The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)(84)

Brac throws heatwaves at Kur’s front feet. He bats Brac away with his talons, flinging him into the dark.

Fly!

My dragon launches into the sky. Kur chases us with a blast of white-blue cold-fire. We evade him by flying higher.

Kur lunges at my dragon’s neck, clamps down with his jaws, and throws us to the ground. Everything jostles and trembles as we roll. I struggle to hang on until we are upright again. My dragon crouches, the path we rolled over scorched. Kur ejects more cold-fire at us, tearing new gaps in my dragon. The solidity of the flames beneath me begins to disperse.

As Kur gathers a finishing blast, an astounding sight appears.

Elephants? In the Alpanas?

Green-clad Janardanian warriors ride them, boasting their green-and-white dragon cobra flag. Mathura and Chitt ride together atop an elephant with ivory tusks. The herd stampedes onto the battleground. Land barges—large slabs of stone over rock wheels—roll to a halt. More elephant warriors charge off the barges into the front line, machetes raised.

They shake the ground, loosing the dirt at Kur’s feet and hauling him toward the gate. Kur’s tail crests the cold water. He vents a gut-rolling roar and blows fire at the forward row of elephant warriors. I watch in horror as his venomous cold-fire consumes rider and beast alike.

I hunch into my mount, fury boiling through me. Get him!

We take off. Kur releases a stream of flames. We swerve, but it hits the center of my dragon. The solid fire beneath me dissolves to spindles of smoke and steam. The world washes to red—orange—yellow—blue. I am falling. Fire tunnels around me in a whirlwind of shrieks and snaps.

I smack into the ground, my fire dragon fading above me, just like stars. The quakes continue with the stampeding elephants, the Tremblers relentless. They force Udug and his sister demons to the lake, but Kur is too big and heavy for tremors to topple him.

The First-Ever Dragon slams his front claw over me, locking me down. He pushes one pointed talon into my thigh. Something pops and tears. He digs in farther, puncturing through skin, meat, bone. My ears echo with screams. Only until I find my breath do I realize I am the one screaming.

Trembles carry off from the elephant warriors—distant booms in the ground. Kur’s snout comes over me. One breath and he will burn me to a heap of ash.

“It’s not too late to send you to the Void, my child. You will never suffer pain or regret again.”

I push up against his talons. Nothing but venom burns within him to parch, cold and unyielding. Falling back on my powers, I send my scorching soul-fire into him.

Kur’s brimstone breath cascades over me. “Your powers are insignificant. But another power dwells within you that can never fade. Come into the evernight.” He squeezes, crushing my sides. His whiskers brush over my face, stinging like tentacles. “I can free you from your weak mortal chains. I can make you magnificent.”

I reply through gritted teeth, “I already am.”

Screeches fill the mountaintop, a clarion call to fight. A flock of mahati falcons, the birds of prey larger than any I have seen, dive at Kur, tearing furiously at the demon. He rears up, wrenching his claw out of my limb and releasing me from his clutches. I roll to my side, gasping and cradling my bleeding leg.

Tinley leads a unit of Paljorian warriors who ride the birds. As natural enemies to serpents, the mahatis fight on instinct. They circle Kur’s crown in expert formation. Their talons scratch, and sharp beaks peck at his scaly hide. Indah and Pons ride in tandem upon a falcon with burgundy feathers and release crossbow bolts into Kur’s breast. He chases the circling flock and breathes fire. They scatter, fast and agile, but he strikes one falcon, and it plummets into the lake.

“Kali!” Deven drops to his knees beside me.

“Deven, my leg—”

He strips off his tunic and ties it around my thigh. “It’s all right. Don’t think of it. You can outlast this.”

I groan, a guttural wrench of pain, as he finishes tying the cloth. His white tunic is quickly stained crimson.

The mahati flock’s harassment drives Kur into the lake up to his hind legs, but he knocks another two falcons from the sky with his venomous fire.

A sudden wind stirs, and in the distance, lit by lanterns, a fleet of Paljorian airships speeds into view. Chief Naresh directs his crew at the bow of the lead ship. The Galers on board summon the northern wind and propel gusts at Udug and his sisters.

The ground vibrates around Deven and me, stones hopping and jumping. Whitecaps cover the surface of the lake, whipped into a frenzy by the wind. Aquifiers stake their tridents through Lilu. She flies back into the waves, and they smother her. A Trembler traps Edimmu’s flicking tongue with a boulder, and a landslide pitches her into the lake.

Udug, wounded, shoots blue fire at elephant warriors. Tinley dives at him with Chare. The falcon plucks him up, her talons ripping through his wings. Udug flails, but the falcon lowers to the water and drops him in. A swell sweeps him under.

We’re winning. We’re going to resurrect the morning. Anu is watching over us from Ekur on high. He will not let us fail.

The falcon warriors combating Kur take their leave to give room for the airships. Kur sends fire at the sky, striking one. The patchwork of sails ignites. The ship tips, the flames overtaking it, and careens into the land.

The other Paljorian airships harness the northern wind and converge on the demon dragon. Their gusts slide Deven and me into the knee-high frigid water. Deven stabs his sword through the cloth of my tunic, embedding the blade in the lakeshore and anchoring me to it. He grips the hilt, and I hold on to him.