drink into the war room.

Nykin’s mouth watered at the smells coming from the covered dishes, and he suddenly realized how long it’d been since he’d last eaten. Selene’s stomach rumbled loudly next to him, and he smirked at her. “Hungry?”

She didn’t even bother to glare at him, another indication of how tired she was. “Starving.”

Ryneq looked up when they walked through the door of the war room, and Nykin smothered a laugh behind his hand as he noticed Ryneq had indeed been pacing in front of the fire. Someone had had the foresight to light it well before their arrival, and the flames licked over the wooden logs, heating the room to a comfortable warmth.

Ryneq’s gaze landed on Nykin, their eyes meeting for the briefest of moments, and Nykin caught the hint of a smile before Ryneq schooled his expression into one of complete seriousness. “Sit.” He indicated the empty chairs on the far side of the huge table dominating the room. “We have much to discuss.”

Eldin was already seated, along with Nysad and at least ten members of the palace guard. A large map covered the center of the table, held in place by a decanter of wine in one corner and three heavy goblets on the others. Nykin sat next to Eldin, with Selene and Lerran taking the chairs next to him.

The food cart had been placed off to the side, taunting them, and Nykin eyed it longingly.

“I know a lot of you are hungry and tired.” Ryneq’s voice cut through the soft whispers around the table. Nykin quickly averted his gaze from the food and pointedly ignored Ryneq’s amused expression. “We’ll eat soon enough, but I want us all to be up to speed before our minds are dulled with food and wine.”

Nykin looked around the table as people sat up straighter in their chairs, obviously wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. On closer inspection, a few of the guards looked as tired as Nykin felt, and their uniforms were crumpled and spattered with mud—clearly having come in straight from their patrol.

Ryneq stood at the head of the table, declining to sit down. He rested his palms on the edge of the thick wood, and looked down at the map for several long moments, his thick dark hair sticking up where he’d probably had his hands in it. He looked worn around the edges but determined and focused. It made Nykin’s chest swell with pride.

“So,” Ryneq said eventually, lifting his head and looking around the table. “The witch we killed in Alel suggested Seran had another with him as he marched on Torsere. Do we know if she told the truth?”

R
YNEQ
’
S
GAZE
landed on Eldin, and he frowned at the tired set to Eldin’s shoulders and the purple shadows under his eyes. Eldin’s dark hair only made him appear paler in the light of the war room, and his usually bright green eyes had a dull sheen. Ryneq may only have been away for a little over a week, but it had certainly taken its toll on his lead dragon rider.

Eldin cleared his throat before standing and pointing at one end of the map. Both he and Nysad had started to give Ryneq a quick summary of events as they’d walked down to the palace, but then the night patrol had arrived back, and Ryneq decided to just wait until everyone was gathered together.

“As far as we’ve been able to see,” Eldin began. He tapped his finger along the Athisi border northeast of Torsere. “Seran has his army camped about a mile back from the border. We can’t tell the size of it yet because there’s some sort of fog covering part of the camp.”

Ryneq hummed and studied the map. Why had Seran gone back to Athisi instead of his homeland of Rodeth? The Athisi border was closer to the Stone Palace, but it still struck Ryneq as odd. Maybe he’d bring it up with Nysad later.

“We can’t get close enough to see anything in detail. The dragon riders have been circling higher than they would normally to try to avoid being seen.” Eldin sat back down, looking more tired than Ryneq had ever seen him. “The dragons have sensed the witch’s magic a few times. We assume the fog is her doing, and it makes them all a little uneasy.”