Tempest (11 page)

I walked, my gaze going from Kye to Lochlen to Cadeyrn. The Sadeemian prince glanced upward often, but he wasn’t watching the wyvers. He was watching the sky.

A hand grasped mine, and I looked over to find Kye watching me, his fingers tightening around mine. I squeezed back.

Above us, a distant
kek, kek
sounded. Ari.

“Be watchful, Phoenix!” she cried out. “Be watchful.”

Chapter 12

We had only traveled half a day when our convoy stopped. Murmurs passed through the procession of people as blue-cloaked soldiers began running down the line.

“What’s wrong?” Maeve asked, her voice full of fear.

Kye pulled me closer to him, his eyes on the sky, but when I looked up I saw no wyvers. The air was mysteriously empty.
Eerily
empty.

Ari’s low
kek, kek
filtered down, and I gripped Kye’s tunic as I glared at the sky. It was a strange color, almost yellow rather than blue.

“Sand!” the falcon screamed. “Sand!”

This was followed closely by simultaneous yells of “Get down!”

The whole procession of people began lowering themselves to the sand.

“A storm!” someone cried out.

I looked up frantically and reached for my pack. Kye, Maeve, Daegan, and Brennus did the same.

“A sand tempest,” Kye hissed. “Get down and get covered!”

We all went down on our knees, digging into our packs. I had just pulled mine open when a pair of hands stopped me.

“Take this,” Prince Cadeyrn’s voice said. “It was made for the desert.”

The prince’s gaze went to the sky before looking down again, his eyes meeting Kye’s and Lochlen’s. In his hands, he held a strange looking fabric cover. It was thick and felt tough to the touch. “Cover yourselves and the women. Whatever you do, keep your head lifted off the ground but stay covered. Fight the wind.”

And with that, the prince was gone.

“Now!” a man yelled.

A woman screamed.

Kye was suddenly on top of me, the strange, thick fabric the prince had given us over our heads. Lochlen tackled Maeve, pulling a corner of the flat tent over their heads as well. Daegan and Brennus scooted underneath while Oran shimmied to the middle.

We all looked at each other solemnly just as the wind nearly ripped the fabric away. Kye grabbed it, his knuckles turning white, deep lines around his mouth as Brennus and Daegan grappled with the material. Lochlen lifted one of his hands, his fingers transforming into draconic claws, and he sunk them into the fabric before anchoring it to the ground.

The wind was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was heavy, pushing us to the ground with so much force my muscles screamed. I fought to keep my head up, fought to keep my face out of the sand. But the wind pummeled us, flattening us against the gritty ground and making it hard to do anything other than lay down.

“We need to get on our knees!” Brennus yelled, his voice sounding like a whisper in the howling wind.

“No!” Kye yelled back. “We move, and we’ll lose the cover.”

Kye was right. I could tell by the way he was holding the material over our heads that it was taking everything the men had not to let go. Their faces were strained and sweat was dripping down their temples.

“I can’t,” I heard Maeve say, her face not far from mine.

The wind shoved and it shoved, battering us unmercifully for long minutes. I fought it, my neck muscles straining until the pain was too much.

“I can’t,” Maeve repeated.

She was fighting to keep her head up and losing. The fabric was pushed down against our skulls, the wind a heavy weight on top of it.

“The hand of the gods,” Daegan called out. “They are angry.”

Daegan was, by far, the most superstitious among us. He was devoted to the gods, to keeping them appeased.

“I can’t,” Maeve said yet again, and I watched as her face fell to the sand.

I yelled, reaching out to grab her head while fighting to keep my own head up. I dug desperately under the sand, my fingers searching for her chin.

“Help me!” I cried out.

But there was no help. The men couldn’t let go of our protective cover. The howling sand would kill us all without it.

“Maeve!” I hollered.

Oran growled, digging his paws into the sand while inching his way to Maeve.

“Keep lifting,” the wolf growled.

I found Maeve’s chin and pulled her head up, my nails digging into her skin, leaving half-moon impressions that filled with blood.

Oran shoved his snout under her jaw just as I lost my grip.

“Turn her face, Phoenix, and then lay on my back, your cheek to my fur!” Oran yelled.

I shoved Maeve’s head to the side so that her mouth and nose weren’t against Oran’s head. She took a deep, shuddering breath, coughing into our cramped enclosure.

And then I lost my battle with the wind, just remembering to turn my head so that when I fell onto Oran, it was with my cheek, my nose and mouth open and uncovered. It put me eye to eye with Lochlen. His reptilian eyes were dilated, his pupils blackening his gaze.

“It ends soon,” he promised.

His eyes stayed locked on mine, and I concentrated on that. Lochlen, my dragon. I’m not sure when I had started seeing him that way. It was a strange connection I’d felt since I’d first met him at the edge of the Ardus. Not a
love at first sight
romantic
kind of feeling; he was a dragon after all. More of an
I need you
kind of feeling; a friendship that seemed to start without words.

I was so tired. The wind bore down on us so roughly I felt like I couldn’t breathe. And maybe I couldn’t. There was no room under the fabric for all of us to breathe, no oxygen left. The wind was stealing it all away.

“Just a little longer,” Lochlen yelled, his eyes on mine.

My face was pressed so deeply into Oran’s fur that I could almost smell the forest on him, the hair tickling my nose.

“Don’t let go!” Kye ordered from above me, his voice firm, commanding.

The flat, thick tent was lifting, and I knew the men were losing their battle with the wind.

“Don’t let go!” Kye yelled. “Remember why we came!”

I tried lifting my head, but between the wind, the fabric, and Kye, I couldn’t move at all.

“Can’t breathe!” Daegan panted. “Can’t ...”

“Can’t breathe,” I agreed, my voice a whisper.

No one heard me.

Daegan lost his grip on the tent and sand was everywhere, rolling into our enclosure, suffocating us.

“Can’t breathe,” I murmured, my mouth suddenly full of grit.

Another corner of the tent lifted, flying off wildly into the tempest.

Kye pressed down on me, his head against mine abruptly.

“Can’t breathe,” I barely managed.

Kye’s dry lips were next to my ear. “Hold on!” he said wearily. “Just hold on.”

“Can’t breathe,” I forced out.

“I love you,” he said into my ear.

Those words meant the world to me, but I didn’t have the breath to repeat them. Black spots swam before my eyes, and my mouth filled with sand.

“Can’t ...” I muttered.

Oran was still beneath me, and I couldn’t see Maeve anymore.

“Can’t ...”

Lochlen’s eyes were glued to mine, and I stared at them. The yellow-green was hypnotizing. He still had his corner of the tent. He hadn’t let go. Neither he nor Kye had let go, but I could feel Kye weakening above me.

I love you
, he’d said.

I struggled to draw in a breath past all of the sand as I tried lifting myself off of Oran. We couldn’t die. Not now.

Lochlen’s eyes narrowed.

“Can’t ...” I managed one final time, but this time, I wasn’t talking about breathing. I was talking about giving up. We couldn’t.

And then the world was gold, gold everywhere, and I collapsed.

“No,” I thought I heard Lochlen say. “No, we can’t.”

And then the wind stopped.

Everything stopped.

There was nothing but blackness.

Chapter 13

The first thing I heard when I came to was a roar, a sound so loud it shook my entire frame. Women screamed.

“Kill it!” a man cried out.

“Do not shoot!” a voice cut in. I knew this voice; it was the Sadeemian prince.

I tried opening my eyes, but it was too painful.

“We can’t
not
shoot!” a panicked voice answered.

“Anyone who shoots without my command will die! Do you understand?” Prince Cadeyrn growled.

Silence followed. Even I was afraid of the deadly intent in the prince’s voice. He was not the kind of man to cross, and it was obvious he had no problem killing anyone who dared disobey.

I fought past the pain and opened my eyes. There was sand everywhere. Gleaming gold and sand. It was sand that hurt my eyes, sand that made my mouth feel dry and raw, but it wasn’t sand that blinded me. No, it was Lochlen. Magnificent, golden Lochlen.

The dragon stood, his wings spread over us, the storm’s settling sands sliding off his scales onto the ground below. Within the protection of his wings, I lay curled on my side, my head on Oran. The wolf wasn’t moving, but I could feel his chest rise and fall beneath my cheek.

“Kye,” I whispered. “Maeve.”

I pushed myself up onto my elbows. “Daegan.”

No one was answering me. My heart constricted.

“Brennus,” I hissed.

I felt too light, and I realized that Kye was no longer on top of me, his head against mine.

I panicked. “Kye!”

“He’s okay,” the Sadeemian prince said, moving around the dragon, his eyes going to Lochlen’s fierce face before approaching me.

Cadeyrn knelt in the sand, taking my chin in his hands before turning my head gently. There, a few feet away from me, was Kye. He was sprawled out in the sand, a man on each side of him. He was groaning, trying his best to sit up despite the blood I saw on his legs, despite the pain.

I pushed Cadeyrn away.

“I can heal him.”

Cadeyrn put a restraining hand on my arm. “In due time,” he said, his voice low.

Oran shifted in the sand below me, and my hand went to his fur.

“Water,” the wolf growled. He rolled over.

“Stone,” Lochlen called down to me, his draconic form hovering.

Silence fell over the desert as everyone looked up at the dragon, and I shielded my face from the sun, ignoring the raw pull of my skin as I gazed up at him.

His yellow-green eyes were wide and focused resolutely on the sand next to me. No words were spoken between us. I knew by the look in his gaze what he was trying to tell me.

I rose up on my knees, crawling carefully toward the spot Lochlen indicated, toward Maeve, Daegan, and Brennus. None of them moved. They were so still.
Too
still.

I made it to Maeve first and shook her.

“Maeve!” I cried out. She didn’t budge, and I shook her again. “Come on, Maeve!”

She coughed, and I almost laughed with relief when her eyes flew open.

“I’m dying,” she moaned, her voice raw and hoarse.

“No,” I said. “No, you’re fine.”

Maeve’s head rolled to the side, her eyes on mine. Her face was covered in raw, shallow abrasions from the sand, and the half-moon cuts from my fingernails were prominent on her chin.

“The others?” she asked.

I didn’t answer her, my gaze going to the sand just beyond her head. Daegan and Brennus were sprawled there, their faces turned away from us.

Maeve pushed herself up onto her elbows. Our eyes met, and I nodded before helping her to her knees, each of us moving to the men.

“Brennus?” Maeve called out. She leaned over the large man, her hoarse voice desperate.

I shook Daegan hard. “Come on, Daegan,” I insisted.

“I don’t think he’s breathing, Stone,” Maeve sobbed.

I glanced up at Brennus. “Keep trying!” I told Maeve, my gaze going back to Daegan. I shook him again.

Maeve yelled at Brennus, and I could hear Kye fighting with Cadeyrn’s men behind us, ordering them to let him up.

“Get your bloody hands off of me!” Kye shouted.

Daegan’s white tunic was splayed open, his upper body covered in red sand burns, and I placed my hands on his torso. Beneath my palms, his chest was gently rising and falling. He was breathing!

“Daegan!” I said frantically.

When he didn’t respond, I slapped him, the sound loud despite the dying wind.

Daegan coughed.

I exhaled, my relief immense.

“Stone!” Maeve cried out.

Her face was ashen when I looked at her, and my eyes moved to Brennus.

“I just don’t think ...” she began.

I ignored her, crawling to the large warrior. He was too big, too strong to be dead. There was no way he was gone!

“Brennus,” I whispered.

I wanted to scream at him like I’d done to the others, but somehow lifting my voice seemed wrong.

“Brennus,” I whispered again.

Maeve was sobbing. I stared at Brennus’ pale, reddened face. His eyes were open, but they were glassy.

“Brennus.” I placed my hands on his chest. Nothing. “Oh, Brennus. No.”

A hand settled on my shoulder. I knew without looking it was Kye. When I finally peered up at him, at his sand-burned face, I saw that his eyes were closed, his jaw clenched.

“Jule,” he mouthed.

The first tear slid down my cheek. Jule of Rendoh, Brennus’ mother, and the woman who’d sheltered us when Kye had taken me as prisoner to Aireesi. Jule, who’d almost hung next to us because she’d helped the rebels. Jule, who had just lost her son to the Ardus.

“Gather the dead!” Prince Cadeyrn bellowed, his voice even, calm.

It was the first time I realized we weren’t the only ones who’d lost a comrade. There were female sobs and silent men with pinched faces. Unmoving, lifeless figures lay sprawled in the sand.

I choked on my own sobs as Kye leaned over me, sliding his hand over Brennus’ face. He closed Brennus’ dead eyes, creating the illusion of sleep.

“Brennus,” Daegan rasped from behind us.

Kye moved away from me, his hand going from my shoulder to the bowman’s. Kye shook his head.

“No!” Daegan breathed. “No!”

Kye’s jaw clenched. “Daegan ...”

Daegan pulled away from him. “No,” he whispered. His chin fell to his chest. “No.” Two of Prince’s Cadeyrn’s men approached Brennus, and Daegan snapped to attention. “Don’t you touch him! Don’t you dare touch him!”

The men paused.

“We’ve all lost friends,” one of them said. He was a tall man, broad-shouldered with sandy hair and dark blue eyes. Since we were all covered in dust, it was hard to tell if he was young or old.

Daegan pushed away from Kye. “We’ll take him. He’s our man,” he said vehemently.

The guards looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them before they both stepped back, their hands up.

Daegan moved to Brennus’ head, his gaze going to Kye’s. “Help me,” Daegan begged.

My eyes went to Kye’s legs, to the wounds I’d seen earlier. The cuts from the sand were shallow, and the blood had dried where the leather trousers he wore was peeled away from his skin. Something other than sand had struck him during the storm. What, I had no idea.

“Your legs,” I told Kye.

His gaze moved to mine, and he shook his head.

“In due time.”

It was Cadeyrn’s words, but now they came from another prince, another leader whose own comfort had to be swept aside for his people.

Kye moved to Brennus’ feet and knelt.

“Together,” Kye said, his gaze meeting Daegan’s.

Maeve put her hands under Brennus’ back, and I did the same from the opposite side.

“Now!” Kye ordered, and we all lifted.

Sand fell away from Brennus’ body as we raised him from the ground, the sun beating down on us. Our skin was red and raw, our hearts were broken.

We walked, following Prince Cadeyrn’s men as they stacked their dead, the servant women bathing the faces of the deceased as male and female warriors built a large funeral pyre from a stack of timber shoved under an overturned cart. There was no way the corpses would make it longer than a day in the Ardus’ heat.

“We can’t burn him,” Daegan insisted.

Kye led us a few feet away from the prince’s men. We lowered Brennus to the ground, and Kye left us just long enough to retrieve two long pieces of wood from the cart. The prince’s men had acted quickly, overturning both provision carts to protect the supplies. The wind had been strong and heavy, but it was the sand that proved deadly, suffocating anyone who’d found themselves unprotected.
 

Maeve and I stood silent, watching as Kye and Daegan each took the flat wood, digging it over and over in the sand. A hole formed.
 

“The ground shifts too much,” Lochlen’s voice said from behind us. He was still in dragon form, and he glided through the sand, pausing so that his bulky form provided us relief from the sun. “It would be better to burn him,” Lochlen added.

I could see smoke rising in the air and knew that Prince Cadeyrn had ordered the pyre lit. The sound of bodies being thrown onto the blaze haunted me.

“No,” Daegan and I said together.

I looked up at Lochlen.

“No more of our people will burn,” I stated firmly.

There was fur beneath my fingers, and I gripped it, my eyes moving down to find Oran sitting in the sand at my feet. The wolf was losing weight, his fur thinner.

“From fire to air,” Oran said, agreeing with Lochlen.
 

A tear slid down my cheek.

“We can’t burn him,” I insisted.

Kye’s gaze traveled over all of us before landing on Brennus in the sand.

“Illogical as it is,” Kye stated quietly, “we will bury him here.”

Daegan continued to dig, his lips thin and determined. Kye dug with him, and before long, they were finished.
 

“I’ll do it,” Lochlen said sharply before Daegan or Kye could move toward Brennus.

The dragon lifted the warrior carefully with his talons, placing his body reverently inside the hole.

“From Earth to sand to spirit,” Kye said. He lifted his hand, placing two fingers against his lips before kneeling, his fingers sweeping the sand. He rose, his fingers sweeping the sky.

We all did the same. Each of us murmuring, “Mana Deea”