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We’d all known it was coming.
With everything that had been going on, it would’ve been hard not to notice. Even after my conversation with Kye, the changes hadn’t let up. The knights had kept on arriving, Marc’s trade agreements hadn’t stopped getting thrown in his face, and Lorah hadn’t gotten a single moment away from dealing with the bullshit. The longer it had gone on, the more obvious it had become to all of us that something would give. That there would just be a point where Marc wasn’t able to push back anymore.
And as soon as he’d called a meeting at the town hall, we’d known.
That point was now.
Wood creaked under my metal boots as I stumbled up the steps. Beside me, a knight in blue-trimmed armor pushed past me and swung open the door to the town hall. I glared at the back of her head, my fingers tightening around the hilt of my blade. I had to bite back a curse, but I caught the door anyway and slipped inside.
I slipped inside with all the rest of the rangers, retreating out of the fresh, evening air and into a room that was way more crowded than it had any right to be. The pleasant sounds of shops closing up and townsfolk making their way to Sarin’s only local tavern receded behind me. They got overpowered by the commotion produced by the sheer amount of people tucked into such a small space.
Even Jason’s grumbling was drowned out by the buzz of annoyance and anticipation that was almost palpable in the air.
I stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the wooden pillars as I made my way over to where the rest of the rangers were standing. The sea of blue cloth greeted me with smiles, all coming from familiar faces.
Just in front of us, Kye and Myris were complaining to each other in hushed tones. Beyond them, Lionel and his group were laughing and joking as they always were. And all the way at the end of our pocket of humanity, Lorah stood tapping her feet. The platinum-haired leader folded her arms, flicking her eyes around every few seconds.
As I settled in, it was all too clear that she knew exactly what was coming. Though, with all of the rumors going around, I didn’t think there was a single person in the room who didn’t.
“Get out of the way, will you?” a voice asked, dry and irritated. I was smiling before I’d even noticed Jason trying to get past me. Raising an eyebrow at him, I stepped out of the way to allow him to lean back against the wall.
As soon as he noticed us, Myris straightened. “Look who finally decided to arrive.”
Beside him, Kye snickered. Her eyes ceremoniously fell on Jason. The swordsman rolled his eyes. “You try getting through those streets, old man.”
Myris cocked an eyebrow. “I did. And we got here before you.”
Even I chuckled at that. “It really was oppressively crowded out there, though.”
Kye shrugged. “It’s oppressively crowded in here. Marc’s letting us stew like pigs.”
I nodded in agreement, my hand clenching the grip of my blade for comfort. Flicking my eyes around, I really couldn’t have said she was wrong. Because no matter how bustling Sarin’s square was, at least it was outside. In fresh air that, while cold, at least didn’t force us to smell every little detail.
Inside town hall, though, we had no such luxury. Picking apart all of the murmuring voices and the people they belonged to, I couldn’t even come up with how many there were. It could’ve been two dozen—or it could’ve been more than that. All I was sure of was that the number landed somewhere between uncomfortable and unlivable.
“Some of us are more like pigs than others,” Jason muttered behind me. I turned to him, my brow furrowing. But his eyes weren’t on me. He was looking at the mass of armor on the opposite side of the room.
My eyes rolled on instinct. I glared at the swordsman, only to have him smirk at me and cross his arms. Though, even with the light-hearted gesture, I couldn’t quite push away the antagonism. Even though I was a ranger—even though I’d been one for months, I was still a knight, too. The oath I’d taken lasted until death.
And technically, I hadn’t quite died yet.
The white flame flared in my head, sending broken, meaningless thoughts to the forefront of my mind along with a wave of resentment. The visage of the beast only barely made me grit my teeth before I pushed it down.
“So,” Jason started as if just to supplant his boredom. “What do you think this is all about?” He gestured to the room.
I didn’t even bother twisting toward him again; entertaining his irritation was only enjoyable to a point. And when Jason and I had been told about the meeting at town hall, he’d just finished hunting a dangerous target. So instead of being simply arrogant, he was also exhausted.
“I think it has something to do with the mountain states,” a new voice said. Carter, I recognized before turning to see the ranger walking our way. Tan and Elena walked in right after him, the hooded inspector sparing a wave toward us.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Kye wave back. But my attention was diverted somewhere else in short time.
“You think?” Jason asked, trying his best to make sure we knew it was rhetorical. “That’s all any of the damn knights have been talking about. Being on routine patrol and guarding trade caravans obviously isn’t the most interesting thing in the world for them.”
I couldn’t help the smile that grew on my face at that. “A lot of the new ones just came from Norn, too.” Memories of Fyn rushed back to me. Both my first encounter with the cheerful knight and the numerous ones after that had included talk of Rath in one way or another. “They dealt with that before coming here.”
“Only to go right back to it,” Kye added.
“I’m just ready for it to be over with,” I said, sighing and scanning the room. “We all knew it was happening, but at least now we don’t have to wait around any longer.”
Jason nodded at that. “Ranger work is back to normal too, though.” He smirked, the expression telling us everything he’d left unsaid. I rolled my eyes. “Hunting actual game is better than—”
“Excuse me!” a voice yelled, cutting Jason off and stealing the words I’d been about to retort with from my lips. I turned to see Marc’s messenger standing over by the entrance to Marc’s office. Lorah raised an eyebrow at the man, finally letting her foot calm down.
Although, even though most of the rangers had perked up at the voice, that didn’t mean the room was quiet. On the other side of the room, still standing and sitting around the tables near the fireplace, most of the knights hadn’t listened. Or they hadn’t heard at all.
“Excuse me!” the man yelled again. A few of the knights turned, but the commotion didn’t fall away at all.
A smile tugging at her lips, Lorah glanced across the room and narrowed her eyes. When I saw what she was staring at, I smiled too. Light air drifted over to me as she concentrated.
The fireplace flared bright.
A clamor of startled cries and laughs echoed through the room. The loud, roaring crackle of the flames silenced all idle chat. After a second of it, Lorah stopped casting and slumped her shoulders, satisfied as the light level in the room dimmed again.
I stifled a snicker, listening in pure amusement as my fellow rangers didn’t nearly have that much control. Or, they didn’t care nearly as much. Across the room, the clique that was the newly formed Knights of Sarin fell almost entirely silent. Some in shock, some in respect, and some in pure confusion. And next to them, the Knights of Norn quieted in the same way as if becoming instantly aware that they were the only ones talking in the room.
Marc’s messenger, however, took full advantage of the situation. He spared one thankful glance toward Lorah before clearing his throat. “Excuse me!” For the first time, all eyes turned to him. He straightened up, the bronze emblem on his shoulder shining in new light. “Lord Marcel gathered you all here for a reason. He has an announcement to make.”
The soft, perfectly-agreeable and perfectly-forgettable voice trailed off into silence before two sturdy knocks echoed through the space. Marc’s messenger removed his hand from the door only a moment later.
As the wood creaked open, it was as if the entire building was holding its breath. Marc’s sturdy steps cut through the silence. He trudged out of the door without any of his normal poise or calculation. Running a hand over his face, he looked up at all of us and scanned the room.
The reaction on his drawn, tired face reflected what we all thought. There were just too many people.
Marc sighed, composing himself. “Thank you all for coming,” he said. His voice ramped up slowly as if he was injecting confidence into it with every second. His eyes sharpened. “Knights of Norn. Knights of Sarin. And our Rangers.”
He twisted, nodding at each group separately. Furrowing my brow, I followed his gaze and noticed the divisions were a little more real than simply in words. If I looked at it, the room truly was divided into three distinct groups. Opposite of where we were standing, the mass of chained and plated armor almost looked indistinguishable. But it wasn’t. There was a visible separation between the different sects of knights differentiated by the color of their armor’s trim.
Each group stood on purposefully opposing sides of the seating area as if they’d divided up the tables before Marc had even made the call to arms. Though, they’d still forced us to stand in the empty corner of the room by ourselves.
“As you may know,” Marc continued, “things have been changing recently.” A soft scoff sounded from the swordsman behind me. “This great town of Sarin has dealt with its current scourge, it has prospered because of it, and it has even assisted its allies in need.” The Lord of Sarin tilted his head our way. Before I knew it, a smile was sprouting on my lips. “Where before the lawless lands of Ruia were only loosely tied together… now they have grown.” Marc straightened up, forcing his metal boot into the floor. “With this change comes opportunity, but also responsibility.”
There it was, I thought with a nod. We’d all known it was coming. But judging from the murmurs sounding around me, it still didn’t go over that well. To me, it seemed straightforward. It was a simple consequence of improving the safety of not only Sarin but all of its allies as well. And with Anath’s warnings playing back through my mind, I knew how important that was.
“At the moment Sarin may be safe,” Marc said. I snapped my eyes up, my attention stolen by the calculated charisma slowly returning to his form. “Now, it may prosper. Possibly even greater than it ever has before. But that is not the case everywhere. Our brothers and sisters in Farhar, for example, are still recovering from the losses of their food stores as winter plays its receding game.”
I tilted my head. My fingers tightened on the hilt of my sword. I shot a glance sideways, cocking an eyebrow and trying to confirm the information with anybody else. Kye noticed my gaze but couldn’t answer the question in my eyes. Myris’ subtle nod, though, told me everything I needed to know.
Shit. When we’d gone to Farhar, we’d known they were in trouble. We’d known that the town had been ravaged by terrors worse than they had been in years. Even while there, I’d heard about their losses, but everything had seemed alright enough. And by now, that had been more than a month ago.
The fact that they were still dealing with issues as winter reached its tail end only served to remind me how lucky Sarin had been.
“Farhar, however, is doing well.” Marc shifted his stance, and I didn’t miss the way he suppressed the distasteful curl of his lip. “Their leadership has recognized their own strengths, our help, and put it to good use.” His fingers twitched, resisting the pull into a fist. “Other allies of ours have not been as lucky.”
A soft clamor spread through the room like a disgruntled snake as Marc’s words trailed into silence. It started with the Rangers, the lot of them already knowing what Marc meant. But it went beyond their dread of the monster that was supposed to be nothing more than a myth. The snake fed through all the harsh gazes being shot toward the knights on the other side of the room, only festering resentment between both sides.
I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the tensions that threatened to rip my past from my present.
After a moment, Marc sighed. He raised his head again and glared at the room, silencing it. “Other allies of ours have dealt with scourges of their own. Some simpler than ours, and some…” He clenched his jaw. “Some more dangerous than any of us can imagine. And while Sarin may prosper, my home of Veron does not, and neither do the mountain states as a whole. I’m sure you all are already aware of the reason why.” Movement flashed in my vision as a plethora of the knights nodded with bowed heads. “They have been allies with us—trade partners and benefactors for far too long. Now… it is time to return the favor.”
In an instant, the room erupted with discontent. It started with gasps and a flurry of sharp comments, but it rose in intensity quick. Before it could get far, however, Marc stepped forward. He let a scowl out on his face and crushed the commotion in the room with the bronze gauntlet on his armor.
“You all know the situation, but it is horrible enough that it bears repeating,” Marc said. “For months now, the mountain states have been dealing with increasingly frequent quakes. As if the mountains themselves are breaking in half. But the source of these quakes is the main cause for concern...” Marc hesitated. It was the first time I’d seen such uncertainty on the lord. “Rath may be rising again.”
A shallow breath. The mention of the high dragon sent a shiver down my spine. Ever since first learning stories about her in Norn, I’d never really pushed them from my mind. Tales of destruction so horrific yet confusing and convoluted that none of them made sense. Like they were made up by an imaginative child. Except, all of the stories carried a weight that forced that conclusion to be untrue.
“—ridiculous,” a voice muttered from across the room. Its low, frustrated tone cut through the bolstering crowd. “Using a myth to scare us like—”
Marc didn’t let the objections continue. “The stories of her are as old as stone itself,” he said. The low voice skidded to a stop. “I know it as well as all of you.”
I nodded, remembering the off-handed mentions and doubts about the rumors around town. The final account, whether true or not, of Rath’s ire was millennia old. Nobody had ever known what made her fall, but whatever it was, she wanted to rise again.
Marc sighed, shaking his head. “It may or may not be Rath herself. We have no way to know…” A cocky scoff echoed from somewhere across the room. “But we do know her cult has been active and growing in power. The nuisance that the Scorched Earth once caused has become actual and deadly threats.” Only silence followed his words after that. “And it is still more than them. There have been reports of dragons, too.”
I widened my eyes, unconsciously taking a step backward. Anath’s image flew up in my head, holding itself in my mind by propping grey wings against my skull. I shook it away, remembering not only their power but their hatred of the beast as well.
“The reports have been scattered,” Marc said. The uncertainty was back. “Confusing, convoluted, and nearly impossible in some cases, but they come from a credible source.” Marc shook his head, trying to force back his determined look even though he barely believed his own words. “No knight would lie about the mind-rending, flesh-searing death of one of their own.”
Once again, silence took the room. All of the objection, all of the discontent—it had vanished. Evaporated like a ghost as soon as Marc’s words had hit close to home. As I looked around, the faces I saw told me nobody in the room could confirm any of it was true. Nobody in the room had ever seen a dragon before. But the possibility alone… it was enough to make all of us stand in line.
“It has been particularly bad in Norn,” Marc continued, “with terrible quakes tearing age-old buildings to the ground. Their knightly force is strong and their guard is as competent as ever, but they’re spread too thin. There is too much damage, and they are being attacked on all sides.” The lines at the corner of Marc’s eyes tightened as he steeled himself. “There is the plan of an offensive to turn the tide against the cult. To deal a fatal blow, if you will. Sarin has been requested to assist, and I have agreed to give what I can.”
Despite myself, a grin grew from the corners of my lips. Because watching Marc, I knew. The way he shifted his stance. The tired look that he couldn’t hide no matter how confident he seemed. He’d been forced to give assistance whether he liked it or not.
This time, Marc didn’t even wait for the protests to arise. “I have agreed to supply them with manpower. A procession of support. Diverse enough that it can meet their various requests yet strong enough that it can meet them all head-on.” The Lord of Sarin darted his eyes around the room, narrowing them with each second as he looked over the different groups. “I cannot leave Sarin undefended, but I can also not ignore our ally’s call. I will gather an envoy of both rangers and of knights.”
No matter what our Lord wanted, grievance broke out at that. From each of the three groups, and even from myself as well. I kept my lips pressed shut, but as the white flame swirled and cascaded over me waves of fear, I couldn’t ignore it. I couldn’t ignore my own doubts and dread. The feeling still eating at my gut despite the solid resolve I’d forged.
“Son of a bitch,” Jason muttered behind me. Blinking out of my own thoughts, I turned to him. He was already glaring at the lord of our town. “He really wants to send us to the grave.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Myris responded without even twisting his gaze. “Don’t get caught up in legends when there are real lives at stake.”
Jason sneered. “Lives I’ve never heard of. From a place I’ve never been… Lives of knights, no less.”
I sneered, my eyes boring into the swordsman who wouldn’t even look my way. “Lives you could have more compassion for, at least. We’re still rangers to protect. And he still is our lord.”
“Our Lord?” Jason asked. His eyes finally met mine. “Right. The Lord of Sarin who cares more about our connections with other towns than the people who live here.”
I squinted. My grip stiffened. Staring Jason in the face, I wanted to continue arguing. I wanted to fall into the knightly routine that had been steadily rising since I’d entered the hall. But the white flame stopped me. The look in Jason’s eyes stopped me. Instead of the arrogance he was spewing out like venom, I saw the slowly encroaching hints of pure and unbidden fear.
“It’s more than just Norn, Jason,” I said. He sneered again. I held a breath. “Norn has helped Sarin. The metal in both of our swords is from there… without a doubt. All of this”—I gestured out to the room—“is about more than superficial connections. There is a real town at stake—real quakes, real lives.”
Jason grumbled something out under his breath unsavory enough I wished I hadn’t heard. I shook my head, letting a breath slip through my teeth as I turned away.
“What? Are you scared, Jason?” Kye asked.
“No,” the swordsman said and scrunched his face. “But I’m not helping knights when Sarin has its own problems. There is still game to hunt. Still food to provide. Still people to protect.” His words rattled off with as much fake confidence as I’d grown to expect. Though, he couldn’t stop them from sounding hollow.
Because they were. Excuses. That was all they were.
“Good,” a far more assured voice said. I turned back to Marc, only watching the tail end of whatever orders he’d been relaying to the two groups of knights. As we’d talked, he’d gathered them together. Congregated who he thought our envoy would need from each group.
I didn’t miss the subtle bitterness that passed between the Knights of Sarin and the Knights of Norn who’d been selected. In fact, the only one who seemed completely immune was a certain cheerful knight who was grinning up a storm. I chuckled, happy at least that travel wouldn’t be boring this time around.
Marc twisted on his heel after rattling off the last of the orders I’d paid no mind to. He turned to our corner and nodded to most of us with respect. Then, he cleared his throat. “The procession needs able fighters of all types. And it needs tacticians sharper than what my knights can offer.” He smiled, gesturing to us.
At the end of our group, Lorah both grinned and narrowed her eyes. She watched us expectantly, waiting for one of us to make the first move. And despite the film of unease settling in my stomach, I took the plunge.
I raised my hand. “I’ll go.”
Marc’s eyes flicked over to me and his smile only grew. All around me, though, the reaction was much colder than that. Instead of agreement, or complaint of any kind, the only reception I got was silence. Cold, stunned silence.
After a moment, I twisted around. Among the myriad shocked, contemplative, or even simply confused faces, Jason’s stuck out. He stared at me wide-eyed as if he’d just seen a ghost. The fear I’d seen before had made its way to the surface.
Then, after a second, his face contorted. He blinked as if in denial of what he was seeing in front of him. But before he could voice his own bewilderment, another voice broke the spell.
“I’ll go, too,” Kye said. A sigh of relief millions of pounds heavy fled from my lips.
Glancing over at her, I saw the worry in her eye. I saw hardened uncertainty and the same bitterness the knights displayed. But with it, I saw warmth. The slight smile she offered me. The tilted look as if proving to me that she’d kept her word.
I nodded, recalling what we’d just offered ourselves for. A shiver crept down my spine as I imagined what none of the legends—or even Anath’s warnings—could put into an actual image. But as I composed myself, the white flame adding to my resolve with its own, I remembered Marc’s words.
At least I fit with his first category, and Kye fit with the second better than most other Rangers did.
Marc’s eyes slid across our group. They met all the hesitant gazes and contemplation as nobody else bothered to speak up. Though eventually, his patience ran thin. “I need more than that. Norn has assisted Sarin in more ways than you know, and—”
“I’ll go too,” a voice said from somewhere in the mass of blue. Recognizing who it belonged to, though, took little time. Multiple answers of the same timbre rattled off seconds later as three other rangers followed Lionel’s call.
The Lord of Sarin smiled. Genuinely this time. “Good. That will most certainly be enough.” Without wasting another second, he stepped away from us and back toward the center of the room.
As soon as he left earshot, Jason was already kicking up dust. “What the hell was that?”
I turned to the swordsman. “I told you. It’s more than just Norn.”
Red-tinged flames flashed in my mind. Rath’s fire, I remembered. All too clearly from when my skin had been seared. Tendrils of her ire spiraled through my mind. And I just didn’t want them to ever touch the town that had become my home.
“That has been taken care of,” Marc said. I turned, blinking away the harrowing images that didn’t even exist. That would never exist, I corrected myself. “For all going to Norn, you will depart in a few days time. There will be a briefing here before you go, but you all know the way.” His eyes averted, staring into the floor. Then he sighed one last time. “May the world give all of you its favor. Dismissed.”
I smiled as Marc took a deep breath and walked off. The exhausted look returned to his face, pulling him to the floor. And on the way to his office, he didn’t even stop when his messenger started talking to him. Around me, the building erupted back into noise, but I didn’t pay it much mind. Even though my ears could pick apart almost every word, it didn’t seem like it mattered.
Before I knew it, we were all filing out.
“Hey,” Kye said as I crossed the threshold into nighttime air. She grabbed my wrist. “Did you hear what he said in there?”
I fought my wide eyes back under control. “I did. And it’s… terrifying. There’s no other word for it. But I wouldn’t have been able to take just sitting around. Not so far away. Not with the possibilities being what they are.”
Kye and I shared a knowing glance. “I know, and I feel the same way.” Then she smirked. “You think I’d want to sit around here doing assignments I’ve been doing for years while…” She shook her head. “No. I just wanted to make sure you knew what kind of shit you got yourself into.”
I chuckled. I couldn’t have helped it if I’d wanted. “I do, I think.” The white flame flickered, spawning images of the beast coated in caustic rage from deep in my mind. I gritted my teeth. “Enough to know that I’d rather have a chance.”
Kye’s smirk only widened. Then, before the next wave of knights crowded out the door, she pushed down the steps and into the calm square. “You better pray to the world that that chance even exists.”
I offered a smile, dry and only half convinced as I followed her back to the lodge.
Because despite the beast and every vile thing it had done, I was going to do exactly that.
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