The King of Burning Skies (Serpents and Kings Book 2) by S.M. Gaither

Author:S.M. Gaither [Gaither, S.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Her dragon’s voice whispered through Alaya’s head as soon as she started to part the water and step into the sea.

(Wake up, Little Goddess.)

“I am awake,” she muttered to herself.

She had been awake ever since she’d heard it, minutes ago: A low, mournful song. Unmistakably coming from the sea.

It was as much a feeling shivering through her as it was a sound, and as she stared out across the Sea of Tavar, searching for that white glow from before, she heard it again.

Louder this time.

Cutting up through the waves, lifting even higher than those waves and the howling wind that ruffled them.

Dread coiled in her stomach and made every nerve in her body tingle with anticipation. She was so on edge that Valla’s sudden voice behind her made her jump.

“You should get inside.”

“My power is drawing whatever that is to this shore,” Alaya argued. “It’s going to follow me into the house, too.”

“I’ve fought plenty of strange monsters that’ve emerged from this sea—and I’ve stopped ‘em all from passing the barriers around this bay and going into the empire. Whatever it is, it ain’t getting past me.”

“How big have all those monsters been in the past? How powerful?”

Valla pursed her lips.

“Because this feels like nothing I’ve ever fought before,” Alaya said. And every time that melancholy song rose to a higher octave, she believed in that statement a little more passionately.

Valla chewed on her bottom lip, her thoughts working furiously and clearly behind her light grey eyes, but she didn’t reply.

“And what do you plan to do, precisely?” Emrys demanded as he reached them.

“I’m going to draw it away from the house, first of all,” Alaya said, decisively. “After that…” Her tone only wobbled slightly. Her breaths only hitched occasionally—not that noticeably, she didn’t think.

“You’re planning on making this up as you go?” Emrys finished for her.

She grimaced.

He read her entirely too easily, sometimes.

She pushed past him and went back to their fire. Her belt and sword rested at the edge of its light. She slipped out of her heavy, restricting cloak. Twisted her hair into a bun on top of her head. Wrapped that sword belt around herself and started to adjust it.

Valla grabbed her arm. “Are you sure you want to attempt this?”

Not at all, Alaya thought. But she steeled herself and said, “It’s drawn to me. So let it come and face me.”

Another of those cries sang in from the sea, and Alaya’s heart skipped several beats.

“If you want to help, use your magic to make a barrier of fire around your house, and keep Emrys and my father safe.” With that, she jerked free of Valla’s grip and spun away—only to find herself facing the livid gaze of the prince.

She tried to meet those stormy eyes, but didn’t quite manage it. She felt almost guilty, running off to face more possible death and dismemberment when they’d only just escaped those things—and barely escaped them, at that.

If this ended poorly, if she was wrong about deciding

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