Page 24

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I coughed as I woke, dirt clinging to me as heavily as the silence which followed in the wake of our impact with the ground.

I lifted my head, dizziness clouding my vision as I tried to take stock of where we’d landed and I fought to suppress a curse.

We weren’t in Stormfell anymore. I wasn’t sure if I imagined it but I had always sworn the air tasted different when crossing the borders into the other lands.

And despite my best efforts to launch us back to my home kingdom, I was almost certain that we were now in the enemy territory of Pyros. Well, wasn’t that just fucking peachy.

I pushed to my feet, reaching for my sword before remembering that it was lost to the wilds and sending a silent prayer to Gemini that it had miraculously landed straight through the skull of that bull bastard.

I guessed I should be glad that my magic had launched us high enough to clear the magical barrier into Pyros but that didn’t help me with how I was supposed to drag a twenty-ton Dragon back across two kingdoms in secret.

Miraculously, my pack was still in place on my back and I slipped it from my shoulders as I eyed the still form of the Dragon fifty feet away at the end of the trail of dirt its fall had carved into the ground.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one of us who had been knocked senseless by our fall.

Maybe the stars were finally offering me a break.

I opened my pack as quietly as I could manage, my focus on the slow rise and fall of the Dragon’s breaths. Not dead. That was good. But no doubt it still wanted to kill me and that was not on my bucket list for today.

I took out the little jar of Order supressing powder which Dragor had given me to force the Dragon back into its Fae form then carefully lowered the pack to the ground.

My footfalls were silent as I crept forward, slowly circling the unconscious creature as I moved towards it from the side.

All I had to do was slip a little powder into the mouth of a beast big enough to devour me as an appetiser. What faith my prince had in me. Unless of course the plan had always been to see me dead on this impossible mission.

A green glow caught my attention as I closed in on the Dragon’s head, its eyes closed and breathing shallow. The final crystal still remained lodged in its neck, the sickly pulse of light emanating from it making me want to recoil, even though I didn’t understand its purpose.

I eyed the seemingly unconscious Dragon warily, its head alone almost twice my height. It really was something to behold, a thing of legend awoken in reality, staring me in the face as if daring me to challenge the truth of every tale I’d ever heard of forgotten beasts and mythical magic.

I un-screwed the jar and took a pinch of dust between my fingers then stepped closer, wondering how in the name of the stars I was supposed to open its mouth without ending up inside it.

A low growl escaped the beast and I stilled as its lips peeled back in a snarl.

That was my opening. Fools plight or not, I was too deeply into this to turn back now.

I pushed forward and released my hold on the powder, the little clump of black dust falling straight into the corner of its mouth.

It landed on the Dragon’s gums, dissolving instantly and spilling through its wicked teeth.

I screwed the lid back onto the jar, shoving it into my pocket and backing up as a tremor rolled through the Dragon’s body, the powder taking effect.

I tensed, drawing a dagger from my dwindling supply of weapons as the Dragon released an enormous roar, pain mingling with fury in the sound and setting me on edge.

The Dragon’s eyes snapped open, a flash of silver irises dilating in the low light, its head swinging around as its flesh tremored and shivered. But instead of shifting back into its Fae form as the powder should have forced it to, all that came were more sounds of agony falling from its lips.

A flare of green light dazzled me and I raised my hand to shield my eyes as the crystal embedded in the Dragon’s skin blazed so bright that everything surrounding us - from the cracked ground encrusted in ice to the bare trees which pockmarked the barren landscape - was lit in shades of emerald.

The Dragon thrashed and roared louder, my heart skipping a beat at the thought of the Flamebringers who could be close enough to hear it.

I squinted at the crystal that blazed in its skin, the scent of burning flesh filling the air as whatever power it held flared with such intensity that I was surprised it didn’t crack in two. Whatever the problem was, it clearly originated from that thing.

The Dragon roared again, thrashing violently and forcing me to leap aside as it almost collided with me. Once more, my attention locked on the crystal and with a jolt of certainty, or more likely insanity, I lurched forward.

I had to duck as the Dragon’s head swung my way, the scales on its chin catching in the strands of my hair as it passed above me. Fire burst from its jaws, warming me through but I pushed on, scrambling closer to the beast instead of backing away.

Its front leg slammed into the ground mere inches from me and I took a running jump, landing on top of its foot and gripping its scales as I started to climb. The Dragon didn’t even appear to notice me, the tremors in its body rumbling through it so violently that I was almost thrown free of it.

My climb was only made harder as it thrashed and bellowed, the sound of its clawed feet tearing into the ground, drowning out all but its furious bellowing.

I tilted my head back, the bright glow of green above me still just out of reach but as the Dragon reared back, lifting its front legs from the ground, I managed to throw myself off of its leg and leap for its neck.

I collided with its metallic scales, my leathers taking the brunt of the impact though my bones still rattled like stones in a can. I scrambled to take hold of something as I began to slip free and a dark smile lit my lips as the feel of smooth crystal locked within my palm.

I tightened my grip on the crystal, heaving myself up until I could grasp it with both hands. I yanked on it, kicked it and twisted it without any success, the thing lodged so tightly between the steely scales that it refused to come free.

The Dragon roared again, nothing but agony in the sound and I gritted my teeth, taking a dagger from my belt. The enormous creature bucked beneath me, almost knocking me loose but I managed to keep my grip, my knuckles blanching and thighs burning with the effort of holding on.

The moment there was a brief pause in its movement, I turned the dagger in my grasp and dug it into the blistering flesh at the edge of the crystal.

The thick skin of the beast was near impenetrable, but I managed to force my blade between its scales with a grunt of exertion, pushing it deeper to leverage the glowing green crystal out.

With a vicious jerk, the crystal was forced free, the bright glow dying in an instant, blood staining my hands and the Dragon shifting so suddenly that I yelled in alarm as I found myself falling once again.

I hit the ground hard on my back, the air whooshing from my lungs as my leathers failed to protect me from the full impact.

The air was thick with dust from the Dragon’s thrashing and I squinted into it as I shoved myself upright, bloody blade in hand.

Ragged breaths drew me towards the figure who had also fallen into the dirt, a clump of thorny bushes separating the two of us and hiding my view of the Dragon I’d spent so long hunting.

I stalked closer, my posture tense as I circled the scrubby brambles, the dust settling around us.

A man panted heavily on his hands and knees in the centre of the clearing that awaited me, his head bent low and broad shoulders rising with each deep inhale. His bare skin was a warm brown, marked with ink and so many scars that he could only be a warrior long since anointed in the way of battle.

The muscles across his back and shoulders tensed and shuddered as he remained there, breathing heavily, his fists knotted into the gravel beneath him while he took in his sudden shift back to his Fae form.

Clearly those crystals had been keeping him in his Dragon body somehow and though I didn’t understand the magic which had been used to trap him in his beastly form, I did know that any Fae who gave themselves over to their animal nature for too long was at risk of losing themselves to the monster they became.

I slowed my advance, circling just out of reach of those powerful arms while the man continued to stare down at the ground and appeared not to notice me at all. But I doubted a beast so clearly used to bloodshed would truly have let his guard drop.

Tangled coils of black hair fell forward to obscure his face, leaving the back of his neck bare, the bloody puncture wounds from the crystals still ringing his skin.

He appeared wholly lost to this place and time, an animal pushed to the brink, starving and exhausted yet wild and dangerous in all the ways which only the desperate desire for survival could summon.

I took a tentative step forward and froze as his head snapped up. Piercing eyes that were as silver as a winter storm glared out at me between the knotted strands of his hair and pinned me in place.

A sharp breath sliced into my lungs, my grip on my dagger tightening as I met his stoic gaze and my heart leapt to a beat which only ever signalled danger.

“Hello, little witch,” he growled, his voice a low timbre which crawled across my skin and sank into my veins, leaving every inch of me exposed to his scrutiny.

“Hello, monster of mine,” I replied in kind, my voice a purr dressed in silk, the darkness in me rising to the surface and offering up its own greeting.

This man may have been a creature of legend, born of tooth and claw, fire and ruin, but I was a different kind of dangerous and no less potent in my ability to strike.