Page 68 of The Dragon King's Pregnant Mate
"You feel it too," Calliope calls out to me, and there's something in her voice I've never heard before—a certainty that steals my breath. "They’re not happy with him. They want us to kill him.”
The voices start then—whispers in the wind that speak in languages I shouldn't understand but somehow do, carrying the weight of centuries of sacrifice.
"Enough!" Ulric's roar sounds desperate now. "Your gods can't save you. Your magic can't protect you. I'll see you both dead before I let you keep this power for yourselves!"
He launches himself at me with all the fury of his madness.
I meet him head-on, completing my transformation just as his claws would have found my throat. Our bodies crash together with enough force to crack the ancient stone beneath us. Dragon-fire fills the air, gold flame meeting black in explosions that shake the very foundations of the peak.
I'm larger, stronger, but Ulric fights with the desperate intensity of someone with nothing left to lose. His teeth find my shoulder, tearing through scales that should be impenetrable. The pain barely registers through my fury. My own claws rake his sides, drawing blood that steams in the bitter air.
We roll dangerously close to the ledge's edge, a tangle of wings and teeth and ancient hatred. Far below, the valley yawns like a hungry mouth, waiting to swallow us both. I hear my warriors crying out, but I can't spare the focus to answer. Can't think of anything except protecting Calliope, ending this threat to my family once and for all.
"You never understood!" Ulric's voice cracks like breaking ice even through his dragon-form. "Never saw what they did to us, how they twisted us into these…these monsters—"
My tail catches him across the jaw, sending him staggering. "The only monster here is you, Ulric!"
My once-brother’s flames crash against my defense, but something else rises to meet them—a wall of pure winter that must be Calliope's doing. Ice spreads from the ancient stone beneath our feet, trying to claim my brother's claws even as steam rises from his scales.
"Can't you feel it?" I snarl as we circle each other. "This place rejects you. Everything you've become—"
"Everything I've become?" His laugh holds an edge of hysteria. "What about you,brother?Still playing at being king, still pretending you deserve any of this?" His tail lashes against stone. "You let them die! Let them burn while you did nothing—"
The accusation hits like a physical blow. Images flash through my mind—our parents' bodies on the Sanctum floor, smoke rising from scorched stone, Ulric's screams as guards held us back. But I force the memories away. I can't let him distract me. Can't let him twist this into something it's not.
"They would be ashamed of what you've become," I tell him, and I see the words strike home. "Everything they taught us about family, about protecting what matters—"
His roar of fury shakes loose more snow from distant peaks. He comes at me again, all precision lost to madness, flames pouring from his jaws in a torrent that should melt stone. But something rises to meet his fire—not my own flames, but ancient magic drawn from the very mountain itself. Ice and fire collide in explosions that light up the storm-dark sky.
The runes beneath our feet pulse brighter with each clash, their light catching on frost in ways that form almost-recognizable patterns. Through the chaos, I glimpse Calliope working at her bonds, her own magic beginning to break free of whatever curse my brother placed upon her. Our child's power pulses between us like a captive star, harmonizing with the mountain's ancient song.
"You think you can protect them?" Ulric's voice carries mockery even through his dragon-form. "Think you can keep them safe? You couldn't even save our own blood—"
I slam into him before he can finish, driving us both dangerously close to the precipice. My teeth find his throat, tasting copper and smoke as I tear through his scales. He thrashes beneath me, claws raking my sides, but I barely feel the pain. All I can think of is Calliope's fear through our bond, our child's magic reaching for me, everything I stand to lose if I fail here.
"I am not that child anymore," I snarl, punctuating each word with another strike. "Not the boy who couldn't save them. Not the brother who trusted you. I am king.”
The voices in the wind rise to a crescendo, and suddenly I understand acutely that this place is a judgment ground.
Here, betrayers face divine justice today.
Smoke rises between us as my brother's blood meets ancient stone. The runes flare brighter, their light catching on his scales in ways that seem almost alive. I feel the weight of centuries pressing down—all the rituals performed here, all the sacrifices made, all the oaths kept and broken.
Dozens of dragons circle us overhead, not yet descending, waiting. They know it is a dragon’s honour to fight such battles alone.
Should I die, they’ll know who the new king is. Should I live, they’ll soar back over my city to the ground far below.
"The world abandoned us!" Ulric's voice cracks with desperation. “Theyabandoned us!”
"No, brother." The words emerge in a growl that carries all my grief, all my fury, all my desperate need to end this. "You abandoned everything they taught us. Everything we were meant to be. When you’re dead soon, I won’t mourn you.”
My brother twists beneath me with impossible strength, throwing me back against stone that cracks under the impact. I hear Calliope scream as he launches himself at me one final time, all precision lost to madness.
"Then let's finish what started that day! Let's see if you can save them this time—”
But as he moves to strike, ice spreads like an arrow shot from a crossbow out across my brother’s body, from Calliope’s direction, crawling up his legs despite the heat pouring from his scales.
I see real fear flash in his eyes as he realizes what's happening—what this place has judged him to be. What mywifehas judged him to be, the once and future queen.