Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (43)

A second pearl of force madra rolled out behind Lindon, then a third.

When Lindon was soaked in sweat and about to take a break, the field faltered. Sand blew by slowly, as though drifting underwater.

When it dropped, the bird finally took off from the roof and soared into the sky. It fluttered to a halt very quickly, spinning as though to get its bearings.

It wasn’t a sacred beast, only a bird, but Lindon suspected it still must be very confused.

Lindon rocked back onto his feet and caught his breath. “Forgiveness. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Ziel looked to the pearls of force madra. “Don’t know what else you’re doing, but it feels like you could keep everything here for yourself.”

“I could,” Lindon said, and Orthos chuckled.

“That’s more like it!” the turtle said approvingly.

“I want you two to inherit what you can,” Lindon went on. “For you to have authority over it, you must earn it yourself. Anything I retrieved and handed you would give you little benefit.”

“Makes sense, as long as we don’t have to share.” Ziel extended a finger. “And I think we’ve found a friend.”

A speck in the sky was approaching quickly. It didn’t take long for Lindon to identify it as a vulture that seemed to drag a cloak of shadows with it.

[The omen of death appears, drawn to our desecration of an ancient script!] Dross said.

Lindon sighed.

It was a few more minutes before the shadowy vulture finally arrived. It perched on a nearby wall and took a moment to settle its feathers.

“I remember you, Lord Ziel,” the vulture said, in a surprisingly clear and feminine voice. “The Beast King will be pleased to see you in fighting shape once again.”

Ziel sat down and propped up his chin on one hand. “I don’t remember you.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lindon said over a bow. “I am Wei Shi Lindon Arelius.” He wasn’t certain if he should still use the name “Arelius” now that Eithan was gone, but he supposed Eithan had more right to hand out the title than anyone.

The vulture inclined her head, bowing back. “And who are you, descendant of the black dragons?”

Orthos raised his chin proudly. “I am Orthos! I come to find the tomb of my ancestors and claim his inheritance.”

“A turtle of your lineage ought to be ambitious. The Beast King is occupied in his battle against the Dreadgods, but I hear his voice in my soul. He celebrates the return of the Dawnwing Sect’s young Archlord. He has sent me to ensure that you arrived safely, but I see you have the protection of a Sage.”

Orthos glanced at Lindon, and the two shared a moment of resolve through their bond before Orthos responded. “Soon, we will no longer need it.”

“You have the arrogance of the dragons, if nothing else.” The vulture flapped her wings and extended her neck, eyeing Orthos from another angle. “If you can advance fast enough to help us against the Dreadgods, we’d be grateful, though I personally can’t see why you’d bother. Advancing in a hurry is for humans.”

Orthos snorted. “A dragon,” he said, “does not back down from a challenge.”





7





Most of Mercy’s job didn’t involve the sacred arts. She was known as a representative of her family, and the closest to her mother that most people would ever get, so she was there to listen and reassure more than anything else.

She would never say so out loud, but she was better at listening and reassurance than any of her relatives who outranked her.

Even if Uncle Fury were still here, he was fundamentally incapable of listening to anything that sounded boring. Which meant most things. His version of reassurance was “Don’t worry, I’ll kill it!”

Aunt Charity was a great listener, but people tended to find her unnerving. It was rare that they walked away reassured rather than pressured.

Her mother…was another matter entirely.

There were Archlords and Overlords throughout the family that could perform this function, but it meant something different when the daughter of a Monarch received people personally.

She met a member of the Council of Moongrave and assured him that there would be no further damage to the city, and that the clan would cover expenses. She asked about his family and found that his youngest daughter had not only reached Lowgold but was showing great promise in applying her sacred arts to a fledgling delivery business.

Distant relatives who were only technically members of the Akura clan came to her with questions, but what they really wanted to know was that they had access to the head family. She answered their questions, heard their problems, and dropped in details about their situations to show that she was paying attention.

Local sects wanted to know the clan was backing them. Foreign emissaries from the Ninecloud Court and Dreadnought City complained that they hadn’t been able to contact their Monarchs. She even authorized the reallocation of resources to house and care for those who had been displaced by the Titan.

That much was fairly normal, but there were two things that everyone was worried about, and that made Mercy’s burden that much harder to carry.

For one thing, all the Dreadgods were awake at once. Most people didn’t know that they were more powerful or intelligent than usual, but all four hadn’t rampaged at the same time since the Dread War. That made people understandably upset, especially since everyone in the city had seen the Wandering Titan attempt to cross a portal to attack Moongrave.