Page 20 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood (Dragons of Tirene #3)

Chapter Twenty

Sweat slicks my palms. I wipe them on the fabric of my gown, smearing charcoal down my white funeral dress to dry my hands and ready them for my sword.

Blair’s words coil around us like a serpent.

Please let them be mistaken .

My heart races, recalling Nyc’s cryptic visitation.

Did she know? Did the priestess? Is this why she wanted us to leave the temple when we did? Is she still guiding my feet on the path she wants me to take?

Beside me, Sterling’s expression hardens, the lines of his face set in disbelief. “What did you just say?” His low growl is the rumble that precedes a storm.

“Drachen were sighted.” Agnar ties his coppery hair back with a leather cord. His grave tone cuts through fragrant garden air heavy with the scent of blooming roses, dragonflights, and jasmine. “We’re ready to fly out and fight as soon as you give the word.”

“They’re in a location we’ve used for drills before, which is how our scouts spotted them.” Blair jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “We’ll gather the troops and be in the air in minutes. They’re already assembled at the palace for training. We can?—”

“No.” Sterling’s silver-streaked wings unfurl with authority, casting shadows over the manicured lawns as we finish entering the courtyard proper. “Take us there now. I want to know how many we’re dealing with first.”

I don’t hesitate.

When I spread my wings to prepare for flight, Sterling opens his mouth as if to order me to stay. I raise an eyebrow at him, daring him to try it.

Out of all of us, I’m the only one who can call fire easily. While Leesa’s also a fire elemental, her magic is weak without eyril. And so far, only fire, which chased them back when they attacked the palace en masse, has proven effective against the drachen.

Sterling nods in concession. “Let’s go.”

Agnar swoops Leesa into his arms, her small frame secured against his broad chest. With a powerful leap, he takes to the sky. Blair follows suit, his movements fluid despite the tension that tautens every muscle in his body.

I have only a moment to wonder where Bastian is before mimicking Agnar’s impressive ascent. The palace gardens shrink beneath us, a tapestry of greens and florals stitched into the earth.

We rise above the trees with Agnar leading the charge. He angles southeast, away from danger’s nest where Dame’s eggs lie hidden, and my breath catches in relief.

The dragons are safe. For now.

After flying beyond the palace grounds and over a seemingly endless parade of trees, a lake comes into view. The sapphire waters interrupt the emerald foliage to reflect the sky’s brilliant blue.

Tension in the air ratchets up as we descend and land on the warm clay bank. The breeze caressing my face does little to cool the heat of worry burning inside me. Around us, the serene, sun-kissed day continues in blissful ignorance.

Leesa’s finger trembles as she points, and I trace the line of her distress to where the bodies lie. An alicorn family—male, female, and foal—sprawled on the grass, their once magnificent wings now still and stark against the vibrant life of the clearing.

My throat tightens. These majestic creatures didn’t deserve such a demise, and I can’t help but picture Zephyr, the spirited alicorn I rode at Flighthaven, in their place.

After performing a visual inspection, Sterling stalks forward with his hand on his sword hilt. “Search the area.”

Our group exchanges grim looks before heading off in different directions.

I hurry to the fallen alicorns and kneel, careful not to touch them. The metallic tang of their blood reaches my nose, along with a faint hint of a second scent.

Sweetness, tinged with decay.

A chill creeps into my bones. That smell is one I associate with tainted eyril, but I’d stake my life that a drachen killed this trio. Plus, as far as I know, the small band of smugglers who imported the eyril were apprehended and all the contraband was burned.

Maybe my senses are playing tricks on me, because this doesn’t make any sense.

The male’s proud horn is splintered, and the female’s eyes gaze into the void. As for the foal? I swallow hard, pushing away the bile that rises in my throat. There’s no blood, only the pallor of death and that faint, sickly-sweet odor.

They were too scared to run and likely landed to stop the fear from consuming them.

A drachen’s hunting method.

“Anything?” Agnar scans the tree line, his voice sharp with urgency.

Blair shakes his head as he checks the underbrush. “Nothing yet.”

I climb to my feet, reaching for my sword before remembering that human-made weapons have no effect on these heinous creatures.

“Stay sharp.” The prickling along the back of my neck insists that eyes follow us. The heavy air, saturated with malice, further frays my jittery nerves.

“Over here!” Leesa’s shout whips my head around.

Sterling is closest to her as she takes off running toward a tangle of underbrush at the edge of the clearing. He chases after her, his movements fluid and graceful as he spins on the balls of his feet.

“Leesa, no!”

What the hells is she thinking, racing after the drachen when her magic is at an all-time low?

An invisible rope cinches my ribs, tightening until I can barely breathe. Stupid, brave sister. It’s just like her to charge into danger without a second thought for her own safety.

I sprint after them as fast as I can while still scanning the surrounding trees. The tall shadows cast by their looming forms only heighten my fear. The drachen could be hiding anywhere, blending seamlessly into the darkness. The sun is the only thing I am willing to turn my back to right now.

A sudden burst of motion catches my eye.

Tiny hairs rise on the back of my neck.

Four drachen emerge from the spot where Leesa pointed. Their intangible forms drip from branches and bubble up from beneath leaves.

Like something out of my worst nightmares, the macabre creatures become flesh.

They twist and writhe, morphing into something that resembles a dragon’s alter ego.

Oily. Black. Lethal.

They’re fucking massive, each one every bit as large as Ryu.

Their now sinuous bodies unfurl dark tendrils that drip with an oozing black substance reminiscent of eyril. One of the creatures opens its mouth, revealing jagged, razor-sharp teeth.

The drachen burst from the gloom and head straight for Sterling and Leesa. Leesa screams and stumbles back, throwing her arm over her eyes.

Could that work? If you don’t look, can you avoid being hypnotized by them? Leesa has been through it once before.

One second, Sterling is lunging toward her. The next, he stops short, freezing in an awkward position with his left leg forward and his right arm in the air.

He isn’t moving. At all.

My heart hammers against my ribs when understanding sinks in.

The same trance that gripped Leesa the day Jasper died now holds Sterling hostage. It’s as if the drachen’s tendrils slithered into his mind and are weaving a web of shadows to cloud his senses. He stands like a statue, awaiting certain death.

Desperation colors my shout. “Use your magic!”

But Sterling remains motionless, unresponsive to my plea, lost somewhere in the dark maze of his mind. Even from farther away, intense dread fills me.

Dread morphs into fear. The temperature drops, and cold pours into my bones.

“Run! Get out of their way!” Blair’s warning falls on deaf ears.

Sterling remains rooted.

He’s so still, the antithesis of the soldier I know. Terror like I’ve never experienced before seeps into my marrow.

No. Not Sterling.

I won’t let him die today.

Agnar yells, but I hear nothing beyond the roaring in my ears.

The air thickens with dread as I reach for the spark that slumbers inside me. An answering rush of power scalds my veins, exploding through me like a flooding river. Flames ignite in my palms, blazing defiance against the creeping darkness.

With a flap of my wings, I launch into the air until I reach a good vantage point. Without hesitating, I lash out at the drachen with dual whips of fire.

Leaves in the strike wither into crispy ash.

Grass shrivels.

The drachen, however, remain unfazed.

They’re getting stronger, more resilient. More resistant to flame.

A grotesque shadow beast with oozing wings that eat up the distance swoops for Leesa.

I scream a warning. “Run!”

Leesa glances up, freezes for two unbearable heartbeats, and then dashes off. I fly toward her as she races to escape the monster trailing her.

I’m still too far away to do anything but watch when she stumbles and falls.

Blair throws out his hands, and an enormous gust of wind cuts through the clearing like a scythe. The wind slams into the drachen, slowing their momentum and twisting them in the air.

The darkness continues pushing forward, but the maneuver grants Leesa just enough time to regain her feet and resume running.

Meanwhile, Sterling stands immobile, gazing straight at the monsters with a slackened jaw.

I yell his name again. Still no response.

“I can’t hold them off much longer!” Panic laces Blair’s voice as he targets the drachen with another gust of wind.

His shouts spur me into action.

My power erupts once more, this time into a wall of flames. Blair and I work together with our elements to thwart the destruction headed our way, but I already know our combined power won’t be enough.

The ground rumbles, and hundreds—maybe thousands—of rocks and roots shoot from the earth. Agnar grunts, and debris begins to swirl, forming a spinning vortex. “Blair!”

“Got it!” With a roar, Blair seizes the debris with wind and catapults all of it at the drachen while I hit the creatures with more fire.

Sweat beads on my brow and trickles down my face, and my arms tremble under the strain. My breaths come in sharp gasps.

Red and orange flames fade to white as I focus, digging deep to utilize every last speck of power. I hit some sort of barrier and push harder, crashing against it repeatedly until an odd vibration hums within me. The bone-deep rattle grows stronger, spreading through my entire being.

After one final push, the barrier crumbles. An inferno explodes from me, hotter and stronger than any I’ve conjured before. The huge tempest of flames blazes as bright as the sun as it lunges for our enemy.

When the fire strikes them, the drachen emit high-pitched squeals and revert to their phantom forms. Flesh once again becomes shadow, and the shadow bubbles into ash that thrashes and squirms as wind and earth help force the drachen even farther into the fiery trap.

Still shrieking, the phantomlike drachen start to disassemble. They ooze into a thousand oily black shadows as if they were never more than a nightmare given form and soar away from us at a dizzying speed.

Exhaustion weighs on my limbs, but I wait for the threat to vanish before releasing my power and nearly collapsing with relief. Pebbles and roots and dirt fall. The wind stills. Leesa drops to her knees, face pale.

When I hurry to my sister, she waves me away. “I’m okay. I promise. Just need a minute to catch my breath.”

“Sterling!” As I run to him, he blinks several times, then glances around.

His chest rises and falls with ragged breaths, the trance finally broken.

Once I reach him, I wrap an arm around his trembling form.

He leans into me. “Fuck, they almost had me. I’ve never felt fear like that before. I was powerless. They’re getting stronger.”

“I know. Fire by itself didn’t cause them to retreat this time.” I drape Sterling’s arm over my shoulder to support him. “Come on. We need to get you back.”

His nod is barely perceptible, his body weakened and relying on my strength more than his own.

Agnar and Blair hover nearby, their expressions grim as they watch their prince struggle.

“Can you fly?” Still breathing heavy, Blair takes Sterling’s other arm.

Sterling’s throat bobs and his eyes rove the lakeside clearing as if seeing it for the first time.

The landscape has changed since we landed. The ground is churned mud, baked in spots and scorched in others. Nothing smaller than a fist-sized rock is left from Agnar and Blair’s combined elemental attacks. I can’t help but shudder at the idea of how much worse this would have been if it had happened within a city or town.

“Yes.” Sterling shakes his hair out of his face, revealing heat-reddened skin on his nose and forehead. His warm brown eyes find me. “Because you saved me. Again.”

“Always.” I smile, attempting to chase away the fear that still lingers in his eyes. “I can’t marry you if you’re dead.”

If I can extract one good thing from this experience, it’s realizing that, whether real or fake, Sterling’s betrothal announcement doesn’t matter. I don’t even care anymore that he didn’t consult with me first.

What I do care about is him. I can deal with pretty much anything as long as he’s alive and healthy.

“She has a point.” Blair steps back. “Agnar, take Leesa and go. Sterling, I’ll give you a boost up.”

Flying back to the palace is a silent affair, the only sounds the rushing wind and Sterling’s heavy breathing.

We land on his personal balcony with less grace than normal, but I at least manage not to fall flat on my face after holding my magic steady for so long. Sterling’s knees give out, and he bounces off the railing before catching himself.

The guards who keep watch at all entrances to the king’s quarters are quick to approach, their concern etched into furrowed brows. “Is the prince okay?” The guard who asks has to be young, going by his voice, but the helmets they wear make it nearly impossible to distinguish their faces.

“Bring a healer.” I disguise my own fear and exhaustion with an authoritative tone. “We fought off the drachen, but one of them siphoned the prince’s energy.”

Without hesitation, the young guard darts away, the clacking of his boots fading into the distance.

Sterling attempts to wave off the worry. “I’m fine. I just need to sit down for a bit.”

But the lie hangs heavy in the air, visible to everyone as his legs wobble the whole short walk into his bedroom. His silvery wings, usually so regal, droop toward the floor before he tucks them away.

Leesa, having been able to rest the whole way back, slips away, retreating toward the sitting room.

Blair and I ease Sterling onto his bedroom chair.

Moments later, Leesa returns, a glass cradled in her hands. “Here.” She offers Sterling the beverage. “After my attack, ale helped steady my nerves. But this was all I could find.”

It’s whiskey, judging from the scent.

I eye my sister, wondering when she became an ale drinker. Back before she went to Flighthaven, she used to hate the stuff, even wrinkling her nose over the smell.

Maybe the stress of Flighthaven or her abduction changed her opinion. I make a mental note to tease her about it later.

For now, I stay quiet, understanding her need to do something—anything—to ease the tension that curls around us like smoke from a doused flame.

“Thank you.” Sterling accepts the glass with a nod. His fingers tremble slightly against the cool surface, betraying the stoicism painted on his features. He sips, coughing halfway through as if it burns.

Maybe the drink will warm him up. I keep my eyes on him, the man I love, as he sips at the strong liquid, and my heart clenches.

Around us, the bedroom feels too still, each breath and shift magnified tenfold. There’s no escaping the unease that lingers or the fog that refuses to lift. Fear remains a constant companion. Every shadow, every movement of the curtains, could lead to another attack that we miss until it’s already on top of us.

My gaze flits to the balcony, half-expecting shadows to leap forth from the corners we cannot see.

First Leesa, then Sterling. Maybe it’s paranoia talking, but the drachen sure seem drawn to enthralling the people dearest to me.

I shake off the uneasiness and try to focus on the positive. We all faced the drachen and survived.

I’ll cling to that thought instead, along with the hope that feeds it, as fiercely as I wield my flames.

In the end, hope is another form of light, and we’ll need all the light we can get to banish the encroaching darkness.