Sofia let out a snort. She bet Flor would let Lumi strangle her.
Clarita seemed to read something in Sofia’s thoughts and let out a laugh of her own. “I don’t even want to know.”
“So, they’re still stuck?”
“No,” Clarita said. “Lumi insists they are staying on purpose.” She shrugged. “I don’t tell my people what to do. Even when they’re being stupid.”
Sofia nodded. It was a relief to know that Lumi and Flor were okay. She’d left them and hadn’t been able to look back, but they were alive.
Though not safe. There was no safety for the Dragonborn or theshifters within the city walls. Especially if anything went wrong out here. Sofia took a deep breath, the air bitter cold despite the sun. She needed to win the battle out here to protect Lumi and Flor in Suvi. That was it. That was what she could do.
She looked back out over the shifters settling in. They didn’t outnumber the army, but there were more of them now. There were even some predator animals among the group.
Still, nothing compared to the wolfshifters waiting in the camp, assuming they’d all returned after the commotion of the battle. She remembered them running out of the camp, angry and confused. At least the humans and shifters got along within their group.
Something like hope bloomed in her mind.
She turned to Clarita. “I think I have an idea. I need to go talk to Micael.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
SOFIA
The next two days were spent attempting to turn the shapeshifters from five different tribes across Wueco into a single unit that could fight together. While most of those who had come were ready to fight, there were a few children scattered among the group that Ielo took under his wing. They made camp nearby Quelia’s Womb, along with any others unable to fight.
There were nearly fifty new recruits, many of whom were hunters who had faced off against wolfshifters and faeries before. Still, they weren’t trained in war—not that any of the resistance was themselves. They were bred to be spies, sneaking into the city to plant their black powder and leave.
And they’d definitely never learned to fight with dragons. The first day, they’d spent hours practicing flying, the shifters struggling not to accidentally slip into their animal forms out of stress or anxiety. By the afternoon, Sofia had had too many moments of panic seeing a small rabbit or fox flying off the back of a dragon before being caught in their talons and brought back to the ground to safety.
After that, the plan changed, letting any of the shifters that hadn’t intuitively taken to riding the dragons make arrows to attack from thetrees. The goal was to try to fight from a distance as much as possible, to avoid casualties. Even with that in mind, Sofia was worried.
Javi’s voice broke through her thoughts, and she felt him coming up behind her. “We’re going to win.”
She couldn’t help the small huff of laughter. “Where are you getting your confidence from? I could use some.”
He shrugged, his shoulder brushing against hers. “There’s no other option. We’re going to win because we don’t have another choice. We win or we die.”
“Harlow’s probably giving the same speech to his men right now.”
It was Javi’s turn to laugh, a dry, humorless thing. “I doubt it. They think they’ll win because they believe it’s inevitable. We’re the obstacle in their way to be brushed aside. But that’s the exact reason they won’t win. They won’t be fighting for their lives. They aren’t willing to sacrifice everything.”
Sofia wrapped her arms around herself. “And we are? Am I supposed to just ask everyone to sacrifice themselves?”
Javi pulled her into his chest. “You aren’t the one asking us to sacrifice it all. You’ve always carried the world on your shoulders, but this is a question we’ve asked ourselves. And yes, I’m willing to sacrifice everything. My heart-mother is. Micael is. I think many of the shapeshifters are. They’ll be fighting for loyalty to the crown. We’ll be fighting for the survival of our people.”
Sofia pressed her face into his chest, the scent of his musk and sweat as familiar as her own.
“I hope you’re right.”
Sofia was beginning to understand that perhaps a willingness to sacrifice everything didn’t need to be a death wish. She was allowed to want to survive—to want a future.
How prepared she was to watch others sacrifice it all, she wasn’t sure. But looking into Javi’s determined gaze, she was thinking she might not have a choice.
“I’m always right,” he said, and she shoved him away. “Micael needs to talk. The shifters are back from the army’s camp, and he thought you’d want to be there when they give their reports.”
Sofia felt her stomach drop, her thoughts already spinning. “Okay.”
They hiked up the slope toward the main cavern, a thin stream of smoke curling into the air from the fire outside. The sight of it made Sofia’s fingers ache, and she realized how cold she was after hours standing in the snow, helping the shifters train.