Page 98 of The Dragon Queen

Khazmuda dropped his head slightly then growled, the heat from his mouth so potent I could feel it underneath him, feel the fire in his belly warm his scales above me.I will rip his head from his shoulders and swallow it whole.

A slight smile moved over Bahamut’s lips before he returned the sword across his back, as if coming face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon covered in midnight-black scales was somehow comical. “The mighty Khazmuda—guardian of Talon’s soul. What would your king be without your scales and strength? What would he be without my command of the dead? We’re about to find out.”

Khazmuda released another growl before he struck like a snake, opening his jaws wide to bite Bahamut clean in half. But Khazmuda’s jaws closed on air, his teeth clanking when his mouth shut. He lifted his head and looked around, but Bahamut was nowhere in sight.He’s gone.

I crawled out of my shelter and rose to my feet, seeing the empty clearing where Bahamut had once stood. The fireflies had scattered from the area, as if even they knew it was best to stay away.

“Calista!” Talon sprinted into the clearing, his cape behind him, fully dressed in his armor and sword. He sprinted straight to me, the frantic terror so potent in his eyes it was like he’d already assumed I was dead. Instead of embracing me with a suffocating hug, he grabbed me by the arm and tugged me back like the threat was still there, like he could see something I couldn’t.

He’s gone.

“He’s never gone.” Talon pulled out his blade and marched through the clearing, making his way toward the tree. “Stay with Khazmuda.” He reached the tree and looked at the dead guards who had fallen, their blood soaking into the wood. Then he looked at the front of the tree where the bark remained intact, seeing no signs of damage or forced entry. He stayed that way for a while, waiting for something to happen, evidence that Bahamut would return or that the Realm of Caelum had been disturbed. When he was satisfied, he sheathed his blade then came back to us. “Baby, are you alright?” His hand immediately cupped my face and rested right on my pulse.

“I’m fine. He didn’t touch me.”

He squeezed me against him and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. “Thank you, Khazmuda.”

I would give my life for her—as I would for you.

“I know you would,” he said. “As I would for you.” He looked up into Khazmuda’s eyes. “I need you to travel to the SouthernIsles with all the haste you can muster. Tell Constantine and the others to return imminently. This is not over.”

What do you fear, Talon?

“We don’t have time to discuss this. Leave now.”

Khazmuda took a couple steps back, stretched his wings, and launched into the sky.

I watched him go before I noticed the others who joined us in the clearing. The first to arrive was Uncle Ezra, in his uniform for the first time since we’d returned to Riviana Star. Queen Eldinar was behind him, also in her armor like she came to fight.

She strode straight to Talon. “What has happened?”

General Ezra continued to the tree, seeing the dead littered around the base.

Talon turned to me.

“I—I saw Bahamut,” I said. “He killed the guards and tried to enter the tree. He would have killed me if Khazmuda hadn’t protected me.”

Queen Eldinar listened to my words, but her eyes immediately shifted to Talon for answers. She’d always been composed, even in the most difficult of times, even when we’d snuck behind enemy lines in the Southern Isles, but the worry was clear in her gaze.

“He was gone by the time I arrived,” Talon said. “But I know she speaks the truth.”

“Bahamut can’t interfere with the land of the living,” she said quickly, a false attempt to hide her fear. “He can’t step foot in this forest. This is just not possible.”

“My eyes do not receive me,” I said. “It was him—in human form. Khazmuda saw him as well.”

Her eyes remained on Talon, like he was the only one who understood just how bad this was.

But I knew too.

Uncle Ezra returned. “They’re gone. The tree shows no signs of entry.”

“If Calista hadn’t been here to distract him, he would have entered the tree and the Realm of Caelum,” Talon said. “Now he knows we expect him, so he’ll return—but this time with an army.”

“How many?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Talon said. “He had many servants in the underworld. Dark elves included.”

For the first time ever, her eyes glazed over with a sheen of unspent tears. “We don’t have the numbers. We’ve lost so many in the battles. We’re decimated.”