Page 100 of Shadow Throne King
I wanted to let the creature inside me out. Surely an animalia could fight this.
Desperately, I put the last of myself into the ice, covering Iradîo and Naî and Tallu in a thick permafrost.
It left me exposed, but in my heart of hearts, I didn’t want to save myself. Not the way I wanted to save them.
The dragon’s flames enveloped me. The magic in them swirled through me: the opposite of familiar ice magic, not just in temperature, but indesire. Ice magic was all about finding the truth in your heart, wanting something so badly that the desire brought it into existence.
Fire magic was about emotion. Anger, love, fury—that was what powered fire.
I opened my mouth, inhaling the flames, and felt the dragon pour his magic inside me. The voice ringing in my head screamed, desperately clawing, begging me to let it free, even as the fire wrapped itself around what was left of Centipede and burned it to nothing but ashes.
The flames went out. The first thing I was aware of was Tallu next to me, his hands on my shoulders, his face inches from mine. He was covered with a thick layer of white, so for a moment, it was as though I was looking at a marble statue of him, eyes blank, mouth open.
We were both on the ground, and the dragon loomed over us, its massive head close enough that I could have reached out and touched its snout.
“You have been touched by an evil so profound that the One Dragon herself left me in charge of its destruction,” the dragon said. “Now I must do what I have done to every host Centipede has taken.”
It opened its jaws, and my limbs were so weak I couldn’t even lift them in defense.
Tallu screamed, standing and raising both hands up. Lightning arced from his palms, and the white permafrost cracked, falling away from him, stained red by his blood.
“You may not have him,” Tallu shouted. His body was a whirlwind of power. I had never seen an electro mage use that much at once.
The voice of his magic was an endless keening wail.I love him. I love him. I love him.
It echoed, a painful shriek as ferocious as a sea serpent. There was nothing in his sheer desperation that was forgiving, and yet, I could feel the precision of Tallu’s technique. Electro magic was not like ice or fire: it needed training on top of raw ability.
The fire dragon reared back, startled, and Tallu pressed forward, his hands directing each bolt precisely, his focus so clear that I could see his intention, even as the dragon lifted his paw, trying to catch some of the electricity.
It passed through his claws, striking the same spot that Tallu had been aiming for: a small gap between his scales, exposed by the red-orange color.
The dragon roared as the gap sparked, his fury coming out in a long line of fire. But it didn’t go straight. Instead, it seemed to part in the middle, curling around both of us. Tallu had created a storm, a shattering boom of thunder where the fire met his electricity.
The dragon sat back, huffing laughter, sulfur thick in the air. It lifted its claw, scratching at the wound Tallu had made in its hide.
“Patriarch of House Atobe, heir to the murder of the One Dragon, killer of animalia, destroyer of magic, you think you can challengeme?”
“I will not let you kill him,” Tallu said, panting, blood trailing from the corner of his cracked lips.
“I have killed Centipede where it lived inside him.” The dragon looked down at me, opening his mouth and blowing out a warm breath. I didn’t flinch. “Perhaps he does not need to die.You, I have no wish to fight.” His eyes slid to Tallu. “You are already trapped by fate, and I have no wish to anger Spider. Killing one of the animalia is enough for me.”
Tallu stayed tense, and I forced myself to my feet, every muscle jumping, exhaustion like I had never felt in all my years training with Yorîmu pulling at me. I wanted to sprawl on the floor and never move again.
But that was the sort of sloth that Yorîmu had trained out of me. And if my husband was going to face a fire dragon, I might as well join him in the foolishness.
The dragon shook its massive head, then reached up to pull one of the black stone rocks from the ceiling. He held it delicately between his claws.
“You have learned ice, prince of the frozen kingdom,” the dragon said. “Ice is for the desires you cannot shake. Ice is unmoving and permanent. Ice is what lives in your soul when there is nothing else.”
He flicked the stone toward me, and I caught it against my stomach. It was as large as both hands put together.
“And fire is rage. Fire is raw emotion,” I said.
“You understand. It is strange. I hear an echo in your soul. Fire is magic you could learn if you let go of your control long enough to master it. Yet, ice and fire were not gifts given by the One Dragon to humans,” the fire dragon said.
“I have been blessed by the dragon Naî’s training,” I admitted. “We apologize for our trespass. But we had no idea it was your job to control Centipede, given that he had taken over the Shadow Throne.”
“My mistake. I rested too long and let the dwarves dig too deep. Now, I must rebuild the mountain, to guarantee that all his offspring are gone. They cannot hold Centipede’s power, but that does not make them safe.” The dragon considered me. “Keep that as a gift. Centipede eluded me for centuries, hiding and letting me kill the smaller ones. You have given me the opportunity to kill him finally. Should you ever need me, use it. There is other evil in this world.”