A Shade of Vampire 40: A Throne of Fire(3)

“I think it’s the adrenaline that’s making her tired. She seems more in control of her hunger though.”

Ruby nodded.

“It would be great if she could get that under control—without any more potions.”

“Perhaps with Jenus’s help she can.”

We stopped talking as the road took a sharp turn, joining the smaller pathway that led up toward Queen Memenion’s kingdom. It had been a long time since I’d visited the castle, and it struck me as faintly ironic that we’d be returning to the original birthplace of the Acolytes.

I looked over at the queen. Her eyes were fixed on the castle in the distance, her face as determined as when we’d ridden into battle. I wondered how she felt returning home knowing that her son and husband were dead. I had recognized the face of Ronojoy among the group of Acolytes whose bodies now stained the shoreline, and hoped that she hadn’t seen him. She would know soon enough either way, but no mother should have to witness that, no matter what her son had done.





Derek





We had left the cove behind, stumbling over black-hooded bodies on the shore without taking a moment to discover who or what they were. There hadn’t been time. We could all hear the cracking of the stones behind us. A strange sensation had started to prick at the back of my neck that I couldn’t quite put into words, aside from the fact that I felt we were being watched, that some great force was awakening from the depths of the ocean, its glare fixed greedily upon us.

“Did you feel that?” Sofia asked me as we reached the mainland.

I nodded. None of us knew what we were up against in this strange land, what creatures would be following us or watching from the tall thickets of trees that surrounded our group as we hurried away from the portal.

Sofia and I ran on, the rest of GASP running or flying low behind us. Soon we reached a clearing, and with the strange sensation having faded almost completely, I decided that now was as good a time as any to regroup. I came to a halt.

“Do you think it’s safe to stop here?” my son asked.

“I’m not sure. I want to keep following the army, but I don’t want us in a position where we’ve got enemies both ahead and behind us. Jeriad, Lethe, will you take the other dragons and follow the army that went on ahead? Don’t get too close—I don’t want them to know we’re here, I just want to know what they are and where they’re headed.”

I could have sent Ben and Sherus to ensure that we weren’t seen, but I felt like the dragons would be more content if they were able to stretch their wings and get a good look at the landscape. Plus, I needed the fae down on the ground; if we heard creatures approaching up ahead, I would want Ben, Sherus and his sister to thin themselves and go ahead to investigate.

Jeriad’s aquamarine eyes fixed on mine.

“They have flying creatures of their own, I’m sure of it. I saw them at a distance.”

“Birds,” Lethe confirmed. “They looked like vultures to me, but much larger.”

Rose looked at the ice dragon with curiosity. “Then they’re likely the kidnappers of the children—it’s how we think they traveled out of the portal,” she muttered. I could see my daughter was desperate to ask the dragons to fly closer, to see if there was any evidence of my grandchildren, but held back—it would only endanger their safety at this stage.

“Recon mission only, Rose,” I asserted before she could change her mind.

She nodded, looking sideways at Caleb. Their anxiety was painfully evident, and I wasn’t immune to it either. This land was hostile, and I had only a small hope that the children of The Shade would have survived it intact.

“The rest of us need to find shelter. If the creatures emerging from those stones are coming after us, I don’t want us left defenseless and out in the open.”

“We’re hardly defenseless,” Claudia retorted, baring her fangs.

I gritted my teeth at her obstinacy.

“We don’t know what these creatures are or if we can even kill them. I don’t want half of GASP wiped out just because we were uninformed and ill-prepared,” I bit back.

Her brown eyes flashed, but she remained silent.

“Let’s get out of this forest then,” Lucas muttered. “I don’t like it… I feel like the trees are watching me.”

Lucas articulated what we’d all been thinking—but my brother in particular had an excuse to fear unknown forests, given his experience in The Dewglades. I looked out into the endless forest, trying to ignore the growing weariness that was creeping up within me again. I wondered which direction we should be heading in. I wasn’t sure that following the army would be such a good idea for the rest of us—not yet, anyway.