The Dragon Queen (Death #4)

7. Calista

Chapter 7

Calista

My eyes were locked on the stars above, their brightness burning through the thin clouds that passed overhead. The warm breeze moved through my hair and pulled a strand from my face. It was gentle, soothing the aches in my heart.

“Do you need a moment, Calista?” Queen Eldinar appeared beside me, her two short blades at her hips, her cape flowing elegantly behind her. She didn’t look at me directly. Instead, she examined the stars with the same interest.

The dragons were grounded by the shore, while my uncle and the army sailed to the harbor under the cover of darkness. The plan was officially set in motion, and there was nothing left to do but follow it through. “I’m fine.”

“It’s okay not to be fine.”

I pulled my gaze away from the heavens to look at her. “You make it look so easy.”

“If that’s what you think, then I’m doing my job correctly,” she said. “The love I share with my husband is deeper than the rivers that run through Riviana Star, but we both understand there are more important things than our love. I hope we will be reunited once this battle is over, but I understand we may not.”

I looked away. “I wish I could be as pragmatic.”

She continued to study me. “Talon has been working toward this moment for almost as long as you’ve been alive. To quell the sadness, focus on what’s about to come to pass. Focus on the accomplishment that’s been twenty years in the making. His family didn’t deserve such brutality—and Talon didn’t deserve to carry it. My focus may be on the dragons, but my heart continues to cheer for his success.”

“As does mine.”

Her hard eyes softened with a glimmer of affection. “Hold on to that feeling, Calista. You’ll get through this.”

I gave a slight nod in agreement. “I wish I could be more like you.”

“Why?” she asked, dead serious.

“You’re so strong, so fearless, so…focused.”

“And you’re brave, courageous, and, despite horrible suffering, still so deeply loving and warm.” She gave me a slight smile. “Why be me when you can be you, Calista? The Death King is one of the few men I’ve encountered who’s indifferent to my beauty because he’s completely and utterly under your trance.”

Her compliment was like fire in my veins, a warmth that relaxed every muscle in my body.

“He’s the only male friend I’ve ever had, and that friendship means a great deal to me,” she said. “I’ve already lived a full life many times over, and yours has just begun. Don’t compare your youth to my wisdom, and certainly don’t do it in disappointment, because you’re much wiser than I was at your age.”

“You flatter me.”

The slight smile remained on her lips. “Are you ready, Calista?”

I pushed the memory of that horrible goodbye from my mind. I knew I needed to focus on the dragons just the way Talon needed to focus on his task. There was no room for emotions and misery. “Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

A stone wall surrounded the Southern Isles with a large gate down the main road. The wall was manned with soldiers along most of the length, and they were posted outside the gate. Queen Eldinar found an unprotected portion of the wall and walked up to it.

“When I’m on the other side, I’ll toss a rope to you.”

“How are you going to climb this side without the rope?” It was completely flat, the blocks having very few grooves for a handhold or a foot.

She didn’t answer the question and instead did a short sprint, running up the wall and jumping until she gripped the edge.

My eyes snapped wide open at the unbelievable dexterity she showed on a whim.

With impressive upper body strength, she pulled herself over the edge then disappeared.

I waited for the rope to drop on my side, but after several minutes, nothing happened. Crickets chirped in the night. I even heard an owl somewhere in the trees. But there was no sound of commotion or the clashing of swords. I wanted to call out to her, but that could give away our precarious position.

Before I became too worried, the rope silently flew over the edge and dropped down beside me. I wrapped the rope around one of my wrists then gave a tug to test the tension in the length. When I felt resistance, I knew Queen Eldinar had it in a tight grip or had secured it to the stump of a tree.

I climbed over the wall as quickly as my weak arms could manage then slid down to the other side. When I got there, I saw Queen Eldinar near the base of one of the trees, dragging a soldier into the brush that surrounded it.

I pulled the rope with me as I joined her, seeing two soldiers piled together. It was unclear if they were dead or just knocked out. The queen had managed to disable them both without making a single sound.

When she used the rope to bind them in place, I knew she’d spared their lives.

“Come.” She took the lead, sticking to the trees instead of the path that headed toward the village at the base of the cliff. Keeping our cover took us away from the center of town, but it also kept us hidden from the guards who remained on patrol in the public spaces.

I should be afraid behind enemy lines with only one ally, but I trusted the queen as much as I trusted Talon.

She stepped out of the tree line and gazed upon the city, lights visible from the torches mounted outside the stone buildings. The cliff was a shadow in the darkness, but lights from the distant castle were visible like stars in the sky.

In silence, she examined the city, poring over the details of the place she’d never been, searching for the place where the mighty dragons were stored. “I thought this would be more obvious. There are very limited places to keep so many dragons.”

The city seemed to sit at the bottom of a basin at sea level, the harbor accessible at the same level. The cliff that rose up to the top was steep. When Talon and I had made the journey to the castle through the secret passage, it took hours to reach the top. I stared at the dark cliff and remembered how cavernous it was inside, how we could step into rooms with twenty-foot-high ceilings then emerge into a narrow passage. The rising cliffs were massive and grand, making the castle at the top a spectacular pinnacle. “I have an idea.”

We stuck to the outskirts of the city as we made our way to the cliffs. When Talon and I had come here before, I’d noticed the path that the soldiers took to the castle. It was winding, turning then circling back on itself as it rose in elevation. The slant was steep, so the horses probably struggled to carry goods to the top.

It was the perfect—and only—place to hide such beasts.

As we approached the base of the cliffs, a line of torches became visible farther up the stone. Sconces of fire were placed against the wall, and soldiers were visible in the darkness. The closer we got, the clearer it became that they were guarding something.

“I count six,” Queen Eldinar said. “And it seems an odd place to have six soldiers placed for no discernible reason. Good thinking, Calista.”

“There must be a door somewhere.”

“An enormous one.”

“What should we do?”

She examined the situation for another minute before she spoke. “We can climb the rocks along the side, to the right. When we’re on their level, I’ll kill them all except for one.”

“Why one?”

“Because someone needs to tell us how to open the door.”

“Right. You can handle all of that on your own?”

“Absolutely.” She moved to the wall and prepared for her climb.

“I feel like I should help?—”

“You are helping, Calista. Now, let’s climb.” She grabbed a handhold and pulled herself up, climbing in near darkness like this was a pastime of hers in Riviana Star.

I followed her movements, and together, we made the climb.

When she reached the top, she gave me her hand and pulled me up. “Make sure none of them call for help. If they try, stab them through the neck.” She removed both of her short blades then approached them from the side.

The men didn’t seem to take their position too seriously, because two were smoking cigars as they spoke in quiet conversation. Instead of standing at full attention, one was leaning against the wall like he might fall asleep.

It seemed a peculiar thing to have guards when the dragons would bite off the heads of anyone who came too close. Underneath the spell of the dark elves, the dragons were still subjected to mental control.

Queen Eldinar went for the one against the wall and sliced her blade across his throat. She cut him before he buckled and lay him down gently, blood oozing from his neck as he gripped it, unable to speak as he drowned in his own blood.

She went for another, but the kill wasn’t as smooth because he released a cry of surprise. She slammed him into the wall, and he collapsed against the surface. Now the others knew she was there, but their reaction was too slow for her prowess. Their cigars dropped from their mouths as they fumbled for their swords. She took them both on with a couple swipes of her sword, while the last one tried to run away.

He didn’t realize I was there because he headed straight for me.

I unsheathed the sword Talon had gifted me, and it must have been an impressive sight because the guard skidded to a halt.

Queen Eldinar appeared behind him and pressed her blade to his throat as she gripped him by the back of the hair.

He went still, not even breathing, as if that would push his neck too close to the blade.

“You can get out of this alive. All you have to do is exactly what I say.”

Panic was heavy in his eyes, looking at me like I was the one who held the sword to his throat.

“Do we understand each other?”

“Y-yes.”

She removed the blade and shoved him away.

His back went to the wall as he tried to look at us both.

I sheathed my blade.

His eyes settled on the queen, whose sword was still drawn. “What do you want?”

“The dragons.”

His terror momentarily lapsed when he heard the request. “The dragons?”

“Yes,” she said. “Open the door so we can release them.”

Now that the sword wasn’t directly against his neck, his panic showed through his breaths, through drops of perspiration on his forehead were highlighted by the light of the torches. “They can’t be freed.”

“Yes, they can.” She spun her sword around her wrist before she returned it to his neck. “I said you can get out of this alive, but it seems like you prefer the other option.”

“You don’t understand.”

She pressed the blade into his throat and made him straighten against the wall. “Then make me understand.”

“The dragons…dragons are controlled by Astaroth.”

“I’m aware.”

“He resides inside the cliff with the others. No one is allowed inside besides the Offering.”

“The Offering?” Queen Eldinar asked.

I felt a tightness in my stomach that slowly morphed into pure disgust. Whatever it was, it would disturb me, and we were probably better off not knowing.

“The Offering is the humans sacrificed to Astaroth and the dragons.”

I felt the bile right away.

“The dark elves eat people.” Queen Eldinar didn’t ask it as a question, just said the words out loud to let their truth sink in like rainwater into the soil. “The people of the Southern Isles are captives…because they’re livestock. And you and your family are excused from this practice because you serve him.”

He continued to pant with the sword to his neck, a drop of sweat streaking down his temple. “I’m—I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me.” She withdrew her sword. “Your job is to protect the people of the Southern Isles. They’re the ones who deserve your apology.” She sheathed her blade at her hip then stepped back, exchanging a quick look with me. “How many dark elves reside in the cliff?”

“Many.” Once the sword was gone from his neck, he relaxed slightly.

“I need a number,” Queen Eldinar demanded. “Not a vague approximation.”

“A few hundred.”

“And they all guard the dragons?” Queen Eldinar asked.

“Essentially,” he said. “The dark elves are the owners of the dragons?—”

“A dragon cannot be owned by another.” Whether she was angry or calm, her beauty was powerful. And now it was terrifying. “They’re not a sword that changes hands. They’re not coin in exchange for goods. They’re some of the most beautiful creatures to roam this land.”

The soldier avoided her gaze.

Queen Eldinar seemed to overcome to speak further, too angry to form words.

I took over. “What about Constantine and the others that are fused with the royal family to grant them immortality?”

“They reside in the vault as well.”

“So the dragon that Barron shares his soul with is also trapped in here?” I asked incredulously. “That’s how he treats the being that’s granted him life unending?”

Whether that was known information or a revelation was unclear because the soldier didn’t respond.

“What is the layout?” Queen Eldinar asked.

“I’ve never been inside,” the soldier said. “Nor have the others…the ones you haven’t killed.”

I looked at the queen. “This seems unwise.”

Queen Eldinar still wore that fiery look, like no amount of reason would extinguish her rage. “Each of the dragons is controlled by a dark elf. So, with every dark elf that we kill, that’s one dragon that’s freed.”

“Except that there are hundreds of dark elves who reside in the vault,” I said. “So we can kill a hundred of them, and not a single one could control a dragon.”

She looked unconvinced, too pissed off to agree.

“I understand how infuriating this is, but storming in there and getting ourselves killed isn’t the?—”

The sound of a horn a blaring horn cut me off. It originated from the sea, which meant it probably came from the harbor. It was loud and piercing, and when the blower ran out of breath, he paused and did it again, the baritone creating a tremor in the air.

Queen Eldinar turned to me. “They’ve spotted the ships.”

Adrenaline had been heavy in my blood since the moment this clandestine mission started, but now it turned into a crescendo of anxiety. “Then war has begun.”

Both of us stiffened when we felt the vibrations in the ground, traveling through the stone cliff and making it seem like an earthquake was beneath our feet.

Queen Eldinar was the first to understand what was happening. “They’re opening the door.”

“What door?” I didn’t see anything, but the sound of shifting stone was so loud I could barely hear her words.

She stepped back and pointed. “The wall.”

I looked at the cliff and searched for a doorway that was slowly opening, but I didn’t see anything move. “I don’t understand?—”

“It’s the entire wall, Calista.”

When I opened my narrow perception to a greater area, I understood. It was bigger than a door to any keep or castle. It was a door so heavy that no man-made mechanics could possibly shift something so massive. It was the size of a mountain itself.

“We’ve got to run.” Queen Eldinar took off the way we came, reaching the rocks and climbing down in a reverse direction.

I followed her, my heart like a drum in my throat as well as my chest.

The guard must have run off because he disappeared.

We reached the base of the cliff and moved to the outskirts of town, and once we were at a distance, we were finally able to see the view before us. The doors were halfway open, and in the crack, the two dragons were visible, heavy harnesses attached to their bodies while they pulled the door open on a track. The dragons were large and mighty, but it was a sickening sight to see them pull upon a door that was three times their size.

Queen Eldinar turned to me. “We’ll have to take them in the skies. With every dark elf we defeat, that’s one dragon free. We can quickly turn the tide in our favor and win this war before it even begins.”

CALISTA, WHAT IS HAPPENING? Perhaps Inferno heard the sound of the horn or he simply became impatient.

We think they’ve spotted the ships at the harbor because they’ve sounded the horn.

WHAT OF THE DRAGONS?

We were unable to get inside because they sensed our presence. The door is opening, and we suspect the dragons will emerge with the dark elves as their riders. We’ll have to take them in the skies.

WE ARE COMING. ARE YOU SAFE?

For the moment…