Page 33 of I Dream of Dragons

“So you’re going to what,wrestlethe drak? Are you out of your mind?”

“Can you just kindly shut up?” he mutters, still climbing, trying to reach the dragon’s back where a darker patch is visible.

A saddle. The drak is wearing a saddle. Are these squadron draks, conscripted in the king’s army?

Phaethon reaches higher and the drak curls its long neck in, mouth opening, going after him.

He’s going to be fodder. No matter what he says about keeping Jai safe, right now he’s out of his element.

He won’t make it. He’s where I’ve been since I joined this insane mission: without the bulk of his magic, floundering, trying to get by without it, and although this is Phaethon, sarcastic, arrogant, cruel, aggravating, and a damn bastard… he’s still Jai.

That’s why I don’t want him dead, I decide. That’s all. Because despite Jai’s dismissal of me last night, I don’t want him to die.

“Listen to me!” I shout at the drak, my voice reverberating through the tunnel, but it’s no good. No magic follows the sound. “Help us!”

“Stop yelling, you idiot,” Phaethon says, “and stay back!”

He’s kind of rude for an ancient being, if you ask me. And Iamstaying back. Why does he think I’m yelling my throat raw?

I’m still debating how best to insult his ancestors when the drak turns toward me and belches fire.

I throw myself against the wall, plastering my back to it, as the flames pierce the gloom of the passage.

Why are the draks here? Did the king tear this piece of rock out of a mountain and transplant it into the middle of the arena,bringing the nests along? Or did he shove the draks in here and they stayed, lulled by the scents they love?

Distracting the drak worked, though, and Phaethon has reached the drak’s neck. Now he’s working his way over it to reach the reins.

You’re welcome, asshole.

But the drak now doesn’t look so happy about it. He tries to throw Phaethon off, twisting inside the narrow passage, scraping against the walls. Dust and earth tumble down. Phaethon hits the wall but stays put.

“Stay,” he says, his voice sonorous, vibrating with power—but will it be enough? “Stay!”

The drak hits the wall again, and Phaethon sways, hanging from the reptile’s long leg, trying to get a foothold on its body.

Stay still, I think, sending the thought just like I had done with the sea dragon.Let him climb you.

Another thought replies to mine.“Does that line work for you normally?”

Joy explodes inside my chest.Remi!

“In the flesh. Where are you? How am I supposed to help if you don’t speak to me?”

Me? How about you speak to me, too?

“You were the one in need of help, last I checked. I’m out here flying up and down, running about like a headless chicken?—”

We’re inside.

“Inside… where?”

The platform. It’s full of drak nests in here.

“Why in the hells would you go inside…?”Exasperation. Worry.Never mind. What can I do?”

Create a distraction? We are on the side facing the palace.

“A distraction for a male or female drak? And what color?”