Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

It was almost like Roshan knew exactly what Lyv's plans were for the following morning since he was already in the courtyard as she came through the front doors. Thia must have, too, since the saddle was already secured onto his back. He nuzzled against Lyv's stomach, closing his gray eyes in comfort as she leaned down to kiss his brow.

"You up for a short flight?" she asked him.

Even after the nonstop flight the day before, of course he was. It was time they got to spend together, just the two of them.

Lyv was undoubtedly the only one who woke up before the sun even rose. Jai was still stretched out beside her. He'd gotten back to their room late the night before, waking her for only a moment to kiss her, and was still sleeping peacefully so she didn't want to wake him. Even Elys was, having been exhausted from those two days of constant flight.

She and Roshan took it slow, mostly because Lyv wanted to gaze down at all she saw below her – thousands of troops making sure the last of their supplies were secured, fires that burned in metal pits to keep the warmth. Just two days now...and everyone would be gone off to Escarral, save for the dragons and their riders from Eld who were still working on the dragons' armor. They still had a few days before they would leave, getting to the human lands just a day after the ships.

Lyv would do absolutely anything to keep them safe.

Nudging Roshan to fly lower, Lyv held out one hand in front of her, allowing for her light and dark magic to pool in her palm. Whispering words against the wind, she closed her eyes before letting her magic swell and blanket over everything below. The enchantment she weaved curled through the encampment, swept through the tents, and found every bit of armor and weaponry throughout. Everyone who was even close to any piece paused as the metal began to glow...before they looked up with Roshan let out an impressed and triumphant roar overhead.

It was the small city for the Escarrali people Lyv was heading for then. Everyone was just getting started for the day but were doing the same things as those she saw in the encampments outside Ayveri. Her enchantment did the same with their own armor and weaponry. Even then, there was a certain energy in the air as Roshan flew lower and lower toward her human family's house. One of excitement and dread, one where everyone knew what was going to happen over those next few weeks...and that some of them wouldn't get to see Escarral be saved.

Lyv couldn't think about that, though. She knew what war was but hadn't actually been in one. She knew the horrors, had even seen a glimpse of what was to come two years prior in Asturia. But this was going to be nothing compared to what happened then. This was going to be so much more – more darkness, blood, death.

And yet they still had so much to do during it, too. That being said, the obsidian stone vessel was still secure, hidden in the inside pocket of her leather riding jacket. Just like her bag and the charm she'd put on it to make the inside larger, she did the same with the pocket. It wasn't awkwardly bulky inside so no one would know she had it on her. She wanted to keep it close just in case.

She knew something was different as soon as she walked into the courtyard of her family's home by the clanging of steel against steel.

And saw her eldest sister Ada and her husband Gyver circling each other, swords in hand, watching each other's movements before either striking fast or blocking an advancement. Lyv had never seen her sister in what she was wearing then. The leather and steel plated armor fit her like a glove, obviously crafted by the same armorer that created the rest of theirs and made specifically for her. Gyver had the same, matching his queen.