“It will,” Imogen guaranteed. “Their ability is one in the same. One fueled by evil, the other fueled by good. Braxton can do it.”
Charlotte smiled at me, hopeful, while the rest of my guard’s nods echoed my mentor’s confidence.
“Once the wards are gone, we will still have to remove the impasse on the ground, where the rest of our army will need to enter,” Harper noted, pointing to the two layers of foothills that fenced everything, the river of lava behind it, and the actual curtain wall that protected the palace. “These two mountain layers are our second hurtle.”
“The sentry’s front line will gather right after the first one, waiting for us to breach,” Asher agreed. “Their mission will be to stop the land riders, and our warriors, from reaching the next impasse.”
“The foothills fencing it are too closed off and steep for the horses to make it through it,” Harrison considered, his gaze taking in every angle. “Our warriors could go on foot, but they would have to climb it and—”
“That will take a lot of time and strength they need to fight.” Kingston nodded.
“Can we melt the mountain fence?” Willow asked from where she stood near the chief. “I mean, Azazel’s fire can melt them.”
“Yes, but Azazel is the most powerful Dragon we have ever faced,” Evanna began to counter, then paused, as though realizing something. “What exactly makes Azazel so powerful?”
“Aside from the fact that he is four times the size of any other ride?” Skylar huffed, making everyone echo in agreement.
“Except, it isn’t his size that makes him so mighty,” Evanna interjected. “If anything, that slows him down.”
“It’s his combined breath,” Aaron offered. “He has four times the fire power.”
“Literally,” I added, grinning at Willow’s brilliant idea. “So do we. Tharion’s breath can also melt mountains, he did it the day we rescued the slaves, and Nikau. He also melted the side of our kingdom close after Raithian’s attack. We just need to give him reinforcements.”
Evanna’s gaze instantly shifted to Quinn. “Please find Nikau and bring him here at once.”
While Quinn ran out of the room on her mission, I connected with Tharion, double checking the plan.
“It will work,” I announced after speaking with him. “He and a few other Dragons can attack the foothills on either side, their unified breaths will dissolve them both for our warriors to pass.”
“Once we defeat the first two waves of sentries, that will still leave the lava moat that surrounds the fortress, and the tall barricade behind it,” Kingston considered.
Not to mention that each barrier was divided by like a mile or two of harsh terrain made of hardened lava, ash, and igneous rock. This made each layer become a battle zone of its own, and our warriors had to surpass them all in order to ever make it into the Hollow.
The bastard had truly thought about everything. The Crimson Fortress was a deathtrap everywhere you looked.
“Is this impossible?” I suddenly asked, considering how many things we needed to overcome in order to reach the true center of it all.
The Crimson Fortress was named that for a reason, and now here we were, attempting something that had never been done before—not even by my father, the great Harbinger of Justice. We were going to overtake it.
“It may seem impossible to you now, yet it’s not. Not for you and your legion, Braxton,” Imogen confessed, compassion humming in her voice.
“But my father never—”
“Your father was not you, Braxton. He could never do what you are capable of. This was not his destiny, it is yours. Our Dragon Master, and true king. But you need to realize right now that we will not share the same fight, and you need to make your peace with that.”
Confusion briefly spread, until her words became clear. “One battle on land, one in the sky.”
My mentor nodded.
“You can’t protect them all.” Evie’s gentle hand rested on my arm, recognizing my predicament because she had already made peace with that a long time ago. “No matter how desperately you want to be there for them, you have to let each of them fight their own war. You fight yours.”
“Harrison and the land riders will worry about how to best fight the sentries on land,” Kingston explained. “Once the wards are gone in the sky, you and your legion move on to take on Azazel and Raithian.”
“My Legion?”
“Your Dragon army,” Asher reminded.
Right. “I’m sorry, everyone. This is the first time I ever found myself preparing for war. I guess I still need to learn—”
“It’s fine. You are not alone, Brother.” Asher nodded, patting my back.
“Ours too,” Edward reminded, gesturing to the members of my guard.
“Yet, we believe in you, my king,” Charlotte offered, grinning widely when Imogen nodded in approval—she had finally called me by a proper title.
“My first time too,” Willow suddenly exclaimed. “I want to fight with you. With all of you.”
“Absolutely not!” Kingston argued, facing her, but his protest instantly died when she took his hand, intertwining their fingers.
“You seem to have forgotten that my brothers trained me as a warrior too. They taught me everything they knew before they passed. My parents dreamed of me being in the Sky Legion, fighting for my land and being part of the movement that finally won against evil. It may have taken me too long, but I have realized that I want that too. I’m done hiding, Kingston. It’s time for me to fight.”
A helpless breath expanded his chest, but he nodded, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss it.
“Not that I was asking for your permission,” she added, pulling chuckles from all of us. “Besides, Draco will protect me. You know that.”
“He will,” I assured the chief without a shadow of a doubt, and he sighed, accepting it as truth. “Okay. Divide and conquer,” I concluded, forcing myself not to focus on what our warriors would have to overcome on land. Except, they weren’t just warriors; they were my brothers and sisters. My people.
“It might be easier if we start now,” Harper suggested, and the room was divided into two groups without hesitation.
As the leader of the land riders, Harrison took Finn, Islay, Hannah, and Fletcher aside, beginning to plan their strategy since they would lead the warriors on land. Kingston joined them as the Chief of Battle, calling Nikau to their side once he arrived.
Imogen, Asher, and Harper joined the rest of us in planning the Dragons’ attack. Arguably the most dangerous part since we would not only need to battle Azazel, but the Warlock King and his magic as well.
Essentially, the Sky Legion would become three teams in the sky. Kingston, Harper, Arlo, Skylar, and Elijah would flank Evanna, all focusing on distracting Azazel—even though I knew Tharion would want to take on him alone. To be honest, I still didn’t know how I felt about that, but as long as Azazel was under Raithian’s command, he was a threat to us all. A threat that needed to be taken down one way or another.
Aaron, Charlotte, Willow, Nikau, and Louis would provide back up to the land riders and the six hundred warriors on the ground, because based on Nikau’s intel, Raithian’s army had grown far more than we would like in the past twenty years. Lastly, Imogen, Asher, Edward, Quinn, and Harvey, would flank me to go against Raithian.