Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
As of now, they were talking in terms of weeks before entering the Ordas to find Caelan and the others. The ideas had Adrian clenching his teeth to hold in his frustrated shouts. Weeks? They were going to leave Caelan and the others on their own for weeks in the Ordas?
“Faster,” he barked because he couldn’t hold it in. “This has to be done faster.”
“Lieutenant!” Tomas snapped to remind him of his place, but Adrian didn’t give a damn about his station in life or where he stood among these people. Caelan and the others saw him as family, and it was his family walking into that death trap.
“They are in the Ordas now!” Adrian shouted at him. “Regardless of how powerful the king has become, the odds are still stacked against them. We can’t wait weeks. We need to move now.”
“Are you sure they’ve entered the Ordas?” Morgan asked.
Adrian nodded. “I got a message from Drayce this morning. They were at the border. Their phones were already getting weird. He said they were going in today. There would be no more contact until we met up with them.”
Just saying those words created a lump in his throat. He should be there. Yes, he understood how important it was for him to be here, but he’d rather be right there with them.
Morgan turned her attention to Shey. “I can have a small squad of troops ready to enter the Ordas in six days. I figure our best entry point will be as far south as we can get near the Ordas-Ilon-Erya border.”
“I can have troops and supplies on a train to you in twenty-four hours, but we’ll still be behind your people,” the prince countered.
Morgan grunted in agreement. “We can add your troops to those of ours that immediately follow. We’ll need to push through in waves as we create passable roads for our larger transports.”
Finally, some of the tightness that had wrapped around Adrian’s lungs eased. For the first time since he’d left his friends, he felt like he could breathe. Something was being done. They were going to have the support they needed. And the best part was that Adrian was going to be in the lead, pointing them straight at Caelan.
“Don’t worry, Lieutenant,” Shey drawled. “There’s no way I’m letting Cael take on this fight alone. I’ll be on that train with my troops.”
“No!” Adrian jumped to his feet and faced the screen. “Caelan—I mean, the king expressly stated that you are not to come to the Ordas. It’s too dangerous, and Caspagir cannot risk her prince.”
Shey chuckled and lounged in his chair. “But that’s the nice thing about being the Crown Prince of Caspagir. I don’t have to listen to the orders of the King of Erya.”
Adrian smirked at the man. “Yeah, he said you’d say something like that.”
“Good. It means I’ll get to call him an asshole to his face when I see him again.”
The conversation continued with plans being made. Adrian was pleased with the progress, but there was a hole in his chest. Something was missing.
Someone was missing.
The dragons of the Isle of Stone would make a huge difference in this fight. They could save so many lives. But introducing them was also a risk to all of their kind. He understood the dangers on all sides, and still he wished Haru were right there.
Well, it would probably be a lot smarter if Nori were there rather than his impulsive nephew, but the sentiment was the same. The dragons needed to be part of this fight.
Caelan had been clear that Adrian wasn’t to contact the dragons.
Would he really commit treason and disobey a direct command from his king?
Maybe…
SIX
Caelan Talos
“On the left!” Eno shouted.
Caelan spun toward his left, bringing his sword up, through the thorax of the enormous spider. Two black, hairy legs reached for him, but they fell as life drained from the creature.
He continued to move through the thick brush, running to where Eno and Rayne were fighting at least a dozen of the monsters. Each of their damn legs was longer than a man, and they were frighteningly fast despite the tight tangle of trees and vines. Eno hacked at them while Rayne tried to get his protective shield up. Not the easiest thing when the fucking spiders were shooting globs of webbing at his head.
“Drayce!” Caelan roared while launching himself into the air. With his sword hilt clutched in both hands, he brought the blade down on the head of another spider, driving it to the jungle floor. The only problem was that now it was stuck. Caelan pressed his foot into the dead beast’s head and fought to free it.
A dragon bellowed just before its large body crashed through the trees. Caelan got his sword free and looked up in time to see large jaws clamp around another spider that had leaped at him. A high-pitched squeak was cut off, smothered in crunching bones.