Gates of Ruin (Magelands Eternal Siege, #6), Christopher Mitchell [finding audrey TXT] 📗

Despite her situation, she regretted nothing. If she could do it all again, she wouldn’t change a thing. She had been right to keep the existence of the Quadrant a secret from Blackrose, and if the black dragon disagreed, then the black dragon was wrong. How Blackrose had discovered the truth was another matter, and Sable went over everything, trying to grasp an inkling of what had gone awry with her plan. Maddie couldn’t have told her, nor Millen, and Sable herself had been very careful, yet she was convinced that the black dragon hadn’t been bluffing. She had known.

Daphne pushed her way back into her mind. Why couldn’t she shake the memory of her half-sister? She had barely met the woman, let alone got to know her, and yet her thoughts kept returning to the matriarch of the family. One image in particular stood out from the others – the moment Daphne had realised that Sable was a Holdfast. Prior to that, Daphne had been calling for her execution, but when Kelsey had told her the truth, her expression had undergone an immediate transformation, and she had looked at Sable with something approaching sympathy and kinship. The Empress, of course, had been outraged by Daphne’s change of mind; Sable was a traitor who deserved to die, regardless of which family she belonged to, but the Holdfast matriarch had stood her ground, and her half-sister had lived.

Only to die in the Fordian Wastes, she thought. Still, every day beyond the one on which she should have been executed was a day extra, and she had been glad of the time she had spent with Sanguino. Her bond with the dragon had made her last month one of the best in her life. Together they had flown, when everyone else had thought it impossible. They had shown the doubters; they had killed Grimsleep, and no one could ever take that away.

She pushed the dark red dragon from her thoughts, aware that it was one of the few things that might cause her steps to falter. She loved him; it was undeniable. Like him, she was broken and maimed, and they each had a past in which they had done things that had tarnished how everyone else viewed them; but despite that, they had believed in each other.

She fell to her knees, swayed, then toppled over, lying on the baked surface of the desert. The sun was climbing the eastern sky, and the heat was growing with every minute that passed.

Get up, said the imaginary voice of Daphne in her head. Rest when you are dead.

Sable struggled back to her feet, her mind swimming in a cloud of exhaustion.

‘Thank you,’ she muttered. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome,’ said a voice in front of her.

She blinked, her vision blurry. Was there a dragon standing next to her? It was a trick of her mind, she told herself, then collapsed to the ground again. Something nudged her, something large and scaly.

‘Are you able to climb onto my back?’

Sable opened her eyes again. Something was blocking out the rays of the sun.

‘I would rather you didn’t die,’ said the voice. ‘It would cause Sanguino pain.’

Sable focussed her eyes, and saw grey scales next to her. ‘Ashfall?’

A gigantic head came down, and she felt the dragon’s breath against her cheek.

‘Are you really here?’ said Sable.

‘I am.’

‘Why?’

‘Sanguino said he cannot live without you. It is weak of him to think in such a way, but I respect him, and when he requested that I fly out here to look for you, I could not refuse. He needs you.’

Sable drew herself up into a sitting position, the words of the dragon sinking into her. She glanced around, as if remembering where she was. She went to pull on her battle-vision, then realised that she had been burning it for hours.

Ashfall’s eyes were watching her. ‘Did you hear what I said?’

‘Yes.’

‘Sanguino has defied Blackrose in this matter. She ordered that no one attempt to rescue you.’

‘Will you be in trouble with her?’

‘No. Blackrose is Sanguino’s mother, therefore she is responsible for his actions. He asked me to go, and she will have to take responsibility for that. If there is any conflict, it lies between them. Are you well enough to climb onto my back? I have never carried an insect that way, and I will not offer again.’

Sable placed her hands against the grey scales of a forelimb and pulled herself up.

‘How long were you looking for me?’

‘Since dawn,’ said Ashfall. ‘Blackrose refused to specify your exact location, and I have covered a hundred miles of desert.’

‘Does she know you left to search for me?’

‘She was sleeping when Sanguino made his request. Some of the wounds she picked up in the pits are quite severe, and I think she will need time to recover. As will you, by the look of you.’

Sable put her right foot onto the dragon’s forelimb and climbed up. The sun resumed its ferocious glare as soon as she had moved out of the shadow cast by Ashfall, and she felt dizzy again.

‘Hold on tight,’ said the dragon.

She extended her long, grey wings, and ascended into the air. Sable grasped the folds around the dragon’s shoulders, the breeze helping to lessen the heat from the sun. Ashfall gained altitude, then soared away to the north. Sable closed her eyes, and concentrated on not falling off.

‘Did you truly lie to Blackrose?’ said the dragon as they flew.

‘Yes.’

‘That was foolish.’

‘It was a calculated risk.’

‘Are you sorry?’

‘No. I would do it again.’

A low sound like laughter came from the dragon. They flew on, and Sable retreated within herself, her grip on the dragon’s shoulder the sole thought in her mind. The minutes passed, until she had lost all track of time, then they began to descend.

‘Are we there?’

‘Not yet.’

Sable opened her eyes, and saw the high cliffs approaching. Behind them, one of the volcanoes was spewing fresh torrents of lava