Blood Runner: Book Three of the Empress Saga

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

    Ban heard Grimdar's starboard watchman blow his own whistle. So far, the whistles were the best they had for calling out the position of other dragons in the formation. It got basic ideas across, but they needed a better method for when it came time to communicate in detail.

    Grimdar adjusted his course to fly alongside Deebee. He was far larger. Reds were much bigger than silvers, and male dragons tended to be significantly larger than females. Even Kimpo, who was a good fifty years older than Grimdar, would have been three-quarters his size. The Gladiator, the largest dragon Ban had ever seen besides Varn, carried forty House Yora armsmen on his back.

    The formation passed through the clouds and broke out into clear skies. Ban required a moment to take it all in. The beating of dragon wings all around him felt like thunder in his bloodstream. Brightly colored scales reflected the waning light in a brilliant display. Across the spans of open sky, Ban could hear several crews singing out old Altieri sea shanties.

    The dragons ranged from three to five centuries in age, the oldest of the dragons who had sworn to Enfri. None of them smaller than a trade frigate while others, like Grimdar, approached the size of a Gaulatian dreadnought. Twenty dragons, two hundred and fifty armsmen, and another fifty goblins. With this many soldiers being able to move across great distances at speed, they could secure the western shores of Sholis and make certain that Elise's knight wouldn't escape with Kimpo.

    They would need to spread out before much longer. A wide area needed to be covered, and the goblin diviners didn't know Kimpo's exact location in Sholis; scries were bound to locations where the goblins kept watch on other lands. The seers knew Kimpo entered Sholis and hadn't yet left, but she wasn't currently somewhere they could see.

    Doesn't matter, Ban told himself. With this many dragons and armsmen, no one will be able to get through the net we cast. Waves, but Shan Alee's a force to be reckoned with.

    Enfri's army was powerful enough that Ban actually felt uneasy about it. The part of him that was still Knight-General Kastus' student saw how devastating an aerial force like this could be.

    The nature of war was changing.

    Moon went to stand on Deebee's shoulder. It bothered Ban that she alone of the goblins didn't bother using her harness. She wore one, she just didn't use it. That infuriated Ban and made him want to throw up out of worry for her. He remembered how a few weeks ago she had leapt from Deebee's back to Kimpo's.

    She tries something like that again and I'll latch my snap-lock to her, Ban groused to himself. Even the other goblins think she's off her nut.

    It was taking some getting used to, but Ban was beginning to learn that Moon was an outlier among goblins. He'd believed that all the kith were just as fearless as she was. In retrospect, he should have known better. His lasichka was exceptional.

    Rippling Moon had taken her platinum blonde hair out of its multitude of braids and let it hang free. It was longer than when she'd last worn it down, and it would have reached past her shoulders if it wasn't blowing behind her in the wind. Moon looked ahead, like a sea captain standing at the prow of her vessel, as if the skies were hers alone.

    Her yew wood bow was in hand, and a quiver of arrows hung behind her waist. Her collection of steel knives were strapped to her belt and to her thighs. Ban wished she would concede to wear armor-- this was a frequent subject of argument between them. The one bit of protection she had was an ornate shoulder guard Ban gave her out of his father's armory. It was engraved with the Karst sigil, and Ban was certain she only wore it because it had been a gift.