Page 67 of Once Written in Gilded Blood

Chapter 25

Alira

The dragon dives beneath the mist under the bridge. A scream gets caught in the back of my throat as I hold on for dear life. I don’t know how close the sea is or if there is even water down here, but I don’t have to wonder about it for long. The dragon takes a hard turn toward the cliffside of black stone.

I clutch tightly onto its back and shut my eyes, waiting to feel the impact against the rock, only to reopen them a moment later, realizing that we’re still flying.

A cave beneath the bridge?

My eyes fill with awe as I look around the beautiful space. The rocks are smooth and cubic, like graphite. Clinging to all the columns of rocks are hundreds of dragons. Many of them are sleeping, others are awake and watching us. The white dragon flies in. They are all relatively the same size as the one I’m on now. Rideable but not enormous. I have no doubt that they are still very dangerous and that they’ve been here beneath the kingdom all along.

“I don’t want them to attack any of the knights, from either side. We’re just there to make them listen to us and to stop the fighting. Can you get them to follow us to the battlefield?”

The white dragon looks back at me and nods with a clipped grunt that makes me smile.

I thank the gods, for whatever reason, that the dragons listen to me. Perhaps it’s a little gift from Pluto to aid us on our impossible fate.

The white dragon lets out a piercing cry that echoes throughout the cave, and many of the dragons respond in kind. I cover my ears with how loud the echoes are and try to hold on as a dragon exits the cave. At least a hundred dragons fall in behind us.

I need to find King Borlin, but right now I think it’s more important to stop the fighting first. Finding him will be like finding a needle in a haystack, and I don’t have the time for it.

I bring my hand to my side to check for my sword, and I’m shocked when it’s not there. I must have left it behind on the bridge. Neptune. I check my other side and let out a relieved breath when I find my mother’s dagger. Maybe this is the only weapon I truly need.

A sacrifice. The Fates’ words etch into my soul.

It’s not easy to push away the uncomfortable thought and stay focused on what’s ahead. But as we tunnel out of the cave and back into the skies once more, I catch sight of Kalel on the back of his dragon, heading toward the battleground as we are.

He meets us halfway, and his dragon flies up next to mine.

“Were you able to find King Achill?” I shout. The air is blistering between us; it’s so loud and powerful that it seems like a hurricane is coming. My heart skips a beat, and I turn to look at the ocean, where a storm unlike any I’ve seen before swells angrily, dark bruised rolls in the clouds and a rising tide.

Neptune, god of the sea? Please tell me more gods aren’t entering this battle.

Kalel sees my fear and assesses the storm approaching just as gravely. His expression is grim and filled with worry.

“No, I couldn’t find him. We’d better hurry!” he yells over the wind. “Nikolai is in the castle tending to the wounded, and Tessa…” He pauses and shakes his head again, face defeated. “She called me a traitor. It would seem that she, along with many of the demons, cannot see a vision of the world where our people can coexist… I’m scared, Alira.”

I bite my lower lip, anxiety coursing through my entire body and stiffening up my limbs. “I think it’s more that they don’t believe in it, not that they don’t want it. It seems like an impossible thing that they can’t reach with their own two hands.” He only gives me a sad smile in return.

It’s not easy to believe in something so hopeless, is it? I clutch my hand over my heart and feel the burning hurt of all our suffering. We must end this.

My attention is drawn back to the battlefield, where the shouts and clanking of metal and armor slow as we approach. Many of the soldiers’ heads tilt toward the sky, fearful shouts and knights spreading out to get away from the incoming dragons.

“It’s working,” I shout.

The majority of the dragons circle above, while a handful of them land with us. The ground shakes beneath our feet and kicks up snow-filled rifts. Knights standing too close to us get blown over by the force of the wind the dragons cause with their wings.

I quickly dismount, followed by Kalel. He stands at my back and gives me a short nod when I look to him, nerves bundling in my chest. What if they don’t listen?

I swallow those fears and stride forward; demons and demigods alike stare back at us, Devicit behind them, still burning, and the storm beyond is approaching. It’s a hellscape.

The veil is gone. The wrath of the gods upon the demons cannot be stopped, not without its protection.

What a godsforsaken mess.

And I have no idea what to do. All I can do is try to set right what is wrong.

“We must stop this senseless bloodshed! If we don’t, there will be nothing left. The winning side will not have won. You will only have ruined an entire kingdom and brought horror to yourselves. The gods want this. They want us to be at odds with one another. We cannot let them destroy us. We cannot let them separate us anymore. Our hearts are the same; we bleed the same.” My voice carries over the knights; the ones in earshot of us and were blown over stare in horror, but I’m not sure how much has gotten through to them. They already look anxious to return to killing one another.