A Fate of Flame by Tessonja Odette

Author:Tessonja Odette [Odette, Tessonja]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crystal Moon Press
Published: 2023-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

32

For three days, Cora and her companions searched for the tear, traveling mostly at night. This, of course, was to limit the possibility of dragon sightings. There was no way to know if Darius didn’t already have eyes in Khero, seeking signs of the tear. He already had spies in her kingdom, or at least his Norunian allies did. And now that a third dragon had joined Ferrah and Uziel—proof that the creatures would continue to pour out of El’Ara in search of Ailan and Mareleau—it was even more imperative that they return them to the Veil.

The road was cloaked in predawn shadows and a faint wash of moonlight as Cora rode beside Ailan’s wagon. The wagon was pulled by a pair of the Forest People’s horses while Valorre served as Cora’s mount—his idea, for he seemed to have taken a liking to his fashionable saddle. Or perhaps he was jealous of the new horses.

When they’d set out for tonight’s journey, Ailan had insisted they’d find the tear before sunrise. Cora was surprised that the Veil had torn so close to Ailan and not closer to Ridine where Noah had been born. When Cora had asked her about this, Ailan had explained that even though Noah’s birth had caused the surge of mora that split the Veil, Ailan was still regent over El’Ara’s magic and would be until he came of age. The mora was just as desperate to reach her as it was to find its Morkara.

Wings beat the starlit sky overhead, and a dark silhouette rose above the tree line. Cora’s hands flinched, one toward the bow at her back, the other toward the quiver of arrows attached to the saddle. She smothered her defensive instincts to draw her weapons and settled for grasping the hilt of her dagger—the beautiful gift Teryn had given her—as she watched the dragon carry off some unfortunate creature in its talons. From the dragon’s massive size, it was Uziel. He flew over the road to the other side, where the landscape ended in a steep cliffside. His silhouette dipped beyond the cliff, likely to devour his prey upon the beach far below. Ailan had promised the dragons would cease burning crops and stealing livestock, upon her order, but they still needed to feed. Thankfully, they did so out of sight.

I still don’t like them much, Valorre conveyed. Now that I have my memories, I recall my kind has never gotten along with theirs. Too unrefined.

Is that so? Cora stifled a laugh and wondered if all unicorns were as arrogant as Valorre.

What the fornication is he even eating? His prey was almost as large as me.

What I’d like to know, Cora said, is where you got these strange expletives from.

Strange? How are they strange? The sentinels at the castle walls use them all the time in conversation.

Is that what you do when I’m not around? Wander the perimeter and listen in on the sentinels’ private gossip? Cora chuckled. Regardless, I think you’ve misunderstood. The words you use aren’t quite the same as theirs.

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