Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy #1)(42)
“Today.”
“I’m thinking.” The words hissed out of me. “It’s been a long time since I saw the shipping order.” Twenty-eight days, to be exact.
“Think faster. The longer you take, the more danger we’re in.” He angled toward me and peered at the map, as though he could divine the locations from the ink.
Connections snapped in my mind.
Altan was a believer. Altan was on a quest.
“The more danger we’re in . . .” I tilted my shoulders, adjusted my tone, and made myself look as encouraging as possible. “You mean, from the gods abandoning us?” It was a risk, questioning him. Altan was unpredictable: this might pacify him, or swing him farther into anger.
“I took an oath to Khulan and all the other Fallen Gods that I would protect the Isles from every threat. Including the Great Abandonment.”
The Great Abandonment was one of the few shared stories in every holy book. The Book of Love described it as the end of our relationship with the Fallen Gods, while The Book of Warriors said it was the beginning of our war against them. Other books described it in different ways, but one threat remained the same: the gods would leave us if we didn’t care for the dragons.
I touched the lines of the map, the islands shaped like gods. Darina and Damyan, so close their toes and chests touched. Khulan, his mace raised in warning. Idris, far from the others and stumped over in contemplation. “Some people think it’s a myth.”
He let out a low rumble. “It’s no myth. The Great Abandonment is a very real threat. Khulan’s holy texts tell what the unbinding would be like: earthquakes, violent storms, unrest among the people. Does that sound familiar?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Our survival depends on dragons living here, entreating the gods on our behalf.”
“I think it’s true, too. If we lose the dragons, we lose the gods.”
“And our very homes will unbind themselves from the sea and abandon us, because we could not take care of their children.” He turned and studied me, more thoughtful now. “I’m glad you believe it.”
“Even those who don’t should understand that we are the caretakers of these islands and the creatures on them. Including—and maybe especially—the dragons.”
“Tell me where the dragons are right now. Khulani warriors will rescue the dragons and slaughter those who’d take them from their rightful place. I swear it.”
That stilled me.
We both wanted the dragons returned to the islands.
I didn’t know how I felt about the warriors slaughtering everyone—besides negatively—but I did like the idea of keeping the dragons from being taken to the Algotti Empire. That was why I’d confronted the Luminary Council, wasn’t it?
“Well?” Altan’s voice came at a low growl.
I turned to my numbers, counting the days and decans since the sanctuary dragons had been taken, and I’d seen the shipping orders, and the number of days it took to sail from Khulan to the various points that were listed on the shipping orders.
“Mira.” Altan’s mouth thinned into a line.
If I told Altan where he could find the dragons, the warriors could go rescue them.
But then the warriors would have the dragons.
But the Algotti Empire wouldn’t.
Wanting the same thing as Altan didn’t make him my ally.
I couldn’t trust Altan.
But if I didn’t, I’d go back in the dark. And then what? What about the dragons?
I took one long breath in, and pushed one long breath out. And pointed. “Here,” I whispered. “They’ll be at Crestshade from Zabel the twentieth to the twenty-ninth, and then they’ll be moved again. There.” I pointed to Thornfell. “They’ll reach it on the first day of the Hallowed Restoration and stay there for a decan. That is where they’ll begin the voyage across the sea.”
“And they’ll be unreachable.”
I looked sharply at him.
“By our ships,” he explained. “I can think of perhaps two vessels capable of crossing the open sea. The rest were built for moving between the islands. They’re smaller and faster, but they wouldn’t make it even halfway to the mainland. Not without the crew starving to death.”
“Do you have access to the ships that could cross?”
He shook his head. “The Khulani vessel is on patrol around the islands. The other belongs to the Daminan and Anaheran governments.”
The Star-Touched was a magnificent vessel. I’d seen her from my window a few times: she had seven masts, with every sail colored to represent a different island, and she required three of the largest noorestones in existence to power her. She patrolled the eastern reaches of the Isles, and was the first line of defense against an attack from the Algotti Empire.
“There’s a small chance we could commandeer the ship transporting the dragons and turn it back toward the islands, but if we reached them more than halfway to the mainland, we’d risk some of the dragons starving. Not to mention the human casualties.”
That thought was sobering. “How long does it take to reach the mainland?”
“From Thornfell, it takes seventeen days.”
Fourteen immense creatures, meant to soar in the sky—not be chained down in a cargo hold. Fourteen huge predators, meant to hunt their prey and eat it whole, not be fed whatever livestock the crew shoved in. If the crew fed the dragons at all.