Page 65 of Once Written in Gilded Blood

If we had more with us, they would all have to stop to face a greater threat. They would listen because they will have to.

“I’ll do my best to convince King Achill to stop this madness before it’s too late. Do you think you can get one of the dragons to listen to me? I can head to the castle while you get more. We need them to be more afraid of us than each other. That’s our best chance at getting the kings to listen to us!”

Alira nods and asks the dragon for the others’ help. It huffs at her, a snort of smoke that juts out and smells like coals. I take it as a form of saying yes.

The white dragon rears back and swoops up, flying us upside down for a split second, so the other dragons pass below us.

“I think this is your chance!” Alira shouts and gives me an apologetic look before she loosens my hold on the dragon.

Oh shit.

I curse as I fall from the dragon’s shoulders and drop toward the ground. I’m airborne for about thirty feet before a black dragon swoops beneath me and catches me on its back. It knocks the breath out of me, but I manage to clutch on to its scales before I slip and fall again.

Alira lets out a relieved shout, and all I can do is shake my head and grin. “Crazy demigod,” I mutter under my breath.

The white dragon she’s on dips and takes off in a different direction, away from the kingdom, the other two following her.

I reach down and pat the black dragon’s neck. “It’s just you and me,” I say nervously. I’ve never interacted with the mystical creatures like this before. It’s wondrous and adrenaline-inducing all at once. “We need to go to the castle.”

The dragon seems to understand and flaps its wings, gliding toward the castle without a care in the world. They truly aren’t afraid of us, are they? I find it very amusing. It would make sense, though. We’ve been living in fear of them for centuries now.

It doesn’t take long for us to reach the castle. My stomach curls as we pass over many of the buildings that made up the shopping district. Now the rubble is streaked in red, and smoke plumes from large blocks of brick and stone.

As we swoop above the tallest walls, some of the knights halt and turn their heads to look. A few of them must recognize me because shouts of hope rise up from below.

Neptune, they’re going to think that I’m here to help them fight the demigods.

As we near the spire, another strike of lightning hits the outer wall just above the dragon’s head. It lets out a screeching roar that makes me almost let go to cover my ears.

The dragon hastily grabs on to the closest balcony railing, knocking down a few statues and spires with its tail, narrowly missing a few of the knights’ heads below. It lets out a distressed growl as it turns and looks at me. Eyes as red as bird berries meet mine. I swallow my fear and lift my hand, gently patting its snout. “You did well, my friend.”

It puffs at me once more before I hop off its back and quickly maneuver my way through the rooms and down into the main corridor.

Every hallway and bedroom is packed with civilians. Fear. I can smell it throughout the entire castle. Sweat, blood, fear, and confusion. It’s overwhelming, but I flex my jaw and continue pressing through the corridors.

I’m relieved that so many are safe, at least.

I search everyone’s face, looking for a knight who can direct me to where King Achill might be. Of the many faces that run by me, one catches my eye. I quickly grab his arm, and he stops abruptly, whirling around and staring at me.

“Kalel? Where the fuck have you been?” Nikolai asks. His eyes are wide, and the dark circles below them indicate that he’s already worn out much of his healing power. He’s covered in demon blood, the red streaks on his chest plate still wet.

My face pales, and I have to refocus quickly. “Where is the king?”

He gives me an odd look. “The king? Kalel, you should be out there fighting with Tessa, not looking for the king. He’s probably at the front lines fighting King Borlin. Where have you been?”

I ignore his aggravated question again. There’s no time to delve into where I’ve been.

“I doubt he’d be putting himself out there so readily with the gods aiding the demigods. Where else might he be?”

Nikolai sees the urgency in my eyes and relents. “The only other place I could think of would be at the cathedral, praying to any god that might help us. We have the entire kingdom here in the castle. It’s not looking good, Commander. At this rate, they’ll…” He pauses and shuts his eyes, hands clenching at his sides to stop the trembling. Another bolt of lightning hits somewhere on the castle, and the ground rumbles beneath us. Scared mewls and cries erupt from the civilians as we ride out the tremors. Dust falls from the ceiling, but the structure holds.

“I won’t let that happen, Nik. I’m going to stop all of this. Alira and me, together we are going to end the war between our kingdoms.”

His eyes narrow in disbelief. “It can’t be done. Don’t you see that? It’s too late, Kalel. Look around you.” He lifts his arms and motions around him. “Alira’s destroyed the veil. Everything is damned. If the demigods don’t kill us, then the gods surely will. Without the veil, we will be smitten and erased from Faultore for just existing.”

I open my mouth to dispute that, but he’s right. If we can’t reconstruct the veil, it doesn’t matter if we win the battle with the demigods or not.

Nikolai seems to notice for the first time that Alira isn’t with me. His eyes widen, and he looks over his shoulder. “Did you…kill her?” His expression falls.