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Brand and Luna watched him half the night, looking for anything out of place, any further symptoms, but Thad was perfectly himself. The fact honestly left Brand with more questions than any true peace on the matter.
As for the fox, Brand still had to find his way to Gaulnir’s mate, Byrlan, before they left. He hoped the Demon might appreciate Stirling’s company while he was away. That Stirling might…ease some of his sorrow, as he did for Brand.
Amal clicked her tongue, tossing her sack to the ground. “I will do it. The Fae and I understand one another.”
“I’ll…um…” Vann coughed. “I’ll help you. Just in case.”
She raised a brow, looking him up and down, but didn’t argue.
“Speaking of being ready to go,” Thad said, watching Amal breeze into the chamber with Vann on her heels, “Da’s probably figured out by now that it was all a ruse. It’ll be better for me if I don’t show up with the rest of you.”
“Is Uncle Caius still being hard on you?” Amun asked.
“No.” Thad chuckled. “I think he’s finally stopped seeing me as his wee lad. Doesn’t mean he won’t be pissed I spent the night drinking instead of preparing, aye?” He embraced all of them, Brand last. “I’ll see you there. We’ll get it sorted, cousin. Don’t you worry.”
Luna shuffled out, one eye barely cracked open as she muttered, “This is cruel and unusual punishment for crimes I did not commit. Who in the arsing realms decided Solyrian should move west to east? I’m being robbed.” When Nakarat chuckled along with the rest of them, she gasped and pressed a hand to her chest. “Shitting stars, you scared the piss out of me. Why do dragons insist on being so…so…” She gave up and gestured to all of him.
“It’s more fun that way.” Nakarat’s wings flared, blotting out the sky. “I must away before the sunrise, lest all of the Weeping City see me arrive without my Rider.” He lowered his head and pressed it to Amun’s, a molten glow pulsing between them.
“Mmm.” Amun patted him on the snout. “The same to you, my dearest friend.”
Nakarat launched himself into the air, wings beating once, twice, before he shot up into the sky and headed south.
“Maybe I should try making Axanderus gigantic so I can fly around on him,” Luna mused.
Thad gripped his nape. “Before you do, do you mind taking me to my station, and…maybe blindly supporting whatever excuse I feed my da if we happen to see him?”
Luna snorted as she grabbed his hand. “We’ll only get so far with me still in my nightclothes, but I’ll have a go.”
As the two of them disappeared, a deep horn sounded from the castle’s central tower and Brand practically jumped out of his own skin. The booming call to arms sent goosebumps racing across his skin, horrors on the wake of their skittering caress.
Pressure in his skull. Rotting scales on writhing bodies. Lungs gone too shallow for air. Crimson clouds choking him. His face and fingers—
“You are safe.” Amun’s resonant voice cut gently through the memories as he rubbed Brand’s shoulders, his arms. “Deep breaths. Listen to my voice. Remember when you are and that I was not here on that wretched night, so it could not possibly be the same.”
The ringing slowly throbbed its way out of his ears, the vise loosening with every murmured word his brother gave him, until night sounds and the crashing waves exploded into existence again and he fell back into himself.
All of the Horned City was warned ahead of time to expect it, the signal necessary to gather their forces, but he wouldn’t be surprised to learn that many of his Demon brethren shared in that brief spike of terror with him, fearing the dreadwyrms had returned.
“I’m alright,” Brand rasped, nodding. “I’m alright.”
Luna reappeared, her eyes swirling with silver as she frantically searched the distance beyond the balcony before wedging herself between them. “What just happened?”
“The war horn.” He shook his head and leaned into her touch, the truth flowing without resistance. Without shame. “Their sound stole my mind away for a moment, and replaced it with visions of the past, but I’m fine. Truly. Amun helped before it went too far.”
She melted into him, her power bleeding away to leave her even paler than usual. “Good. Yes, that’s…that’s good.”
He tucked a lock of her shining hair. “What is it, little moon?”
“I was helping with the healing tent and listening to Caius ream Thad up and down when the bond seized hold of me. Your terror. I couldn’t let go of the supports without risking the others, but I thought it was happening again and…” She shivered, forehead landing against his chest. “Shite.”
“No, not again. I’m sorry.” Brand gathered her close, taking just as much comfort from the contact as Amun faded into the background. “And today, we start the long battle towards ensuring it stays that way.”
Odd really, for Lunara to once more be standing in the castle courtyard with a horde of raging Demons staring back at her.
The memory of last time superimposed itself over the sight before her now, the moments as eerily similar as they were leagues apart. Unlike that other, awful day, the dawn had yet to break. But it was the strong hand at the small of her back that made all the difference. The deep gravel of his bellowing commands.
“We go to bleed for Bordoroth, my brethren,” Brand shouted. “To save this world from a wretched fate, that our future might be brighter. You know well how to war with the fell creatures awaiting us in the Westrealm’s pastures. Let us purge their filth from the land forever!”
