She expected her mother to rail at her about sneaking up on her rather than just apologizing for nearly kil ing her eldest. But, instead, Bradana the Mutilator pushed Rhona’s shield aside and . . . uh . . . she hugged her.
“Mum?”
“Your sisters kept lying to me and then when they final y told me what they knew . . . and I just heard you’d been with Annwyl. Gods, girl, we could have lost you forever!”
“I’m fine, Mum. Real y.” And, because she was just in that kind of mood, Rhona added, “And I’m in love!” Her mother tensed. “In love? With Annwyl?” Her mother shrugged. “Wel , you know, I’ve always thought . . . it doesn’t matter. The thing is she’s with Fearghus.”
“No, Mum.” And Rhona fought her desire to slap her own mother in the head. “Vigholf.” Bradana stepped away from her. “Vigholf? That . . . that . . .” An Iron tried to run past Bradana from behind, but Rhona’s mother turned, hacked the Iron into two pieces, yanked her broadsword out, and again faced her daughter, sneering, “That Lightning?”
“Aye.” Rhona patted her mother’s cheek with the tips of her talons. “That Lightning. Now if you’l excuse me, I’ve got to help the others.”
“Don’t you fly away from me, little girl!”
“It’l have to wait, Mum! Kil ing to do!”
Rhona flew through several caverns, striking at Irons where she could. When she reached the cavern where the tunnel was, she saw Celyn and flew to his side.
“Celyn!”
“Rhona!” He slammed his shield into the face of the one he fought, knocking the Iron out. “Thank the gods you’re here. It’s Éibhear.”
“Where is he?”
“Stil in the tunnel.”
“You left him there?”
“He wouldn’t leave.” He ran back to the tunnel entrance, Rhona behind him.
They both stopped right outside the entrance, Rhona taking in the sight of al those Irons. Wel . . . their corpses anyway. Elites that had been smashed and sliced and basical y turned into mangled messes their own mothers wouldn’t recognize—but that her mother would be proud of.
“See?” Celyn asked.
“Éibhear did this?”
“Just look.”
She stepped over or around the bodies and looked into the tunnel. Éibhear was stil at it, hovering over the col apsed tunnel floor and the rows of spikes beneath, while he used someone’s warhammer and a bare claw to kil , wel . . . everyone.
“He blames himself for Austel ,” Celyn explained behind her. “But, if anything, it was both of us.”
“Don’t worry about that now. Watch my back, I’l talk to him.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Rhona flew into the tunnel, her wings keeping her hovering over the col apsed floor. She could see Austel ’s body and her heart ached for her cousins. There was no pain like the first time one lost a comrade. And, even worse, she knew Éibhear wel enough to know that he’d put the blame for his friend’s death right on his own shoulders. If there was time, she’d sit down with him, talk to him. She’d make him understand that in war, they al had to watch out for each other, but there was always the risk comrades would be lost no matter what. That’s what she would tel him, if she had the bloody time—but she didn’t.
“Éibhear? Éibhear!”
The Blue, busy crushing the snout he had in his claw, slowly turned to face her. When the Iron he held stopped moving, Éibhear released him, letting the body fal . Rhona flew a little closer and that’s when she saw the ful number of Irons that hadn’t made it past Éibhear to fight the rest of the troops outside this cave. And that number was . . . impressive.
“You were right, you know,” he said to her and Rhona could see how much he real y hurt. “You warned me and I didn’t listen. Now my friend is dead.”
“Éibhear, stop. You didn’t kil Austel .”
“Of course I did. I wouldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop and now he’s dead and it’s my fault.”
“Éibhear, it’s not your fault. It’s not Celyn’s fault.”
“It is. It’s my fault.”
“Éibhear, stop this. Right now. Look, if you just want someone to blame, then blame Thracius.” Éibhear blinked, studied her. “Thracius?”
“Aye. If it wasn’t for him, none of us would have been here in the first place. But we can’t run around looking for who to blame, we need to—
Éibhear, no ! ”
Rhona watched as her cousin began to use the warhammer on the cave wal , battering it with big sweeping hits. Celyn flew next to her, but she caught him before he could make any attempts to stop Éibhear.
After several hits Éibhear flew back, unleashed his flame, and charged forward—and straight out a mil ennium-old cave wal that had withstood everything but the rage of a Cadwaladr male. Because, at the moment, that’s exactly what Éibhear was.
Vigholf and his troops were closing in around the Irons from one side, while Meinhard was closing in from the other. Fearghus, Ragnar, and Gaius were pushing them back from the center. And although this battle was turning, it would stil be a chal enge to get to Thracius. He was surrounded by a mighty legion of Elites and it wasn’t like he couldn’t fly away if he wanted to. They would give chase, of course, but that didn’t mean they’d catch him.
But none of that mattered. Right now it was about stopping the overlord here and now.
They kept moving forward, fighting off the Irons, pushing them back. They were near Thracius, and Vigholf could see that Gaius was readying his attack. Yet Thracius motioned to his guards, ready to move to a new location or run completely, his wings unfurling.
But that’s when Vigholf saw her. The young She-dragon casual y easing her way into the midst of Thracius’s protective guard. She wore no armor. Had no weapons. And was female. She’d gone out of her way not to be seen as a threat. And it seemed to have worked. No one noticed her at al —until she suddenly made a mad dash and threw herself at Thracius’s back, her black-scaled forearms reaching around his neck.
“Good gods,” Vigholf whispered. Then he yel ed out, “Branwen! No!” But Thracius merely grabbed the She-dragon and tossed her off him. She went flipping head over tail into the other soldiers. And Fearghus ordered his troops to move in to help his young and very foolish cousin.
Vigholf motioned to his troops to move in as wel when he realized that what Brannie did was nothing but a distraction. Because the real problem for Thracius—who was busy ordering his soldiers to “kil the insolent whelp!” he’d just tossed aside—was stil on his back. A brown-skinned woman raising some dragon’s large and extremely cumbersome battle-ax above her head and bringing it down where Thracius’s wing met his spine.
Blood spurted from the overlord’s wound and he roared in pain. But, he was also unable to fly away. Now he was trapped.
Vigholf raised his shield, about to give the next command to strike the overlord now, while he was at his weakest point, when they al heard the explosion. Rock and debris flew out and over them from a cave wal ; fire burst from the opening. Vigholf briefly thought that the Irons had set up more explosions within their cave and that the Hesiod Mountains would meet the same fate as the Polycarp Mountains. But there was something rushing at them from that cave opening. Something that broke free of ancient and mighty cave wal s and was moving fast.
“Vigholf!”
He heard Rhona’s voice and looked to the newly created opening she was flying through. “Stop him! Stop him!” Vigholf looked back and that’s when he realized what that something was. It was Éibhear. And Vigholf knew from experience—there’d be no stopping him.
But Izzy . . .
“Iseabail!” Vigholf screamed out. “Iseabail! Move!”
Whether she heard him or not, Vigholf didn’t know, but she dropped the ax, bolted up the raging dragon’s back, over his head, and dived off his snout and onto the back of another dragon before sliding off and disappearing into the battling crowd.
Thracius looked moments from going after her, but he heard the roar—they al did—and turned in time to see Éibhear the Blue ram into him, the pair tumbling off the hil Thracius had stood upon and right into the heat of battle.
Vigholf flew up and he saw the pair fighting on the ground. Rhona sped toward them, Celyn behind her, but Vigholf caught her and held her. Celyn automatical y stopped beside them, and they watched as Éibhear got the overlord onto his back. First he struck him, several times, with the warhammer he held. But he got bored with that and tossed it away, taking the sword Thracius had barely managed to brandish and slamming it into the overlord’s skul . He pul ed the sword out and rammed it in again. Then again. Then a few, oh, dozen times.
And they al stood or hovered there. They al watched. Northlander, Southlander, Sovereign, Rebel—they al watched.
After some time Éibhear tore the head from the overlord’s neck, lifted both the head and body high into the air, roared in rage, and tossed them in separate directions.
Panting, he looked out over at the waiting armies, his talons curling into his claw, tight fists shaking with unused anger. He may have just kil ed the overlord, but clearly the pup wasn’t done. And that’s when Ragnar yel ed out, “Attack!” Vigholf released Rhona, pushed her away from him. “Kil them al . Leave none to remember this day.” He grinned at her. “We’l remember it for them.”
With that, they separated and they al went to work.
Chapter 35
Izzy and Brannie col apsed by some cave, both panting and barely able to move.
“Of al your ideas,” Brannie told her, “definitely the most stupid.”
“It worked, didn’t it? He was only going to fly off before they could kil him. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for something new to kil .”
“That bitch Vateria’s stil out there, cousin.”
“That’s not our problem. Gaius and his sister wil have to deal with her.”
“Yeah, wel , you just better hope our—”
“Parents don’t hear about it?” a voice snapped at them.
Izzy and Brannie flinched and looked up to see Ghleanna and Briec standing over them, glaring, more than a little pissed off.
Izzy tried her sweetest smile. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Shut up.”
Wel , clearly her sweetest smile wouldn’t be working today.
Fearghus made his way over to the Eastern Pass. That’s where he found the Southland human army, his sister, and Annwyl . . . arguing with his sister while she simultaneously kil ed every enemy around her. How she managed to do both at the same time said much for her skil .
“If you’re just going to sit here and yel at me while doing nothing”—Annwyl screamed at Morfyd—“then you can just go the f**k home!”
“Don’t order me around! And after what you did? You’re lucky I don’t flay the skin from your bones!”