Read Chapter 33: The Egg Thieves

The forest swallowed the dawn light whole, leaving only slivers of gray between the ancient pines. Elara pressed her palm flat against the mossy trunk at the tree line and listened past the wind — hoofbeats, distant but distinct, moving in disciplined rhythm.

"They're pushing hard," Cedric murmured beside her, his voice barely above a breath. He'd positioned himself close enough that their shoulders nearly touched. "Two hours ahead of schedule."

Elara nodded, watching the narrow game trail that cut through the valley below. The scouts had tracked the Hollow Claw from the hatchery's outer wards, followed them through three river crossings and two decoy trails before catching true scent. Now, with the border only a day's ride beyond the ridge, the thieves were running their horses ragged to reach it.

"Any sign of the eggs?" Selene asked, slipping between two boulders to join them. She'd volunteered the moment Elara named the mission — her own dragon, a young bronze named Theron, had been one of the collared ones. She had more reason than most to want the thieves caught.

"Not yet." Elara's fingers tightened on the hilt of Kael's sword. She'd strapped it to her belt that morning without thinking, the weight of it a comfort she refused to examine too closely. "They'll be carrying the clutch in something portable. A cart would slow them. Saddlebags, probably."

"But where are they going?" Bran asked. The youngest of the riders, barely sixteen, with a patchwork of freckles across his nose and a dragonet curled in the pouch at his chest. Aurelia had allowed only the bonded to accompany them — a dozen riders total, enough to strike quickly without drawing the loyalist army's attention.

That was the calculus Elara kept turning over. Twelve riders against the loyalist two hundred. Every hour she spent chasing thieves was an hour she wasn't preparing defenses. But Aldric had been right — let the Hollow Claw deliver their stolen eggs, and the noble families would have bargaining chips that could undo everything Aurelia's bond had restored.

"We should ride ahead and cut them off at the pass," Cedric said, mapping the terrain with his finger on the dirt between them. "There's a narrow defile about five miles east. They'll have to slow to navigate it. We could take position on the heights—"

"And give away our approach in open ground?" Selene shook her head. "They'll see us coming across the valley long before we reach the pass."

"Then we split the party." Cedric's voice carried an edge Elara hadn't heard before. "Half take the heights, half drive them into the trap."

Silence stretched. The wind carried the distant clatter of horses on stone.

"If we split, we risk being outnumbered if they're better armed than the reports suggest," one of the older riders, Marcus, pointed out. "The Hollow Claw operates in crews of fifteen to twenty."

"We have dragonfire," Bran said simply.

Aurelia stirred at the edge of Elara's awareness — a warmth at the base of her skull, a pulse of predatory focus. Elara's locket grew hot against her collarbone, and she reached up to touch it through her tunic. The metal hummed beneath her fingers, and for a moment she felt Aurelia's attention shift south, past the ravine, past the border.

"No dragonfire," Elara said quietly. "Not yet."

"Elara—"

"She's right." Selene's voice was tight. "If we burn them at the border, the foreign kingdom has cause to respond. We need this quiet."

Elara made the call before she could second-guess herself. "We take them at the river crossing, not the pass. They'll have to slow to ford the water. We hit them from the treeline with arrows to disable horses and riders — no killing strokes unless pressed. We take the eggs intact."

"And if they scatter?" Marcus asked.

"Then we chase down whoever runs." Elara's hand settled on Kael's sword. "But they won't scatter. They're carrying something worth too much."

Thunder rolled across the valley — but it wasn't weather. Elara looked up. Storm clouds had gathered along the ridgeline, churning in a way that didn't match the morning's clear sky.

Aurelia's warmth sharpened to a needle point. The locket pulsed, once, twice, and Elara felt her queen's distress bleed through the bond like cold water.

"Something's wrong," she breathed.

They rode hard for the river crossing, arriving in time to see the thieves already mid-ford — a column of a dozen riders with four pack horses, water up to their stirrups. They were pushing faster than Elara expected, whipping their mounts through the current.

"They know we're coming," Cedric said, drawing his bow.

But Elara barely heard him. Her eyes fixed on the opposite bank. There, waiting beneath the shadow of the border stones, stood a second force — thirty riders at least, all armed, all mounted, with a banner she didn't recognize. Black and gold, a serpent coiled around a crown.

"That's not Hollow Claw," Marcus said slowly. "Those are regular soldiers."

"From where?" Bran's voice cracked.

Elara's mind raced. The thieves reached the far bank, water streaming from their horses, and the waiting soldiers closed formation around them — not to attack, but to receive. Professional, disciplined, planned.

The foreign kingdom wasn't hiring the Hollow Claw. They were cooperating.

"We're outnumbered four to one," Selene said.

"Stay low." Elara signaled retreat. "We don't engage here."

The riders moved back into the treeline, dismounting to keep noise down. Elara crouched at the edge of the forest, watching the enemy force slowly escort the pack horses toward the border pass. She pressed her palm to her locket, feeling Aurelia's fury coiling beneath her skin.

"They're not just stealing eggs," Elara said, working through it aloud. "If they take them across the border, they have hostages. A breeding population of dragons in foreign hands. The collared trade becomes a flood."

"The Delacroix estate," Cedric said. "This must be their contact."

"Voss is gone," Marcus pointed out.

"No." Elara shook her head. "Voss was a pawn. The nobles behind him — they've always had a foreign buyer ready." She looked up, meeting Cedric's eyes. "We can't stop them here. Not with our numbers."

"Then what do we do?"

Elara was quiet for a long moment. Aurelia's presence pulsed at the edge of her thoughts — not words, but a sense of intent. A desire for open sky. A readiness for flame.

"Those soldiers outnumber us," Elara said slowly, "and they're expecting flanking tactics. Small raids. Ground attacks from hidden positions." She stood, feeling something settle in her chest. "They're not expecting a dragon queen."

Cedric's eyes widened. "Elara, you're not saying—"

"Call Aurelia. Have her meet us at the high pass." Elara turned to face the border stones, where the enemy column was already disappearing through the gap. "If they cross that border, we lose the eggs forever. So we stop them before they reach it."

"You'd reveal yourself," Selene said. "The queen, the new era, everything. If you fly in burning, the entire continent will know."

Elara looked down at Kael's sword strapped at her hip. His voice still echoed in her memory — the dragon pays its debts, and so do I.

"The dragons are worth more than my secrecy," she said. "Saddle up. We're going to the high pass."

But as the riders moved to mount, a scout burst through the underbrush — a young woman named Petra, pale as bone, gasping for breath.

"Elara — the main road — formations of black and gold moving east." She swallowed hard. "They're not just escorting the thieves. There are five hundred more soldiers massing at the border. The foreign kingdom isn't here for eggs."

Elara's blood went cold.

"They're here for war."