Page 102 of House of the Iron Reaper

Father.

He looks at me and he says

and he looks at me

and he says

he says

he

says

Chapter 56

ON YOUR FEET, DEY.

Chapter 57

Ronan

Cahir and I crane our necks upwards, looking at Dragon’s Vale. Or rather, we look at the sky above Dragon’s Vale.

“By the Five…” I whisper, unblinking.

The night sky splits in two, the deep blue giving way to an inky blackness that dims even the stars around it. From the split emerges a golden light so brilliant, it’s as though I’m looking at the sun itself.

No, not a light.

It lengthens and stretches and a great mass of golden light follows it. My mouth drops open.

“Is that a big fucking hand?”

Cahir doesn’t bother to answer me. He only steps forward with a wide smile on his face.

“Well done, Deyanara,” he says. “Very well done.”

Chapter 58

Deyanara

I still feel the hands grasping at me even as I scream back to life. I surge upwards, shrieking. Except my voice is now returned, my throat burning. The pain returns quickly, too, and I scream again, the back of my body a mix of melted flesh and charred bones.

Novalie.

My body screams as I turn my head.

Novalie stares at me with wide eyes, tears still flowing, her hand hovering in front of her open mouth. A thousand things to say flood my mind but all I can croak out is, “I heard you.”

And then the sky splits open.

Distantly, I hear Aythora shriek but my mind and body, though alive, are broken. Pain washes over me so thickly, my vision blurs and I fight the urge to black out. I turn my head to the sky, dazed.

A golden finger reaches down.

It is so large and moves so fast, I vaguely wonder if it will crush me. But when the tip reaches my head, it is gentle and warm, like the feel of faeth in my veins. A copper tang coats my tongue. Dragon magic has always tasted of blood.

The pain fades from a scream to a whisper and then is gone. My body knits itself back together, warmth spreading through my limbs and down my spine and into and through my krata. I take a deep, gasping breath. My lungs burn, as though freshly made. A familiar strength finds its way into my limbs. My mind quietens. When I rise to my feet, it is with ease.