Page 51 of The Last Dragon (The Great Burn Chronicles #1)

For a moment, her eyes stay fixed on my chest, where veins swirl around my heart. They’re darker now. She dips a clean cloth into a bowl of herb-steeped water, wrings it dry, and presses it to my side. The sting is sharp, but I welcome it. Pain means I’m still here. Still breathing.

There’s a gentle tap on the window, then a soft screech. Sarga.

“She watches you,” Nida says, glancing toward the window. “Like she’s guarding something precious.”

“She saved my life.” I sigh, watching her flap her wings, puff her feathers, and continue to knock on the glass.

“I don’t know how, but I think Kayus taught her to recognize my—” A lump in my throat prevents me from saying anything more, and the sting from the linen makes me drop the thought. I wince.

“I’ll let you get some rest,” Nida says, squeezing my hand as she stands up, and for a second, I’m not intending to let go.

I don’t want to. I want her to stay here, with me, and let the warmth from her hand radiate in my cold grasp.

For her to stay close, talk about memories of our childhood—doing silly things, hanging out by the river, weaving bracelets or head garlands from whatever plants we could find.

Her hands teasing my hair. How I wish I could go back to the moment I saw her for the first time.

Braided hair, bright smile, the loudest laugh I ever heard.

The moment I knew my heart would always belong to her.

But instead, I let go of her hand and watch her leave.

Moments later, Sayna checks my wounds. I peek around her to see Alex, curled up as he lays in his bed.

Nobody visited him. A young nurse comes up to him, and Alex’s demeanor immediately changes.

He slowly sinks into his bed, as if he’s trying to escape.

He seems different, and that bothers me.

I wince at the sudden sharp pain in my arm, and I try to rip myself out of Sayna’s grasp.

“Stay still!” she exclaims, pressing a harsh needle to the vein. The serum. Once she’s done, she puts it down and lets out a deep sigh. It’s strange—I didn’t feel her lift my arm before she pressed the needle in.

“You need to be in control of your emotions,” she says, her mouth turning into a frown. “Extreme emotions and panic will affect your body, and the serum will not be able to control your seizures.”

Silence settles between us. There’s something she isn’t telling me, but at this moment, I don’t even want to know what it is.

“Am I free to go?” I finally ask, and her expression turns into a gentle annoyance, as if she knows that there is no other answer I would accept but yes.

She hesitantly nods. “I’ll go get the form for you to sign. Then you’re out of my hands until our next meeting.”

I dip my chin and pack myself up. My legs still feel slightly numb, but I’m certain that once I get myself walking, I’ll manage to wake them up. After all, I’ve been out for four days.

Four days.

I glance back again, watching Alex pulling out feathers and lint from this cover. He catches my gaze, furrowing his brow and grunting in disapproval.

“What are you looking at?” he snarls, crossing his arms in defense. I scoff at him. He’s like a child who didn’t get what he wanted.

“Nothing,” I say. I take a deep breath and let it out. “Didn’t think you’d survive.”

He doesn’t take that comment too lightly, grimacing as he looks away. “Yeah, well, I have a knack for survival.”

“Survival.” I scoff. “If you want to survive this hell, joining the Corps is the last thing you want to do. Why did you join anyway?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow.

“It’s safer out there in the Middle.” I expected a snort or scoff or a witty remark when I asked that.

But I get silence, his tensed shoulders slightly dropping, and his eyes are different from what I’m used to.

It’s not a look threatening to kill me, or a look that makes me feel like I’m a demon.

It’s a look I’ve only seen in kids that grew up with horrors I’ll never know.

“Let’s just say dragons aren’t the only fucked up thing in this world,” he says, attempting to twist his frown into a sneer. “Figured I’d have a better chance of survival out here than in there.”

His words hit me in the chest. What did those lords do to him? Did they whip him? Hurt him?

“You helped me,” I say, tugging on a bandage. He sinks into his bed at my words, not even sparing me a glance. “You don’t look like a guy who would save anyone but yourself,” I continue.

Alex glances at me. “Well, you looked like a guy who needed saving.”

I watch him as he continues to rip out feathers from his blanket. Maybe there’s some good in him. Maybe there always has been, and whoever stole that from him—well, I hope they can’t steal it from anyone else. The door creaks again, and Sayna walks in with a paper and an ink pen in her hand.

“You know the protocol,” she says gently. “I’m not responsible if anything out of the ordinary happens. If there’s a concern, you come to me—”

I wave my hand, taking the pen and the form from her hand, “I know,” I say, before signing myself out.

It’s been a long time since the expedition, and I know nothing about what has happened. I’ll have to find Lieutenant Wain for an update. I leave the room and enter a dark, empty hall. There are visible cracks on the wall that nobody has properly patched up since the Redsnout attack.

Twice now, the Redsnout has defied everything we know.

Twice we’ve failed to kill it—failed to save humanity from the brink of extinction.

I run through every possible outcome of what happened with the Redsnout—what to do, what not to do, what might happen if we try this or that.

But the thoughts twist sharply in my skull, and pain blooms behind my eyes.

Before I realize it, I’m standing outside my quarters.

It feels like only minutes since I left the infirmary—yet I’m on the other side of the Hold already.

My room is almost exactly the way I left it, aside from my crossbow lying on my bed.

Someone had to put that there, but before my suspicion can flare, I notice the container filled with insects for Sarga.

That has Nida written all over it. I feel grateful—especially for making sure Sarga wasn’t going hungry while I was gone.

I toss my bag on the bed, taking a sharp breath, feeling relieved at the moment of quiet. But that abruptly ends by a violent knock at the door. I’m hesitant at first, but the knock only pounds louder and faster the longer I wait.

“Alright!” I yell out, stretching my back, cracking my spine, and lazily approaching the door.

Brown eyes. Filled with fear and wet from recent tears.

Ilian.

He grabs me by the crewneck and pulls me closer.. He reeks of sweat and salt, and he’s trying to catch his breath. It’s like he ran across the entire Hold in seconds.

“Zel!” He coughs out, completely breathless. “Please! It’s Eryca!” he breathes. My heart races. Spit it out.

“The general accused her of purposefully not lacing the bolts. She’s going to be executed!”