52. Elianna

Chapter fifty-two

Elianna

My gaze lingered on my wedding gown sprawled across our bed as I pulled my fighting leathers up my thighs, wishing more than anything that I had time for a hot bath before the day ahead.

Jace approached me and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead as he finished buttoning his shirt. “You still feel guilty for what you said to Avery,” he guessed.

“I don’t know what came over me,” I whispered before placing my hands on my hips.

“Lia, you have the weight of the realm on your shoulders and our wedding night was bombarded by the queen. You’re angry and scared and hurt . You have every right to be each of those things and more. Nobody blames you for feeling this way. To be honest, they’re probably shocked you’ve held it together this long.”

“I have never lashed out at her before. Ever.”

He shrugged as he took my chin between his fingers. “We often lash out at those closest to us. The gods know that I have too many times to count on both Gage and Zae before we met.”

“You? Lash out in anger? ”

The corners of his lips lifted. “There she is.”

A soft smile formed on my face, but then the estate’s front door slammed open, startling us both. We grabbed our weapons on instinct, fastening them to their belts and sheaths as we rushed out of the bedroom.

“Commander!” Leon’s voice boomed through the house as we turned the corner of the stairs, everyone else shoving out of their own rooms behind us.

Jace raced down the stairs, taking two at a time as I remained at the top with the others.

“What is it, Leon?” I asked.

Lynelle came running through the door behind him. “Thank the gods they’re here!” she yelled, out of breath.

“What’s happening?” Jace demanded, his hands balling into fists.

Leon's eyes flew to my mate and then up to me, prompting me to slowly descend the steps.

“I fear for Ellecaster.”

My eyes flared as my steps quickened until I was at Jace’s side. “Did something happen?”

He blew out a breath through his nostrils. “You all need to come see this.”

The general turned on his heel and marched back through the door, and everyone followed.

Racing into the front yard, we turned to face the mountains in the distance, and my jaw locked instantly at the sight beheld.

Thick, black smoke was lifting into the sky at an alarming rate on the opposite end of the peaks .

“No,” Jace whispered as he turned back to face me, eyes filled with ruin.

I swallowed. “She said she left a gift for us to find.”

“Gods fucking dammit!” Jace bellowed as he pivoted and stormed up to Gage. “Prepare a fleet to march back to Ellecaster, and—”

“No,” I interrupted him, bringing everyone’s attention to me. “We don’t know what lies in wait there. It could be a trap.” My eyes moved to Veli and then back to my mate. “You and I will take Nox and scope it out before we involve any soldier. With any luck, some of them may remain and they will meet their fate by fire. However, for all we know, a trap is set at the opposite end of that tunnel.”

His nostrils flared as I felt his aggravation, pure enough to believe it was my own, but he answered me with a nod.

“I have reservations regarding it just being the two of you,” the general admitted.

“The two of us and my wyvern,” I reminded him, and he swallowed his retort as he stood frozen in my glare.

“In the least, we can prepare a small troop to await at our gates on this end, in case we need to storm the city at its opposite end immediately,” Gage interjected.

“And if they have discovered the tunnel and are on their way now to Alaia?” Zaela questioned.

I turned to her. “Then we will scorch the passage. They’ll have nowhere to run.”

The dense smoke filled the skies ahead as it danced and swirled with the air currents. Nox raced through the clouds and between the peaks. Jace and I kept our eyes peeled, watching the passage down below for any intruders as we leaned over the sides of the saddle, but we hadn’t seen a damn thing.

“We’re nearing the city,” Jace announced, and I turned to him, just as Nox’s flight took us into the outskirts of the smoke.

“Gods,” I said through coughs. “What could’ve done this?”

As our eyes adjusted, we looked down towards the city that we could catch glimpses of as the smoke passed.

There was…nothing left. No movement remained on the ground aside from that of the lingering flames. I gazed out in the distance to find that no retreating army remained in sight.

“Mother of the gods,” I breathed.

“We’re too late,” Jace hissed. He wore the face of wrath incarnate as devastation emanated from him.

“Nox, take us below,” I ordered, and on command, he tucked in his wings and sent us shooting down to the center of the once great, rebuilt city.

My lips parted in horror as I took in what was displayed before my very eyes.

Jace immediately jumped down from Nox, not even bothering to climb down the side of his saddle.

I watched him as he moved in circles, nervously scratching at his beard with widened eyes. My gaze wandered around once I climbed down to meet him .

The cobblestone streets that once shone brightly beneath the sun now bore black stains of ash. All that remained of the rebuilt structures from Velyra’s timber were ember-coated planks scattered across the city.

“They’re gone. All of them,” Jace breathed, and I felt the agony creep into him. “Hundreds of people stayed behind, Lia.”

“This isn’t your fault. They knew the risk.” I wondered if I was trying to convince him more than myself.

A guttural roar of anguish left him, bellowing through the smoke-filled air as he kicked a crumbled piece of stone among the debris.

“Does it matter?” he wondered aloud as he turned to face me. He looked every bit the grieving commander who bore the weight of his people’s lives, just as he had the day I met him. “They didn’t wish to uproot their lives and leave their homes, and we can’t fault them for that.”

“We can’t fault them for it, but we also must recognize that we did everything we could without forcing them to flee,” I reminded him as I stepped up to his side, making him meet my stare.

“This is just another fucking tragedy for us and our people, Lia,” he stated.

“You think I don’t know that? We need to be thankful for the lives we did save by evacuating, which are thousands.”

A growl rumbled through the air, turning our attentions to Nox. We observed him as he strolled about the space, sniffing the crisped remnants of the buildings, flashing his teeth and growling each time .

My eyes drifted up to the crumbling watchtower that once held Ellecaster’s gates. My feet carried me to it, and I climbed up the half-shattered steps to get a better look at everything.

Blocking out the sun's glare with my hand as the last bit of smoke faded away, I scanned what remained of the city. Bodies lay sprawled in the streets, their skin charred and melted from their bones, making my stomach roll with nausea.

“Hello?!” I yelled into the air. “Are there any survivors?” My voice echoed, bouncing off the cliffs that loomed at the edge of the city, but no responses came.

I met Jace back down where he stood, and we patrolled the ash-covered streets, desperately searching for anyone who survived or remained hidden from the attack.

We reached the back of the city, and my eyes flared as they locked on where the passage to Alaia had once been.

“Fuck,” I whispered, and we both took off into a sprint in its direction.

The courthouse’s eastern tower was destroyed. Massive boulders and fragmented pieces of its stone had collapsed and piled over the opening of where the passage had once been, completely blocking travel to and from the other side.

My eyes flew to my mate, and his shoulders sagged in defeat. “Well, it’s safe to assume that our enemy hasn’t discovered our haven. However, this proposes the issue of our armies being able to leave for war.”

Dread crept through my veins. The passage was entirely blocked. Soldiers would ultimately be able to climb over the mountainous pile of boulders, but what of our horses and supply wagons? Our food? This was a death sentence for our already battered troops.

“ A new plan must be forged ,” I said into his mind, as I couldn’t bring myself to speak the words.

“Is there even time for such things?”

“We don’t have a choice, Jace.”

A gasp of air erupted to our left, and our weapons were drawn on instinct.

“Who are you?” Jace demanded, his blade extended out toward where the sound came.

A gurgling cough answered his question, and he looked at me. “A survivor,” I breathed, and ran toward the mountains of debris.

I combed through the pile of stones, desperately digging through as the coughing quieted beneath it. Finally, a dusty, bloody face appeared before me, and I inhaled sharply at the sight of one of our men.

“Soldier,” Jace said calmly, but I could feel his concern.

My eyes drifted down to the rest of him—or what remained of him. The lower half of his body was completely crushed beneath the stone and judging by the blood that slipped from his lips and labored breathing, I knew he had little time left.

The man’s eyes slowly lifted to Jace’s, but they appeared cloudy and unseeing.

“What happened?” I had never heard my mate’s voice so soft when speaking to someone who wasn’t me. “To the city. Did an army attack?”

The man’s voice was strained. “No,” he said, the word ending in a cough. “It came from the sky. ”

My eyes widened, and my heart sank. “The sky?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

Dread flooded me, hoping that my hunch wasn’t true.

“We thought it was you.” He pointed his trembling chin in my direction, and my sinking heart cracked in two.

“Me?” The word left me in a whisper.

“ Nox .” The word traveled through my mind, and my eyes met Jace’s.

“The beast came from the sky, screeching its warning with glowing eyes the color of blood.” My jaw locked, my memory taking me back to when I stood under Azenna’s stare. “Once it reached the city gates, it unleashed its flame in the streets. There was no time for escape.”

I swallowed thickly. “I’m so sorry.” I hated the words as they left me, knowing they held no weight to the situation—an apology to a dying man as he lay crushed beneath stone next to the corpses of his brothers in arms.

“It left as quick as it came, breathing its fire onto every street, and bashing its tail against the buildings that remained.” His words left him at a sluggish pace, his voice diminishing with each passing syllable.

The man's eyes drifted to the sky before he continued. “I will get to see my family again soon.”

A tear slipped from me as I tried to steady my voice, realizing that his family must have remained here with him and perished in the fires. “You will.”

As if that was all the confirmation he needed, he took his final breath—his eyes remained open as they looked at the sky. Jace blew out a breath and gently closed the man’s eyes with a hand .

“We must burn him,” I reminded him, and he nodded in answer.

I called for Nox, and fallen stones crunched beneath his steps until he stood before us. I motioned to the wreckage, where the man's body remained beneath the boulders. “ Ignystae ,” I commanded, voice hoarse with regret and brewing rage.

Nox's jaw opened wide, and I felt the scorching heat of his flames as they erupted from him. When the fire winked out, his vertical pupil narrowed in on me.

“That’s why you were growling, isn’t it?” I asked, and Jace curiously looked at us. “You could smell the other wyvern that had been here. The one that destroyed the city.”

A purr-like rumble sounded to acknowledge my guess, and I took it as my answer.

“It appears that our worst fear has come true,” I said to Jace.

“It does indeed,” he answered. “Ellecaster is lost. We need to get back to the valley and regroup with everyone.”

“Agreed. Everyone must be there.” He nodded at my words. “And I do mean everyone .”