Celenore

Claire was with her army again. They settled on an island, a rocky outcropping, more or less. Nearly one hundred dragons clotted the rock faces in the dark pre-dawn. Wrath gave a mighty roar. Opening his maw and snapping at the air. The sound echoed out over the water in all directions, but there was no one close enough to hear it. Not yet, anyway.

"How far to Squall's End?" she asked.

"Less than an hour east, my lord." Wrath's voice was rich, but there was something beneath it. A measure of condescension that made her want to rip his head from his neck. Wrath despised her. He only worked with her as the better of two poor options. But she would outwit him in the end. She would be the one standing victorious when the dust settled.

She gazed out over the hoard of beasts, hiding her distaste. "Let us go, then. And remember what we discussed. If they surrender the fort, we cease destruction of the city."

"And if they do not?"

"Then you burn the city to the ground."

Wrath was silent for several moments. "Surely you do not believe those abominations would surrender."

She hesitated. "For their people, they might. If they do, we will honor the bargain. Am I clear?"

"We are clear."

She was thrown forward in her harness. Wrath crouched and shot into the sky. The ground disappeared beneath her, and they were above the sea again. Victory was a sweet scent in her nostrils, she need only open her mouth and take a bite. Soon...

Claire opened her eyes, coughing, chest heaving. She blinked, gathering her thoughts. The ground stretched beneath her, hard against her back. She took a handful of dirt in her fist, convincing herself that what she felt right now, in this moment, was real. Above her, the stars were growing dimmer in the pale blue of pre-dawn.

Everything felt fuzzy. Disjointed. Like a dream within a dream.

A dark shadow fell over her.

"She's unwell." It was Koldis, answering someone. "Get me some water and something to eat. Hurry."

"Koldis?" She tried to sit up. He knelt down and put his hand on her back, helping her. "I'm fine," she croaked, wincing. A dull headache pounded against her skull. "Really, I'm fine."

"You don't look it. You pushed yourself too hard yesterday. Your magic is taking a toll." He glanced up, accepting a waterskin and a chunk of bread, handing both to her. "Here. Drink, eat."

She shoved both away. "No, I..." She wiped her palms on her pants and massaged her temples. Jovari crouched down beside Koldis, studying her. It took a split second for the realization to set in.

Her eyes went wide and she gasped. "Oh my gods! I...I saw him!" Her thoughts solidified. Less than an hour east, my lord. The thought clanged against her skull. "It...it's happening. The attack. It wasn't just a bad dream. It's..." Her breaths turned into rapid pulls.

"What's she talking about?" Jovari kept his voice low. Many of the others in their group were only just rising.

"She believes she saw an attack on Squall's End."

"What?" Jovari looked between them. "How? When?"

"We need to go to Squall's End," she said, a hint of desperation in her voice. " Right now. We need to help them. To help Reyr." She tried to stand.

Koldis pushed her back into a sitting position. "Hold on, Claire. Take a deep breath. We don't have proof that this is really happening. Do we? Besides, Squall's End is at least a day's flight from here. And that's if we make good time."

"A day?" She all but choked, shaking her head. "And how can you even question it?! It's happening. Right now. It's happening."

"Okay. Okay." He held up his hands.

"We have to help them. To warn them."

"How long do they have?" Koldis asked, sharing a worried glance with Jovari.

Ice settled in her gut, seeping into her skin, into her bones. She began to shake. "An hour? Less?"

Koldis swore. "You're sure?"

A hopeless laugh escaped her chest. That was answer enough.

Jovari spoke, "Claire's right, Koldis. If there is an impending attack, then we need to warn Reyr. It's the least we can do—all we can do, really—given the distance." Jovari took her hand in his. Her own skin was a cold contrast to the calming warm that seeped from his palm. "We will do it together, Claire. We're with you."

"But...I don't know how. Not for that kind of distance. When I worked with our pairs in the villages, they were within range."

Koldis nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Close your eyes and reach for him the same way you would normally. Just...reach. We're right here, lending you our strength."

And they were. She felt them beside her, felt their physical contact, but also felt their minds brushing against hers. Mustering her strength, she fought past the pounding in her temples and called to him. "Reyr?" At first, there was nothing. "Reyr?"

And then a blast, as Reyr's mind sensed hers and pushed her back some of the distance, meeting her halfway. "Claire?! How?" His shock and confusion were both obvious emotions, vibrating at different frequencies along the plucked threads linking their minds together.

"You...you can hear me?" A relieved breath escaped her lungs. He sounded okay. Unharmed. Safe. But that wasn't what rattled her. This was the first time she'd heard his voice since his departure north. Since parting on bad terms.

Koldis relaxed his hand on her shoulder.

"I can hear you just fine. But...I shouldn't be able to hear you at all. What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain, Reyr. You're in danger. There's going to be an attack on the fort. Kane is coming."

"Kane?" There was a pause. "But...you're serious? How can you know this? Did Saffra have a vision?"

"I'm certain." It was almost a whisper, a thin thread of a thought close to snapping. "He's bringing the dragons, Reyr. They're coming from the sea. That's why there wasn't any warning. They're coming."

"Gods!" A long silence followed, and then, "How long do we have?"

Her heart crumbled in on itself. "Less than an hour."

"No..." It was hard to believe Reyr could muster such disbelief and fear in a single word, but he did.

Jovari must have felt her trembling. He squeezed her hand. Her eyes danced and darted frantically beneath her eyelids. "I...I'm sorry, Reyr. I'm so sorry." The apology was out before she could stop it.

"For what?"

For hurting you, she wanted to say. For all the things we said before you left. For the way things ended between us. For being the reason you ran away. For being the reason you're in Fort Squall. For being the reason you're in danger.

But instead, she said, "I'm sorry that I cannot be there to help. That I cannot do more. That I—"

"Claire..." The tone of his voice softened. "You have done plenty. You have given us a fighting chance. I must go and warn the others." A pause and then, "Thank you."

The contact broke like a snapped twig, pulled tight and then cracked in half, all in a single moment. She opened her eyes and stifled a cry, looking between Koldis and Jovari. "He's going to be okay...right? He's going to be okay?"

When they did not answer, she began to breathe harder. Koldis stood, putting his hands behind his head, running his fingers through his hair, cursing under his breath. Jovari opted for pacing, striding back and forth across her field of vision. They didn't know what to do. Neither did she.

Nearly all their companions were awake now. Some had sensed the tension and gathered around to watch in silence, uncertain.

She got to her feet, still shaking. "We must go to them, Koldis." She raised her voice so everyone else would hear. "We must fly to their aid."

The demand was stupid. Unless the battle lasted a full day or more, they would never make it in time. They would arrive after it ended. And that was if they had a good strong tailwind pushing them along. But what else could they do? Turn around and go home? Hope it would work itself out? Hope that Fort Squall would be okay?

No. She refused to retreat.

"This is Reyr we're talking about, Koldis. Your brother in all but blood! We cannot just leave him to face Kane alone. Remember what happened to Cyrus? We..."

Jovari stopped pacing. "She's right, Koldis. We cannot loose Reyr too. Even if we don't make it in time, he will need us for whatever comes after. They all will."

"We'll be too late," Koldis said. "We'll be too late." He repeated the words more to himself than anything. Silence followed, and then he sighed. "But you're right. We cannot abandon him."

She exhaled, letting her shoulders fall with relief.

"Mount up and move out," Koldis called, his voice penetrating their camp. "We fly north."

Her jaw dropped. She hadn't expected to convince him this easily, especially since Koldis and Jovari were so concerned with getting her back before Talon returned. Koldis turned to her, as if in answer to her thoughts. "We must do whatever we can. I already lost one brother recently. I'll not lose two. Even if it means suffering my king's wrath."

"I know." She reached out for him, then let her hand drop. "I know."

Their camp burst into a flurry of activity and shouts. Within minutes everyone had gathered their packs, no questions asked, and assembled.

"What about Lilly?" she asked, glancing around. Koldis stood, arms crossed, watching the others shift and mount up. "Where is she?"

His face hardened. "Lilly slipped into the wilderness just before dawn."

"What?" She all but choked. "What do you mean?"

Koldis hesitated. "The loss of a mate is a terrible thing. Destructive. I cannot begin to understand..." He shook his head. "She will live out the rest of her days in isolation. It was her choice."

"But...no." She couldn't stop the strangling sensation clawing at her throat and chest. Or the tears that blurred her vision. This was her fault. Her failure. And now she wouldn't be allowed the chance to reconcile her actions? To apologize? To show Lilly how sorry she was for...everything?

"It was her choice, Claire."

"I...understand. How long until...?"

"A few days, at most. The magic that gave her a long life is gone. She isn't young by human standards. With Hiondel gone, her human years will catch up at a rapid rate."

"A few days?" Her voice cracked. She wrapped her arms about her waist, hugging her body.

"Best you not think about it," Koldis said. His throat bobbed. "We've got bigger matters at hand." Even though he sounded unaffected, his mouth was set in a deep frown. "Come. We must make haste."

They were in the sky in less than ten minutes, flying north. With the ground far below, she allowed her tears to break free, grateful no one else could see her. The droplets froze on her cheeks and she wiped them away.

A strong tailwind helped speed them along, thank the gods, but it wasn't enough to defy distance. The sky was soon bathed in hues of pink and orange as the sun reached the horizon, greeting the day. How could a sunrise feel so ominous? So catastrophic?

Fort Squall would meet Kane's dragons in battle and she could do nothing to stop it. Just as she could do nothing when Hiondel died. Just as she could do nothing for Lilly.

With each passing minute, she felt sicker. "I think I'm going to throw up," she muttered.

"Try not to get any of it on my scales, won't you?" Koldis must have heard her.

Under different circumstances, she might have said something snarky in return. All she could do now was clench her jaw. Worse still, it was impossible to control the awful thoughts playing out in her mind.

What if the dragons burned Squall's End to a crisp, just like they had with Belnesse? What if Reyr died in battle? What if the last words they spoke to each other were those exchanged in anger? What if...?

No. She shook her head and tried not to think of him.

But how could she not? After all they had been through together? It wasn't so long ago that she'd been on his back instead of Koldis's, racing across the kingdom. Reyr had been there for her when others weren't. Protecting her. Vouching for her. Fighting for her against Talon's wrath.

And now Kane threatened to destroy everything they'd built between them over the past few months.

The open sky had a way of sharpening everything into clarity. Today it was cloudless. Empty. A wide space to be filled with the worst things a mind could conjure.

Since coming to Dragonwall, Kane was always a distant threat, acting through others. His Nasks. The Vodar.

Sure, there was the constant fear that he would show himself eventually. Claire expected it. But now that it was happening, she struggled to believe it.

None of it felt real. Kane was about to deal his heaviest blow yet. And no one was ready for it.

"Any word from Reyr?" Koldis didn't bother disguising his hopeful tone.

"No." She kept her mind open, but there was nothing.

"If indeed you are correct, the battle should start very soon. I want to hear what happens. Jovari and I can link up with you. Your abilities will let you see and hear what's taking place."

She considered this and sighed. "I don't think we have a choice, really. It's the only way to know what happens."

Each minute in the sky felt like an eternity. But not knowing was far worse than what she might hear if she stretched her mind to Fort Squall. Even if whatever happened turned out to be much like the attack on the Vodar. She feared the projections, the images, the emotions she would feel, but it would mean knowing that Reyr was alive.

Their minds brushed against hers, bolstering her. She wasn't sure how to extend herself when she had nothing to say, no target for her thoughts as she had when contacting Reyr. It felt like wandering about in the dark, no destination in mind.

"Just relax and push," Koldis said, sensing her.

Keeping her eyes closed, imagining her mind as a soap bubble, growing larger and larger to encompass the world around her. She listened, straining to hear. She pictured silver threads stretching out like tentacles, looking for something to latch onto. Long moments passed in silence and darkness. Then everything hit her all at once.

She gasped, choking, sucking in air. Fear, pain, frantic words, violent images. It happened so quickly she had no time to brace herself. She was no longer in her own body. She was everything else, with no sense of identity, no sense of the sky around her, no sense of anything but battle, and even then, she hardly knew what side she was on.

"Approach them from behind!" "We cannot push them back!" "Fall back!" "We follow!" "Look to the city. It's burning!" "Fire! I will taste your flesh!" So many voices and no way to tell where one ended and another began. So many emotions. Images of wild dragons in formation, of Drengr in the wings facing them, of Riders with bows drawn. All swooping and diving and clashing. Screams. Roars. Blood.

She was assaulted. Her senses, her emotions, her body. A tangle of knotted threads nearly impossible to unravel.

She caught a snippet of Reyr's voice mingled with the others. All she could do was sag with relief before another set of voices and projections overcame her. A flash of Squall's End, burning. Dragons diving towards screaming bodies, hunger in their stomachs. Evil in their hearts. She wanted to taste bones crunching between her jaws, sweet flesh, warm blood...

Another set of projections. This time from a Drengr. Images of a plummeting pair. Pain. Fear. Her limbs burned. She cried out, uncertain if it was her own voice or another Drengr's roar echoing in her ears.

The screams. Oh gods, the screams. The same screams Kane's dragons longed for. Rejoiced in. Celebrated.

Chaos. Utter chaos.

"Claire!"

Another swath of Squall's End erupted into flames along its towering protective wall.

"Only the western block." She knew this voice and shuddered. Kane.

"Claire!" Someone called her name again and again. Koldis. And then everything disappeared.

Koldis and Jovari had pulled from her mind, leaving a deep and empty well behind.

"Oh gods!" she cried, covering her face with her hands, fingers digging into her skin. She hadn't merely seen things from the Drengr, but from the Dragons too. Her stomach rolled with nausea. Her mind struggled to work. To process everything. "Gods, gods, gods!" There was nothing she could do. She sagged against Koldis, resting her face against his neck, breathing hard.

"It's an absolute nightmare," Koldis said to Jovari, his voice heavy. "Worse than I expected. But we need get her back there, Jovari, to the battle. It is the only way to see what happens."

"What?! No!" She sat up straight, gripping the harness. "No. I cannot go back."

Celenore's landscape slid by beneath them. All she could think about was the screaming. The pain. The death. The people in the city, running from dragon jaws.

Was this how Saffra had seen Belnesse? How she had felt after her vision? Tremors shook her. She squeezed her fists until her hands cramped. "I can't go back, Koldis. I can't."

"You must," he said. "It is the only way to know."

"No. It's...it's not right. You cannot ask this of me." Hadn't she done enough already? She could already feel pieces of herself crumbling away. If she went back...

"Please, Claire...We cannot abandon Reyr." Jovari knew exactly what to say to convince her. For Reyr, she would do just about anything.

"Fine," she hissed. "I...I'll do it. But I might never forgive you for asking this of me."

Their minds were waiting. She braced herself, linking up once more. Taking a deep breath, she plunged herself back into the battle, losing herself and everything she had ever known in the heat of it, certain that she would burn to death with all those in the city below. 

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