Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
I walked inside, no longer touched by their unexpected union.
Effie looked up at me, and once she recognized my battle armor, all the delight in her face vanished. “What’s happened?” She slowly rose from her chair, her skin already pale at the revelation.
My helmet was tucked under my arm, and I was nervous even though I shouldn’t be. Not nervous for battle. But nervous to leave her behind and never return.
When I didn’t say anything, she left the table and walked up to me. Her entire family stopped eating and turned to hear the news.
I looked into her eyes before I spoke. “King Dunbar is sailing to the Capital as we speak. His intentions are clear—to conquer.”
Her eyes widened.
“He has a fleet of a hundred ships—and dragons.”
“Oh no…”
“I’m not sure if this is in retaliation for the death of Regar. Or if it’s simply an opportunity to conquer the Kingdoms after we’re exhausted from the battles we’ve already won. But it’s happening—and I must go.”
“What about Huntley?”
“I just sent off a letter, but I’ve received no news from him or Ivory. They may never answer the call because Necrosis won. I’m not going to depend on their victory.” I wouldn’t allow myself to think about it too deeply, because that would mean my sister was dead—or, worse, turned.
“But…you can’t leave.”
“I’m the King of Kingdoms. I must defend it.”
Her eyes were already red and blotchy from all the crying she’d done today. Now they watered once more. “I’ll come with you—”
“No.”
She cupped her face, overrun with tears. “This can’t be happening…”
“Since we’re on land, we have the advantage.”
“But the Capital is destroyed after the battle. There’s not even a castle—”
“Effie, we still have cannons and an army.”
“And they have dragons—”
“We’ll do the best that we can. And maybe Huntley and Ivory will show up.”
She stared at the floor for a moment, taking a few breaths to stifle her tears.
I didn’t want to leave her like this, but duty called me. “If King Dunbar wins, he’s not going to hurt anyone else. Take the money in my room and start a new life with your family. It should be enough to buy you a home.”
“Don’t talk like that…”
I had to. “I have to leave.”
“Right now?” she asked incredulously.
“I should have left thirty minutes ago. My soldiers are waiting for me.”
At that, she really panicked, barely having enough time to process all of this, and now she had to say goodbye…possibly for good. She launched herself into my chest and held on tightly, even though she had to hug me through my metal armor.
I hugged her back, keeping a straight face because I wanted to make this as easy for her as possible. “I’ll write as soon as I can.” My hand moved into her hair, and I kissed her forehead, treating her like her family wasn’t there watching.
She pulled away to look at me. “Please come back to me.”
“I’ll do everything I can, sweetheart.”
We stared at each other for a long time, feeling each other’s sorrow and unable to do anything about it. I was the first one to pull away. “I love you.”
Her tears came harder. “I love you too.”
The ride took several days, and by the time I arrived at the Capital, the war had already started. Smoke filled the sky. A dragon passed by so fast I wasn’t sure if I even saw it. A cannon fired, and then a loud thud sounded, as if a building had just been demolished.
I gave my orders to the men behind me, sending them into the city and to the coastline where the ships would try to dock. I wasn’t sure where Commander Brutus was, if he was still alive, but I made it to the turrets that were still functioning and found the cannons that the men were firing.
They had two dragons in their fleet, and their focus was on the cannons. They timed their attacks before they dove down and grabbed the cannon with their great talons and ripped it off the roof. The other would release a stream of fire and make everyone run for cover before they were burned to a crisp.
I found Commander Brutus in the chaos. “I just got here. I sent my men to the coastline.”
“The armies of the other Kingdoms should be on their return journey. But I’m not sure how much of a difference it’ll make.”
I looked toward the water, seeing a few ships set ablaze in the harbor from the cannons, but there were far more untouched. The dragons were doing their job and making it impossible to sink their fleet. “If we kill the dragons, we have a chance.”
“They’re too fast. Can’t line up a shot.”
One of the dragons dropped down again, sending a stream of fire all along the turret. Commander Brutus and I jumped behind a wall to dodge the fire. We were spared, but most of the men weren’t. “Are there other cannons?”