Page 1 of Prince of Blaze and Embers (Emberveil Empire #1)
T he bloody, terrifying roar of the dragon in the sky made my whole body shudder.
Terror gripped me, mixed with the wild envy of such a free, magnificent, yet deadly beast. On the sandy shores of my small prison of a town, my feet urged me forward, captivated by the wondrous dragon as its shadow enveloped me, breaking the sun’s golden rays.
The chains around my ankles clattered as my step halted mid-stride, though.
“Ash! Are you seriously just standing there?” Bella grabbed my wrist with surprising strength, her blue eyes wide—not with terror, but with that exasperated spark she always got when things went sideways.
Her long blond hair whipped wildly in the sea wind, and despite the smoke and screaming, she huffed, “Unless you’ve got a plan to flirt with the dragon, we should move. ”
Those that were smart in my small seaside town ran. They ran for their fucking lives because who in their right mind would stand on the beach looking up at a monster that could sear all your flesh right off your bones? Me, I guessed.
“Right,” I muttered. “We need to get the hell off the beach, now! ”
Bella released me, and I grabbed her hand, our fingers interlocked, pulling her behind me up the long sandy shores of where Bramblebash met the crashing waves of the clear blue South Cape Sea.
Bramblebash clung to the crescent curve of the Allovan coast like a seashell forgotten by time—its cottages cobbled from pale driftstone, roofed in faded white tile, and always dusted in sea salt.
The scent of fresh honeybread wafted from the bakery on the main square, mixing with the tang of iron and smoke from Garris’ forge where horseshoes and hinges never stopped clanging.
Fishing nets hung like ghosts on wooden posts, and windchimes made of coral bones danced in the breeze.
Even as the dragon’s roar echoed from the cliffs, the familiar sounds of gulls and waves made it all feel impossibly real.
As more riders on dragons darted down beneath the clouds, I couldn’t help but watch their splendor over my shoulder, pulling my best and only friend behind me.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from them. Their majesty, their magnificence, their utter ability to be free of the world tore hard at my core.
I wanted nothing more than to be like that, able to leave any place at any time, but the chains that cut into my ankles brought me back to reality.
“They’re wearing crimson and gold.” Bella huffed behind me, clutching her small leather bag, sending a new worry deep into me. I swallowed hard, causing the fear to sink deep into my stomach like molten iron. “They’re riders of Emberveil and the queen.”
“Emberveil? What are they doing this far south?” My words were nearly cut short by a tugging at my ankles that caused me to plummet face-first into the sand.
“Slow down, you wretch,” Garris panted behind me, his fat fingers tight around the other end of the chain that yanked my shackles out from under me.
The rider on the largest of the dragons’ back, high in the dim cloudy sky, whipped the reins as the dragon’s enormous wings flapped, sounding like massive ship’s sails biting and cracking in the sea winds.
Its long tail slithered behind, and its huge, horned heads broke through the gray clouds as it hurtled through the air.
Bramblebash was just ahead—a measly sea town of a few hundred people—and only a couple of miles wide.
Its white buildings resembled teeth poking out from a bottom jaw.
It wasn’t much, but it was all I ever knew since being sold there when I was five.
The snowy caps of mighty mountains cradled the sky far beyond my town, always tempting me, taunting me to escape the awful life I had.
“Wait for me.” Garris trudged through the sand, holding both our chains, and holding us back as more dragon riders zipped below the clouds.
“Those aren’t Emberveil riders.” Bella’s voice resonated with worry.
The new dragons and riders wore capes and armor with the silver and black colors of the rebels against the empire… “Stormscales,” I muttered, fully feeling the dread of what was churning in the sky above my small piece of the world—war.
A dragon’s roar filled the air all around me.
I clapped my hands over my ears, and Bella did the same—trying desperately to dull the ear-piercing roar that caused my head to splinter.
The vibrations from the beast’s painful screech shook my chest, my nerves, and even as deep as my bones.
My entire body vibrated under the violent erupting roar of the monster above.
I looked up just in time to see the dragon and its rider plummeting to the ground, a massive spear sticking out from the gray dragon’s bloody chest. The rider yanked with all his might back on the reins, but they hurtled down at frightening speed, right at us!
Garris, with his sweaty, fat fingers, pulled hard, using Bella and my weight to pull himself up the beach. My fingers dug into the wet sand, fighting not to fall back from his hefty body weight, which outweighed both of us girls combined.
I mustered all the strength I had to pull Bella forward, and by default, my master’s miserable ass up the beach. The rider and dragon tumbled at breakneck speed toward us, blood gushing upward behind the roaring beast.
“Wait!” I shouted, throwing both hands up into the air, praying to Odiun as I dragged Bella and Garris far enough away.
The dragon let out one last ear-piercing roar from all the wind still in its lungs.
The rider yelled out one last desperate attempt to get the dragon to pull back up into the sky.
The dragon and rider collided into the ground so hard that the tremor rocked all three of us to the ground.
The dragon’s brown, scaly body twisted and broke under the impact. Its wings snapped like huge branches and angled awkwardly over its motionless, immense body. The jagged, bloody bones in its neck protruded through its thick skin, and the wild sparkle in its devilish eyes faded.
The rider died instantly, being pinned under its weight. His head was spun all the way around, with his chin parallel to the back of his spine. Blood gushed out from under his helmet and out of his nostrils and mouth.
I was left staring straight into his eyes—blood-red, forever wide, a twisted look of agony etched across his face. We were mere feet from the violent fall of the dragon and rider, and Bella and Garris were both left fraught in terror from the narrow escape with our lives.
“Get up!” I yelled, yanking the chains at my ankles to get Garris moving, his mouth fully agape and his eyes fixed upon the horror before us. “We’ve got to go, now!”
Garris stumbled up to his feet, and we finally got moving again, back up the sandy banks to Bramblebash, filled with frightful screams below the dragon battle in the sky.
Dragons dove at one another, sweeping across the sky like divine beasts or demons. Their huge, violently sharp teeth flashed, their enormous wings flapping, sending the dragons hurtling through the sky at breakneck speeds. Dozens of them, all wishing to end the battle quickly.
Bella and I ran for our lives back toward town, pulling our panting master behind.
“What are they doing all the way down here?” Bella asked, running beside me, squeezing my hand tight. “The Emberveil riders almost never come this far south!”
“The question is, what are the Stormscales doing fighting them down here?” I was unable to hold the excitement in my voice back.
The exhilaration of dragons this close to me, and nearly dying, had my heart pounding so hard I felt the vibrations in my ribs.
“The rebellion does everything it can to plan out its attacks; why here? Why right now?”
“It’s the queen,” Bella gulped. “She’ll send her army to the underworld itself to kill every last one of them.”
I’d seen the recent posters in town from Emberveil. Hefty rewards for leads on where the Stormscales were hiding. The war had grown in recent years, and tales of their dragon battles rung in even our tiny corner of the world.
“But here? In Bramblebash? This far away from her kingdom? She must be getting even more ruthless than they say…” My words were cut short by another roar that entered the sky like booming, legendary thunder.
It was so thunderous and commanding, it made every other dragon in the sky pivot, instinctively moving away from the approaching beast.
As the new dragon emerged from the thick, dark clouds my jaw dropped and my fingers spread wide. My eyes widened at the sight of the beast, and the hairs on the back of my neck tightened, sending goose pimples all the way down the backs of my arms.
It was him …
“By the beard of Odiun,” Garris muttered. “It’s him… By all that is holy…”
As the dragon and its rider tore through the sky above, my feet froze to the sand and sweat trickled down my arms.
It was him… I’d heard of that black dragon from all the tales. Its unmistakable…
“The Blaze Prince.” The words escaped my lips without restraint. The tales of his ruthlessness and conquests were known by every being in all of Allovan, and there he was, sweeping through the skies of Bramblebash, looking like he was born on the back of that horrible, murderous dragon.
“He’s as terrifying as they say,” Bella murmured, unintentionally holding her breath.
“It’s time to move,” Garris shouted, suddenly ahead of us as we froze. He yanked on the chains at our ankles.
“One more minute!” Rebellion thickened my voice. I couldn’t tear my gaze off such a legendary rider. My heart thumped so hard I felt the blood rushing through the arteries in my neck.
“Ashlyn, you’re gonna feel my whip again for your sharp tongue, make no mistake!”
“Good!” I fought back. “I hope you do, you miserable excuse for a man! And it’s Ash!”
“We should do as he says,” Bella said in a hushed voice, terror gripping her throat.