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“Your plan is to hatch all of the eggs at once?” Avera shook her head. “It’s risky. Shouldn’t you try with just one?” She didn’t add her thought they shouldn’t be playing with dragon fire.

“We don’t have time. As it is, they’ll still be in their growth stage when Zhos escapes.”

A sharp glance in Titus’ direction showed a serious mien. “How can you know when that’s going to happen?”

“I don’t. Not exactly, but my vizier who can see bits of the future believes it will happen before the end of spring.”

“That’s only a few weeks away.”

“Exactly. I’d hoped to have more time, however…” He shook his head. “I’m afraid we can’t wait. Not if we’re to have the dragons ready in time.”

“You do realize if they’re sentient, as you claim, that expecting them to sacrifice themselves so soon after rebirth will most likely be poorly received?”

“They are ways to ensure they do as they’re told.”

She wasn’t sure she liked the ominous sound of that. “What kind of ways?”

“Our ancestors, once freed from the dragons’ control, decided they had no interest in becoming their servants again. They designed objects of power—collars, to be exact—that could control the dragons if they ever returned.”

“You mean, force them to do your bidding.” She frowned.

“You’d prefer to be their slave?”

“No, but you’re talking about using these objects to bleed them and sacrifice at least one.”

“For the good of all. Or would you rather we become victims of Zhos?”

Her lips pinched. “This all seems so rushed. Not to mention the unknown factors that might crop up.”

“Rushed to you. I’ve been planning for a while. I’ve spent years searching for the stones on Verlora.”

“How did you even know they were there? Did your viziers tell you?”

“They suspected so, as did I. It seemed likely, given Basil’s visit followed by the erupting volcano and the reports of a menace killing those who went ashore.

It wasn’t until some of my scouting groups actually spotted the dragon that I knew for sure.

However, even then one dragon didn’t mean the eggs were present.

The scavenging parties that attempted to go deep into the city never returned.

Thus, you can imagine my excitement when Kachezi finally had a vision that indicated you would be the one to find them. ”

“So she’s the reason you had me kidnapped and forced to seek them out.”

At her accusation, he had the grace to look chagrined. “Not my finest order or moment, I’ll admit. However, there was too much at stake for me to take your feelings into account. We had to retrieve the eggs. It’s the only way for us to counter the coming menace.”

While Avera understood, she didn’t necessarily forgive. “I’d asked Koonis to take me to Verlora and he refused. Wouldn’t it have been simpler for him to agree, instead of using force?”

“Wait, you asked him?” Surprise raised his brows. “I wasn’t aware of that. He claimed you were being held hostage by the pirate king and that he’d have to extract you by force.”

Not a surprise the slimy captain had lied. “Pity we can’t chop off his head twice.”

“In the end, you succeeded, and now we can work together to rid the world of Zhos once and for all.”

“Assuming the book tells the truth.” What she’d learned thus far seemed rather fantastical.

“Speaking of the Dragon Compendium, would you like me to read it to you?”

An overloaded Avera needed time to digest what she’d learned already. She shook her head. “This is a lot to take in. I need a moment to think.”

“We don’t have long. My viziers have finally returned, which means the pilgrimage to Mount Ygnis begins tomorrow.”

“Mount Ygnis being your volcano?” She thought she’d heard Prielli mention it but wanted to make sure.

“Yes. It used to be the home of Merisu’s last dragon and will now see four dragons hatched before the end of the week.”

“This seems rather quick.”

“Weren’t you the one in a hurry?”

“That was when I thought I’d be putting the stones back inside the spire to act as a shield. You’re talking about awakening creatures that haven’t been seen in a thousand years. Sentient beasts our ancestors killed. What if they hatch and are angry at us?”

“As I’ve told you, we have collars to control them.”

Collars like a slave. She did her best to not show her repugnance. “Assuming you can get them on faster than they breathe fire.”

“They can blow all they want. They cannot harm the blooded.”

He’d claimed before they were impervious to flame, she just had a hard time believing it. “So we might survive, but what of everyone else?”

He shrugged. “I imagine there will be some casualties until we manage to get them to see sense.”

Get dragons to see sense? It sounded utterly insane, and she didn’t appreciate his callous attitude. “Let me sleep on it.”

“Very well. Good night, Avera.” Titus departed but left the book.

A book that had answered some questions while spawning even more.

Dragons had been sacrificed to save the world.

Zhos could be neutralized but it would require another sacrifice.

While the ones that bled to paralyze Zhos would either recover or come back from a new egg, what of the dragon that would be flying through the rift Titus claimed would appear?

It would be trapped on the other side. Why should she care?

She couldn’t have said except there’d been something in that moment when she’d exchanged gazes with the dragon in Verlora that stuck with her.

Did they have the right to condemn an intelligent creature?

And what of this whole bloodline thing? Titus claimed to be one of the blooded and that Avera was too. What of Griff? She’d seen the flames licking his body, but she hadn’t stayed long enough to see if he’d actually burned. Had he lived only to find himself abandoned?

So much to think about and so little time. Titus expected them to depart for Merisu’s volcano with the eggs on the morrow, eggs still in her possession. She wandered over to where they sat on the dresser. Smooth, oval-shaped stones that, when touched, made her flesh tingle.

What would Titus do if he were to discover she’d fled with them in the night? Probably not be so nice. However, she couldn’t help but worry about his plan. Something about it felt wrong.

Kept restless by her thoughts, she wandered to the window and peered out.

The city spread below illuminated the night, the many windows and even streetlamps keeping the dark at bay.

How would the people react if they knew what their emperor planned?

She doubted they’d agree to the danger he might be unleashing.

At the same time, if they did nothing, what would happen to Daerva, even the world, when Zhos escaped?

A sigh left Avera as she turned and contemplated the nightgown left on the bed. The dress would be challenging to remove, given the buttons down the back. Rather than deal with them quite yet, she chose to flop in a chair with the dragon book in hand.

She leafed through, studying the images, the artistry stunning.

She found herself studying closely the depiction of a dragon standing before a woman wearing a tiara similar to the one she’d lost in Daerva.

She flipped quickly past the disturbing rendition of a person digging through a dragon’s sliced-open carcass.

What an utterly horrifying thing to have to do.

The drawing of an egg didn’t interest, seeing as how she’d studied the four in her possession.

As she kept flipping, passing over the pages with words she couldn’t read, she paused and frowned.

It appeared some pages were missing, the slice that had removed them so close to the spine as to be almost unnoticeable.

What did those pages contain? Had Titus removed them?

If yes, then why? What did he not want her to see?

If not him, then what knowledge might they be missing?

A thud at her bedroom door drew her attention. Had Prielli returned to help her get ready for bed after all?

As Avera rose and set the book down, the door shuddered as something impacted it. Before she could react, another hard crash slammed it open and a pair of soldiers in the royal uniform rushed in, swords out, expressions blank. Familiar…

It couldn’t be. Zhos surely couldn’t influence this far, but she couldn’t help but recall that the last time she’d seen people with that vacant face, they’d been under its control.

As they rushed for Avera, she darted behind the chair using it to give her some space as her mind whirred.

She had no blade to fight with, nothing but her fists.

She raced for the bed, the small dresser beside it holding a pitcher of water should she be thirsty at night.

She grabbed it and immediately whirled, knocking it against the sword swinging for her.

It clanged and the blade missed. Before the soldier brought it back to bear, she’d changed the trajectory of her deadly urn and smashed it against the soldier’s chin.

He reeled backwards with a grunt, and in that second of him being off balance, she slapped a hand to his face.

Blink. His eyes cleared and he gaped at her in horror.

She had no time to reassure and instead yelled, “Protect me!” She hoped the spell would remain broken, seeing as she presented her back as she darted past him for his companion.

The other glazed soldier held his sword in a two-handed grip.

He slashed and she ducked. When the blade passed over where her head used to be, she stood and clapped her hands against his cheeks.

The flesh-to-flesh contact broke the hold on him, and he blubbered, “Oh shit, the emperor will have my head for this.”

“He will if you don’t defend me,” she retorted. “On guard.”