Kill Your Darlings by L.E. Harper

Author:L.E. Harper
Format: epub

Chapter 17

The morning of departure is gray and bleak. Damp, desolate cliffs shine like black diamonds. Clouds have massed overhead and fog drifts in greasy strands. The Shifting Sea twists hungrily below, black water eddying around the coastal karsts. The wind is low but persistent, flecking my cheeks with sand and salt, whispering dark promises of what’s to come.

A shiver snakes down my spine—not of fear, but of excitement. Crossing this expanse could spell disaster for any of my friends (not to mention magicless me), but this aesthetic of foreboding is just… chef’s kiss. I couldn’t have set the scene better if I’d tried.

“Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

This comes from Asher. I frown—sarcasm isn’t his MO—but when I look his way, I see his tan face shining with admiration. He stands beside me inside the mouth of the cave, staring at the windswept horizon with something close to awe.

“You’re serious,” I say, half questioningly.

“Don’t you think this view is stunning?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m kind of a lunatic.” Most people would dread the thought of braving such unfavorable conditions. Valen certainly isn’t thrilled. He paces the cliff’s edge, raising his hand to gauge the direction of the swirling air currents.

Asher chuckles. “I wouldn’t say I’m looking forward to the journey, but I appreciate the beauty of this place.”

Before I can reply, Rexa returns from her patrol in the form of an arctic tern. As she comes to a fluttering halt, her bird’s body ripples and distorts, legs elongating into their usual catlike, chimerical shape. She touches down before Asher and me, her expression grim.

“The coast is not clear,” Rexa informs us. “A unit of Zalor’s troops is approaching from the east.”

Asher’s face darkens. “What are your orders?”

I blink when I realize he’s not looking at Valen, but at me.

“We don’t have time to waste.” Everyone leans in to hear my commands. I’m hit with a stray vision of Earth, reminded of a cartoonish football huddle-up when I was young, playing with the neighborhood kids at our local park. A smile, wildly inappropriate for the situation at hand, brushes my lips. “Cendrion will have to get us out of sight of the mainland.”

“Shouldn’t I reserve my magic?” the dragon inquires.

“We’re reserving it for emergencies, and I’m pretty sure avoiding shadowtroops counts as an emergency,” I say dryly. “If they spot us, we’ll have to add Zalor’s army to our master list of Things to Worry About.”

Cendrion crouches. My nerveless fingers slip over his scales as I try and fail to clamber onto his back. My hands ache from the cold. I flex my digits, trying to force warmth into them. Bad idea. The ache spreads through my tendons into my wrists.

A strong arm snakes around my waist, brushing past the unicorn dagger that hangs at my hip. I look up to find Valen. He and Cendrion exchange a subtle nod, and the dragon flattens himself to the cave floor. Valen effortlessly hefts me into his arms and clambers up Cendrion’s extended forepaw.

“I’m fine,

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