28

Talon

I don’t do what Darling says: I know what’s in the barn. I left Caspian there with Elias less than an hour ago. Caspian swore he’d sleep as a dragon or never sleep again. Elias promised to stay with him.

Instead I gesture for Dragon soldiers in the inn yard to follow me around the back of the inn to the storage shed where we’d imprisoned Aurora.

It’s deserted. The soldiers on guard must have run toward the screaming, since it came from the faraway barn. Only one remained behind, collapsed on the ground; he’s bleeding out from a gash under his jaw. One of the soldiers with me kneels and touches his face, but she shakes her head at me. There’s too much blood pooling under him, anyway. I quickly scan his body and see it: a smear of blood on the palm of his hand, hidden by the curl of his limp fingers and the nighttime.

Darling burned out Aunt Aurora’s persuasion boon, but blood magic remained.

I know what I’ll find inside. Grimly I stare at the thin wooden door. “Secure the building, and send everyone out searching for Aurora. If sighted, kill her instantly. Use projectiles if possible. Look for blood. Don’t let her touch you.”

Above, the gryphon screams again, swooping past. My neck aches with how fast I snap my head up to look. We all look.

The gryphon drops, then catches itself, screaming in pain. It flies raggedly, and there is the burning comet of the Phoenix Reborn shooting toward it. Toward them. Elias.

I clench my jaw and grip my falchion. Then I kick in the storage shed door.

Firelight flickers from four torches set into sconces on the walls. Shadows claw through the shelves of wine and grain, there’s a knocked-over chair, and the packed dirt floor glistens sickeningly.

Vivian Chronicum stares dully at me, sprawled dead on the ground. Neck torn open and blood smeared across her mouth. I hold my soldiers back and study the scene. There’s no need for my boon to trace what happened. Aurora used her own blood, gouged by her own nails, probably, or freed by tearing her thin wrist skin against ropes and the wooden back of the chair. She escaped, and attacked too fast for scholarly Vivian to fight back. Despite being the Gryphon regent.

I suspect the blood across Vivian’s mouth is Aurora’s.

She surprised the soldier outside, the moment the gryphon transferred to Elias and they began their commotion, drawing away the rest of my Dragons.

The emotions burning up my chest are too wild and conflicting to parse. Rage, grief, fear, cold killing intent. I push them all down and spin, stepping out of the shed. “Get the Gryphon regent’s body cleaned and brought respectfully into the inn. We’ll have to beg the owners’ forgiveness and take it over for now. This is where I’ll set up command. You—” I point to two soldiers—“with me. The rest of you keep searching for Aurora. All the houses and shops and barns, even if the locals don’t want you to. Especially if they resist.”

I return to the front yard of the inn. The owners cling to each other in the doorway, as well as two of their other guests and servants. They all stare at the night sky.

A roar blasts across the stars. The dragon empyreal has joined the phoenix in the chase for the gryphon.

I let myself watch a moment. It seems Caspian is corralling Elias as best he can while Darling gets a grip on them.

Turning to the innkeepers, I clear my throat for their attention. The woman looks at me. “I need your inn,” I say. “You’ll be compensated, but it needs to be cleared out for me and the phoenix. The largest room should be prepared for the phoenix and the new Gryphon regent, and we’ll take one for funeral arrangements. There are two dead already, possibly more to come. Please prepare as much food as you can manage immediately. I hope we’ll be moving on tomorrow.”

The innkeeper and her husband bow hurriedly and vanish inside with their people. I instruct one of the soldiers with me to help them. Just then, a soldier dashes into the yard. “My blade! One of the drakes is gone, and a civilian hostler dead.”

I bite back a curse. “Direct everyone to focus on that area, and the fastest route out of the city. I don’t know which direction she’ll take,” I say, letting frustration seep into my tone. My boon should be the solution! I have to fix it. Finding out how to negate the spell on my boon should have been the priority with Aurora, not Vivian’s research.

Overhead, the gryphon screams. I look up in time to see Caspian whip his tail around midflight, rearing with a huge gust of air, and the phoenix collides with the gryphon, wrapping them in brilliant flames.

They are a fireball nearly as bright as a sun, lighting up the whole village. Everyone is seeing this miracle.

“Go,” I manage to command.

The soldiers salute distractedly and disperse again. I can’t take my eyes off the fire.

Then the dragon snaps its teeth and pulls in its wings to fall. Right for me.

My eyes widen in alarm, but the dragon twists midair, then lands with a flash, crouching as a naked young man in the center of the yard. Caspian immediately stands out of a small indented crater, neck craned and mouth open as he stares up, too.

The wind is warm, comforting as it wafts down. As we watch, the ball of fire spreads into wings, and lowers slowly.

Darling cradles Elias as she lands gently. The wings flicker, gorgeous flaming primary feathers arcing gracefully.

Caspian darts forward to take Elias from her, but Darling bares her teeth at him and holds tight. “Not yet,” she says, her voice echoing strangely.

I turn and grip the sleeve of the innkeeper’s husband. Everyone has emerged to stare, awestruck. I tug at him. “Get clothes, now.”

His mouth remains parted, but he nods, backing away as the fire of Darling’s wings fades.

I don’t even have my jacket to offer her. I ran out of my room at the screaming in the middle of getting ready for some rest, and only grabbed my falchion. At least my boots were still on.

As the fire dims, Darling lets herself sink to the yard, Elias with her. Caspian hovers, his hands fluttering over both their shoulders.

The new darkness blankets everything, and my eyes are full of fiery afterimages.

Somebody puts clothes in my arms. I take them and go to wrap the regents up and bring them inside.

The largest room at the inn is the one they gave Darling, so that’s where we all end up. I bring in one of my soldiers with a newly awakened light boon, and he sets boonlights very low on several surfaces. It’s enough for us to see, but Darling doesn’t need her goggles. I help dress a mostly unconscious Elias in loose clothing and Caspian gets them into the bed, then climbs in after and sits with his back to the wall. Caspian drags Elias into his lap.

While Darling dresses and I murmur with my soldiers just outside, ordering water and food and wine brought up, Caspian holds onto Elias like he’ll die without them. His fingers are blanched where they press into Elias; his mouth is a tight line.

I return briefly to my room to fully dress and check in with my soldiers and the innkeeper. No sign of Aurora, still, and I order the Dragons to pull back. She’s likely far gone already, and attacking her isn’t worth it when we can’t predict her strength and skills in blood magic other than to assume the worst. I won’t sacrifice more people if I don’t have to.

The food and drink arrive back at Darling’s door as I do, and I help the innkeeper set it all on the little table. Darling is slumped there, staring at Caspian and Elias. She glances up at me, violet Chaos glinting in her eyes.

“Eat something,” I say softly.

I take a cup of water to Caspian. “Here.” I put it to his lips. He pries a hand away from Elias and makes the barest attempt to drink before shifting to offer it to Elias.

The Gryphon regent shudders as if they have a fever. Their eyes squeeze more tightly shut.

Caspian hugs them more tightly and puts the cup to their mouth. “Elias,” he murmurs. “Water.”

Elias turns their face away from the cup, pressing into Caspian’s chest. Their whole body shivers again. Caspian shoves the water back at me, and then tenderly brushes curls away from Elias’s temple.

“Why are they like this?” I ask Darling. It isn’t how Caspian or Darvey behaved or looked after the phoenix brought them back to themselves. Maybe because of the violence of Vivian’s death?

Darling drops her spoon into the half-empty bowl of stewed vegetables. She pushes the bowl across the table. “They were practicing blood magic. It messed up the transfer, and then I had to help the gryphon clean itself up.”

I frown, studying Elias. Caspian continues to bend around them, stroking a finger along their hairline. I say, “They said it was the only way to counter Aurora’s blood magic. And it worked.”

“It’s wrong,” Darling says with finality.

“Elias knows that.”

“Vivian would—” Caspian starts, then cuts himself off with a small choking sound.

We all fall silent. I move nearer to Darling. She’s staring at the two of them, and she looks too young suddenly. Haunting in the dim light, without her smoked lenses. In slightly large clothes.

“Cas,” Elias whispers suddenly. They clutch at Caspian’s arms.

“I’m here,” my brother whispers back.

Darling stands. I take her hand and squeeze it. Her skin is hot.

“Vivian, she—she—” Elias opens their dark eyes and looks up at Caspian.

“I know,” Caspian says darkly. “I’m sorry.”

Elias chokes on a sob. “I feel—feel awful,” they gasp. “It will get better,” Caspian says, but it’s difficult to believe his dead tone.

“I didn’t—want—”

“I know,” Caspian says again. He holds Elias tight, then raises his head. Tears glimmer like tiny sparks in his eyes, and he snarls at Darling. I nearly step back, startled. For a moment, there are fangs in his mouth and his eyes pierce violet. He speaks in a voice too deep for his own, gravelly like scales and teeth crawling up his throat, “It’s no wonder we destroyed the phoenix back then.”

Darling jolts, her fingers tightening painfully on mine. I tug her closer, shocked at my brother.

Caspian snarls again. “If it wasn’t for you—Aurora should have been skewered on Talon’s blade this afternoon, and Vivian alive.”

“Caspian!” I snap. I drag Darling behind me, though she struggles to free herself from my grasp.

My brother’s face ripples and I see scales emerging, and I yell his name again. “Stop!”

Darling jerks free of me, glaring at Caspian, who’s maintained his human form—barely. “Maybe you should have seen this coming, dragon,” Darling says, then she storms out of the room.

I shoot Caspian a disgusted look and follow.

In the hallway, I nearly run into Darling. She’s frozen just outside, and at my touch she asks without looking, “Where is she?”

Though I’d rather not, I escort Darling to the lower level of the inn, where the bodies are laid out, clean and covered and ready for the morning’s various House rituals. Vivian, my soldier, and the hostler. They’re each on a narrow table brought in from the kitchen and dining room. I enter first and extinguish most of the boonlights.

Darling walks unerringly to Vivian’s body, which is draped in a red cloth. She puts her hand over Vivian’s forehead. I watch Darling’s face as carefully as I can in the dark. Her big eyes are like pits of Chaos. She stands there, a hand on Vivian, and breathes raggedly.

I wait. Just next to her, trying to radiate my concern, my stability.

“Did I do the wrong thing?” Darling asks very quietly.

I think she’s asking Vivian.

Swallowing my own sorrow, I move and put my arms around her from behind. Darling allows it, but doesn’t lean back. I hug her, and I say, “I don’t know. You thought it was the right thing then, and so did Vivian. She trusted you, and you trusted her. Second-guessing yourself now undercuts that trust between you. Caspian is awful. And grieving. Don’t listen to him.”

Darling trembles in my arms. Her hand falls away from Vivian, and I feel a tear drop onto my hand as she bows her head.

Without a thought, I lift Darling into my arms. I carry her upstairs, waving off several soldiers. She holds on, tears smearing my neck.

In my room, I sit on the bed with Darling in my lap and hold her while she cries. It isn’t long. Darling isn’t going to let herself fall apart, and I’m grateful she trusts me enough to allow herself this much.

She sniffles, sighs, and I can feel her gathering herself to push off my lap.

I squeeze gently around her shoulders. “Darling, I need you to do something for me.” I hope it will be a distraction.

Darling wipes her face with both hands and meets my eyes from too near. I look between hers—the Chaos shimmers against brown-gold—and I wonder what her eyes are like from this near when she’s the phoenix. I hope I get to see it. “What?” she says.

“I pulled my soldiers back to Ashroot. They aren’t chasing Aurora.”

Her jaw sets.

I continue, “It’s too dangerous when we don’t know what she’s doing. Where she’s going. If I could trace her, we’d know. Where, what, and we could prepare. She couldn’t catch us unawares again.”

“Talon—”

Hearing the denial in her voice, I press faster. “You said you can burn the blood magic out of me. And you did it to Elias.”

“They’re the empyreal! It could kill you!” Darling pushes at my chest.

I hold on. “It won’t. You won’t. You didn’t kill Elias. Or Aurora, when you took her boon.”

“That’s a risk, too,” she whispers furiously. “I could burn off your whole boon.”

“It isn’t doing me any good right now anyway.”

Darling scoffs angrily.

“It’s worth the risk. I trust you.”

“Vivian trusted me, and—”

“I know.” I hold her gaze. “I told you, she was right to.”

“Talon,” Darling murmurs, and blinks: a tear falls from each eye. I loosen my grip to wipe them away. One with my thumb, one with the knuckle of my forefinger. I hold her gaze the whole time.

She shakes her head, expression breaking into grief. But then Darling kisses me.

It hurts.

Lightning scorches through me, along my veins and bones. Blood bursts in my mouth. I clench my whole body, hard, harder, holding myself together against the pain. Vaguely aware of hands on my face, forehead to mine, as I pant against Darling’s lips.

The lightning inside me is so bright, turning the room into the surface of the sun. I’m inside it, and it’s so hot it’s white, everywhere.

It suddenly strikes, and I jerk around Darling, squishing her to me with a cry.

And I see Aurora. I see her racing across the plains outside Phoenix Crest as dawn gently washes against the stars in the east. She’s on one of the narrow paths curving toward the rear of the fortress, the back of the mountain.

I come to with a gasp.

“Talon, Talon!” Darling’s hands are on my face.

My eyes widen. She’s straddling my lap, fingers digging into my hair.

“I’m … fine,” I say, just as the door slams open and soldiers fight their way to pour in. I look past Darling and somehow pry a hand from her waist to hold out at my soldiers. “I’m fine,” I say more loudly. My vision blots with colorful balls, little fireworks, and stars. “But I’m going to—to faint.”

Darling makes a little noise, and I grip her wrists.

“She’s going for Phoenix Crest, a—a secret way in? It worked.” I try to smile, but my teeth feel bloody. I think I bit my tongue.

“All right, Talon,” Darling says as she slides off me, and helps me ease back right as I pass out.