Page 161 of Of Empires and Dust
“Try to keep up.” Dayne looked to Mera and Alina. “Ready?”
Both nodded in response.
“Don’t do anything stupid.” Mera kissed him once more, then mounted Audin, clipping her straps into place on the saddle while the wyvern rolled his shoulders and let out a quiet, high-pitched, vibrating rumble.
Alina grasped his forearm. “By blade and by blood, brother. It means everything to have you by my side.”
“By blade and by blood. Stay safe. Leave the mages to me.”
“You two are adorable,” Belina said. “But it’s fucking freezing up here, and the wyverns are looking at me like I’m supper. I mean, who could blame them? Look at me.”
A deep growl and a series of high-pitched pulses escaped Rynvar’s throat as the wyvern stretched his neck forwards and curled his lips, the frills on his neck shaking.
“Good boy. Gooood boy.” Belina lifted a hand. “I’m not as tasty as I look. Lini, a little help?”
Alina held up an open palm and Rynvar purred, brushing the scales of his jaw against her fingers.
“My queen.” Belina gave a bow too deep to be believable and winked at Alina, who both glared and blushed at the same time.
Belina turned her bow in the wyvern’s direction, seeming to enjoy the hiss Rynvar aimed at her before he continued to allow Alina to scratch his jaw.
“Belina.” Dayne did little to hide the irritation in his voice. The woman was perhaps the only soul in the world with stones big enough to antagonise a wyvern.
“What? I’m just trying to be nice. What more do you want from me?”
“Silence would be appreciated every now and again.”
“You don’t mean that.”
Dayne moved closer to Belina and grabbed both of her forearms. “Oh, but I do.”
Belina’s eyes widened when she realised what he was about to do. “No, please, not again. You didn’t tell me that was how we were getting down. No,” she repeated. “I’ll climb. Just start without me, and I’ll catch up.”
Dayne’s smile stretched from ear to ear. It wasn’t often that he had Belina squirming instead of the other way around. It was a sweet thing.
“Give us some time to get to the ships. We’ll move on your mark,” he said to his sister before looking back to Belina. “Don’t scream. The cliffs will carry the sound, and they’ll hear us coming.”
“I’m going to fucking bite you the whole way down. I’m going to fucking bite you, and I’m going to draw blood.”
Dayne’s smile didn’t falter. “Deep breath.”
With that, he wrapped his arms around Belina and hauled her off the edge of the cliff.
Alina shifted forwardsand pressed herself close to the scales of Rynvar’s neck, gripping the saddle’s handles as tight as she could. The wyvern’s body snaked, and he surged upwards, the buckles clinking as the thick leather straps that held Alina in place pulled taut. She loved the feeling when Rynvar climbed, the pressure of the world pulling at her shoulders, trying to rip her free and failing.
Once the wyvern levelled out, Alina signalled for the others to hold formation. Amari and Lukira flew at her left, their wyverns – Syndel and Urin – blending with the night. Mera sat astride Audin on Alina’s right, ten other Wyndarii at her back.
They flew just below the black clouds that covered the sky, faint pink light piercing through. Below, the Lorian ships swayed in the dark water, the crashing of the waves echoing up the cliff. Dayne and Belina would be in position now, somewhere to the right of the fleet. The woman irritated her to no end. She had no sense of etiquette, and every thought that drifted into her snake pit of a brain seemed to flow between her lips. But Dayne cared for her in a way he cared for few. That was something Alina had seen from the first moment Belina had walked into the tent.
And what’s more, she fought with a cold efficiency that Alina could only respect. Between her, Dayne, and the Andurii, countless Lorian and Koraklon caravans lay burning in the dirt and almost five hundred heads were mounted on spikes along the main road leading to Achyron’s Keep.
It had been Belina and Dayne’s idea to only attack at night, to rip apart any and all raiding parties without mercy, to destroy every caravan, every camp, and every outpost they could find. To use the Wyndarii to harass the supply lines from Varsund along the Hot Gates. They could not attack the Keep without the reinforcements Aeson had promised – not without risking a horrible defeat. But they could teach the Lorians and the traitors to fear the dark.
The plan had worked perfectly. The raids on Valtaran villages near the keep had slowed to almost nothing, and some of the villagers had taken to calling Dayne and the others the ‘Demons of the Pass’, referring to the section of Valtara that connected to Achyron’s Keep.
The most irritating part about the woman though was that Amari was infatuated with her. But that was a problem for another day.
Alina took a deep breath, holding it as Rynvar dropped to catch a current of air that broke below them. Just a little longer, to ensure Dayne and Belina were in place. Savrin, Olivian, Glaukos, and some fifty of the Andurii would already be situated by the port’s gates, ready to hunt down any stragglers, letting only a handful through. Scouts had reported that some fifteen hundred spears guarded the port, along with several Lorian Battlemages. Alina had insisted they attack with greater numbers, but Dayne had been adamant they keep the party small. She trusted him, just as she trusted his judgement on naming Savrin to her Queensguard.
