Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) (70 page)

Light swelled in the hands of the foremost pykan. I pulled Nexus's reins, he tilted right and the light soared past us. Another bolt came and we tilted left, but this bolt caught Nexus's tail. Nexus's pain burned through my body like fire.

"Remind me to kill your dragon friends when this is over!"

Nexus's fury burned hotter than his pain.
Remind me to help you.

I glanced up and fired back, but the pykan swerved. My bolt missed and hit the gargon behind it. That gargon dropped from the sky and landed on top of one of the towers. The tower crumbled right on top of Mistress Astaire Dothrai, and the next bolt hit.

Nexus screamed so loudly the sound of it shook my body. Blinding pain wrenched through me, as if someone set fire to my insides. Nexus dropped, wings flapping erratically, beating and beating but failing to fly. I fought against his pain, clenching the saddle so hard my fingers ached while cinching down my legs so I wouldn't fall. The ground and sky swirled into a mess of color, and we fell and fell and fell.

Frantic, I shut my eyes, reaching out with my senses to find Cian. If I could just gather enough wind to cushion our fall, maybe we wouldn't crash. I strained, pulling as much wind to us as possible, holding tight as I shoved it beneath us. Sweat dripped down my temples and my hands slid on the saddle as I pulled more and more air. But we kept falling and the wind still screamed past my ears.

My jaw ached from clenching my teeth so hard, and my hands slipped from the saddle. I flailed, cinching my legs harder until my hands found purchase again.

Just…a little…more…

We slowed, the wind stopped howling and my stomach started moving back down from my throat, and then we crashed.

Leaves and branches slapped all over me, stinging my face, arms, and legs. I hugged the saddle close, pressing my face into the leather to protect it, and a huge branch knocked me right off.

I went airborne for what felt like forever before colliding with the ground. I flipped and tumbled and rolled, and finally—
finally
—my body stopped moving. It felt as if every single bone in my body had broken, and I couldn't quite fill my lungs with air. I moaned as I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes. My legs felt strangely weightless, and then I realized that was because my legs dangled over a cliff.

I pushed myself away from the ledge. Mist spread out beyond, masking the depths, but the sea was somewhere far below. We'd crashed just past the castle, through a narrow valley between mountains, and I couldn't see Nexus anywhere.

"Nexus!" I screamed and slowly, slowly climbed to my feet. I couldn't even stand straight. It felt as if someone had bent my spine like a pipe cleaner. But where was Nexus? I scanned the ground, suddenly frantic. "Nexus, where are you?"

He didn't answer.

"Nexus!" I shouted, my heart pounding as I stood at the cliff's edge.

The mist frothed and swelled like the sea, but I didn't see Nexus anywhere. My head seemed too quiet, too empty, my senses cold. I swallowed hard. He couldn't be…not after all that we'd…no.
Please
, no.

But I couldn't deny the void I felt, the acute absence of him.

Nexus was…gone.

My eyes and throat burned, and I fisted my hands and screamed at the mist. I hated this war. I hated this world. I hated Gaia. Everyone and everything I loved was being sacrificed for her war, and she did nothing to stop it. She did nothing to help. Nothing, nothing,
nothing
! In my periphery, the cloud of gargons approached.

I had nowhere to run, and I didn't stand a chance against them. But I wasn't afraid. I was furious.

"Did I fail, then?" I raged at the sky, the clouds, the mist, hoping Gaia could hear me. Hoping she could feel how angry I was. "Are you going to sit back like you always do while we die…for
you
? This is
your
war! These are
your
people! If you really care about our fates, why don't you ever do anything? Why don't you ever help us fight back?"

My chest heaved with each breath, my fury threatening to explode through my pores, and I turned away from the cliff. The gargons were upon me now. The gargon in front lowered itself, its pykan rider's gaze fastened on me. I stood tall, bracing myself for the fire I knew would come next. I was too angry to be afraid. The gargon's jaws opened and flames bloomed in the back of its throat.

Suddenly, the gargon shrieked and jerked back. All of the gargons started shrieking, flapping and scattering like a bunch of frightened bats. The pykan struggled to stay seated on its gargon, and I glanced over my shoulder.

Dragons.

One…two…three…four, five, six—
six
enormous, magnificent dragons. They rose like phantoms from the mist, and in their midst was the white dragon, the one that had risen from the mountaintop in Gesh. It was the largest of all, shimmering like the mist that had hidden it, with spines all over its face and larger ones forming a ridge down its spine.

My breath caught. Gaia had answered, and Gaia had come.

The sky came alive with fire. Wild flames snaked everywhere, setting fire to every gargon it touched. The gargons flew in a frenzy, desperately trying to get away. Some dove and pecked at the dragons like crows on a carcass, but the dragons snapped powerful jaws, flinging gargons left and right while scorching all the rest. One flaming gargon fell right above me, and I sprinted aside as it collided to the ground in a cannon of screaming fire.

The pykan's fury burned as hot as the air, and it whirled its gargon around, aiming for the white dragon with a ball of light in his hands.

"I don't think so," I said to no one in particular, and I poured every last ounce of strength down my arms and through my fingertips. A bolt of light shot from my hands right as blue light left the pykan's. Our lights collided, both deflecting into the clouds. The magic drained me of my strength, and I fell to my knees, gasping for breath. I felt the pykan's attention at once, and it created a new ball of light—this one meant for me.

A wall of fire enveloped the pykan's light, consuming both it and its gargon. The sky filled with a terrible wail and the pykan and its gargon were gone. The white dragon dove over my head, so low the gust nearly knocked me over, and with a trumpeting scream, the dragon soared up, up, and up, dousing the gargons with a hose of liquid fire.

A great explosion rocked the world. A sonic boom pulsed through ground and sky, so forceful it blew my hair back. Bright white light shot from the heart of the castle, stretching through the sky in a steady beam and punching through the clouds above, which swirled and churned around it. The sky grew darker fast, and great bolts of lightning stretched from the beam into the clouds as though it were going to rip the very sky apart.

Oh, no.

The shield. Eris already had the unity stone. When had he taken it? Or had Lord Pontefract given in and handed it over? Not that any of these questions mattered now. Eris had activated the shield, and he was slowly tearing a hole in the sky. Eris had to be near the source of that light. I had to get inside the castle and stop him from releasing Mortis—if it wasn't already too late.

And I knew just how to sneak inside.

I spotted the white dragon above.

"Please, if you can hear me," I said. "I need your help."

The white dragon snapped its jaw around a gargon and thrashed violently.

What is it you need, young Draconi?

The voice reverberated through my skull, timeless and deep like Nexus's, but also different. This one sounded huskier around the edges. The white dragon had heard me.

"Could you drop me off near the river that runs around the castle?"

Another gargon shrieked as the white dragon knocked it from the air with the rib of one of its wings.

Yes
.

The white dragon peeled away from the rest and dove, wings spread wide, straight for me. And he wasn't slowing. I took a slow step back, and then another, and the dragon kept coming. A great gust of wind nearly knocked me back as sharp pressure clamped around my body. The white dragon lifted me in the air, higher and higher, and the ground fell away beneath my feet.

Where would you like me to set you?

"Just around back, by the foot of the south tower," I yelled. "There's a hidden entrance there."

You know I can hear your thoughts, do you not?

I knew that, but I'd never gotten used to it—not even with Nexus. I'd never hear Nexus speak again. My throat tightened.

Do not mourn him, young Draconi. He is Gaia's, and she has reclaimed him. His purpose has been fulfilled. No one can hope for anything greater.

I understood the part about purposes, but Nexus was—had been my friend.

The white dragon dipped over the wall and dove down toward the water. I'd only been down here once, that night I'd followed Denn and his friends down a hidden stair. I didn't like thinking on that night, but it'd also led me to this.

Luckily, no guards patrolled the water or the grounds. They were all preoccupied with the battle above, so no one saw us coming from this side—at least none that I could tell.

"There, right by the oak tree," I said.

The white dragon raised his wings. Air filled them like a parachute, and he slowly drifted down. He opened his talons, setting me on the ground, and I stumbled forward, catching myself before I fell. I was still bruised from my earlier fall, but I couldn't worry about that now. I spun and looked up at the white dragon, who was already rising back into the air.

"Thank you," I said.

With a flap of wings, the white dragon ascended. Leaving me alone.

Clashing and yells echoed from the battlefield, and the clouds had turned an ominous black. I sprinted to the wall where I knew the door would be, and I felt around. It was impossible to see, dark as it was outside, and so many cracks lined the wall it wasn't obvious. My fingers touched upon a rough groove. I curved them around a lip of rock, and felt a notch inside. Fiddling with the notch, I pressed up, and something gave way, followed by a soft click. Rock swung open on silent hinges. I cast a quick glance behind me to make sure no one followed, and then I slipped inside, shutting the door behind me.

I bolted up the stairs two at a time, ignoring the pain shooting through my knees, and when I reached the panel at the top, I pressed my ear to the wood and stopped to listen. A painting hung just on the other side of this wall. I didn't think anyone would be patrolling these parts, but I couldn't be sure. When I was fairly certain the hall was empty, I pressed on the panel. It opened an inch and I paused, scanning the dark corridor beyond. I saw nothing but shadows, the only light coming from a small torch down the hall. Pushing on the panel, I climbed out, then closed the painting behind me. I crept to the end of the hall and peered around the corner. Two shadowguard stood at one end of the hall, their backs to me. Fine, I'd go the other way. I slipped around the corner and pressed against the wall, tiptoeing down the hall in the opposite direction. I'd made it halfway down the hall when I heard a sharp, "You there!"

I cursed and sprinted. There was a whoosh of air and I ducked right as a blade spun past my head, landing point first in the portrait at the end of the hall, impaling a painted forehead right between his painted eyes. I rounded into the next hall, grabbing the corner for balance, then stopped and pressed myself flat to the wall. The first shadowguard appeared around the corner, and I tripped him. He toppled forward, and I rammed my elbow into the back of his head—right as the next shadowguard appeared. He swung at me and I ducked, then grabbed his arm and kneed him in his gut. With a grunt he lurched forward, snaking his arm around my waist with his other, massive arm. I clapped my hands over his ears and he yelped, loosening his grip around me. I slid free, slamming my elbow against his nose. His head arched back, blood already dripping out of one nostril, but I didn't give him a moment. I brought my leg round in a kick that found purchase with his jaw. The momentum spun him around, and I rammed my elbow into the back of his head, too. He collapsed to the ground right on top of the other one. Both of these shadowguard had been completely human. Apparently, Eris didn't trust his fabrications to guard him this close. I wiped my brow and kept running.

Gauging from the beam of light I'd seen outside, Eris had to be inside the throne room. He'd probably have guards at the main entrance, but I didn't know if he'd have them in back. I turned down another hallway, my footfalls echoing along the empty corridor. Another explosion wracked the castle. The ground and walls shook violently, and I grabbed hold of a wall to steady myself as bits and pieces of ceiling broke off and crashed to the floor. The trembling stopped and I ran on. Past my old room, past Stefan's room and the hall to Fleck's old tower. Running and running past memories and pain through the dark halls of what had at first been my prison and had then become my home.

I shoved down the well of pain threatening to drown me and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I sprinted down another hallway. The doors to the throne room were just around the next corner. And then I ran right into an invisible wall. I bounced back, landing hard on my tailbone, and a handful of shadowguard stepped out from the shadows.

47

DARIA

T
he shadowguard were on me in seconds, yanking me to my feet and wrenching my hands behind my back. I fought back, managing a jab to an eye and a jaw, but there were just too many of them.

"Take her inside," growled the one I'd jabbed in the jaw.

Another one pushed the door in to the throne room. White light spilled into the hall, bathing the men in an eerie glow as they pulled me inside. It was the light I'd seen from outside, and it was coming from the shield.

The shield itself lay flat, hovering a few feet above the floor. The four pieces had been put together—wind, earth, fire, water—and the scenes on each of those pieces had come to life, glittering with light as images slid across the surface of the shield. The beam of light rose skyward from the surface of that shield, glowing brightest near the center, where a large crystal stone joined the pieces together. There was a hole in the ceiling where the light pierced, and even from here I could see the churning black clouds up above. But now strange dark shapes swam amidst the clouds.