Page 367 of Of Empires and Dust
Calen stoodwithin the hollow section of the canopy of thick fog that spread for miles around, Boud’s construct that obscured the land. The druid and her god had been true to their word and covered the others as they granted safe passage to the rebels who had escaped Tarhelm through the sally port – no more than a few hundred.
Kaygan, Fenryr, Ella, and the others all stood in a circle at the centre of the hollow, discussing the path forward, but their voices were nothing more than a dull throb in the back of his mind. The only sound that was clear was the thumping of his heart, and in his head all he saw was Rist walking away. None of it made any sense. No matter what way he looked at it.
He closed his eyes for a second and drew a long breath, steadying himself. When he opened them, Kaygan was looking directly at him.
“Una must rest,” the god said, tilting his head sideways as he stared into Calen’s eyes. He glanced at Una, who sat on the ground with her back against a tree, eyes closed. “The portals take their toll. We must return to Aravell now, lest she collapse here.”
Fenryr eyed him askance, lip curling. “Your Starchaser’s blood must be thin, brother. I have seen others carry half a thousand souls a dozen times.”
“Well,” Kaygan said with a mock bow, “the blood of the wolf is clearly much stronger than that of the kat, my dear brother. Perhaps your Starchaser should risk their life to carry more warriors to fight in a battle for a city that means nothing – oh apologies, none of yours yet live. Strange, that.”
Calen snapped his head around and stared at the man who had once called himself Rokka. “That ‘city that means nothing’ is my home.”
“But it is notmyhome.” Kaygan took a step closer, fangs showing as he smiled. It still felt strange to Calen to think this was the same old man he had met in the hut near the Burnt Lands. “You must understand this, Calen Bryer. I walk the path that leads me to the future I need, and no other. If you did not need me – need Tamzin, and Boud, and Una – then you would not care if I lived or lay dead with my blood feeding the earth. You care little for the things that matter to me. Why should I care for the things that matter to you? I will not risk killing one of my own when it is completely avoidable. We will return to Aravell now. And we will take back those who travelled with us, and no more. Once we do, the fog will dissipate. If the rebels leave now, they will reach the Burnt Lands unscathed – more or less.”
Kaygan leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice. “All actions have consequences, little Draleid. And it would be wise to think carefully before you believe yourself quick enough to play the great game of games. I’ve played a lot longer than you, and there are more players than you think.”
Kaygan turned and left, Boud following him, the pair kneeling beside Una.
“My brother may call himself a kat, but he is a spider,” Fenryr whispered to Calen. “It is always best to assume there is a deeper reason behind everything he does, lest you will be caught in his web.”
“I’m beginning to see that,” Calen said, watching Kaygan talk to the druids. He looked to Ella. “You haven’t changed your mind?”
“About flying with you to Salme? I’m not sure Faenir would take too kindly to that,” she said, scratching the massive wolfpine’s cheek as he let out a low grumble.
“I’m sure Valerys could carry him in his talon.”
Faenir snorted, glaring at Calen.
Calen only laughed, a laugh that died quickly. Rist consumed his thoughts.
“It’s better I return to Aravell. Tanner and Yana will want to know what happened and that Farwen is gone. And Lasch and Elia need to be told that Rist is alive.” Ella’s eyes glossed over for a second, the molten gold fading to the blue she had been born with, then back again. She let out a soft sigh and nodded at Kaygan. “Besides, I don’t trust that kat in the slightest. It’s best someone watches over him.”
Calen nodded but said nothing. Part of him wanted to be the one who told Lasch and Elia, but another part of him was thankful it would be Ella.
“I would have been honoured to fly with you,” Coren said. “But my duty now is to see the survivors safe to Aravell.” She inclined her head towards the few hundred rebels who had escaped Tarhelm through the sally port. He spotted the young woman, Yandira, near the edge of the group. “It is a long journey across the wasteland, even with the madness gone. I would see them safely across.”
Coren moved so she stood just below Aldryn’s jaw, brushing dirt from a long horn that scraped the ground. “You and Valerys fought like true warriors. I could not tell you how many of our kin were torn from this world by Seleraine and Voranur. There will not be a tear shed for them. And keeping Aldryn hidden was a wise stratagem. I can see why Aeson speaks so highly of you.”
Something in Coren’s stance shifted, and she looked down at the ground before returning her stare to Calen. “Earlier, there was something you said.”
Calen nodded, knowing what was coming.
“You said that Tinua died fighting…”
“He did.”
“How could you know that?” Coren looked at Fenryr. “You also. You told me that my master thought of me the night she died. I need to know.”
Fenryr started to speak, but Calen cut across him. “I am a druid, like Ella, but we are different. I can see things, things that have already happened. I don’t choose them, or when they happen, or what I see… but when I went to Ilnaen, we found dragon eggs buried in a hidden room in a vault below the western hatchery tower.”
Coren’s eyes widened. “How could you know of that? That place was?—”
“I know that your master was Kollna, daughter of Luan, mother of Asius.” Calen looked over to where Asius sat on a low rock, the wound in his shoulder cleaned and partially healed with Therin’s aid. “I know that she called you Daughter of the Sea that night because that was where she found you – washed ashore after a shipwreck, no other survivors.”
The woman who had seemed hard as steel faltered, her lip trembling. “H-how… how could you…”
“Alvira trusted Kollna. She asked her to hide dragon eggs in a room in that vault, surrounded by Jotnar runes. We found them.”
