Page 52 of Progeny of the Cursed Egg (Dragonis Academy, Year 3)

Klauth

I feel the shift in my mate the moment she senses Abraxis is in trouble.

The air crackles with the intensity of her fear and rage.

That stupid young drake—always trying to prove himself by running headlong into danger.

His recklessness is a constant source of concern.

We race to catch up to Mina, my heart pounding in my chest as I strain to hear her barking orders to the black dragons along the cliff’s edge.

Her voice is sharp and commanding. There is something in her gaze that makes them bow their heads in deference, a power that emanates from her very being.

Never in all my years have I seen a female treated with such respect as my mate.

The reverence in their eyes is a testament to her strength and wisdom.

From what Vox told me, this began long before I even hatched.

There’s an unspoken quality about Mina that makes others feel compelled to listen, a magnetism that draws them to her.

When she shifts, she orders us to climb on.

We obey without question, our bodies moving in sync with her commands.

Her words echo in my mind, reverberating with a truth I can’t ignore.

She has discovered that she indeed bends time—not a trait of the veil walkers, but of the iron dragons.

It’s an ability long forgotten, a power that sets her apart from all others.

Mina launches off the cliff into a momentary free fall, the wind whipping past us in a deafening roar.

The instant she beats her wings, I catch the sharp tang of ozone in the air, the scent electric and alive.

Along her flattened frill, I watch lightning race down to her tail.

It pulses first at her horns, then leaps along her frill before streaking to her tail, a dazzling display of raw power.

With every beat, the cycle of power intensifies, the air humming with energy, and the ground below melts away into a blur of colors and shifting shapes, the world falling away beneath us.

“Are we safe here?” Ziggy asks, his voice barely audible over the rush of wind as the clouds smear past us, his words nearly lost in the chaos.

“As long as you don’t fall off, yes,” I reply, staring at him briefly before looking to the horizon, trying to find my bearings. The landscape below is a dizzying patchwork of green and brown.

I sense her urging in our bond, her desperation palpable: ‘I have to move faster.’ Her words are a plea, a prayer whispered into the void.

‘My Treasure, we are halfway there by my estimation,’ I add silently, attempting to soothe the worry consuming her, to ease the fear that grips her heart.

But then I hear her desperation. The words are a knife twisting in my gut.

‘He will die if I’m not fast enough. The Drow will attack him while he’s down and wounded and kill him.

I need to move faster.’ Her voice turns into a whine as she pumps her wings harder against the biting wind, the muscles straining with the effort.

“Are we going faster than before?” Balor suddenly asks, his eyes darting around, the question hanging heavily in the air between us .

“Drow will hunt Abraxis once he hits the ground,” I explain, my gaze shifting from Balor to Ziggy and back, the gravity of the situation etched on their faces. “She’s afraid we won’t make it in time. Kill anything that is not from our nest. I’ll deal with the bodies later.”

“You’ve got it,” Balor responds, glancing ahead toward Mina’s head, his expression grim and determined.

Then we hear her roar—an earth-shaking sound that seems to split the sky, the force of it vibrating through my bones.

My vision blurs for a moment as I see a black dragon fall from the sky, the sight a punch to the gut.

She has seen Abraxis fall. The realization is a cold, sickening weight in the pit of my stomach.

“Get ready—he was just shot down. Get him back to Risedale as fast as possible,” I command, staring at Ziggy until he nods, the understanding clear in his eyes.

“Get ready.” Balor shifts at my order, his body coiled and tense, and with another thunderous roar from Mina, Ziggy, and Balor vanish into the void, the air shimmering in their wake.

“Time to hunt,” I say to myself, my heart pounding as Mina slows her pace ever so slightly, the change in speed almost imperceptible.

The moment her speed drops, I leap from her back, plummeting in freefall and shift.

My body twists and contorts as I transform, the rush of wind deafening in my ears.

The first crack of lightning rends the sky, its branches splintering in multiple directions and striking several targets.

The air sizzling with the smell of ozone and charred flesh.

I catch sight of movement in the trees—shadows converging toward where Abraxis fell.

I unleash a searing burst of fire. The flames leaping from my maw in a torrent of heat and light.

The flames are so hot they melt stone as they cascade around our enemies.

The scent of burning flesh and singed hair filling the air.

Banking hard, I circle around where the others protect Abraxis, breathing fire again to encircle them in a blazing ring, a barrier the Drow dare not cross.

The heat is a palpable force against my scales .

Mina’s roar burns with pure rage, a sound that makes my scales rise in response.

The fury in her voice is a tangible thing.

I glance down to see Abraxis limp in Ziggy’s arms. His body is broken and still, before Balor shifts back and they vanish from sight, the air shimmering in their wake.

I cannot gauge his condition without distracting Mina, so I trail behind her as she charges toward the outpost, striking everything that moves in her path.

The ground trembling beneath her fury. The anger I feel through our bond rivals the heat of my own flames, a searing, all-consuming rage that threatens to engulf us both.

Movement to the right catches my eye, and I twist just in time to avoid a barrage of huge bolts.

The projectiles whistle past me in a deadly hail.

As I turn to roar at Mina, the warning dying on my lips.

I watch in horror as two bolts strike her side and she’s shot out of the sky, her body plummeting toward the ground in a sickening arc.

My heart seizes in my chest, a cold, paralyzing fear gripping me.

I unleash my breath weapon toward the source of the attack.

The flames leaping from my maw in a torrent of heat and light.

Screams echo in the valley as I incinerate everything in my path.

The stench of burning flesh and melted metal filling the air.

Once I’m certain the threat has been neutralized, the valley is silent save for the crackling of flames.

I fly toward Mina and land beside her, my claws digging into the scorched earth.

Her massive form lies on its side, a bolt lodged beneath her wing.

The sight of it is like a knife to my heart.

I detect no scent of blood, only the acrid tang of burnt metal, a small mercy in the face of what could have been.

I move closer and nuzzle her gently with my maw.

My breath is warm against her scales. Her body trembles beneath me until her head snaps up, and she roars, the sound a defiant cry against the darkness.

I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding as I see her move.

The relief washing over me in a dizzying wave.

She lifts her wing, and the bolt’s tip is pressed against her scales.

The metal glinting dully in the fading light.

Only splintered fragments hold it in place, a testament to the strength of her armor.

‘I’m okay, Klauth. It didn’t penetrate my scales—just knocked the wind out of me,’ she says through our mental bond, her voice a soothing balm to my frayed nerves.

I stretch my neck and bite the bolt, wrenching it free from her scales. The metal is bitter on my tongue. ‘You are truly amazing, my treasure. I can only hope our progeny inherit half the strength you possess.’ I nuzzle her side, carefully plucking away splinters with my teeth.

‘Is it over?’ she asks slowly, turning her head to scan the smoldering valley. The landscape is a hellish patchwork of ash and embers.

‘Yes, the guys have Abraxis far from here. We just need to summon Callan and then head back to Risedale.’ I carefully stand and lie down beside Mina, sheltering her smaller form under my wing.

The warmth of her body is a comfort against the chill of the night.

‘Call for Callan and rest for a bit. I’ll fly us home.

’ I feel the pulse through our bond as she summons him, the connection between us a living, breathing thing.

Mentally, I hear Mina yawn, her soft exhale mingling with the steady beat of our hearts.

The sound is a gentle lullaby in the stillness.

She lowers her head to rest it across my foreleg, her scales smooth and warm against mine.

I stare down at the most powerful dragoness ever to grace this dark continent.

The sight of her is a miracle amid the chaos.

I am blessed beyond measure to call her mine.

To be the one she chose to stand by her side, to weather the storms and face the darkness together.

And as I hold her close, our hearts beating as one.

I know that there is nothing in this world or the next that could ever tear us apart.