Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(49)
Maybe that wasn’t very fair. But it was true that we had unique abilities no one else had. And in time, we—well probably not me—the other dragon shifters would command the battle from the air as well, relaying telepathic communications back to a dragon in human form on the ground, who’d be able to issue orders. I twisted my neck back to see Lynx standing at the rear of our phalanx, the sun silhouetting his figure in his dark uniform and shining off his golden hair.
It didn’t sit right for me, the idea of being so high above the devastation when our friends would be dying below. Not when we had to fight the Scourge for real.
“They’re not exactly our friends,” Jaik said.
My stomach tightened. I had once again, muttered something out loud. Maybe it was better this time. I wasn’t talking about how hot he was. But maybe it was worse, because Lucien probably would’ve looked down on all these other shifters like the royals.
“This is how things have to be,” Jaik said. “You can’t see them as friends. You can’t see them as equals. Because if you do, you won’t be able to send them to die.”
“That’s so cold.”
“You know what’s cold?” he said. “Letting the Scourge invade our cities, letting innocent men, women and children die because you don’t want to do what has to be done. Because it seems unpleasant to you.”
Talisyn gave me a strange look. “I never thought you were that principled.”
“Maybe my time in the dungeon altered my personality for the better.” I needed to find some excuse for why I was so different from Lucien now; maybe I could sell that one. “Maybe I’m not the same man that you knew before.”
Branok snorted. “That would be nice.”
We apparently had plenty of time to chit chat as we waited for the rest of the legions to form up behind us. Just what I needed.
“Would it be?” I asked Branok. “Because it seems like you really need me to stay the same person so that you can feel good about taking your rage issues out on me every day.
“I don’t have rage issues. I just despise you.”
“Branok, Talisyn, Arren, take the other side,” Jaik ordered. “Lucien and Lynx and I have it under control over here.”
Branok glanced at me, said, “Good luck, Jaik,” then sauntered toward the other side. Talisyn slapped his shoulder, said something to him, and Branok kept moving toward the back of the other side, taking the same position as Lynx.
Arren and Talisyn stopped and faced us from across the field. Talisyn threw me a mock salute.
The instructors called something. A shout went up from the students clustered behind us, and I jumped at the noise and ferocity, even before it was echoed by the other side.
Jaik gave me a strange look. “Steady there, Luce.”
My heart pounded in my chest. Jaik surged forward, running toward the ‘enemy’ on the other side, and I followed a step later. He bounded into a jump, transforming in mid-air, and I followed more clumsily.
The moment all six of us shifted, my head filled with noise—the chatter of six dragons, relaying information to each other and orders to Branok and Lynx on the ground. At first, I couldn’t tell their voices apart.
Then I realized that part of the noise was softer, quieter. I couldn’t pick out the thread of their individual voices from the tangle of thoughts, but that’s what they were; not the words they spoke to each other, but the beat of their thoughts.
Lynx’s headaches… hope he can handle the position. He hates himself when he…
…Wolves are so fucking stupid. Sentient rugs might fight smarter…
…Gods, I’m tired. I hope these fucking nightmares…
This isn’t going to prepare them to face the Scourge. But then, nothing can. A memory rose—not mine—of a terrifying face, a gaping maw, and pain tearing through a chest…
The bonds between us all were stronger than I’d been prepared for, and I could barely keep my wings flapping and my head up as I tried to put my shields up, tried to protect myself from the rattle of their thoughts that was even louder than the roar of combat.
What the hell are the wolf shifters doing? It was Jaik’s voice, and at first, I thought he was talking to me before I realized I could barely hear it, unlike when he barked orders. Caldren’s got to get them straightened out. The Scourge would see that open flank.
He could easily imagine the Scourge tearing through the students, and I realized with a jolt that he was remembering something he’d seen before, too, chaos on the battleground.
Unlike Jaik’s callous words earlier, he worried about everyone. Down below, students were fighting each other mercilessly, and his gaze swept to the healers at the side, hoping there were enough to make sure any injuries weren’t permanent. They don’t care about losing some of us in training as long as we’re ready for the war. None of us really matter. It was a bitter, irritated thought.
Jaik has feelings. Who knew?
His head snapped in my direction. Had he heard me?
As we soared over the field, setting training dummies on fire and strafing along lines laid down with paint to represent Scourge, trying not to hit any of our friends, the older members of the Order of Dragons stood by ready to shield if one of us slipped and blasted fire in the wrong direction.
But the instructors won’t be here to shield when we face the Scourge for real. Jaik’s voice again, an accidental murmur in my ear. He was watching Tal and Arren circle toward our own side, swooping low and breathing blasts of fire. Some shifters, in the lead of their line, shied back as if they’d felt the heat of the flames. If Talisyn or the twins accidentally light up their own side, they’ll pretend they’re fine, but they’ll never get over it if they make a mistake.