Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel) (53 page)

And all around the perimeter of the kytharii was a perfectly arching trench in the ground, like an underground rainbow stretching from the wall.

"Pour the pitch!" Sir Torren yelled.

The men near the barrels began pouring the pitch into the newly created tunnel. Barrel after barrel they poured, while Sir Torren instructed Master Durus and Arioch Prime to use magic to help spread it along. Once all the barrels had been emptied and the pitch had been sufficiently spread, Sir Torren yelled, "Ready the fire!"

I hoped this plan would work. It had better work. The men needed it to work, or they might just give in to desperation.

Guards all along the wall worked together loading their catapults. I looked down the wall, seeing little balls of flame ignite everywhere like giant torches, and once all were lit, Sir Torren yelled, "Wait for my command. Men at the gate—fire!"

The catapult at the gate clicked, and the ball of fire soared through the air like a great flaming cannon. Its light diffused over the swarm of gray bodies below, reminding all of us how numerous our enemy was. Revealing what night had so conveniently hidden. And then the ball of flame landed near the edge of the field, on the left side of the tunnel. Flames erupted and spread fast along a carefully drawn line. The kytharii shrieked and cried, scrambling away, clawing and climbing over each other, but the flame did its work.

"Loose the rest!" yelled Sir Torren.

Balls of fire soared through the air and into the sea like a meteor shower. I took a deep breath, feeling the wind slip over my skin, feeling it seep into every orifice, acutely aware of its path over my body. One by one the fireballs landed, starting campfires all over the field and along the perimeter. The pitch caught fire, burning like a dynamite fuse, and the horde of kytharii screeched like tens of thousands of bats.

More pitch was poured over the wall and directly on top of the kytharii, followed by more balls of flame and more shrieking. Using Cian, I soared, Ripping through hordes and feeling the heat, carrying it farther. Lifting flame and spreading it like butter over the pitch. Helping in whatever way I could. Spinning and twisting, spreading the heat to every corner of the cold.

I was distantly aware of men cheering at the wall, interspersed with the shrieks of the burning kytharii, and when I pulled back and opened my eyes, I saw why the men cheered. There was now a line of fire surrounding the kytharii like a wall of flame, and the wind had finished the work of the others, carrying the flames through the center. The kytharii were trapped inside, and, unable to run away, they were slowly being doused with flame. Could it be? Would this wall finally give us a chance to fight them off? Sir Torren gave me a look that said he was both surprised and impressed. And then rain began to fall.

It sprinkled only for a moment, and then it poured in a torrent. My heart sank as I watched, my hopes plummeting. Fat drops slapped sideways, drenching us within moments and quenching our fire until only tiny little flames remained. And then things infinitely worsened.

The kytharii were furious, slamming against the wall, burnt and charred. They piled so high that more and more of them were crawling over the ledge. Alex and I worked together, with him wielding his flaming sword and me wielding Nightshade, doing everything we could to keep the kytharii from penetrating the city.

One guard screamed as a kytharii pulled him over the edge. His screams sounded until he fell into the horde below. Bile rose in my throat, but I kept fighting. Sweat dripped down my face and into my eyes. My body moved mechanically, drained from overexertion, pulling on Cian as much as I could, but the kytharii kept coming in droves. Men fought and more were pulled over the wall. We were exhausted and hopeless against an enemy that was already dead. We could not keep fighting like this.

And then one of the guards ran to the ramparts, panting as he yelled, "Sir Torren! The kytharii…they've found a way inside!"

Chapter 26

The Might of the Draconi

"I
'll go!" I yelled at Sir Torren, who was in the middle of battling a kytharii.

I received a hasty nod, and then Alex and I sprinted down from the ramparts, running in the direction the guard had pointed. About a dozen other guards came after us, urged on by Sir Torren. Alex's flaming sword was like a beacon as we ran down into the city. We found a few kytharii prowling the streets—one feeding on a guard—and managed to take them down before they could do any further damage.

"How did they get in?" I asked the guard who had given the warning.

"We're not sure. We already killed a couple, but these are new." He nodded toward the kytharii we'd just killed. I thought he looked a little sick.

I glanced around, the wind ruffling my hair, and slowly, vigilantly, walked forward in the shadows. This section of the city was quiet, except for the echoes of shrieks near the city walls. I was so focused on the construction of the city that I didn't see the kytharii jumping down on top of me.

It landed on my shoulders with crushing force, snapping its jaws. With a shrill scream, it fell back then erupted in flame. The force was gone. Alex extended a hand to help me up. Even in the night he looked pale.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Thanks." I swallowed, and then I noticed the aqueducts. "Where do these aqueducts lead?" I asked one of the guards.

"That one there comes all the way down from the mountain, but it goes to the great hall first…" His voice trailed. We were all sprinting toward the great hall before he'd even finished his sentence.

We heard the screaming before we reached the hall.

Oh, no.

"You—get enough men to block the aqueduct!" I yelled at the nearest guard.

"But how am I supposed to do that?" he asked.

"I don't know! Blow it up if you have to!"

A few of the guards broke off from our group, then the rest of us burst through the doors of the hall to find hundreds of the women and children crammed against a wall, Sonya in front, bow readied with a flame-tipped arrow aimed at a group of ten kytharii prowling toward them. When the kytharii heard us burst into the hall, they glanced back. The hall erupted in snarls, and they lunged at us.

We fought the kytharii. We fought hard, exhausted as we were. Sonya was there, firing her burning arrows. Eventually, we killed every last one of the kytharii, and when I looked up, all the women and children were trembling and crying.

"What happened to your guards?" Alex asked, wiping his brow.

The women in front looked to each other, and a few of their gazes moved past us. I followed their eyes toward an ambiguous pile of blood and leather and steel. This time, I turned around and I wretched. And I wretched again.

This evil. My uncle had done this. My uncle had brought about this gruesome and horrific scene. And for what? Power? Did it really mean that much to him? That he could slaughter men and women and children like this? If he won his battle, was this what we had to look forward to?

Explosions rumbled through the city like thunder. Shrieks echoed in the night, like the sounds from a nightmare.

"How are they getting inside?" Sonya asked amidst the chaos outside.

"The aqueducts," I replied, "but some of the guards are handling that now."

"And the wall?" she asked.

Alex and I looked to each other. The guards behind us shifted, and in my periphery I saw the women watching us, anxious for our answer.

"It stands, but there are too many of them," Alex answered slowly.

The women looked to each other, clutching their children more tightly.

Sonya's features fell in dismay. "And the curse keeps breathing life into them."

Alex nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, everything around me narrowed into laser-sharp focus and I thought of only one thing: the curse.

The curse had to be broken. It was our only chance at stopping them, because as long as the curse remained, they would keep rising and attacking.

You must destroy it,
said a voice in my mind.

No, I couldn't. Not even Master Durus and Arioch Prime were able to destroy it.

But you can, and you must.

But I had no idea how! Where would I even start?

I will show you. You must trust me.

Besides, how would I even get out there, past all the hordes of kytharii?

A light breeze slipped over my skin, even though I was inside and the doors to this room were closed. It was light as a whisper, and neither Sonya nor Alex had noticed, but with it came strength and a sense of purpose. With it came an overwhelming sense of determination, and I suddenly knew what to do.

Gathering myself, I stood tall and addressed the guards. "I need you to stay here with the women and children." The guards nodded, and I felt Sonya's sudden curiosity. Alex stared at me as I faced the women and children next. "I'll send more men to stand guard beside you."

They clutched their children, weeping and afraid.

"Daria…?" Alex whispered softly, wary.

"And you'll stay, Aegis Sonya?" I asked Sonya.

"Of course," she said, though there was deep concern in her eyes when she said this. She knew something big was about to happen. Something she probably wouldn't like.

Finally, I turned to Alex. I stared steadily into his eyes and placed my hand on his arm. "I need you to stay here with them."

He searched my eyes, looking for what I wasn't saying. "I won't leave you—"

I squeezed his arm. "You
will
, Aegis Del Conte. You must. These women and children are the future of Pendel, and they need to be protected more than anyone else. And those guards could use your sword."

His lips tightened. I hated using titles to force him to stay, but I had no choice. He would not listen to me otherwise. Alex nodded sharply, clearly unhappy.

"Thank you," I said.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

I forced a smile as an answer, and then I said, "I'll be back." I hoped.

Alex struggled against whatever he felt, but as my Aegis, he couldn't defy me. Not openly. I felt Alex's eyes burning into my back as I exited the hall and ran through the doors. The rain had stopped. For a moment, I stood there, looking down at the city and feeling the wind claw through my hair.

I will show you. Trust me.

I hoped so, because the battle looked hopeless. Men moved along the wall fighting back the kytharii that were scrambling through the embrasures, while others shot balls of fire into the horde. We had been fighting all night, and there were more kytharii now than when they'd first attacked. Despite the despair I felt, seeing the sight before me strengthened my resolve. Wind slipped over my skin as I fled from the great hall, skipping down steps and pushing past guards, back up to the ramparts, right until I found the one person who could help me do this.

"Why won't you
die
?!" Thad screamed angrily as he hacked at a kytharii bending over an embrasure. "Ah!" Thad kicked the kytharii in the face, and the force sent the kytharii flying back squealing.

"Thaddeus!" I called over the guards.

Thad looked up everywhere, searching for the sound, and when his eyes finally found me, he gave me a look that said,
Can't you see I’m a little busy?

"I need you!" I yelled.

With an exaggerated grunt, he jogged to my side.

"All right, Thad, you want to make up for what you've done?" I asked.

He eyed me with sudden skepticism. "Well, that's a loaded question if I've ever heard one." Then he looked past me. "Where's Del Can't?" he asked as if that question were related to his skepticism.

"I need to destroy Eris's curse, and I need your help to do it."

"In case you've forgotten, both Master Durus and Arioch Prime couldn't figure out how to do that, so I'm not sure what you think you're—"

I grabbed his shoulders, my eyes boring into his. "I have a plan, but you're not coming with me. I just want help getting through the wall."

Thad stared wild-eyed at me a moment, then pulled at his hair. "Demons and hellhounds, Rook! I need you, she says. A chance to make up for my past sins. By letting you
die
?!"

"Thad. Calm. Down."

"
Calm
? Do you have any idea what Del Can't will do to me if he finds out I helped you go out there—" He pointed a furious finger toward "out there."

I grabbed his finger and shoved it down. "Thaddeus, listen to me. We don't have time. We are all going to die if I don’t do something. There are a hundred thousand dead men out there, and more are crawling out of the hillside. They are finding their way into this city, Thad. I won't get another chance."

Thad stared at me a long and desperate moment. "Does it have to be you?"

"Yes."

He pressed his palms to his face and said something I couldn't understand, and then grabbed my hand and pulled me after him and into a shadowy corner.

"Okay," he said, glancing past me to make sure no one was listening. "I can get you to the sewers. You'll have to wait here while I distract the men. But Rook…how are you gonna get past all those kytharii? They'll smell you the second you step out of the sewage."

"No, they won't," I said. "Watch." I spread my palms and shut my eyes, feeling the wind slide over me like a second skin. I could feel each and every inch of it, pressing against me, where it touched and where it moved. I was aware of it as it was aware of me, a malleable power that encased me like a protective shell, and when I opened my eyes, Thad gasped.

"How…how are you doing that?" He reached out and touched me. "You're there…I can feel you, but I can't really see you. It's like you're some kind of mirage of yourself. You're all hazy and everything." He reached out and touched my hair, perplexed and completely bewildered.

I lowered my palms and the slippery wind died, returning my image to a normal opacity. "I can use Cian to distort the air around me. He can't make me invisible, but this should be enough to hide me—especially in the dark—and he'll be able to dispel any scent."