Page 357 of Of Empires and Dust
A powerful rumble thrummed through Vyrmír, his rage flowing into Salara. Memories passed from the dragon’s mind into Salara’s, memories of the night Ilnaen fell, of how Eltoar had bound them on Driftstone while he slaughtered the ones they loved. More memories followed of the first time she’d met that same elf in the Üvrian un’Aldryr after Vyrmír had hatched. He had seemed a different soul then – lighter, full of compassion and joy. That Eltoar was dead, and the time had come for her to kill this one.
She drew a long breath, then raised a hand in the air. “Draleid un Numillíon. Hear me now. Hold courage in your hearts, and set it in steel. Hold fire in your veins, and let it burn through you. Today, we face the traitors who destroyed our world. We will not all leave this place. This will not be a day that is looked back upon with warm hearts. Our descendants will know this as a day of wrath and a day of reckoning. It has been my greatest pride to lead you forward into this new world and to fight alongside you. Leave the white dragon unharmed, but to the rest, show no mercy and give no quarter.” Vyrmír shifted beneath Salara, his great golden wings spreading wide. “For Irulaian and Dravír, for all those we have lost, and for all those who deserve a future under free skies, fly with me now, my brothers and sisters. Forward unto victory!”
Vyrmír gave a mighty crack of his wings and leapt from the cliff, the wards of sight and sound shattering as he unleashed a roar that sent tremors through Salara’s bones.
Behind them, Nymaxes answered with a roar of his own. And from further back, Andrax, Barathûr, Baerys, Rysírix, and Lauthín all roared like thunder as they lifted into the air.
Sorrow and fury burned in Salara’s heart as the last of the dragons went to battle. There would be no victors, only survivors.
Eltoar lookedtowards the mountains at the sound of the rolling thunder that was the roar of dragons. His heart caught in his chest at the sight of Vyrmír’s golden scales glinting in the light of the sun and the Blood Moon, the dragon’s wings casting a gargantuan shadow across the mountainside. Six more flew in Vyrmír’s wake.
“Please, Salara, no. Not now…” Eltoar gritted his teeth, clenching his fist at his side. They were so close. He needed to know how the egg had hatched. “Gods damn you.”
“Is this enough then?” Voranur called as he mounted Seleraine. “Your old apprentice and this new Draleid have struck a deal. There is no denying it now, Eltoar. We are all that is left, and they would see us dead.”
Eltoar shook his head, whispering. “No, no, no…”
“Voranur is right, Eltoar.” As Lyina spoke, Avandeer, Varthear, and the young white dragon all turned in the sky, changing course to the west.
Eltoar watched them go, then pulled his helmet from the crook of his arm and slid it over his head. He drew one last long breath, then turned and mounted Helios, the great dragon’s head resting on the grass beside him, a fire burning in Helios’s veins. “Our focus is Salara and her Draleid. Leave Calen Bryer and the others. They can be dealt with another time.”
“No!” Voranur roared from astride Seleraine, the blue dragon charging forwards and cracking her wings. “I will have my blood, Eltoar. I will have it!”
“Voranur! We’re stronger together – Voranur!” Helios lurched forwards, but Seleraine had already lifted into the air. Seleraine had only ever been second to Eríthan when it came to speed, and now she tore across the sky like a streak of lightning, headed straight for Tivar and the others. Eltoar called to Lyina, who now sat at the nape of Karakes’s neck. “Go after him!”
“I will not leave you alone in this,” she called back. “Even Helios cannot stand against so many.”
“Helios will do what he must, as will I. But if that dragon dies, so too may our hopes of ever gazing upon another hatchling. Go, Lyina! Protect our future. We will show them why Helios is known as The Shadow of Death.” With that, Eltoar leanedforwards, and Helios unleashed a deep, primal roar, unfurling his wings.
The dragon surged forwards, wings cracking against the air, and then he was lifting, that familiar weightless feeling settling in Eltoar’s stomach. A glance over his shoulder told him that Lyina had followed Voranur.
Good.Eltoar looked ahead to where the seven dragons bore down on him.
Vyrmír was the largest by a distance, larger even than Karakes. They would need to isolate him.
The red-scaled dragon who had fought at the Three Sisters and Andrax, with his yellow scales and pink wings, were the next largest threats. The three dragons with scales of purple, black, and blue were all far smaller.
The green-scaled dragon, the one streaked with silver on the left of the formation, as large as Meranta had been, this one would be Helios’s first kill.
A part of Eltoar wanted to hold back, to find a way through to Salara. But over the course of his long life, Eltoar had learned that there were precious few things more unforgivable than making the same mistake twice. He had held back at the Three Sisters, and Pellenor had died for it. That thought ignited the fury within Helios, a pressure building within the great dragon, the beating of his wings rippling beneath Eltoar.
Tivar’s voice echoed in his mind.“I will not put another of our kind in the ground. I will not tear another soul in half.”
“I’m sorry,” Eltoar whispered, the wind drowning his words. “I’m sorry I failed you. Keep them safe. I will do what I can.”
Eltoar opened himself to the Spark and pulled his and Helios’s minds together. They drew a breath, icy and sharp. Their heart beat, slow and steady. They settled their mind, resolute and steadfast. To survive this, they needed to be one.
Ayar elwyn, ayar uoré, ayar nithír.
One heart, one mind, one soul.
A series of roars filled the sky as the elven dragons angled their wings and streaked towards them. They fixed their gaze on the green dragon at the left of the formation. “Må Heraya tael du ia’sine ael.”
May Heraya take you into her arms.
A brief moment of peace settled into them, and then Helios rose high, shifting, folding his wings and ripping through the sky. The other dragons were slow to react, all but Vyrmír, who twisted and cracked his wings, trying to intercept Helios’s flight. But even he was not fast enough.
Helios crashed into the green dragon with the weight and power of a falling star. The creature let out a shriek as Helios’s jaws wrapped around its throat and his talons tore at its belly. Streams of fire poured from the green dragon’s jaw, weak and feeble, Helios’s teeth cracking scales, warm blood flowing. Threads of Fire, Spirit, and Air whipped forwards from the Draleid on the creature’s back, but Eltoar sliced through them and wrapped the elf in a ward as strong as steel. He could feel the Draleid pushing back, thrashing frantically with the Spark, all fear and panic.
