Page 61 of Upon Buried Embers (Upon Buried Embers #1)

Elf

We land at the front of camp. Rohan’s welcomed by the rest of the clan, and surprisingly, so am I.

“Ewf!” Melle runs up to me.

“Hi.” She crashes into me, and I pick her up, smiling wide. “How have you been?”

“I went and caut a fwish in the wiver.”

I gasp. “You did?” She nods, looking proud. “Wow. Well done!”

She giggles, and I spot Nora coming over, clearing her throat. “She wants you to come with us some day.”

I swallow, my chest feeling warm.

“I would love to,” I tell her softly, and she nods.

“Come on Melle, let’s help prepare the food.”

“Okway!”

They walk off and I feel burning eyes on me—Rohan. My cheeks heat as he licks his lips, eyes darkening.

I blow out a breath. I know that look, it’s the one he gave me before he adorned his mask and chased me. I eye it on his hip, wondering when we can do it again. The moment is broken when Kaldar pulls his attention away from me.

“How are you, dear?” Asseya comes up to me, giving me an unexpected hug.

It’s awkward for a moment, but then I lean into her embrace, feeling warm inside.

“I’m okay.”

She pulls back and takes my face in her hands. “I’m sorry for what has happened to you. With Darcia and Rhett.” I tense, and she tuts at me. “You’re not in trouble, but I fear I may be if I don’t release you soon. Your Dragonbond would have smoke coming out of his nose if he were a dragon.”

I turn to look at Rohan strolling our way, Sparks still in his grip and I smile.

“Ahh,” Asseya says, and when I look back at her, her eyes are kind. “It seems you do have a Dragonbond at your back, after all.”

My cheeks heat and she cackles, patting my arm. “I shall see you later.”

I watch her go, hearing the dragons in the distance and smile to myself.

I’m home.

“Welcome back!” I turn to Beau and smile softly. I’ve let go of some of my hurt since he helped me in The Glade. “Tofa is in the stables, want to come and say hi with me?” He lifts the bucket of apples.

“Sure.” I look at Rohan who holds Sparks by the scruff of his neck and he nods, though he glares at Beau as we walk off.

“He’s scary,” he shivers, and I nod.

“He certainly can be.”

“But not to you, right?” My cheeks heat and he laughs. “I’m happy for you,” he says. “What better way to make sure you are safe than to have him next to you?”

I smile because he’s right. “I’m thankful, though it’s scary.”

“I’m glad you’re doing better. I’m… I’m sorry again about the hair thing,” he mutters. “I’m glad Darcia is gone now. To be honest, I think a lot of us are.”

“Is no one mad?”

He shakes his head. “Even Fiona, who was her closest friend doesn’t seem to care, and it makes me wonder if she scared her as much as she scared us.”

I nod because that is probably true.

The only friends bullies have are other bullies, or those who are scared of them.

“Did you meet the girl you like?” Now his cheeks are blazing red, and I smile.

“We spent what time we could together.” He clears his throat. “Got a bit closer.”

I laugh at his bashfulness. “Rohan won’t mind, you know?” I assure him, because I don’t think he would at all.

He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ll have to speak with him at some point about it. We spoke of one of us moving to the other’s clan, if the Dragonbonds agree.”

“I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

He exhales. “I hope so. I really like her. But Rohan’s not my biggest fan right now with what happened.”

“It’ll get better.”

We enter the stable, Serah neighing in greeting. I go to her. “Hey.” Her tail swishes, and Beau lifts up the bucket for me. I grab an apple and give it to her. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“It’s hard to keep that a secret when she eats so loud.” I spin toward Tofa, smiling as she comes over.

She looks tired, and her eyes are puffy.

“Are you okay?” I ask, worried.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” She grabs a saddle from a stall gate.

“Tofa…”

“It’s okay, Elf. Promise. I’ll have to catch up with you in a little bit, much to clean since all the horses have been ridden.”

“Do you need some help?”

“No, no.” She waves me off. “See you both soon!”

And just like that, she’s gone.

“She’s been like that since we got back,” Beau says, frowning.

“She’s hurting.”

“She is.”

“Short Stack? Rohan wants you to take this to the den while he has a meeting.”

I turn to Calian, Sparks in his arms.

“Oh.” I grab him and hold him to my chest. “I’ll take him now.”

“See that you do,” he replies, but his eyes are bouncing around the stables, looking for someone.

“She’s in the tack room,” Beau says, and Calian shrugs.

“I didn’t ask.”

I look at Beau once Calian leaves. We both sigh.

“How are we going to help them fix this?”

Beau shakes his head. “I don’t think we can.”

Sparks makes a noise, peeking up at me, yawning.

“Let’s go and see your new family?” I say, watching a dragon fly over my head.

Making my way up the hill, I take care in the sludge that used to be snow with winter ending.

Reaching Rohan’s cabin, I pause at the back, seeing the roses now sprung to life. I crouch, holding one delicately in my hand and bringing it to my nose.

Smiling, I show it to Sparks, and I jolt in surprise when he bites down on it, tearing the petals off, then proceeds to spit it out.

I chuckle. “Silly dragon, it isn’t food.” I pet his head, walking to the dragon’s den and welcoming the heat as soon as it hits me.

“Hello?” I call, walking through the cavernous space. As soon as I turn the corner to their beds, a blur of black comes at me, knocking me flat on my back.

“Gods!” I gasp, wiggling when a wet tongue slides up my face. “Escor, you’re heavy!” I laugh when he makes a purring sound, nuzzling my cheek. But then he’s springing back, tail high, teeth bared as the little dragon on my chest starts growling at him.

I bite the inside of my cheek to stop the burst of laughter that wants to come out.

Sparks hisses like a damn cat, spluttering fire out of his mouth toward Escor. He growls in return, tails swinging back and forth, spikes high.

“Stop it you two,” I say, patting Sparks.

The look that Escor gives me is one of betrayal.

“I like you both, very much. You two need to be friends.” Escor huffs and sits down, turning his head away.

“Escor… he’s a baby.” An ear twitch. “He will be like your little brother.” A tail flick. “Please? He’s on his own.”

His head turns back to me, body relaxing, but before anything else can happen, a large mouth comes over me, and Sparks is grabbed by the back of the neck.

I lay there, mouth open as I watch Drogonah strut around the corner with him.

“Hey!” I shout, and race after him. “He’s not food! He’s just a baby, Drogonah!” Escor bounds ahead, growling. “I know you don’t want a little brother but—

Drogonah lays down on his bed, the stones neatly in a circle, and he lets go of Sparks before dropping his head next to him, keeping him within his front legs and closes his eyes.

I stop short with Escor, looking at them as the other dragons come over, greeting me and looking at the new arrival. I don’t take my eyes off of Sparks as he turns in circles, getting comfy before laying down.

He’ll need his own bed.

I watch them, leaning on Escor and I wonder how close Drogonah was to Frelia. Did he see the egg in The Glade before it hatched?

It would make sense, watching how he’s acting with him.

I sniffle and walk closer to them, my grief rising over Frelia.

I step over Drogonah’s tail and sit down against his shoulder, placing my hand on his side. He rumbles, but for once, he doesn’t grumble or snap at me.

Escor lays next to us, his head on Drogonah’s tail, breath tickling Sparks’s head. Not long after, the other dragons come. Agnar lies next to Escor, followed by Doren. Vex and Hedoric are next, followed by Solia, Blaise, and then Hakon.

Alter lays in front of me, the older dragon looking tired. To my surprise, the dragon we saved from the net cuddles up beside him, which makes me smile.

I wonder if they can feel the grief of what’s happened, if they can sense that Sparks is now all of theirs and is here to stay.

And most of all, can they sense The Games coming, knowing we may not have that long with each other?

The thought hurts my heart. How cruel to force them all into The Games, just so the king doesn’t attack and force the Dragorie under his rule.

Master is cruel, but what the king is doing seems even crueler.

It’s a while later when Rohan finds us.

He doesn’t say anything, just observes us, something akin to pain residing in those dark eyes as he moves closer and runs a hand over every dragon.

“What happens when you complete The Games, what do you win?” I ask quietly.

He sits next to me, shoulders touching mine and he runs his fingers over my hair at his wrist.

“We get out with our lives, that’s what we win.”

“Surely, there has to be a way to stop this.”

“There is.”

“What?” I ask, sitting up. “What will stop him from hurting dragons, from hurting the Dragorie?”

He smiles sadly. “The cost is far too great, Little Whisperer.”

I deflate. “What is it?”

His eyes bounce between mine, and he goes to speak but shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter, it isn’t an option anymore.” He sighs, leaning more heavily on Drogonah as Sparks whimpers, causing all the dragons’ heads to snap to him. He soon settles again.

“There must be something we can do.”

“There is. Find out if someone is betraying us, find the eggs, win The Games, and then, kill the king.”

“Why choose to kill the king now? Why not any of the other times before?”

He looks up, eyes on the opening above. “The last time we tried, dragons fell from the sky and died. We haven’t wanted to risk that again.

” His head tilts as he looks at me. “We’re running out of time now, especially with eggs being stolen.

They’re the next generation of dragons and they’re at risk.

The dragon’s population is at risk. We don’t know how many eggs will hatch.

” He looks at Sparks. “We’re nothing without them, and they’re nothing without us.

We co-exist or we simply don’t exist without each other. ”

I nod, understanding, and he takes my hand, stroking over my palm.

“I thought we could go another route to stop The Games, but things have changed in ways no one expected, one that only few know of. For that, I will bear the consequence, but he has to go, Elf, for more reasons than just the dragons and our people.”

He looks at me, eyes saying much more than words ever could.

“If we don’t survive The Games, if we don’t find the missing eggs, if by the end, we don’t kill him, it’s over. For the dragons, the Dragorie.”

My heart hammers. “What do you mean?”

“We need to get close to him,” he continues. “When The Games end, and he lines all the Dragonbonds up, that’s when we have to strike, regardless of whether he has arrows pointed at our dragons. At us.”

I swallow. “How will you kill him?”

He smiles, and it’s a cruel one.

“With my bare fucking hands.”