The Blades

Chapter Twenty-Two

September 13th

Dawn arose as I was awoken by Bayah flopping down on top of me as she pretended to be faint. She wailed about being tired as she lay on me. I giggled, "You need to lay off the cake!" I said and pushed her off, onto the ground. Still laughing as she got out of the dirt and dusted off her pants, I sat up, ready to begin the plan.

Leaving the tent with my best friend, I stared out into the early morning campsite. It was quiet except for the small group of us preparing to leave. Fog settled low over the ground as I made my way through the dewy grass to Airys, who was holding my saddle. Mirren was hitched nearby, passing gas as he usually did while I tossed my saddle onto his back.

We departed in silence as to not wake the camp, leaving Rosheni and Tercet in charge of the small portion of the army camped outside of Ambor. We waved goodbye as we trotted away, Mirren leaving behind a smelly trail of gas in his wake.

The road was empty of all people due to the war, so it was easy to trot through the trees. When we reached the plains, we set off at a canter, moving straight towards the ruins of Pureacre where we would hide our horses. We dismounted our horses and left them in the old barn where they would be out of sight in case of any dragon patrols over the area.

As part of the plan, Thälor and Kodi kept their weapons while we left ours with our bags by the horses. Sygnet's operative would give us some spare ones once we got in the gates. We were mostly quiet as we waited for an all-clear from Kodi, who was scouting ahead for Bray'yla, disguised as a bird. His return signaled her arrival with the wolves. Mirren gave me one last gas cloud as we left and I felt touched. On the inside.

Waiting outside of Pureacre was Bray'yla. The wolves would get us to the city in an hour, instead of all morning on the horses, and once we reached the walls, the wolves would head home on their own. After we killed Alekai, we would have to negotiate with Jayr or whoever was in charge after Alekai to get a surrender.

It was about an hour before noon when we began to approach Dolonde. The old remains of trees after that fire over a year ago still stood, although I could see saplings beginning to grow in the grass. We avoided the roads and when we got close enough to the city, under cover of trees untouched by Thälor's fire, we dismounted the wolves, who turned and padded away, towards the camps of Shifters. I exhaled. We were getting closer to it now and I could feel my heart starting to race. I could see the large blue dragons perched on either side of the main gate.

Thälor reached into her bag and pulled out a long string of rope. It was for us. Kodi transformed himself into a platinum blond with his bright purple eyes. Adopting a stoic face, he took place at the back of the group as a Nyx while Thälor tied us together. They were to pose as bounty hunters.

We were ready. I was confident in the plan. In us.

We approached the city gates, Thälor dragging us along, giving the rope a quick tug every so often to make it seem real. For a little extra show, Kodi would prod us in the back with his sword every so often.

"Halt!" called a voice from the top of the wall. Human. We did as he asked, Thälor sticking out her sword and gently slapping the flat of the blade on Bayah's stomach to stall her movement.

"I bring prisoners to collect a bounty," Thälor responded coldly.

"Which bounty?" He poked his head over the wall and peered down at us.

"I do not know, nor do I care. I just want to get paid. Are you going to let me in or not?" she snapped.

"Fine, you can go in," he told her defensively, giving a signal to raise the portcullis for her to enter with us. Humans were always scared of Nyx.