felt on the inside.
“Anyone who dares to assist you in fighting against him will face his full wrath. He killed eight of my best dragons and left me severely wounded. I have no doubt he’s capable of doing as he’s threatened. While that should make any reasonable queen back away from the situation, I want you to know, the dragons will still fight by your side, but it won’t be until the last moment. I need to keep my people safe for as long as possible.”
I turned to Jordan. “Do you think this is why no one talked to us in the market earlier?”
“Most likely. If Alaryk is making threats and following through on them, our allies will be few and far between.”
Yelah’s massive wings ruffled. “Alaryk is more powerful than any other being I’ve faced before, but I sense a greatness within you, Kaliah. Do not let fear hold you back from your destiny.”
Nodding, I stepped away and let Jordan speak with her dragon friend while I processed more of our craptastic situation, or at least attempted to. More lives were being threatened because of me. Because some psycho fae thought I was the key to world domination. It wasn’t exactly what I enjoyed hearing about.
“Are you okay?” Brooke asked from behind me.
Damn, I hadn’t heard her come closer and she’d scared the hell out of me. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”
“Something tells me you’re going to be just fine.” She grinned at me, once again showing her fangs, but they were more subtle than when she’d been ready to kill Oliver.
Before I could thank her, Stryx appeared and landed on my shoulder while Oliver was still running behind. “It’s time for us to go.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said out loud, and then added mentally, The visit didn’t go quite how I hoped, but we’ll talk about it when we’re back in Arvayta.
Without questioning him, I went back to Jordan and Yelah. The dragon queen kneeled when she saw Stryx. “It’s good to see you again, Stryx.”
“You as well, Queen Yelah. As a thank you for standing with us, would you like some help with the healing of your injury?” Stryx asked in a formal voice I wasn’t used to.
“I won’t say no to it, old friend.”
“Kaliah, please pull a feather from under my left wing, and then place it in Queen Yelah’s wound,” he said, as if that was supposed to be some normal thing that we did all the time.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“I’ll do it,” Jordan said. Then, Stryx lifted his wing and I watched my best friend swiftly pluck a singular full-size feather before turning back toward the dragon.
My feet instantly moved closer so I could see how the magic worked, and I was glad I did. The moment Jordan let go of the feather, it seeped into the damaged scales, and white smoke began to trickle out from the injury.
Yelah hissed, and her dragon legs buckled until she was almost lying down in the dirt. Stryx flew closer to her and flapped his wings in steady succession until the smoke dissipated. Once the smoke was gone, Yelah stood back up and shook out her wings. Her chest was completely healed.
“I forgot how much that hurt, or I might have told you no.” She grinned at Stryx, showcasing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
Shudders ran through me, and I was even more thankful she was on our side.
“We all need to go. Please let us know if you hear anything else and stay safe,” Stryx said to the dragon before we went our separate ways.
“I’m going to head back to the castle now. Are you sure you can’t stay longer?” Brooke asked, avoiding Oliver who seemed to be trying to gain her attention.
“Next time will be longer,” Stryx promised, and Brooke nodded before turning and practically disappearing as she ran back to the castle with full vampire speed.
I’m going to need to leave you once we’re in Arvayta. It’s time to bring the bonded animals back, Stryx said as we quietly headed back toward the gates.
I badly wanted to ask more questions, but I could feel Stryx shut me out, so I let him be until we were in a safer talking area. All the while, I couldn’t decide what was worse, having him be gone for who knew how long or knowing that things had gone so badly with Queen Navi that Stryx felt a strong desire