Page 29 of House of Embers (Royal Houses #5)

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Body

Tieran had already been announced when she returned to her body.

Audria shot her a worried look at her blank expression. Kerrigan clasped her hand and squeezed. That did nothing to ease Audria’s worry. The plan was risky—there was no denying that—but at least they had a plan.

“You look relieved,” Audria said.

“We’re going to win this,” Kerrigan told her.

“You seem more certain than a moment ago.”

Kerrigan’s eyes cut to Cathia. The attendant was speaking with Thiery. If she had any knowledge that Kerrigan had just been in conversation with Gelryn, she didn’t show it. But she was a spy regardless, and Kerrigan couldn’t let her know what she had planned.

So instead, she just smiled. “Tieran can do this. I have faith in him and us.”

“Okay,” Audria said, her eyes flickering to the attendant. “Good. I do wish I could speak to Evien about all this though.”

“Same,” Kerrigan said.

“They’re about to announce the champion,” Cathia said, silencing them both.

A hush fell over the lake. Dragons had filled in much of the surrounding area for miles to watch the impending fight.

Kerrigan had frankly never seen so many dragons in one place, and she had been a Dragon Blessed in the House of Dragons.

She hadn’t even known there were this many dragons within the Holy Mountain.

A handful were large elder dragons, such as Gelryn and Thiery, and another large contingent were regular-size dragons, but the bulk were smaller—hatchlings.

Most weren’t even the size of Tieran yet.

While Kerrigan had never been there when a dragon was born, as it was a sacred rite among their kind, she had seen many dragons shortly after that. She had thought that Draco Mountain had the largest collection of hatchlings. She had been wrong.

That had nothing on the number before her.

Lowan stumbled forward, resting his hand on Kerrigan’s arm. “I’ve never seen so many. In all my days…”

“I know,” Kerrigan whispered.

“They’re never going to let us leave after seeing this,” he whispered in both awe and horror.

Kerrigan was pretty sure he was right unless Tieran won, a fact she was less and less certain the dragons were planning on letting happen.

For a second, a buzzing sounded in her head. Kerrigan and Audria put their hands to their ears.

“What the—” Kerrigan groaned.

An announcer spoke directly into her mind, “And for the current champion, enter Dalrig, son of Darlion and Sarda, born of the Holy Mountain, one of blood and pain.”

Kerrigan shot Audria a glance. Her eyes were wide. Blood and pain didn’t sound good.

A dragon shot out of the Holy Mountain and soared over the lake.

His scales were a flat, matte bronze that dully reflected the rising sun’s rays.

He was huge—not quite as big as Gelryn but nearly twice the size of Tieran.

He had barbed spikes down the middle of his back and a hooked tail that looked like it could cleave through a mountaintop. No wonder he’d been chosen as champion.

“Do you think he had a rider?” Audria whispered.

Kerrigan shrugged. “I have no idea. I thought all dragons had to enter the tournament,” she said, glancing around the lakeside, “but I’m starting to think there’s much we don’t know about dragons.”

The announcement continued: “Dragonkind sees Dalrig against Tieran. May the elders show no mercy.”

With that pronouncement, Dalrig dove. Tieran must have been anticipating that move, because he was already across the lake when Dalrig flew up out of his run.

Kerrigan understood these odds. She had always been physically smaller than her opponents.

Many of her instructors had emphasized that bulk didn’t always matter in a fight if the other fighter was quicker or more skilled.

So Kerrigan had spent years working on being just that.

She had to be fast, nimble, and talented. She had to or she’d be dead. Tieran had learned the same lessons all that time they’d been fighting together. He couldn’t be more powerful than a dragon twice his size. He could only be better.

Tieran flew high above the lake front. He kept his eyes on Dalrig as Dalrig pulled up from his dive to find Tieran farther away than when he started.

He looked pissed. The fury on his visage made her nervous even though Tieran’s move was the same one she always utilized: infuriate your opponent, and make them have a misstep.

She just hoped it worked the same with dragons.

She had never seen a fight like this before.

She and Tieran had flown into war together with a whole contingent of dragons, but the other side hadn’t had dragons.

And Society dragons didn’t fight each other.

They were all on the same side. How terrifying it must have been during the Great War when both sides of the battle had dragons that could kill you.

How terrifying for anyone going up against dragons.

She shivered.

“Come on Tieran!” she called. “You can do this!”

Her voice was slight compared to the roar of the dragons all around her, but she still hoped he could hear her over the din.

The two dragons were circling each other high above the crowd. It could have been birds for all Kerrigan could see, like hawks getting ready to attack each other. Except that these were enormous, fiercely intelligent, mountain-shaking dragons.

Dalrig dove again. Audria clutched Kerrigan’s arm as Tieran rolled out of the way.

Dalrig’s claws scraped at Tieran’s belly.

The dragon scales were fire-resistant armor, but the underside was more vulnerable than the rest of them.

Tieran spewed flames at the other dragon, narrowly evading his claws.

The resulting plume of smoke was enough cover for Tieran to escape.

Kerrigan breathed a sigh of relief as the dragons separated again.

If Dalrig dragged his claws through Tieran’s belly, they were finished.

Long-range weapons had been built to puncture the undersides and especially the throats of dragons.

Some of them had been mounted in Lethbridge, but the weapons had been long out of service. Dragons were their allies.

Dread started to fill her belly the longer this went on. Even if they won this battle, they had a war to win—a war against Society dragons. A war that not all of them would survive. The thought made her sick. Why was she part of a world with this level of destruction?

Tieran darted away as if he were going to lick his almost wounds.

But Dalrig made chase, not letting him get away this time.

Tieran flew straight toward the Holy Mountain.

He blindingly veered over their position, the wind whipping Kerrigan’s hair around her face.

Dalrig was hot on his tail as they zipped through the points of the mountain that made it an obstacle course, Tieran running evasive maneuvers as if they were back in the arena.

Kerrigan laughed as the larger dragon struggled with the tight turns and pivots.

“That looks familiar,” Audria said.

“Sure does.”

Just as Dalrig got near to grabbing Tieran’s tail, Tieran executed a perfect barrel roll, his wings folding around his body. One second, he was there, and the next, he disappeared entirely into cloud cover.

He was just gone. Kerrigan covered her eyes with her hand to try to find where he was.

She and Gelryn had prepared for the tests, and she had to trust that he knew best. Even if her stomach was in her throat and her worry for Tieran was almost oppressive.

He could do this on his own. He didn’t need her help. Not for this test at least…she hoped.

Dalrig roared in frustration, following him into the clouds. That was a bold move, as neither of them could see their opponent. But Tieran had led him in there on purpose, of that she was certain.

A hush fell over the audience when both dragons disappeared. Kerrigan held her breath—Tieran could do this. She just had to keep reminding herself of that.

“Come on,” she hissed. “Come on.”

Audria bounced on the balls of her feet, her expression showing she was rapt with attention on the clouds overhead. “Where’d they go?”

“There!” Lowan shouted as Dalrig blasted out of the clouds.

He fell backward, his wings open wide as he fumbled in the air. It looked so unnatural to see a dragon struggling to fly. But he was scrambling to get himself turned around despite the blood streaming out of his chest.

Then Tieran appeared above him, diving straight for him.

He got his claws into his chest, which he must have already done in the clouds.

Dalrig screamed in pain as Tieran all but rode him toward the lake.

Tieran bent his neck so he was looking the larger dragon in the eye, as if he were conveying something to him.

Then his jaws sank into Dalrig’s throat and he pulled back, ripping the other dragon’s throat out.

Tieran’s wings jerked open wide just before the lake, flying up and over the other dragon. Dalrig crashed into the water. His body went flying for a half mile, sending waves of water across the lake and over some of the hatchlings.

A cheer went up as Tieran flapped higher above them, victorious.

Kerrigan, Audria, and Lowan screamed for his victory. He looked fearsome up there above so many of his kind—a smaller dragon with blood and guts all over his stomach as he held his head aloft. He had been hated and vilified by his own kind, and now they were cheering for him.

The attendant came to Kerrigan’s side. “We’ll proceed to the next test. If you’ll come with me.” Audria moved to her side, but Cathia shook her head. “Just her.”

“I’ll be all right,” Kerrigan assured her, squeezing her hand again. “Go see Evien.”

Then she was traipsing up the rocky route that led back to the mountain. She climbed a steep set of stairs that they had taken on the way down to the lake. Her legs burned when she got to the top.

“What’s next?” she asked Cathia at the summit.

“Mind,” she said.

Then she swung a bat at the back of Kerrigan’s head. Kerrigan gasped as she fell to her hands and knees.

“What—”

The bat came down a second time, and Kerrigan fell into darkness.