Page 36 of The Dragon Queen
“The dragons are the key in this fight,” Queen Eldinar said. “We neutralize that threat, and the battle is over.”
“I agree,” General Ezra said. “Once we kill the dark elves who control the dragons, the dragons will be free and desperate for revenge. They’ll fight alongside us until every dark elf is dead and Barron and his kin are ash.”
“I don’t think that will be so easy,” Calista said. “I fear there’s no way to do this without hurting the dragons we’re trying to save. The dark elves will have them fight against us, and we’ll have no choice but to fight back.”
That was an outcome I accepted. Even though the dragons were all on the same side…some would die.
That realization cast a heavy silence over the table.
“Perhaps we can speak to the dragons,” Calista said. “Tell them to fight against the hold on their minds.”
“If they were able to fight it, they wouldn’t have become enslaved in the first place,” Queen Eldinar said. “The power that controls their mind is different from a fuse. It has them completely in the grasp of someone else. The spell will only be broken by the death of the elf who controls them.”
“Then we’ll kill them,” Calista said. “All of them.”
“We’ll break into three groups,” General Ezra said. “Our soldiers will face Barron’s army. Our dragons and our riders will face the elves. And Talon will slay the king. Once Barron is dead, his soldiers will no longer fight. Once the elves are slain, the dragons will no longer fight. Piece by piece, their forces will fall, while we climb.”
It was the best plan we would have. My attention would be on Barron, and while that might be selfish because it was a personal vendetta, he still needed to be killed—and I would be the one to do it.
“We’re not soldiers. We fight our battles at sea,” Ethan said. “So we’ll bring weapons to the citizens and tell them to fight.”
I nodded in agreement. “Then let’s prepare for battle.”
The moment the meeting concluded, General Ezra prepared the ships for departure. I walked across the beach while the sun dipped low in the sky, thinking about my time at sea as a pirate, unable to face the reality of this moment.
Calista walked beside me. “I think I should join Queen Eldinar and my uncle.”
I stopped and felt my boots sink into the soft sand. “No.”
“No?”
“It’s too dangerous, Calista.”
With a gaze more threatening than a tsunami, she stared me down. “Talon, I didn’t come this far to do nothing. When we met, you asked me to help you?—”
“That was before I loved you.” No longer was she a woman I just wanted to fuck. No longer was she a woman I pretended meant nothing to me. Now, she was my whole world. “I failed to protect my wife—but I won’t fail to protect you.”
The rage in her eyes quickly disappeared at the emotion in my words. “I understand?—”
“You don’t understand.” Only I would ever understand that kind of horror. “I can’t let anything happen to you, Calista. I just can’t.”
Now, she trod more carefully, treating the conversation with the delicateness it needed. “What would you have me do, Talon?”
“Remain here, honestly.”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Then stay on the ship.”
“And do nothing?” she questioned. “You gave me that armor?—”
“I wanted to be brave, but I can’t.”
“I can’t sit on a ship and do nothing, Talon. The blood of dragons runs in my veins, so those dragons are my kin, distantly removed, as far as I’m concerned. I came here to help you reclaim your kingdom and get your revenge, but I also came here for them. I love Inferno and Khazmuda. If this claims my life, then so be it.”
“Don’t say that.”
“You said I have the gift, Talon. What use is that gift if I don’t use it?”