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“Why?” Visha asked.
“Because they’re the only way to dissolve a soul-bond,” Pendragon answered. She looked around the room. “We knew there was a second fluffin. And that Nyxaris could find where Florence was being kept and use it to help her.”
Orcades had told her. We’d had information passed from Lunaya to Lysander as well. Nyxaris had known most of the details when he’d left Bloodwing. I assumed he’d improvised the rest. Apparently, things had gone as well as we’d been hoping they would.
“The fluffin bonded to me and my last rider was slaughtered the night she was to be soul-bound,” Nyxaris suddenly said. I saw the pain of the memory flit across his face. Then Florence was there, lacing her hand through his.
“Hopefully the little creatures can be nurtured and thrive again,” Sankara said softly. He glanced at the eggs. “Just like the dragons.”
“There will have to be a lot of changes for that to happen safely,” I said.
“May we please discuss this all outside?” Visha said plaintively. “Under the warmth of the sun?”
“It’s not very sunny near the Bonewood,” Florence admitted. “But we’ll leave there quickly.”
“Anything is better than being belowground for another …” Vish trailed off, and I realized she was looking at Kazmyn.
“Will you come with us?” I asked him quietly. “You’re still welcome.”
When it mattered, he’d been loyal. He’d done the best he could. He hadn’t faulted us for our choices either. Even when he’d lost family. Kazmyn shook his head. “No. I’ll go back the way we came. I’ll report to the council and tell them all that’s happened.” He met my eyes. “Everything.”
“Be careful on the way back,” Visha said, coming to stand near us.
Kazmyn smiled ruefully. “I’ll try.” He looked at her. “Perhaps I might visit Bloodwing someday. And you.”
I moved away from them then, so they could speak privately. I’d tease Visha later, once we’d all recovered.
“Marcus brought baskets,” Nyxaris said, showing me a stack of wicker containers. “We’ll wrap the eggs up carefully and carry them all out with us.”
“They’ll be all right like that?” I asked dubiously. “When Marcus touched the egg …”
“The fluffins have calmed the eggs,” Nyxaris said with confidence. “They’ll be safe to move as long as the fluffins remain with us to help.”
Rodriguez and Sankara came up to help and together we started packing the baskets.
Four men and a bunch of dragon babies. I was grinning as I worked. Was this my maternal side? I wondered, as I imagined baby dragon hatchlings scampering around Drakharrow Tower.
For the first time in a long time, the future looked bright.
Chapter 68
REGAN
We’d taken the fastest horses we could find in the stables and left the manor house to burn. Kage rode in front of me. Lysander rode behind. We went silently, all of us focused on reaching our destination. Our task seemed simple enough: find Catherine Mortis. Stop her. Keep her away from the Veil.
I supposed the next step would be letting the Veil heal. Since I still wasn’t certain what the Veil really was, I’d decided we could leave that up to more scholarly minds like Rodriguez and the dwarves.
I should have known better.
The farther north we rode, the more frightening the land around us became. When I’d heard the Bonewood mentioned, I’d pictured a forest full of grim, dead trees, but it was eerier. It rose around us like a rotten, drowned temple. The dead trees with their pale white trunks looked less like wood and more like bones that had been stripped clean. Roots spilled up out of the earth in long ridges that nearly tripped our horses, crossing our path like bony fingers reaching out of graves. We had to move slowly, mindful of the roots and the feeble light, which grew feebler as we made our way deeper into the forest. Above us, dead white branches laced together, shutting out even more of the cloud-filtered light.
After a while, the trees began to thin, making way for an ashy gray ground littered with rust-covered stones. I shuddered as I saw them, knowing the place had probably been used for blood sacrifice.
In the distance as we rode, the Veil rose up over us, like a wall of thick, dark clouds at the edge of the world. The more we saw of it, the more unsettled I felt. The fog was dense in some places, but in others you could catch sight of something flickering within, a glow like lightning crawling inside of a cloud, never quite breaking free.
The horses didn’t like it. After they had shied one too many times, we finally dismounted and led them through.
We reached the forest edge on foot. Catherine was already there. Her poor horse lay on its side a short distance from the Veil, its blood spreading across the pale earth. The Mortis girl looked just as poised as she had back at Bloodwing. She’d always had a regal, confident look to her. She wore her hair in a crown braid. Some strands had come loose, giving her a slightly disheveled appearance. Like a queen whose crown had fallen off.
