Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

Smirking at the earth dragon, Alric finally sat in his chair and folded his hands together, looking a little evil genius himself. “I have both good news and bad news on that front. The good news is the Jaeggi are short on mages to drain for their magic. If we move quickly, there is a good chance we will be attacking at a time when their magic abilities will be at their lowest.”

Gunter smirked as he typed away.

“The bad news?” Dimitri inquired.

“After further consultation with Lina, she has detailed what she knows about the clan defenses. We have to assume as a teenager she likely doesn’t know the full extent, so we must plan for things to be far worse.” Alric paused and drew in a deep breath. “However, she was very clear about the ward forming a bubble over the clan’s stronghold. Anyone not affiliated with the clan will be unable to pass through. Any attacks will be deflected.”

“I’m assuming they would be able to attack us from within the safety of their ward,” Rodrigo grumbled.

Alric nodded. “Yes.”

“Then how do we take down the ward?”

“We’re still working on that. Lisette and the other mages are talking with Lina to get as much information from her as possible to determine the type of ward and how it has been constructed. They have two days to come up with a solution. If they cannot, I’ll be sending a pair of dragons and a mage to inspect the ward up close to see if they can learn what they must do to take it down.”

“If that doesn’t work, do we have any other options?” Rodrigo inquired.

“Only one that I can see,” Alric said slowly. His eyes flicked to Gunter, and Gunter’s heart froze in his chest. He couldn’t breathe. Alric wouldn’t dare ask…

“Our only other option is to send Lina inside to disable the ward, but I feel that is too risky. By the time we attack, there is a good chance the Jaeggi will have realized she has run away. Sending her in puts a child’s life in danger and I won’t do it.”

Gunter could breathe again, but the wave of relief did nothing to get rid of the heavy nausea sloshing in the pit of his stomach. What about Nikki? They’d been considered a part of the Jaeggi Clan for years. Could they get through the ward unimpeded?

Alric’s brief look meant he’d considered Nikki but tossed the idea away in the end. Gunter had never been so grateful for the kindness of his friend and king, but was he being selfish not wanting to risk Nikki’s life? Wouldn’t all this planning be for nothing if they couldn’t get through the ward?

In his gut, he knew Nikki would choose to go in. It was their decision to make, but it terrified him, and his nausea surged. It wasn’t Gunter’s right to stop Nikki from getting their revenge, but skies above, he wished he could.

“Once we have a way to take down the ward, the plan is to fly to the Jaeggi stronghold at night in four teams. Each team will have a mix of dragons from all the clans as well as mages. We will surround the entire town on all sides to make sure there is no escape this time. A fifth smaller team will be assigned to the recovery and removal of Lina’s family and the other five families. Are there any questions?”

Of course there were a lot of questions. Gunter tried to focus as best he could on the conversation, taking notes on everything, but some part of his mind kept dipping back to Nikki. He needed to get back to his mage and hold them for a little while. That would be enough to chase away these ugly thoughts of Nikki ever setting foot in Jaeggi territory again.

The idea of Nikki going into Jaeggi territory alone was terrifying. Gunter didn’t know what he’d do if he lost Nikki, but the fallout—emotionally speaking—would be brutal. Gunter couldn’t even imagine it. Didn’t want to, for that matter. He had to believe Nikki would be alright going once more into enemy territory.

Anything else was unacceptable.

It was well after midnight when Gunter finally shuffled back to his rooms. Questions from everyone had eventually devolved into Roca and Chalo trying to one-up each other in who could send more dragons, mages, and supplies to Burkhard. Gunter was pretty sure it was Lisette who’d finally texted the queens, Anawarkhi and Diya, to chastise some sense into their mates.

Dieter then called for bottles of wine to be brought up from the king’s private reserve to soothe ruffled feathers and toast their plan to destroy the Jaeggi.

When it was clear serious discussion was at an end, Gunter had packed up his laptop and quietly slipped away. It was a momentous occasion, but he missed Nikki. He needed to wrap his arms around them more than he needed to be intoxicated with a bunch of dragons.