The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)(27)

“Why does it have to rhyme?” Trugg muttered. Jyn shushed him as the mirror’s surface swirled, the gray clouds moving faster and faster until colors began to bleed through, and then Kol was looking at Eldr.

Or more specifically, at the sizable city of Frenellskyre, a city Kol and his friends had flown over in their quest to see the war front. Frenellskyre had been safe and whole, far north of the war front.

But not now.

Now it was overrun with ogres. The brutish creatures loped through the streets and smashed through storefronts and workshops. They scaled homes, ripped off the roofs with one swift movement, and dove inside.

Kol gripped the edge of the table and then sank slowly into his chair as Eldrians—many of them children or the elderly left behind to care for them while the able-bodied joined the war effort—spilled out of the homes, their mouths gaping in terrified screams the mirror wouldn’t allow him to hear. His throat closed in horror as children too young to fully shift tried anyway, desperate to flee. Elderly Draconi shifted and tried to scoop their young charges in their talons, but the ogres smashed wings, broke spines, and tore his people limb from limb.

Kol made a strangled sound as he tried to breathe, tried to think beyond the tragedy playing out in front of him.

Where was his army? Why hadn’t the city been evacuated?

The answer hit him like a swift blow to the stomach. The only reason his army would fail to defend Frenellskyre was because his army was gone. His army was gone, and since Kol hadn’t received word from the royal council, the ogres must have destroyed the army so swiftly, none survived to get a message to the castle.

Nothing stood between the capital and the ogres but rivers, rough terrain, and more villages full of innocent Draconi who had no warning that ruin was about to reach them.

How long did his people have? How long did Brig have?

Irina laid the mirror back in the box and pushed the collar closer to Kol. “Do we have an agreement?”

Kol stared at the collar while his pulse roared in his ears and his hands shook. He wasn’t a predator. The princess wasn’t prey.

But Eldr was falling, and Queen Irina was its only hope. Could he really balk at hunting down the princess when the alternative was the destruction of his kingdom?

He tore his gaze from the collar and found Irina watching him intently while the snake around her neck met Kol’s gaze and hissed. Behind him, his friends, who hadn’t seen the surface of the mirror, were talking over the top of each other, their voices rising as they argued.

“He can’t go up against a mardushka, I don’t care what protection he has. That’s madness.” Jyn emphasized her point by slamming her fist against the table.

The ogres were already in Frenellskyre.

“The queen has nothing to lose if Kol fails or if the princess kills him.” Jyn glared at Irina.

His army was gone.

“She said she’d make a blood oath.” Trugg’s voice was sharp. “That means she’s bound by her magic and can’t break her promise.”

“It also means Kol would be bound by her magic. What if he can’t find the princess? What is the penalty for failure?” Jyn demanded.

The brutes tore his people limb from limb. No one in their path stood a chance.

“He won’t be paying any penalty for failure, because he isn’t going to do it,” Trugg said. “Queen Irina, one of us will take our king’s place.”

Irina never looked away from Kol. “Such loyalty. Admirable. But Eldr is his to save. He has the most to prove.” She leaned forward to press her hand lightly on Kol’s hearts, and he felt a jolt of almost pain. “His dragon heart won’t allow him to fail.”

Jyn sounded frustrated. “None of us will fail. Simply pick one, and we’ll—”

“I’ll do it.” Kol met Irina’s gaze as his friends erupted into angry protests. He whipped a hand into the air and gave them a look that begged them to listen. “She showed me the ogres. They’re already at Frenellskyre. The town was full of children and the elderly. The ogres . . . no Eldrian left there will survive the night.”

His friends stared at him in horrified silence.

He turned to Irina. “I’ll make the blood oath. I’ll hunt down the princess. And then I want every last ogre inside Eldr obliterated.”

The brilliant light of triumph in the queen’s eyes made something hard knot up in Kol’s chest, but he was out of options, and Eldr was out of time.

Irina cut the center of her palm with a quick slice of her fingernail. Blood welled to the surface. Quickly, she sliced open Kol’s hand as well and then pressed her bloody palm to his. This time there was no mistaking the jolt of power that struck him. It burned against his skin and tingled in his blood. The queen met his eyes and said, “I vow that when you have completed the task I set before you, I will use magic to destroy every ogre inside Eldr’s borders.”

He swallowed hard as the tingle of her magic surged up his arm and flooded his chest like a swarm of bees beneath his skin. “I vow that I will complete that task in exchange for your help in destroying the ogres within Eldr.”

Irina’s smile was hard and bright as she placed the collar around his neck. It lay against his collarbone, cold and rigid. “We will begin today. The coach is waiting. We’re going hunting on the Falkrain Mountains.”