Legions of Bone: Dragon Rider Book 3

Chapter 39: Darkness and War Are Very Scary

I'm so happy to be done with this chapter you guys. It was literally the bain of my existence and it's so relieving to be able to move on to the really fun chapters. Don't get me wrong, I loved writing this chapter but fight scenes especially ones with a lot of people and things going on are really hard for me to write. Hopefully, it's not horrible lmao

Enjoy :)

Norah

 "How close are we to the wall?" Nevaeha wondered. She squinted, trying to see the wall behind the lines of tiny houses and shops, but the clouds were indicator enough. Everything before her was a blanket of black smoke. If Nevaeha looked hard enough, she could see the smoke rising into the sky near the horizon.

Distant screaming echoed in her head. She could feel the flames of a city being burned along her skin. The scar on her neck itched.

"It's a ten-minute walk," Norah replied from behind her, her voice calm as still water.

Nevaeha twisted back, looking at her team spaced across the flat, worn-down roof.

"How long until we leave?" Milo wondered, watching Fin watch the throng of people swimming in the streets below. His head tilted from side to side, ears twitching at the shouting and clang of metal on metal as soldiers trained nearby. He snapped his head back to see Dagen hovering behind him, watching too.

"I will scout ahead and learn where Etin's armies dwell," Vaella answered. "When I return, we will travel beyond the wall."

Until then, they waited with Norah in gods-know-where.

Nevaeha expected Vaella to take off into the sky, but the goddess cut a portal instead. She could teleport into the air and avoid the soldiers on the ground from spotting her. She only had to worry about the ones in the air.

They climbed down the roof, venturing into the streets. Mud splashed onto her boots, speckling her mouth if she stepped hard enough. Soldiers and dragons marched by, their faces gaunt, their eyes hollow.

No more than ghosts.

She spotted a few fresh faces. Squeaky clean with bright, defiant eyes of new soldiers. And others with grim faces and equally grim dragons. Nevaeha wondered what they'd seen in the previous wars, wanted to know what they expected out of this one. But no matter; she respected and appreciated them for being here nonetheless.

Norah led them through the city, weaving between the carts being hauled, the dragons and familiars and marching soldiers. The streets were wide, the cobblestone chipped and dented. The air was muggy despite the cold, but the air was worse--the stench of too many bodies close together, animal dung, and black powder clogged her nose. But there was something else... something that smelled like cooked meat and death that left Nevaeha's stomach curling.

They turned into another street. Medical bays were set up in shops and houses or new tents planted in the streets. The rot was stronger here, the metallic scent coating her tongue as well as smoke.

Nevaeha gleaned up to the smoke rising from behind one of the streets.

She heard screaming and moans the deeper they went in the street. Most of the med bays had windows, most hidden behind white cloth and sealed doors. But Nevaeha still heard the moans of pain.

"Make way!"

Nevaeha turned just in time to see a dragon, no higher than a carriage rush down the street. It came to a halt in front of a clothing store, medical staff standing out and waiting. The rider climbed down from his dragon, a man strapped to his back.