Song of Dragons The Complete Trilogy - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,277

and glimmered as he floated. Behind him, thousands of other salvanae hovered in the sky, their long bodies undulating like snakes in water.

"Mother?" she whispered. She looked to her right and saw Mother sitting there, the salvanae's light against her face. Kyrie and Gloriae sat there too, their eyes soft.

"Agnus Dei." Mother kissed her forehead and caressed her cheek. "How do you feel?"

She blinked. "I feel better. I... am I dreaming? I see the true dragons, Mother. Thousands of them. Are we in Salvandos?"

"You are in Requiem still," said Nehushtan, his voice like crinkling old paper and the wind in pines. "We saw the strands in our stars, and sang to them, and heard your prayers sing with ours. So we flew here, daughter of Draco, and we will help you again. We sang too for your healing."

Agnus Dei gasped and raised her left arm. For an instant, she hoped to see her hand regrown. That hope crashed. Her arm still ended with a stump, though the wound was healed. Instead of infected stitches, she saw pale, smooth skin.

"Thank you," she said softly, though she could not feel joy. She felt, instead, only shame. Her wound was healed, but her arm looked strange to her, deformed. Tears stung her eyes. She was still crippled. Impure. Ugly.

Agnus Dei looked at Kyrie, her pup. Does he think I'm a freak now? A gruesome cripple? Will he still love me? Or will he leave me for Gloriae, who is whole and still beautiful? Suddenly she wished he'd look away. She wanted to hide her arm, to never show it to anyone again. She lowered her eyes.

"Oh, pup," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

He shifted closer. "Sorry for what?"

That I'm like this, she wanted to say. That I'll be forever different. But she could not bring those words to her lips. Instead, she looked up at him, her pup, her love, her best friend, and she said, "I love you."

His eyes softened, and he scooped her into his arms, and kissed her. His hands held her head, and she placed her good hand on his back. They kissed in the light of the true dragons, and tears flowed down her face.

"I love you too," he said, holding her. "I'll always love you, Agnus Dei."

Laughter burst from her lips, surprising her. She pinched his cheek. "You really are a pup, do you know that?"

She looked over his shoulder at the mountains and valleys of Requiem. The snow was melting. Winter would soon end. Beams of dawn fell between the thousands of salvanae. War would come here, Agnus Dei knew. Dies Irae would march into these lands with all his might and malice. But that is tomorrow, she thought. Today... today life is beautiful.

Gloriae leaned down, kissed her cheek, and smiled. Mother held her good hand. They sat on the mountainside, embracing one another, watching the sunrise.

TERRA

When he saw the army in the distance, he felt the blood leave his face.

"Stars," he whispered. "Down, Memoria!"

They dived, landed on a snowy mountainside, and shifted into humans. Wind moaned, flurrying snow around them, sneaking under his armor like the fingers of ghosts.

"There are thousands," Memoria said, gasping. "A hundred thousand."

Terra narrowed his eyes. It was hard to see from here. The army moved leagues away, a black stain upon the ruins of Requiem, oozing forward. He could hear faded roars and battle cries, a sound like an angry sea. Creatures flew over the army, thousands of them, like murders of crows. They were too distant to see clearly, but they had to be massive, the size of dragons.

He scowled. "This army was mustered to kill the last Vir Requis."

Memoria clutched the hilt of her sword, as if that sword could defeat such an army. "To kill Agnus Dei, and to kill Kyrie," she said.

Terra stared at this spreading black puddle, his stomach twisting. He was no stranger to war. He was a bellator, a knight of Requiem. He had fought griffins at Draco Murus, the Poisoned in Requiem's tunnels, the giants of the north. But this.... Terra had never seen forces that chilled him so. Strange things moved there. He saw the shapes of great beasts towering over smaller troops, and he saw stars and lightning crackle between the creatures that flew. This army marched with dark magic.

"They move slowly," he said. "We fly fast. Let's find Kyrie."

Memoria nodded. "The ruins of Requiem's palace. King's Column. So long as Vir Requis live, that column will stand." Her eyes dampened. "I