“An abandoned mining facility,” Lieutenant Ward remarked.
At the edge of the table, Riley nodded, gazing at the sheets of paper scattered on the surface before him. “Yeah,” he said. “According to the information we received from Mist’s contact, the laboratory is located in what was once a large mining facility in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.”
“So, deep underground,” Lieutenant Martin mused. “Which is why they haven’t showed up on satellite or radar. And why no one has been able to find it until now.”
“An underground compound is pretty defensible,” Tristan said. “It’s going to be hard breaking in. And once we’re inside, it’s going to be even harder getting out.”
I looked at Riley. “But we know the layout of the facility, correct? And where the targets are located?”
Riley pulled a large sheet of paper from the pile and set it in the center of the table. It was a meticulously sketched map, almost a blueprint, that showed a complex underground facility with dozens of rooms, halls and stairways. “Right here,” the rogue said, pointing to a truly enormous room near the back. “That’s our target, where the vessels are being kept. We have to break in, get to that room and blow the whole thing to hell.”
“Oh, is that all?” Tristan muttered. “Sounds easy.”
Riley ignored him. “The main entrance will be heavily guarded,” he said, tapping the paper. “And according to this, they have watchtowers set up so they can see anyone coming up the road. We won’t be able to approach the main gate without tipping them off that we’re coming. But apparently this was a huge mine once.” His finger traced the surface to a different point on the map. “There’s a second entrance into the facility near the back of the mine. There are no roads that lead to it, and it isn’t well used or as guarded. Hell, they might’ve forgotten it’s there. If we take that route, we might be able to surprise them.”
“Why don’t we just collapse both entrances?” Lieutenant Ward said, pointing a thick finger at the edge of the map. “It’ll be easier to get to, easier to accomplish, and once the roof caves in Talon will have lost the compound.”
“No.” This from Ember, standing beside me. “This is Talon,” she went on, gazing around the table. “We can’t take any chances. We have to make sure that army is destroyed, and the only way to do that is to get to that chamber and personally bring it down.”
“You realize that what you’re talking about is basically a suicide mission,” Martin told her. “Once Talon realizes why we’ve come, what we’re after, they’ll send everything they have to stop us. Whoever you send into the compound, if their mission is to blow it up from the inside, that team isn’t coming out again.”
“I know,” Ember said softly.
A heavy feeling spread through me as I realized who that team would be. Casting a glance at Riley, I saw he was thinking the same. Three of us, then—me, Riley and Ember—to lead the charge into the laboratory, find the room with the vessels and destroy it.
“There should be two teams,” Riley said after a moment of silence, staring down at the map. “A large force to assault the main entrance, to draw away as much enemy fire as they can, while the second goes in the back.” He glanced at Ember, a wry grin stretching his mouth. “Hopefully, the infiltration group can sneak through and get to the target room before Talon even knows they’re there.”
“Seems tactically sound,” Martin said, nodding. “It worked on the island. The challenge here will be dealing with a much larger, well-armed force. How many men do we have to assault the compound?”
“Not enough,” Ward growled, and Martin looked at him sharply. “We’ve fought Talon before,” he said, not backing down. “To take out even one of their small compounds, we’d need at least twice the soldiers we have now.”
“Don’t forget about us, Lieutenant,” Ember said. “There are a whole lot of dragons here who are willing to stand and fight.”
“Kids,” the lieutenant said. “And females. How many of them have even held a gun? How many of those ‘breeders,’ as you called them, have recovered enough to participate in battle? An untrained soldier is more a liability than a help, even if that soldier is a dragon.”
“Kids?” Riley’s mocking voice drew our attention to the rogue, who stood with his arms crossed, smirking at the lieutenant. “That’s an entirely different tune than what you sang earlier, Lieutenant,” he challenged, making Ward’s jaw tighten. “Which is it? Either they’re helpless kids or soulless demons—they can’t be both.”
“Riley,” Ember said before Ward could erupt. “We’re not here to fight each other. And he does have a point. Lieutenant Ward,” she continued, staring the man down, “I understand your concern, but our options are limited. None of the hatchlings or dragonells has been trained like your soldiers, but they are dragons. And more important, they are all willing to fight. They’ve seen battle before, and they know what they’re going up against. At this point in the game, with the numbers working against us, we can’t be selective. The question is, will you and your soldiers be willing to work with them? Are you willing to accept that most of your troops will be dragons?”
I watched her, feeling proud as she stood up to the Order’s most infamous lieutenant. A few days ago, I expected Ward to argue, just for the sake of disagreeing with anything a dragon said. But that was before Ember had stood between him and the killing flames of an Adult. It was difficult to despise someone who had saved your life, even if they were supposed to be your mortal enemy. As she had done with me, Ember was challenging everything the Order thought about her kind. If she survived the upcoming battle, she would be vital in bridging the gap between dragons and the rest of the Order of St. George.
Ward gave an annoyed sigh. “Yes,” he snapped. “With how important the mission is, I suppose having dragons fighting alongside my troops is unavoidable. But what of the lizards? Will they accept orders from us?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Riley broke in. His mouth was set in a grim, determined line as he faced the officers. “I’ll be there. No offense, but I’m not willing to leave them in the hands of the Order. I’ll lead the assault on the main gate. You just worry about backing us up.”
“Cobalt, no.” Shockingly, it was Mist who spoke, the first time she’d said anything at any of these meetings. Pushing herself off the wall, she stepped up to the table, narrowing her gaze at the other Basilisk. “You’re going to die if you charge at Talon head-on,” she told him, and the worry in her voice surprised me. “You’re a Basilisk—you’re better off leading the infiltration into the laboratory.”
“These are my hatchlings,” Riley said. “My underground. I won’t leave them to die at the hands of Talon.” Mist started to protest, but he overrode her. “I might’ve been a Basilisk, but first and foremost, I am the leader of this resistance. My responsibility will always be to them.
“Besides,” he went on, his voice softening, “we already have a Basilisk who will go with the infiltration team. And she’ll do just as good a job as me, maybe even better.” Mist blinked, and he offered a smile. “You don’t need me there—Basilisks always work best alone. Just support and help the team like you’ve always done. I know I’ll be putting them in good hands.”
Mist sighed and glanced at Ember. “I have a feeling I know who’ll be leading it.”
Martin’s gaze slid to me. “And what about you, Sebastian?” he asked. “You’ve been very quiet over there. What are your thoughts on this operation?”
“I’m just a soldier, sir,” I replied. “I’ll go where I’m needed. And I’ll do what has to be done.” Though I already knew my part in the operation, where I would be. At Ember’s side, fighting to get her and the others into the room with Talon’s vessel army, making sure they had a chance to save us all. Martin seemed to realize this, as well, for he gave a faint smile and shook his head.
“So, it’s decided,” Riley announced. “We have forty-eight hours to get ready. Get everyone together, gather all the supplies and weapons we need, make sure everyone knows the plan. In two days, this is going down. And we’ll either succeed and stop Talon from taking over the world, or we’ll die trying.”
Silence fell over the room as Riley finished. As we all realized what we were up against, and what it would mean for everyone. This was it. The final confrontation. The last battle with Talon, where the only outcomes were victory, or death. Retreat was not an option. No matter how much opposition we faced, no matter how grim the odds, we could not leave until we finished what we came to do. Talon’s army had to be destroyed.
Even if that meant the death of every last soul in the resistance.
* * *
“Crazy times, ain’t it?” Tristan muttered.
I nodded absently. We were sitting on the roof of the farmhouse, Tristan’s rifle over his knee, gazing over the endless fields, forest and pastureland surrounding the property. It wasn’t Tristan’s turn for guard duty, but this was his favorite spot: high overhead, lonely and isolated, where he could see everything for miles.
“I was wondering…” Tristan mused again, looking down at the yard, where a duo of soldiers passed a small group of rogues headed for the farmhouse. The two groups nodded stiffly to each other, and then continued on their way. “Let’s say a miracle happens. Let’s say, somehow, Talon crumbles and we actually win this war. What’s going to happen to the Order, now that we’ve fought beside ‘the enemy’?” I can see the council demanding that we turn around and slaughter every dragon here, but I know that some of us—hell, maybe most of us—are going to have a problem with that. If St. George decides not to kill dragons anymore, what’s going to become of the Order? Where will we fit in?”
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself, and there’s no good answer, for either side. I just know the Order has to change. We can’t continue as we’ve always done, not with what’s happened.”
“Yeah.” Tristan sighed. “Guess we can worry about it when it happens. If it happens. Because, let’s face it, we’re probably all going to die when we assault that laboratory. I can’t imagine Talon is going to leave those things unguarded, even if they aren’t expecting us.” A smile crossed his face as he looked toward the distant hills. “It’s going to be huge,” he said in an almost wistful voice. “This battle, it’s more important than anything we’ve ever done. At least we’ll go out in a blaze of glory.”
I didn’t answer, and he gave me a sideways look, a grin tugging at one corner of his mouth. “Don’t tell me you’re nervous, Mr. Perfect Soldier,” he said teasingly. “You’re the reason we’re in this mess in the first place.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“No?”
“No.” I was, but not for the reasons Tristan thought. Constant fighting and the teachings of St. George had effectively smothered any fear of dying in battle. We all accepted that death was a certainty, a fact of life for the soldiers of the Order. We had all been trained to give our lives for the cause, and to have no regrets.
I had regrets. I regretted all the senseless killing I had done. I regretted that I wasn’t able to save more of us, and that most everyone I knew would probably die in battle, as Tristan had said. We were both soldiers. We knew the odds. I wished it hadn’t taken the Order of St. George being nearly wiped out to convince them they needed help, that the only way to stand against Talon was to ally with their greatest enemies.
But mostly, I wished I could’ve had more time with a certain red-haired girl. Not that we hadn’t seen each other lately; Ember had taken it upon herself to train the hatchlings to both fight and use a weapon, and had recruited me to help. I had spent the past two days going over gun safety, how to reload and how to shoot, while Ember took them through sparring as both a human and a dragon. A few hours of training wasn’t ideal, but it was better than none at all. At least they wouldn’t be going into battle completely unprepared.
So Ember and I had spent quite a bit of time together, preparing for and getting our side ready for the assault. We’d had a few quiet moments alone, stolen between mission briefings, updates and day-to-day tasks. But with our base of operations so crowded with dragons, soldiers and rebels, even those moments were few and far between.
I wondered what she was doing now. After dinner I’d gone looking for her, only to find a scowling Nettle barring the door to the room they shared. The black dragon had informed me that Ember had passed out on her bed from exhaustion, and that I could just keep it in my pants until she woke up again. Not wanting to disturb her, or argue with a bristling dragonell, I had retreated.
Tristan was still watching me with a dubious look on his face. “I’m not afraid,” I said, staring out over the fields. “I just… Ah, it’s not important. Forget it.”
“Uh-huh,” Tristan said, and I heard the grin in his voice. “I see.”
“What?” I muttered.
“Oh, nothing,” Tristan drawled. “Just… I remember the Garret from two years ago. All you talked about was guns, bullets and killing things. You were about as fun as a used dishrag, and the only thing that scared you more than inactivity was talking to a girl.” Leaning back on his palms, he regarded me with a lazy smirk. “You really are head over heels, aren’t you? It’s kind of adorable.”
“Shut up before I push you off this roof.”
He snickered, and I looked away to hide my burning face. Silence fell, the two of us quietly perusing the countryside, keeping watch as we’d done countless times before. No more words were passed between us; we already knew exactly what the other would say.
“There you are.”
The familiar voice made my senses flare to life. I glanced over to see Ember sticking her head through the attic window Tristan and I had used. Ducking to avoid the frame, she slid gracefully through the opening and walked over the shingles to where we sat in the middle of the roof. For a second, she stood behind me, gazing at the landscape stretching away below us.
“Wow, you can see everything from up here,” she murmured before glancing down at us, a smile crossing her lips. “So, what were you two discussing so intently?”
“Oh, not much,” Tristan said in a gleefully smug voice that fooled no one. “Certainly nothing that would make the Perfect Soldier want to hurl me off the roof.” Abruptly, he rose, yawning and stretching his long limbs. “Well, I’m tired of sitting in one place,” he announced, which was a bald-faced lie; Tristan’s specialty was remaining motionless for hours on end, waiting for his target to show itself. Something he not only excelled at, but actively enjoyed. “Think I’ll patrol the grounds for a bit, see if the guards are keeping an eye out. You two have fun up here.”
He gave me a very unsubtle grin, nodded to Ember, then turned and walked along the roof until he reached the window. After carefully maneuvering his rifle through the frame, he slipped through the opening and closed the panel behind him, leaving Ember and me alone.
Silence fell, broken only by the cicadas and the wind in the trees. Ember gazed down at me, and for a moment, I could see the outline of her other self in the moonlight, eyes glowing green, wings partially outstretched for balance.
“Huh,” she remarked, cocking her head. “Listen to that. You can actually hear it.”
“What?” I asked, bewildered.
“Absolutely nothing,” Ember said.
Smiling, I held out a hand. She took it and carefully stepped over my legs to sit down between my knees. I wrapped my arms around her and leaned close, feeling her body against mine, the warmth of her in the cool night air. She relaxed against me, and I closed my eyes for a moment, letting myself sink into the feeling of peace. Tomorrow, we went to war. Tomorrow, we would lead a group of soldiers and dragons into battle with Talon, a battle in which many of us would die. Tomorrow.
“Well,” Ember mused after a moment of peaceful quiet. “This is it, isn’t it? The Very Last Battle, in capitals and italics. If we win, Talon’s army will be gone. They won’t be able to do…whatever it is they’re planning. Which is probably try to take over the world, knowing the Elder Wyrm. If we lose…”
“We won’t be around to regret it,” I murmured.
She shivered, though her voice remained contemplative. “Are you scared?”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “But not for me. For everyone we could lose tomorrow.” Reaching up, I ran my fingers through her hair, brushing it from her neck. “For you.”
“I’ll be right beside you, soldier boy,” Ember said, leaning into my touch. “If we die, we go down together.”
“No,” I whispered, making her tense. Closing my eyes, I pressed my forehead to the back of her neck, willing her to understand. “Ember, my life isn’t important. If I die, nothing will change. The Order will either rebuild itself or be broken completely, and Talon will continue on as it’s always done. The loss of a single soldier will mean nothing in the long run.
“But you,” I went on, before she could mount a protest, “you’ll be the one to change things, Ember. Riley, Jade, even Mist…they’ll all play a part, but if we survive, the one who will determine the future of Talon and St. George will be you. I don’t think Riley could do it—he still doesn’t trust the Order, and his underground will always come first. Jade craves the isolation of her homeland, and Mist is more comfortable in the shadows than in the thick of things. You’re the bridge between us, dragon girl. We’re all here because of you.”
Ember gave a short, humorless laugh. “No pressure or anything,” she muttered. “But you’re wrong, Garret. It’s not just me. I might be the dragon who started questioning the way things were, but I could do that…because I met you. Because I fell in love with you, a soldier of St. George, when it was supposed to be impossible. If we never met, I might still be in Talon. I could be a Viper now, killing for them, hunting down innocent dragons. Everyone here would be a target.” She shuddered. “Actually, no, scratch that. I wouldn’t even be a Viper, because the freaking Elder Wyrm would be living in my head right now.” She clenched a fist on my arm, and my stomach curled. “I wouldn’t even be myself anymore. I’d be her. The enemy of everyone here.”
Ember took a shaky breath, pressing closer to me. “If things had gone differently in Crescent Beach,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “we wouldn’t be sitting here now. If anything, you’re the reason I’m not on the other side of this war, that I’m not the enemy of the rogues and the Order, and maybe the whole world. I’m here, Garret, because of you.”
Turning in my arms, she gave me a fierce glare as a lump rose to my throat. “So don’t you dare say your life isn’t worth anything,” she finished, staring me in the eye. “And don’t you dare go into battle tomorrow with the intent of charging off into some ultimate noble sacrifice.” One hand rose, caressing the side of my face, as she gave a faint smile. “Your past has been forgiven, Garret. Those years with the Order—you’ve redeemed yourself a hundred times over. Now, you just have to forgive yourself.” Her other hand came to rest against my cheek as she leaned in and touched her forehead to mine. “We end this together, like we’ve always done. And maybe, somehow, we’ll beat the odds and win one more time. But I’m not going to do anything without you, so you’d better be there. Besides…” The smile curled at one corner, becoming teasing, though her eyes were dark with emotion. “You still have a wager to lose, soldier boy. How am I going to kick your ass in surfing if you’re gone?”
Something hot slid down my cheek, even as I smiled back. “You’re awfully confident about that,” I said, and my voice came out slightly choked. Ember gave me a defiant grin.
“Prove me wrong, then.”
“I will,” I promised, and kissed her. She slid her arms around my neck and pressed close, and for a few fleeting heartbeats, with the moon shining down on us and stars fading from the sky, the past and future disappeared, and the present was the only moment that mattered.
Pulling back, Ember shifted and curled up against me, resting her head on my chest, as we gazed at the horizon. Overhead, the moon climbed ever higher, ticking down the minutes until dawn. It wouldn’t be long now; a few hours, and then nothing would be the same. Not for the rogues, the Order, perhaps even the rest of the world.
Ember reached back to slide her fingers into my hair. “Can we stay like this a little while?” she asked. “It’s so crowded downstairs, and I’m not going to get much sleep tonight, anyway. It’s nice to be away from everything for a few minutes.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “We can stay here.” All night if you want to. Lowering my head, I kissed the side of her neck, making her sigh, and wrapped my arms around her. “If you get tired,” I told her, “go ahead and sleep. I won’t let you fall.”
She chuckled softly. “That would be the height of embarrassing—a dragon breaking its leg by rolling off a roof. Riley would never let me live it down.” She paused, lightly tracing my arm with her fingers. “We’ve come a long way,” she mused. “And we’ve done so much in a such a short time. The Order and the rogues are working together. Riley finally got to the facility and rescued everyone like he wanted, but more important, we wouldn’t have succeeded without St. George’s help. There’s hope for us, for dragons and the Order, I can feel it. I just…” She lowered her head, her next words almost inaudible. “I wish Dante was here to see it, too.”