Shadow Wings (The Darkest Drae Book 2)(6)
Tyrrik broke off his stare down with Kamoi and faced Dyter. Replying to the implied question, he said, “I cannot kill Drae. Or my blood. They were neither Drae nor my blood.”
Druman were half human, half Drae. The emperor had a hoard of them, and Tyrrik had been forced to create a large number here in Verald for King Irdelron, the only way to keep him safe from the emperor’s Druman force in our land.
The Drae’s comment about travel caught up with me. “Wait, wait. What journey? I haven’t signed up for a journey.” I surveyed the mess before me and in a voice trembling with emotion, said, “I will rebuild.”
The Phaetyn prince burst into laughter—if the sound of a quartet of singing birds, burnt-sugar candy, and fresh-cut grass could be called that. I smiled despite myself.
“You’re funny, my Lady,” he said. “I wasn’t happy to be sent here at first, but now I’m glad my mother assigned this quest to me.”
“We were coming to Zivost Forest anyway,” Tyrrik snapped, pulling me away.
I tilted my head up at the broody Drae. What’s got your aketon in a bunch?
Too late, I realized we were touching. The Drae’s lips quivered, but he made no reply.
Kamoi sighed. “I am glad to hear it, Lord Drae. I was sent to see if the rumors of a Phaetyn here were true. My mother wishes to assess her powers and teach her of the Phaetyn ways.”
I scratched my forearm through my long sleeves. I’d taken to wearing them when lapis lazuli scales began erupting all over my skin. Whenever I got emotional, which felt like all the time now, bits of my skin would change to scales. “There’s probably something you should know —”
“We need to speak with the king.” Dyter overrode me. “Before she can leave Verald.”
I frowned at him. What was his deal? Pointy Ears was clearly my kin. I felt it. He wanted to help me. Seemed impolite to not inform him I’d transform into a monster tomorrow. Maybe that would affect whatever training I needed.
Tyrrik covered the resulting awkwardness. “I agree. An audience with Caltevyn would be best.”
I closed my eyes, anger trickling into my body, and I dug in my heels. “I said, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to be a part of this fight! It’s not mine. I’m done with it.”
Dyter crossed to me and took my hand. “Rynnie, no one is asking you to be ready to fight tomorrow. If you still don’t want to fight when the time comes, that’s your choice. But wake up, my girl. There are other reasons to go to Zivost Forest. And if not to help yourself, consider the people of Verald. They may not be safe during your”—he shifted his eyes to the prince and cautiously finished—“transition when a certain person is alerted to your existence.” He pursed his lips before continuing. “I will be going to Zivost Forest, just so you know. There is much to discuss with the Phaetyn now that things have changed here.”
Drak, he knew just where to stab. Dyter was the only person I had left from my previous life. He’d first helped Mum and me when we arrived in Verald, and he’d always been my mentor, and in recent times, my boss. He was the only father I’d ever known. I needed him. I did want to learn how to be a proper Phaetyn, and I didn’t want to hurt the people here . . .
I opened my eyes, heaving a bone-weary exhale. “I’ll think about it. But the answer will probably be no.”
Despite my words, I’d already decided I’d be going. Judging by the gleam in Dyter’s eyes, he knew it, too.
Ignoring the other two man-creatures, I stomped in the direction of the ruined tavern to find a corner to spend the night. “I’m done now. I need some rest. You can all leave.”
“Be at the castle at first light,” Tyrrik said, I assumed, to Kamoi. The Drae knew better than to talk to me in that voice.
I heard someone leave and glanced up to see both Dyter and the Phaetyn prince were gone. I paused, one foot on a pile of broken bricks. My birthday was tomorrow, and there was something I needed to know and only one person I could ask. I knew he wouldn’t leave me, he’d already said as much, so without turning around, I called out to Lord Tyrrik, “Is it going to happen tonight?”
I heard him inhale long and hard. Because that’s not creepy at all.
“Not tonight,” his silky voice carried to me. “Tomorrow, Ryn . . . when darkness falls.”
I was just going for the company, I decided. I didn’t want to spend my birthday alone. In a bout of morbidness, I’d elected to walk into the center of Verald to the King’s Castle through my old zone. And, potential birthday company aside, I wasn’t about to let Dyter leave the kingdom without me. Who knew what kind of trouble he could, and probably would, get in with Tyrrik there?
Harvest Zone Seven was still mostly a wedge-shaped hunk of ash from when Tyrrik burned it to the ground, with the exception of my Tyr flowers. Now he’d also demolished The Raven’s Hollow, I had nowhere else to go. The people of the Inbetween and Money Coil were yet to come back and rebuild Zone Seven. Who knew if they ever would? And I doubted any more of Dyter’s relatives would want to take me in, knowing I was cursed to be shadowed by a destructive Drae.
I trudged through the mostly barren Harvest Zone that had been my life only a few months ago. The Zone still had no buildings, but there was life now.
Harvest Zone Seven was filled with fields of blue flowers, the shape of the metal one my mother took me to during my childhood. In the moonlight, my vibrant blooms glowed. Thinking about them, I wondered if maybe it hadn’t been that hard for the Phaetyn prince and emperor to find me. The pressure of my emotions built behind my eyes as I moved between the thick stalks of blossoms, but I shoved the feelings back, instead concentrating on the soft petals as I trailed my fingers over them. Those blooms I touched flared with light, standing to attention as I passed.