Madness of the Horde by Zoey Draven
Chapter Forty-Seven
The Vorakkar of Rath Kitala was looking at me…well, like I was mad.
“You will never make it out,” he rasped after I told him what I planned to do.
“You do not think I know what is at stake?” I growled. We were standing on a cliff overlooking the Dead Valley. The sun was high in the sky, though a thick covering of grey clouds were blocking out any of the warmth. There was a chill in the air, which the Ghertun detested. “My female’s life is at stake if I fail.”
I had left Hedna back at the horde in my absence and my darukkars were camped not too far away, waiting. The Ghertun knew we had arrived. I had seen a few of their scouts spying on us from the shadows of the mountain, looking up at us on the cliffs.
The mountain sat within a valley. A deep valley that had long been depleted of life. It was barren and empty, as if Kakkari herself had abandoned it.
Thiswas where my female had lived up until recently. Trapped in the darkness. Tied to a poison that kept her leashed and chained.
My hands curled but I was careful not to prick myself with my claws. The undersides of them had been coated in enuwip, courtesy of the Killup.
“What would you do if it was your Morakkari?” I rasped, glancing over at Rath Kitala.
A sharp breath huffed from his nostrils. I’d already known his answer.
“I have to go in alone. This Ghertun king is a coward,” I told him. “He will never meet us away from his mountain. He thinks he has power there. But the Killup have exposed a dangerous weakness and that is what I will exploit. When I return, be ready.”
“And if it does not work?” Rath Kitala rasped. “If you cannot get close to him? What will you do then?”
I thought of the heartstone, tucked into my chests at the horde. Nothing would keep me from it if I failed here. It was the last resort but an option, a dangerous one that required a price. A price I would pay gladly.
“There is no outcome in which she does not live,” I told him. “Be ready.”
Rath Kitala inclined his head, hearing my grim determination. “I do not like this, Drokka. If only we can wait for the others to arrive. We can take the mountain—”
“There is no time,” I growled.
Suddenly, a horn sounded, loud and deep, booming across the Dead Valley. The gate to the mountain, one made of bones and stones, began to rise, revealing a blackened tunnel that resembled a mouth. The entrance.
“I will try to find as many of their slaves as I can,” I said, eyeing the entrance. “But time is already short.”
We only had a fraction of our darukkars gathered. In order to free all the slaves under the Dead Mountain and bring Lozza to his knees, we would need more. Time was not on our side—and I was honest enough with myself to know that I would prioritize Vienne and her family over anyone else. I was a selfish bastard but I wouldn’t rest until they were all free of the Dead Mountain and the vovic in their veins.
Armed Ghertun had begun to filter out from the mountain. A surprising number. There were rumors that Lozza had a great army hidden within, one he planned to overthrow Dothik with.
“We are Vorakkars for a reason,” I murmured. I felt a dark grin slide over my face. “We are all a little mad. Even you, Rath Kitala. We have to be.”
