CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Maren

We were in the air before dawn.

Braith carried Efren and Jase, while Tasia and I flew with Alora.

I had thought of this moment often—ever since I had descended into the depths of Lumina and discovered the darkest secret of the empire. I had expected I would feel rage, excitement, readiness. I had never thought that I would fly into this morning feeling empty.

I had told myself to put it behind me, but I still felt Kaia’s specter haunting my every step. Sorrow had drowned me in my dream last night, and Sev’s presence had done nothing to relieve the pain. Despite every guilty thought or unhappy impulse, I had believed in her—in us. But she had walked away from me without even saying good-bye.

The wind whipped my hair around my face. Alora flew quickly—the idea of ripping the limbs of some Talons from their bodies particularly appealed to her, and while I didn’t necessarily condone the idea, I did nothing to deter her from it either.

We flew wide over the ocean and, as we approached the docks, were met by a group of five dragons bearing Seratese riders. One of them raised their hand in greeting. As we approached, I saw that the rider was Davina.

“Ready?” she shouted.

The city spread out before us, rumbling with discontent. And we were about to set it on fire.

“Ready!” I called back. And then we dove as one toward the tyrant’s fleet.

The dragons opened their mouths as we came within range, blanketing the ships with fire. The wood caught quickly, and the fire spread greedily. There was a sharp whistling sound, and then one of the ships exploded, sending debris flying through the air. Alora dipped, avoiding a plank of wood.

We pulled out of range to wait. Someone must have been on watch in this city. They would call for the Talons soon enough.

Fires raged below us, but the sky was quiet. I scratched Tasia’s head and breathed in the scent of the ocean. Alora flew steadily, her wings catching the wind. The other dragons were equally calm, flying in companionable harmony with their riders. As I watched them, I found myself wondering how they had fared in the Seda Serat, and whether they would choose to return there, once this was all done.

“There!” Efren cried, pointing.

From the distant center of the city, Talons poured into the sky.

I gulped. We needed more than what just Tasia and I could provide if we were to have a chance at winning this battle. We had seven dragons on our side, but there were at least thirty Talons in the air. In Ruzi, there had been only eleven—and I still hadn’t managed to free all the dragons.

I assumed the dragons that had come from the Seda Serat would be better at combat than the Talons, but we were still outnumbered. They would soon be overrun. If I didn’t act now, we would lose the advantage. How quickly could Naava come, if I called? Could I even reach her at such a great distance? I didn’t know, but I was also out of other options.

So I did it, after warning Alora and Braith what was coming. I steadied myself against Alora’s flanks, placed one hand upon Tasia’s shoulder, and called, trying to make my voice into a beacon. When Kaia had been taken from me the first time, Naava had felt my heartbreak across three kingdoms. Surely she could hear me now. Naava! We need you! I tried to convey the urgency of my request, flashing toward her an image of the dragons filling the sky. Three times I called, and three times there was no response. We were alone.

The Talons flew toward us over the city of Irrad. Alora roared and folded her wings, shooting toward the incoming Talons. I tried to tamp down the doubt that had sprung up within me. Could we do this without Naava?

I didn’t know what the answer was, but we were about to find out. I placed my hand between Tasia’s shoulder blades, feeling her eagerness. She was completely unafraid, and I tried to absorb her surety. We must do this ourselves, I said. Are you ready to sing?

She nodded.

The world slowed around me, tapering down to the wind through my hair, the smoke rising toward my face, my heartbeat deep in my chest. This was it. Everything I had been running toward, in this moment. I raised my head, staring into the tangle of dragons ahead of me. I opened my mouth and sang.

Tasia added her voice to mine, and we sang through the sky, our song soaring through the air. Alora beat her wings, rising high above the battle, above the city. At first nothing seemed to be happening. And then, one by one, the dragons turned toward me.

I reached out to their consciousnesses. They noticed my song, and they were tugging against their Talons’ reins. They were waking. I sang louder, stronger, feeling the way the dragons’ thoughts flickered in my direction, interrupted from what the Talons were telling them to do. I closed my eyes, and the battlefield lit up behind my eyelids, dragons shimmering in and out of focus. There were so many of them—I felt like a child trying to stretch my arms around an enormous tree trunk, unable to enclose it. I could not hold them all in my head at once. The lights shone brighter, spreading across my entire field of vision. This was too much—I couldn’t hold on for much longer—

A harsh voice cut through the air. “Stop what you are doing, or I will kill him!”

My eyes snapped open.

An enormous blood-red dragon hovered in the sky before me, and riding it—the tyrant, the Flame of the West himself.

He was almost exactly as I had always pictured him to be. Dazzlingly armored, sitting tall in the dragon saddle, a fearsome blade in his hand and a sharp cut to his cheekbones. He must have been imposing on the ground, for he was terrible and glorious to behold in the air. I could imagine how he must have appeared to the people who worshipped him. Even knowing the evil within him, I saw it.

But that was nothing compared to the way I felt when I saw what his dragon was carrying in its claws: a human in shackles. Sev!

My song faltered, but I clenched my fists and held myself together. Was he even alive? The dragon was holding him tightly—but as I watched, he raised his head in midair and met my eyes. Don’t stop, he mouthed.

Tears brimmed at the corners of my eyes. I knew that any bargain the tyrant offered was false. I knew that both Sev and I would die if I gave in. And I knew that I could not control what happened to Sev—that the only thing I held in my own hands was the song that spilled from my lips, the dragons in the sky who faltered, wheeling in one direction and another. But at the same time, if I had to watch Sev fall, I didn’t know what I would do.

“Stop!” the emperor snarled. He gestured to his dragon, and Sev slipped—the dragon had opened one claw.

I cried out, breaking the song—but Sev had wound his shackles around the dragon’s ankle, holding tightly. The dragon swerved in the sky, shaking its claws, but Sev held on.

So I faced the tyrant, the emperor of Zefed himself, and sang once more.

I sang directly to his dragon, trying my best to reach through the air, to speak across the distance. You do not have to serve this master, I said. You can fly free.

For a moment I thought it was working. I thought I saw the flicker of awareness in its eyes, the slight shake of its head. Then the emperor yanked on the dragon’s reins and poured oil down his arm, and I smelled the fire root instantly. The dragon roared, and Alora dodged the plume of fire it spewed toward us. The song died on my lips, and in the flicker of an instant, we became the hunted.

Alora dove so close to the ground that I could have reached out and touched brick. Then she veered up and cut through the fury of battling dragons, trying to shake the dragon on our tail. Tasia craned her neck, spitting a thin stream of fire back at the emperor.

The air was heating around us. I licked my lips and tried to sing once more, but smoke filled my lungs and I coughed instead. It wasn’t just the emperor’s pursuit—the sky was full of fire and smoke. Buildings had caught fire below us, and there were strange pockets of thick, scented haze. Somewhere, Talons’ oils were burning. Dragons dipped into and out of my sight line as they chased one another across the sky. Right in front of me, one Talon fell from their saddle, screaming. I looked away before they hit the ground. A gray dragon tangled with an orange dragon above us—the orange dragon fell, its wing clipping my shoulder on the way down. I was half out of the saddle before I was able to wrench myself back in. We had to get out of this frenzy. But Alora wasn’t as fast as the emperor’s dragon. If we left the battle, they would catch us.

What other option did we have, though? We were losing—how could I have ever thought that I could do this myself? I had done my best, and I had still fallen short. I had proven nothing except that everyone’s faith in me had been misplaced. Even if we made it out of this battle, what of those who had followed me here? Not all of them would survive the day. Sev would not survive. What had I done?

My eyes streamed with tears. Tasia crouched in front of me, her tail wrapped around my arm like an anchor. All thoughts of strategy fell from my mind as I could only hold on—

A roar broke through the air, so loud, it disrupted Alora’s flight. I looked around. The emperor’s dragon flinched at the sound, its wings contracting. It wobbled in the air before regaining balance. What was that?

At first I could see nothing. The haze and noise of the battle obscured my vision, but there was something out there, speeding toward us, and I realized—Naava.

She was bearing down upon us, flanked by five dragons, her eyes dark and furious. She roared once more, and every dragon in the air cowered. I had always known that she was enormous, but seeing her among other dragons only made the difference more stark. She was easily three times the size of some of the others—large enough that she might have carried them.

Alora banked to the right to avoid a tangle of dragons, and I glanced behind us. The tyrant sat frozen, his gaze fixed on Naava. But his dragon was not distracted by Naava’s call. It surged forward, coming level with Alora and swiping through her wing with one claw.

Alora screamed, listing hard to one side—I scrambled for purchase, but found none—I fell—

I reached for something—anything—but there was nothing but my body tumbling, the fractured sky, the ground rushing toward me.

I saw a black blur out of the corner of my eye, and then suddenly I landed hard—but not on the ground. I was on a dragon’s back—Naava! My vision swam as I tried to reorient myself. I was all right—Naava had saved me. But where was Tasia? Panic overtook me. I pushed myself upright, fighting through nausea as I searched the sky around us. Tasia! She wasn’t here with me, nor was she with Alora. We were over the middle of the city, too far up for her to have fallen and come away unscathed. Tasia! There was no answer.

“Tasia!” I screamed, my heart pounding. “Tasia!”

A delighted squeal broke through the air, and I looked over Naava’s side. Tasia soared throught the air, flying confidently. I gasped, putting a hand to my mouth as the tiny dragon spread her wings and twirled, letting loose a stream of chirps.

Alora regained her balance next to us, flapping her wings weakly. Maren. The strain was evdent in her voice.

Go, I said

She wheeled in the sky and retreated to the south. I lay forward, letting my cheek fall against Naava’s neck in relief. You came You saved me.

It was time, she rumbled. You have done well, daughter of Ilvera. You have sent many of my children home.

She flapped her great wings, gaining height as the emperor screamed at his dragon and doused himself with fire root. The red dragon did an about-face—we had them on the run.

Naava opened her mouth and sang across the sky. This time there was no question that the dragons heard her—all of them. They twisted and bucked against their reins, forcing the Talons to halt their attacks. Then Naava darted across the sky after the emperor.

The dragon was streaking toward the palace, but Naava bore down upon it effortlessly. She breathed a precise stream of flame toward the emperor, who ducked his head and twisted away. Sev remained secure in the dragon’s claws, for which I was grateful as Naava flapped hard, gaining height.

Hold on tightly, she said. Then she dove.

The red dragon didn’t stand a chance. In one moment we were far above them. In the next, close enough to touch, to speak. I caught the emperor’s furious glare as Naava struck the red dragon across the chest with her claws, gouging deeply. The emperor yanked on the reins, but it was no use. Time stood still as they hovered in midair.

And then the dragon fell, plummeting to the ground with Sev still clutched tightly in its claws.