I had no idea how to answer her and felt relieved when Simon joined us. He gave Rosaleen a quick hug before she made an excuse to leave us alone. When she did, he took my hand in his. “Are you ready?”
“I doubt I’ll ever be ready,” I replied.
“Can you do this?”
“I must.”
He gave my hand a squeeze. “Yes, but can you do this?”
I wished he would stop asking and try to understand. “Simon, I must. Let that be enough.”
“Is it so difficult? I suppose the blade has great meaning for you, because of what you accomplished with it.”
“If it were only that, tonight would be a simple end to an object of great evil. But I’ve been thinking about who I was when I used this. I was becoming an object of great evil myself. And the more I embraced the decay inside me, the easier it became to hold this dagger. I felt nothing for Endrick when I stabbed him, nor for Joth when I attacked him. But it’s different now, because I’m different now. When this blade is destroyed, Joth will lose every power that was once Endrick’s. This is another step in Joth’s destruction.” I looked up at Simon. “I feel it this time. How awful it is what we have to do.”
“There is courage in facing one’s enemy,” he said. “But it takes greater courage to feel for that enemy.”
Simon put an arm around me, and I leaned on his shoulder until we were informed that the fire was as hot as it would get. It was time to act.
A platform had been built near the fire. Simon would speak first, explaining to everyone why this destruction was necessary. Then I would throw the blade into the fire, destroying the weapon, but also destroying all of Endrick’s magic, so that no one could ever take hold of it again.
Simon kissed the top of my head and walked onto the platform, holding up his arms for silence. Then he began, “This ceremony marks the end of one battle, and the gateway to the second. Do not deceive yourselves—this is not over, we have not yet won. But we will, and it begins here. I wish to add …”
Simon’s voice trailed off as he looked sharply upward at the dark skies, then gestured in front of him and said, “Everyone move away, hurry!”
I ran to my left, and others who had been near me scattered as well, in time for Simon’s dragon to swoop down to the ground. His roar sounded like an alarm and Simon instantly took a running leap off the platform, and as the dragon prepared to launch back into the air, Simon called out, “Prepare yourselves for battle!”
Simon had no sooner taken flight before something whistled as it fell from the dark skies above, landing somewhere on the opposite side of the fire. After three seconds of absolute silence, an explosion rattled the ground beneath us. The building where Woodcourt’s gardener had once worked came down in pieces around us, followed by pleas for help and cries for the various armies to assemble. These were the Dominion fire pellets, and in this darkness it’d be nearly impossible to defend ourselves. With the Olden Blade in hand, I ran to help the injured, but Trina reached me first.
“Kestra, we have to get you inside.”
“I won’t hide while everyone fights!”
Basil appeared on the other side of me. “Joth wants the Olden Blade. If he gets it, then he retains Endrick’s powers.”
Immediately, I nodded and began to follow them, but we changed course when another whistling sound fell not far ahead, only to explode on the count of three.
“Run to the gates!” Trina called, but we had only taken a few steps before the gates of Woodcourt burst open and oropods flooded into the courtyard.
Commander Reese shouted an order for his soldiers to mount their horses and try to lead the oropods away, but the beasts had already begun to attack and were blocking the gates. We were trapped inside the walls.
Basil and Trina attempted to steer me safely toward Woodcourt, but another explosion whistled toward us, forcing us to separate. Through the smoke and dust, I couldn’t see Trina and Basil anymore, but if the fire pellets were targeting me, it was better for them if we remained separated. I redoubled my grip on the Olden Blade and ran back toward the oropods.
I didn’t get far before I heard Harlyn call for help. She had been cornered by five oropods and was firing off disks as quickly as she could, but I saw her reach into her now-empty satchel, then look up with panicked eyes.
Gabe began racing toward her, but in his hurry, he tripped over one fallen oropod, who reared up and snapped its teeth at him. He rolled to the ground to fight it and shouted at me to help Harlyn.
I ran to her and wounded the two nearest oropods before the third let out a soulful cry I’d never heard before from these creatures. It wasn’t a cry of pain, but instead seemed to be a warning. The three oropods that remained turned my way, and I raised the Olden Blade. Harlyn suddenly yelled, “Kestra, above you!”
I squatted down low, but it wasn’t fast enough and I felt a condor’s talon wrap around me, lifting me into the air. From here, I saw the mayhem below as those in the courtyard continued battling the oropods.
I squirmed the best I could within the condor’s clutches to get into a position to breathe, but the bird only held me tighter and carried me higher, past Woodcourt’s walls and toward the palace. That was unacceptable.
Gripping the Olden Blade tight enough to ensure I would not drop it, I struck its leg. It cried out, widened the talon, and with a scream, I fell into the night.
The last time I had fallen from this distance, it had almost killed me. But that was when I was nearly immortal.
I had been pushing Rawk toward Woodcourt to defend our walls, but without warning, Rawk turned us away and aimed sharply down. I didn’t know why he’d changed course, but I trusted him by now, and almost instantly, I understood. Kestra was just ahead, struggling within the talons of a giant condor.