Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 206625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1033(@200wpm)___ 827(@250wpm)___ 689(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 206625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1033(@200wpm)___ 827(@250wpm)___ 689(@300wpm)
Oh gods. Dain read my memories without my permission. He must have told his father to where they’ve been sneaking off. I’ve unknowingly betrayed Xaden…betrayed them all.
“That’s not…” Garrick shakes his head.
“Guys, this is bad,” Liam shouts, and Imogen races to his side.
“This isn’t your fault,” Xaden says to me, then rips his gaze from mine and turns to his friends, who are running down the ramparts to join us. “We’ve been sent here to die.”
For there, in the land beyond the shadows, were monsters that dwelled in the night and dined on the souls of children who wandered too close to the woods.
—“The Wyvern’s Cry,” The Fables of the Barren
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
Xaden hands Garrick the missive, and the rest of us rush to the battlements to see what we’re up against, but I can’t spot any threat in the valley below or the plains that stretch beyond for miles before the Cliffs of Dralor.
“Something is off,” Tairn says. “I felt it at the lake, but it’s stronger here.”
“Can you pinpoint what it is?” I reply as panic creeps up my throat. If Dain’s dad knows Xaden and the others have been supplying weapons to the gryphon fliers, there’s every chance this is an execution.
“It’s coming from the valley below.”
“I can’t see shit down there,” Bodhi says, leaning over the edge of the masonry.
“Well, I can,” Liam replies, “and if those are what I think they are, we’re fucked.”
“Don’t tell me what you think they are—tell me what you’re sure of,” Xaden orders.
“The letter says this is a test of your command,” the section leader reads behind us. “You have the choice of abandoning the village of our enemy or abandoning command of your wing.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Bodhi reaches back and takes the letter.
“They’re testing our loyalty without actually saying it.” Xaden folds his arms over his chest, standing at my side. “According to the missive, if we leave now, we’ll make it to the new location of headquarters for Fourth Wing at Eltuval in time to carry out our orders for War Games, but if we leave, the trading post of Resson and its occupants will be destroyed.”
“By what?” Imogen asks.
“Venin,” Liam responds.
My stomach drops.
“You’re positive?” Xaden asks.
Liam nods. “As sure as I can be without having actually seen them before. Four of them. Purple robes. Distended red veins spidering all around bright red eyes. Creepy as shit.”
“Sounds about right.” Xaden’s weight shifts.
“I liked it better when we just delivered the weapons,” Bodhi mutters.
“Oh, and one guy with a giant-ass staff,” Liam continues. “And I swear to Dunne, one second the plain was clear and the next they were just…there, walking toward the gates.” His eyes are wide, his pupils blown as he uses his signet to see to the bottom of the valley.
“Red veins?” Imogen asks.
“Because magic corrupts their blood as they lose their souls,” I murmur, looking up at Xaden, wondering if he remembers what Andarna said the night we took the tunnel to the flight field. “Nature likes everything in balance.”
Every head but Liam’s swings my way.
“If the fables are true, at least.” A part of me hopes they are, or I know next to nothing about the enemy below. Of course, if they’re true…
“Seven gryphons have landed next to us,” Tairn tells me.
Everyone else stiffens, no doubt receiving the same message from their dragons.
“Andarna, stay with Tairn,” I say. Xaden might trust the fliers, but Andarna is damn near defenseless.
“All right,” she answers.
“The guy with the staff just—” Liam starts.
An explosion sounds, echoing up the sparsely treed valley, followed by a plume of blue smoke. My heart jolts at the sight.
“Those were the gates,” he finishes.
“How many people live in Resson?” Bodhi asks.
“More than three hundred,” Imogen answers as another boom cracks through the valley. “That’s the post they do the yearly trades at.”
“Then let’s get down there.” Bodhi turns and Xaden steps back, blocking his path with an outstretched hand. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“We have no idea what we’re walking into.” Xaden’s tone reminds me of that first day after Parapet. He’s in full command mode.
“So we should just stand here while civilians die?” Bodhi questions, and I tense. We all do, watching Xaden.
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Xaden shakes his head. He has to choose. That’s what the War Games missive said. He can abandon that village or his command, who’s now waiting for him at Eltuval. “This isn’t a fucking training exercise, Bodhi. Some—if not all—of us are going to die if we go down there. If we’d been assigned to an active wing, there would be far older, more experienced leadership making this decision, but there aren’t. If we weren’t marked with rebellion relics, if we hadn’t been aiding the enemy”—his gaze darts to mine briefly—“we wouldn’t even be here with this choice. So, all command structure aside, what are your thoughts?”