The matriarch was lying on a pile of rubble off in the distance, smug at her destruction. All the dragons and mages were working through her mess, trying to repair and fix what she had damaged. It was laughable how much the matriarchs could get away with. Being the arbiter of magic will do that.

  He didn’t know how to feel after today’s events. They were absolutely exhausted. Sayori was working overtime moving all the stone for the water mages. They had been briefed on Taldor’s status earlier. The healers had been working hard to repair the damage to their internal organs. They had spoken with Kaden about what he had done in the field, remarking about how well he had done of a patch job.

  Sayori had been called away from some time to help them calm Taldor. There were a few spots on the dragon where they had to cut the skin back open to properly heal them. Zuma had not cared for whatever it was they were doing. They were pacing up and down after they had called Sayori away. None of the others were allowed near, but he knew the dragons could feel them. He wondered if they also were developing a connection to each other like they did with their riders.

  He let the thoughts rise and fall like the breath in his chest as he watched the mages move the rubble around. He was waiting for someone to come tell him what they were to do next. They were told to help with the cleanup and that the Grand Maester and Lord Cronley would be back to escort them to the king personally.

  The vision he had this time was way more concrete and direct evidence that a war was imminent. There would be matriarchs and the leaders of the mages fighting hand to hand against people using tech that could harm all of them. The fact that Cronley was standing there with Iratoi and Vixenta, back to back, fighting on the ground without their dragons was concerning.

  This wasn’t like the vision with the lord commander. This was an actual battle. He witnessed people falling from the skies. Dragons falling to their deaths. This was a full scale war that involved the actual matriarchs. Not only was it the matriarchs from the temples, but the wild matriarchs as well.

  The war was coming. Every matriarch he was meeting was showing him more and more of it. He had to stop it. As his journey progressed further and further, he saw that evidence in the trees, on the walls, and on the rails. The House of the Serpent was more effective than any of the realms realized. They had to stop them.

  Reese was dusting his hands off as he walked up to Kaden. “You’ve really got a knack for convincing important people to do you bidding, don’t you?”

  “What a strange way to phrase it.”

  He sighed before crossing his arms. “Well, you keep ending up in wild situations, and then getting all the most important people to trust what you say. Even the matriarchs are all on your side. I truly don’t get it. You’re just some rural backwater sheep farmer. Does your family even know what you’ve been up to? Do they know you’ve been rubbing elbows with the elite of the world?”

  His head hung and he had to admit to himself that he hadn’t even been thinking about his family. He hadn’t thought of them in a long time. He wondered how his siblings were doing, how his parents. Were the House of the serpent members there too? If they were in the forests near the borders, would they be int he fields and mountains he had come from? Would they be safe out there on their own? He hoped that their connection to him, a rider, didn’t paint a target on their back.

  After their meeting with the king, he wondered if they would allow him to stop in and see if they were okay. He had been so worried about mages and dragons that he forgot his own family. Shame was washing over him and he knew it was probably showing on his face. He felt Reese’s hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m sure they’re fine. The Serpents are attacking mages and dragons. They shouldn’t have any need for a sheep farm.”

  “We don’t know what they’re doing at all.” His eyes dropped. “I hope they let me see them before we have to leave again.”

  Squeezing his shoulder, Reese said, “I’m sure we’ll have time to stop in. If they don’t allow us, we’ll do it, anyway. We’re the heroes of the Night of Fallen Wings with the prophet telling the future. We can do whatever we want.”

  “Yeah,” Kaden mumbled in agreement as he ruminated on the title of prophet. He didn’t want to be known as that. He hoped what he had seen hadn’t been the real future, and he hoped they’d be able to stop it. They had to stop it.

  Evonne was running up the stairs nearby calling out their names and they both jump to attention. Seeing them together, she made her way to them. “I just came from the Grand Maester. The Lord will be escorting us to the king’s keep, but he wanted to help out here more before we left. The healers had spoken with the Grand Maester and they think Taldor needs some rest. So they said we’ll be staying here tonight and leaving tomorrow instead.”

  “Oh, good. I don’t want to sleep on the ground again,” added Reese.

  Evonne gave a polite laugh and asked where Sayori was. Reese motioned over toward the rubble. There she was, still lifting and moving rocks for the mages. She was going to wear herself out. After the fight they had this morning and then this mess, she’d be passed out for hours. He was thankful they were at least going to be sleeping in beds. Reese was right, it was better than having to sleep on the ground.

  All three of them walked over to help her. Kaden watched as she stomped the ground and her magic rippled through the stone. The block was nearly the size of Zuma. It was marvel to watch her casually move the stone, setting it in place elsewhere. His companions were all stronger, quicker, and more skilled than the average person. He had watched Evonne burn trees down with people in them. Reese threw him into the skies where he could alert the other dragons.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Part of him missed those days of sitting alone in the forest, waiting for deer to cross his path. The struggle of his family was hard, but that life was far easier, far more simple. He didn’t have to worry about stopping the end of the world.

  “Hey, we’re staying the night,” Reese said as they neared her.

  Her hands were outstretched as she carefully set the stone down. Wiping her brow from sweat, she said, “Oh nice, an actual bed.”

  “That’s what I said,” Reese laughed. “The Lord plans on escorting us personally, but the healers wanted to let Taldor rest the night.”

  She let out a sigh of relief. “That’s actually heartwarming and comforting to know.”

  They all continued to help until the sun set and only glow stones were there lighting the top of the temple. A mage had taken them to some small rooms that were just one floor down from the roof. Each of them got their own small room. They had brought food up to the roof for all the mages helping, so they didn’t have to go anywhere.

  They got beds alright. Very stiff, hard beds. He knew they jinxed him with their constant mentioning of the things. If the matriarch continued to believe he would stop the vision, though, then they shouldn’t have to worry about anything interrupting his sleep. He was safe, for now.

  Sleep had come quickly for him. He thought he would be up ruminating all night about what had happened, what he had seen. Instead, when his head hit the pillow and his eyes closed, the exhaustion overwhelmed him and he fell into a deep slumber. Even dreams didn’t penetrate his slumber, only the darkness of sleep.

  He woke to a heavy thwack on the door. He bolted upright, sleep still pulling at his senses. Another heavy knock and he yelled at whoever was there to give him a moment. He quickly tried to pull his clothes on and the knock echoed again just as he was about to reach the door.

  Pulling it open he said, “I said, give me a momen—t—”

  There before him stood Lord Cronley. His arms were crossed and he was looking irritated. “We need to talk.”

  “I—”

  “We are going to discuss a few things of what I already know and what you’re not telling me.” He motioned for him to walk back into the small room.

  Kaden turned around and sat ont he small bed. There was a single chair at a small table. Lord Cronley pulled it out, twirled it around, and sat down in front of Kaden.

  “Here’s what I know: My daughter and her companions found you at a random farm. You claimed to be blessed by a wild matriarch. You also had a dragon companion, which I believe is the one who liked swimming in the pool above, yes?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You saved this dragon from a magical rune trap. My daughter and her companions found another rune trap later, thanks to your assistance. This indicated a wide spread trapping attempt of dragons. One of those mages was able to identify Lord Loratyk’s runes on the trap. You then met and escorted that man to the southern water temple. There you all met with Lord Enderton as well and the official investigation started.”

  Kaden nodded.

  Lord Cronley sighed. “Then you succumb to the darkness, but that matriarch was able to help you. When I heard that part of the tale, I was confused and just hoping you would do well on your pilgrimage. Now though, you’re having visions and communicating with matriarchs. Do I have that all correct?”

  Kaden took a deep breath. “Yes, sir. You’ve managed to sum up some of the insanity of my life so quickly.”

  “Some,” he said as he leaned on his elbows onto his knees. “I need to know what happened at the citadel. What we are walking into with the King.”

  “Sir, I can’t tell you that.”

  “You will tell me. You said you saw me in this vision of yours, this war. I am your ally, young rider. I am also your lord.”

  “Actually, Lord Enderton is technically my lord.”

  He gave Kaden a blank look and a slow blink in response.

  “I was ordered by the white order to not tell anyone but the King. Even then, it’s in a letter. I’m not supposed to say a thing to him.”

  “You know that’s not how it will go, right? Do you know anything about our king, anything at all?”

  “I…” he stammered. He really had no idea what the king was about. He had been so far removed from the royalty and the politics of his country that he had absolutely no idea about the king outside that he existed and he was important. “I don’t, no.”

  “He is an arrogant fool who cares more about what people think of him than actually governing.”

  Kaden’s jaw dropped open at his candor.

  “You will not be allowed to leave until he reads that letter and you will be questioned about whatever is inside. You then will be ordered to tell him what he wants to know and if you don’t, he will order your death for disobeying him. He’s known to be ruthless that way.”

  Kaden’s eyes searched back and forth across the Lord’s face, looking for a sign that he was lying. A knot was forming in his stomach. He knew this wasn’t a lie; he knew that he was being honest and truthful with him. It was another moment where another lord, another leader, was speaking so casually and openly with him. He didn’t know why people felt like they could do this with him. It put him in such awkward spots.

  “So, I’m going to ask you again for my own damn safety. What happened at the citadel?”

  “I couldn’t sleep. We caught an assassin because of this. We were able to personally thwart the attack because we were the only ones awake.”

  “How were you the only ones awake? Weren’t there patrols?”

  “They had inside help.”

  “Who?”

  “The Ambassador.”

  “Which Ambassador?” His eyes shook with panic.

  “Ours.”

  He pushed the chair away, cursing. His head went into his hands. “We were wondering how they got so organized here so quickly. Originally, we thought that the official investigation just pushed them out into the open. We didn’t think it was because they had actual backing.”

  “So you didn’t think Lord Loratyk was actually involved? Do you think he actually does have connections with the Serpents then too now?” Kaden asked.

  He sighed. “Maybe. He’s been very open and willing to let the mages roam his region. They’ve searched his keep throughly and found nothing connecting him. I had thought he had just been framed, but now I’m wondering if he had a connection with the ambassador. They had been quite friendly before.”

  “How do you think the King will handle this?” If he was willing to kill him over misspeaking, he really didn’t want to be the one to raise his ire over delivering bad news.

  “Not well. I’m glad you told me. I can help soften the blow. You’ll need to be insistent on me being there, though. He’ll order me out.”

  “Do we need to tell him about the vision?”

  The lord’s hands were covering his head again as he mulled over the question. Silence ate at them as he waited for him to respond. The lord took a deep breath and said, “no. No, I don’t think it’s wise.”

  “Why? Shouldn’t he know that there is a war imminent?”

  “Didn’t you tell the matriarch that you’d stop it?”

  Kaden stammered. “I mean, yes, but what if I can’t?”

  “Then we’ll tell him then.”

  Kaden shook his head. “Why can’t we tell him about it now? What will he do?”

  “Refuse to believe it, claim you’re a serpent spy, and probably imprison or kill you outright.”