Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3) Read online

  Kinna reached the mirrored Dragon and swung herself onto his back with practiced ease, reaching to pull Lincoln up behind her. He didn't even use her hand, bounding up Chennuh's foreleg and settling between the fins behind Kinna. “He never gets cooler, does he?” he asked rhetorically.

  A shadow of a smile crossed Kinna's lips. “To the skies, Chennuh,” she said. “Visibly. We need our side to rally behind us.”

  Ayden mounted Luasa nearby, and the she-Dragon burst into the air. “Go with the Stars,” Kinna called as both Ayden and Luasa disappeared with a twist of her topmost fin.

  Chennuh beat his wings, and the sound echoed across the camp. Lanier appeared at the top of the clearing, hurrying down the line of shelters, followed by several of the rebel leaders.

  “Lanier!” Kinna shouted as Chennuh rose into the air. “Stir everyone and follow me to the crest of the mountain!”

  Lanier raised a fist, a sign that he had heard and understood, and Chennuh picked up speed and altitude, making his way into the velvet, black sky.

  Kinna couldn't see Sebastian, and it disturbed her. The few Dragons from the Valley of the Dragons who had followed her now cloaked the top of the mountain range like a row of giant gargoyles on the battlements of a castle. Between their incessant roars and almost continual bursts of Dragonfire, Kinna could see flashes of movement—soldiers climbing the slopes, the nearest ones only half a fieldspan away.

  A brilliant flash of fire appeared in the air beside Chennuh. “Ready?” Cedric called from Ember's back as the two Dragons circled above the crest of the mountain together.

  “Ready!” Kinna called. “Signal Lanier!”

  Ember's scales exploded in a burst of heat, sending a mushroom of flame into the skies. Below them, the rebel forces screamed, and an answering roar echoed from Sebastian's armies down the hill. In the sky, Dragons from the other side appeared, interspersed with Embers that lit the other Dragon species. That wasn't all. Griffons and Phoenixes flew among the forces as well.

  Chennuh swooped low over the Ongalian Dragons that lined the crest of the mountain. “Up!” Kinna shouted. “Up, Dragons! Follow me!”

  A great horde of winged reptiles rose into the air, trailing Kinna, the noise of their flight like the sound of a giant angry beehive.

  Ember circled beneath Kinna and the Dragons, down to Lanier, down to fight with the ground forces. Kinna urged Chennuh higher. “Come on, Chennuh, let's get above them.” She squinted into the night, straining to see. It was a full moon this night, and in its silver bath, the dark shapes of Sebastian's Dragons, Griffons, and Phoenixes stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. Kinna's heart sank. They were vastly outnumbered.

  Hoping against hope, she thought again of Julian and Sage and Ashley.

  “Shouldn't we go under them?” Linc shouted. “Shouldn't we try to keep them from attacking our forces on the ground?”

  Kinna clamped her legs more firmly around Chennuh's neck and pulled her bow off of her shoulder, nocking an arrow from her quiver into the string. “The Dragons' only weak point is their muzzles, and we can't hit those from below.” Her hand trembled. “Sing, Lincoln. I don't want to kill these Dragons, and yet, it must be done, or we all die. It's—like Helga said: For the greater good. But I—I need strength. This goes against my very nature.”

  “Look, Kinna!”

  Kinna twisted around at Lincoln's words. The Dragon horde who followed her closed in around her, sealing her and guarding her from being the first one to plunge into the opposing force, but behind them, on the last surge of Dragons that had lifted off, other figures rode, their hands raised as they caught up with Kinna. Elves, from Iolar's Clan who had made it through from the Sand Flats. All carried bows and full quivers.

  Lincoln turned back to Kinna. “See how you have united the creatures, Kinna? Elves riding Dragons? It is a miracle of the Stars.”

  Kinna smiled faintly, inhaling deeply. This would be more painful than she'd ever dreamed. “Aye! Let's see what the Stars do for us now! With me!” she shouted, and Lincoln's voice crested in song behind her, crashing like the great waves of the ocean all around them. Kinna allowed the words to sway her, and courage bloomed beneath the power of Lincoln's words, despite Kinna's Andrachen immunity to Pixie charm. The great wall of Dragons, Griffons, and Phoenixes rushed at them like a tidal wave, Kinna pulled her legs up, wedged her feet between Chennuh's fins, and stood.

  She pulled the arrow to her eye, took aim at the leader's muzzle, and released. The arrow flew, straight and true, into the soft hide, and the Dragon lurched and hissed, belching flame in a swath that nearly enveloped Chennuh, but passed by harmlessly as Lincoln's voice swelled.

  The downed Dragon fell from the sky in a twisting, burning, ball of heated fury, and tears filled Kinna's eyes. The horror of war was all too real, and she could not shut it out, ignore its existence. It faced her in the form of thousands of feral creatures, all bent on subduing the spark of goodness, justice, freedom she had lit beneath the darkness of Sebastian's oppression.

  For the greater good, she repeated to herself, blinking back tears. She adjusted her balance for Chennuh to arch upward and pass over the opposing mass of winged creatures. Her mind worked in concert with Chennuh's. Every move he made, she had already anticipated. Every creature that rose to meet them, he was already turned so Kinna could take a shot. Dragons, Griffons, and Phoenixes alike fell from the sky. Dragon-mounted Elves following behind Chennuh dropped into a wedge as they cut deep into Sebastian's creature horde.

  Kinna's pain grew with every winged creature, whether opponent or ally, that fell helplessly from the sky. She was no longer able to hold the tears back; they eked down her cheeks. Behind her, the noise was deafening, slowly overcoming Lincoln's great, crashing song, as creature met creature in a clashing, searing burst of speed, power, and flame.

  The sky was on fire.

  It lit the earth like a blazing sun, and all of the ground below gleamed as though under a thousand torches.

  Griffons split the canopy of Dragons, shrieking skyward for their death spiral, then hurtling downward again as they aimed for Kinna and the rebels. Chennuh ducked, whirled, and breathed Dragonfire. One Griffon caught him on the shoulder, his sharp talons scraping mirrored shards free as he fell past him. Chennuh roared in pain, his great wing colliding with the Griffon and wheeling him through the air into another Dragon who was coming in for the attack.

  Kinna felt the horrific burn of Chennuh's shoulder wound, the weakening of his muscles. “No, Chennuh!” She crept forward on his neck, checking the gash. Though bloody and long, it was not deep. He pumped forward, and Kinna released another arrow into a Phoenix, who dissolved into an ash snow.

  A moment later, Chennuh wheeled according to Kinna's nonverbal instructions, and they flew back over the Elves who still fought with Sebastian's sky-creatures.

  Iolar clung to the back of one of the Dragons, his hand hardly visible as he released arrow after arrow after arrow into the snouts of the creatures, dropping them like rain onto Sebastian's forces below. Extra quivers of arrows hung from the Dragons fins, and when he emptied one, he grabbed another and repeated his movements.

  “Well done, Iolar!” Kinna called.

  He paused to salute, and then returned to his work.

  A roar cut through the chaos and noise. A strange Dragon clawed the air in the light of Dragonfire, his wings pumping and his chest lifted awkwardly for balance, because he had no tail. Sebastian sat on the Dragon's back, his sword out, and from the King's hands, ice, fire, and ash erupted in equal measure.

  He faced Cedric, who had been thrown from Ember's back, and lay on the ground, a bolt protruding from his leg. Ember stood over his fallen psuche partner, unleashing an inferno toward the King, who raised both arms, crossing his fists over his head. Fire burst from his hands, clashing with Ember's Dragonfire, exploding a hundred spans into the air with a shower of sparks.

  “Down, Chennuh!” Kinna screamed. “Linc, sing!” H
er twin brother, pale as death, lay weakly on the rock. Any moment, he would be caught by Sebastian's furor, slain before she could rescue him. “Sing for all you're worth!”

  Lincoln, who had been singing all this while, coughed, strained his voice, and continued. The wear and tear of the pressure he put on his voice grew evident. But his song cleared a path to Cedric. Chennuh landed between Cedric and Sebastian on his Dragon, turning his head and bathing both Dragon and Sebastian in Dragonfire. The ground shook beneath his roar.

  Sebastian's Dragon lunged at Chennuh, his teeth catching Chennuh's neck. Chennuh whirled, dislodging both Kinna and Lincoln. “Linc, get Cedric to safety! Go. Now!” Kinna shouted from where she'd landed hard on her shoulder. Lincoln hesitated, but at a groan from Cedric, he set his jaw, gripping the auburn-haired young King beneath his armpits and dragging him to Ember, hoisting him onto the flaming Dragon's back. Singing weakly as he, too, clambered aboard, he settled onto where the scales' flames died beneath his song and the Dragon lifted swiftly into the sky.

  Kinna reached for her bow, but it had skittered across the rocky shale and out of reach. She had a sword, though she was less confident with it than with the arrows. She drew it.

  Sebastian, dismounting from the tailless Nine-Tail, laughed. “This is rich! My niece comes against me with a sword!”

  “Aye!” Kinna shouted, hurling confidence she didn't feel into her words. Every thought was bent toward somehow capturing Sebastian; they must have his blood to destroy the Amulet.

  Stars above! In all the chaos, she'd forgotten that they had yet to send a creature to bring the Seer Fey blade, the one needed for the ritual. Panic that had nothing to do with Sebastian flooded her. There was no time to send a rider. It would have to be a winged creature, but what winged creature besides Chennuh could she trust not to fail her? Chennuh knew exactly how important that knife was to this night, this day, this battle.

  She searched wildly around. Chennuh was battling the tailless Dragon, but other surrounding Dragons had entered the fray. They were a chaotic scramble of flame and roars not twenty lengths to her left. Behind Sebastian, other Lismarian soldiers wrestled with a contingent of rebels who had surged over the mountain. Kinna cleared her throat, frantically trying to buy time. “Draw your own sword, Sebastian, and fight me, if you have any honor at all, which I doubt.”

  The smile dissolved from Sebastian's face, and his dark eyes glinted. “You are not the first to impugn my honor, little girl, but you will be the last.” Sebastian drew his sword, holding the heavy weapon before him with both hands. He raised an eyebrow. “Kinna, I must admire you, at least a little. You place yourself between your brother and me when you must know that it means certain death, as I am far stronger than you, have more experience with a sword than you do, and also, now control all four Touches.”

  Ice cracked across the shale at his feet, spreading outward in a swath that edged toward Kinna.

  Kinna swallowed hard, recognizing the truth of his words. She winged a thought toward Chennuh. Help! His answering roar was filled with fury; she could see his continuing brawl in the moonlight as he struggled to free himself from the four Dragons who wrestled with him. Kinna gripped her sword tighter, refusing to show weakness. Cedric was injured, Ashleen was gone to Ongalia. Ayden was supposed to be finding Kayeck and bringing her behind The Rebellion's lines for the intended Amulet ritual. Their numbers were few, and Lanier's forces were spread thin between the land and air battles. She could call on no one. She licked her lips. “I am not inexperienced in sword play.” Ayden had taught her in the Ridges of Rue. But that had been many months ago, and she had never fought with a sword for her life.

  Sebastian chuckled. “The bravado of the young and foolish is wasted. It would be better to spare you a long, drawn-out death, but I can't help myself. It's so delightful to watch you squirm.”

  Ice pricked Kinna's toes inside her boots, and she jerked backward, panic flaring up her spine like hot fire.

  Sebastian lurched forward, his sword clashing with Kinna's, vibrating the air with a sharp clang.

  He was too strong for her, and Kinna knew it. The fight would not last long. She forced a laugh, inserting bravado into her words. “You'll have to do better than that, Sebastian.” She lunged, and, whether by fortune or by the grace of the Stars, her sword snagged the seam in his armor at his shoulder, nicking him enough for a trace of red to appear on her blade's tip.

  All traces of amusement disappeared from Sebastian's eyes. He swung again, and the metal of their swords clashed, this time with sparks as the edges slid past each other in an ear-grinding screech.

  “Where's your lover?” Sebastian asked as they strained against each other. “The boy with the Touches? Ayden? Where did he go?”

  “He—seeks you, Sebastian,” Kinna gasped. “This war will not end before you face him.” The Amulet was right there, so close, only an orlach away. It hung on his neck on its chain, the eye swinging with every movement he made. The outlines of the pupil and iris had begun to glow. She wanted to grab it, yank it free, but it was Sebastian's blood she needed, not only the Amulet.

  Where the black lines of the eye had been etched into the wood, now orange and red traced the cracks as though someone had lit an inner fire within the Amulet and it had begun to burn from the inside out.

  Kinna's gaze fastened to it, and she couldn't look away. “S—Sebastian,” she rasped, desperately seeking a way to bring him behind Lanier's lines, to hold him for the Amulet ritual, “it would be far better to—to parley, to stop the senseless slaughter of both our armies—”

  Sebastian shoved her backward, and she sprawled on the ground with a cry, losing her grip on her sword. The weapon landed with a thump against the loose shale a length away.

  “Parley?” he shouted, outraged. “There can never be peace between us, you sick spawn of my brother.” Sebastian's sword slashed downward over her.

  Kinna snatched the knife from her boot and caught his blade just short of her neck. Her breath came in ragged gasps.

  He pulled back, swinging hard again. Again, she parried the blow with her knife.

  It was a dance. A swing, a push, and back, her defense growing weaker every time.

  The sky had lightened to gray. Kinna's fingers burned and trembled with every catch of the sword.

  Chennuh roared at the Dragons, still embroiled in their struggle, though none fought as furiously as they had at first. Two of them were dead. The remaining ones panted, spurts of fire bursting from their mouths as they tried to recover before the next lunge. Kinna felt Chennuh's exhaustion, his sluggish responses as the Dragons chipped away at one another. Finally, when Chennuh fell back after two of the Dragons lurched for his flaming muzzle, she whispered his name.

  “Chennuh. Help.” Adrenaline surged through Chennuh; he turned away from the Dragons, lunging at Sebastian, but Sebastian's Dragon scrambled before him, snagging him by the neck, worrying his scales like a dog with a toy. Chennuh writhed, yanking away from him. Kinna didn't see what happened as Sebastian brought his sword down once more, and Kinna's tired fingers couldn't hold on any longer. Her knife flew into the air and far beyond reach.

  Kinna closed her eyes and waited for Sebastian's killing blow. It didn't come. Instead his hands, blazing with fire, snatched her up and turned her so her back pressed against him. Chennuh, who now had a foreleg on Briste where the Dragon whimpered on the ground, paused.

  “Let Briste go, Mirage. Otherwise, your mistress dies.”

  Fire and smoke hissed from Chennuh's mouth, but slowly, he pulled his foreleg back, his eyes never leaving Kinna.

  “Go,” Kinna croaked. “You must do what needs to be done.”

  The knife, the one that had to be used for the Amulet's destruction ritual centered in her mind, and she focused all her urgency on it. Chennuh's thoughts surged into fury; he wanted to burn Sebastian where he stood, and he could have; Helga and Kayeck both claimed that Sebastian did not possess the same flame-resistant skin
that the rest of the Andrachens had. Get the knife, she repeated silently. Sebastian must live; you cannot kill him. We must have his blood in the end, and we must have that knife, or this struggle is all for nothing.

  Sebastian laughed as Chennuh turned away. “Let your Dragon run. It will do no good. I have you now—the leader of The Rebellion—and when your pitiful forces see you in my hands, their hope will be gone.” He dragged her to Briste, and forced her onto the Dragon's back, wedging himself behind her, never weakening his hold around her. At the King's command, Briste winged into the air, circling high as they flew along the crest of the mountain south toward Sebastian's headquarters where death, Kinna was certain, waited for her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ayden

  Ayden told himself not to be distracted, but it was nearly excruciating to put thoughts of Kinna behind him—to put Kinna, quite literally, behind him, as he flew invisibly on Luasa over Sebastian's ground ranks, searching for Kayeck. He could hear the angry roars of Dragons echoing everywhere, and his palms sweated as he tried to ignore the fact that Kinna was even now flying into the very face of that danger. Lincoln could only protect her so long. He hoped to find Kayeck quickly and get back to help Kinna before... well, just before. He wouldn't think of the ritual just yet.

  “Kayeck, where are you?” he breathed as he searched the enemy lines as they surged up the hill in the moonlight and the glow of Dragonfire.

  Kinna and Cedric's rebels had crested the range, and lined up shoulder to shoulder across the top ridges, their swords drawn. Julian's Pixie Division, along with other Pixies who had joined The Rebellion, sang, interspersed across the line; Ayden recognized Lincoln's daughter, Marigold, signaling to the other Pixies, conducting them so that their song matched, and the power of it increased a thousand-fold.

  Sebastian's forces pressed against the song, fighting it, though their steps grew clumsy the closer they drew, their eyes unfocused, and many in the front lines dropped their weapons, standing still, transfixed. Marigold added an extra note to her song, and one of the soldiers near her retrieved his sword, turned on a fellow soldier, and rammed the weapon into a seam in his armor. Ayden flinched as the blood spurted through the crack in the metal. Blood was nothing new, but the brutal and raw force of the man's death spread in grisly detail before him. More soldiers picked up their swords, turning on fellow officers and comrades-in-arms.