Page 41 of Wild Flame (Wild Bond #2)

Chapter Forty-One

A mir’s blue-gray dragon growled menacingly, showing off his fangs that were each bigger than my forearm. I backed up a step.

Yesh and Selasi moved in front of me.

Virath’s thick tail swiped forward. I cried out as both of them were sent crashing into the stone building behind us. Both guards dropped to the ground. Unmoving.

My heart lurched in fear. I wanted to go to them, praying to all the Nine gods that they weren’t dead, but Amir had emerged from the Conclave Hall, and I was now stuck between him and a dragon.

“It’s not worth it, Leida,” Amir taunted, sword held casually at his side.

I spun to partially face him, still keeping Virath in my line of sight.

Movement caught my eye behind Amir. To my horror, I watched as Malik, Helene, Taj, Harun Salim, and the other five territory leaders stepped outside the hall—movements stiff, eyes red and blank—and came to stand in a row behind Amir.

“Your only choice now is which of us you would like to do the honors.” Amir’s smile was a thing of pure evil in the flickering firelight around us, and I wondered at how I had ever thought him handsome.

It broke something inside me to see Malik and my sister like this—cold and lifeless. And Taj and Harun being controlled by this monster.

Amir took a step towards me.

I looked towards Virath. I was no match against a dragon. Maybe I could—

Virath’s massive head whipped around and he snarled.

Then Leif materialized out of nowhere, dropping from the sky a dozen feet away and rolling to his feet.

A second later, I realized he must have leapt from his dragon’s back when Wormoth barreled into Virath with a bellowed roar. I gaped in shock as the two dragons went crashing over the lawns and paths, demolishing several torches and stone fountains in the process.

“Leida!” Leif cried in warning.

In my distraction—and my surprise that Leif was somehow here—I had forgotten about Amir. I moved on instinct, twisting away from the strike I knew had to be coming. Not far enough, though. His blade grazed my side, and I hissed at the stinging pain. Amir swung again, but I slid back, and his sword struck the stone at our feet just as Leif reached us. His long broadsword instantly clashing with Amir’s blade.

Breathing hard, I glanced down to see blood darkening my gown just below my ribs. Pressing my hand against it, I looked on as the two riders fought. It didn’t take long to realize they were very evenly matched. Leif was lethal, but so was Amir. There was not a trace of the drunken degenerate prince I was used to seeing. He really had been cultivating a persona this whole time. And we had all believed it.

I suddenly felt a little lightheaded and had to shake my head to clear it. Vaguely, I wondered if the wound on my side was actually worse than I thought.

A cry from Leif drew my attention back to the fight. Amir had cut a vicious slice across Leif’s thigh and shoved him back a step.

“Kill her!” Amir suddenly snarled towards the immobile line of dragon riders behind him. “Kill the queen!”

My blood went cold as ten blank stares suddenly locked on me. As one, they all began walking towards me.

Assassin help me.

They didn’t run as they drew their weapons—Malik a long dagger and the others their swords—moving toward me at a steady, unwavering pace.

Pulling myself to my feet, I wondered if they were susceptible to all suggestion. I yelled for them to stop, but none of them did. They just kept coming. It was like they didn’t even hear me. They must only follow Amir’s orders somehow.

“Leida, run!” Leif shouted.

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I turned and ran. I may be able to hold my own against one dragon rider for a time, but not ten, and especially not when I was injured, and all I had was a sword I could hardly lift. As I dashed down the path to the dais, clutching my side as I went, the thundering roars of the two dragons battling not far off reverberated through the space. I prayed Wormoth could hold his own against the larger dragon.

When I finally reached the other structure, I was out of breath, and my side ached. Thinking to put it between me and my pursuers, I darted around one corner at the base of the stairs that led to the archway, and nearly collided with a dozen Talonar, Brunara at the front. Their eyes were wide as they took in the two dragons, Leif and Amir, and me running towards them.

“My queen, what’s happening?” she demanded. “We came as fast as we could when we heard the commotion.”

I fought to catch my breath. Brunara took in my wounded side and her eyes widened.

“My queen, what—"

“Amir—Amir has betrayed the . . . king . . .” I explained. “He and my sister and his men are being influenced by a potion and are . . . not themselves. They are trying to kill me.”

The warrior looked stunned, as did her companions. She glanced behind me, and I knew what she saw when her expression first registered shock, then it hardened.

Malik and the others were almost upon us.

The Talonar stepped in front of me, spreading out. “We won’t let that happen, Your Majesty,” Brunara vowed. “You are injured. Stay behind us,” she ordered.

Reluctantly, I nodded, gritting my teeth against the pain in my side.

“Try not to kill them,” I told them all. Though, truthfully, I was more worried that one of the warriors might be harmed, even though there were more of them. Riders healed quickly, but I still knew it was only a matter of time before someone would be killed or gravely injured. I also knew that if Malik or the others harmed any of these warriors, they would never forgive themselves when they came out of whatever trance they were in.

As the battle began, Malik and the others fought with stilted, jerky movements, like puppets on strings, lacking the grace a rider normally would have had. They were still deadly though, and the Talonar were at a disadvantage as they tried not to injure them.

A sound drew my attention upward and my blood went cold as I saw Virath flying directly for us, jaws opening.

“Move!” I yelled.

Brunara, who had been fighting with Taj, tackled him out of the way just as the dragon released a breath of flames our way. I dove behind a corner of stone and landed hard on my uninjured side. The heat of the flames touched my skin, but the strike missed me.

A wing of olive-green scales passed overhead as Leif’s dragon pursued Virath. The smaller and faster dragon caught up to Virath, and they collided in midair. I watched in shock as the dragons careened out of control, then lost sight of them in the shadows overhead.

Wheezing out a breath, I struggled to my feet as I focused back on the ground and saw a wall of flames and scorched earth now separated me from the Talonar. Plants and trees that had once lined the beautiful walkway before the dais were now burning. I fought to ignore my rising panic at being so close to the flames. Somehow, I found it was surprisingly easy to do, given my worry for the others as I squinted through the fire and smoke. I could just make out that one of the warriors was bleeding and looked pretty badly hurt while Salim had been burned severely on his leg. Though the man wasn’t acting as if he could feel the pain at all and was trying and failing to rise, his face blank. Brunara and another warrior were struggling to keep Taj pinned down while he resisted, reaching for his dropped sword. Three other warriors engaged Harun and Helene, who were still fighting mindlessly. Still more fought the remaining Rajar.

Wait. Where was—

Malik stepped through the flames a few feet to my right. He looked like he had stepped out from the Dark Realms themselves, completely unbothered by the flames. His dark, vacant stare fixated on me.

His clothing was singed in places, and he bore a few scratches, but other than that, he appeared unharmed.

I took a step back. “Malik—”

He raised the long dagger he held.

I cursed. I had lost Malik’s sword when I fell and now had nothing to defend myself with. Though I seriously doubted I could really bring myself to hurt Malik if it came down to it.

He swiped with the dagger, and I stumbled back. My side was screaming. I spared the now burning portion of the gardens around us only a glance before I was scrambling up the first few steps to the stone dais behind me.

“Malik!” I cried in desperation as he advanced. But I could see in that blank stare that he didn’t hear me.

Another blast of dragon fire nearby knocked us both off our feet. I spun to face him, my hands on the stairs behind me, pulling myself backward up the next step. And the next.

“Malik, you have to wake up!” I pleaded. I tried to get my feet under me and couldn’t.

He stood over me now.

He swung his blade again, but this time, I was prepared. I dodged the strike, and in a move I had practiced hundreds of times, I gripped his hand and wrenched it back, forcing him to drop the weapon. He swung at me with his other hand. I jerked my head back, taking the hit on the shoulder instead. It hurt, but I refused to release my hold on his other hand. I used it to yank him off balance, so he fell into me. Then, as quick as I could, I tugged the obsidian ring from my finger and slid it onto his.

His body went still atop me, and I prayed to all the Nine that it would work. That my hunch was correct.

When he pulled back, I tensed to fight him once more. But relief rushed through me as I saw his eyes were focused, unclouded, and him. The red had drained away completely. His head snapped around, his sharp gaze taking in the scene and the destruction around him before coming to rest on me. His brow furrowed in confusion, and then fury, as he saw that I was injured.

“Leida, what—”

“Amir,” I said through clenched teeth while holding my side. “It was all Amir. He mixed Moonstone with Fleshfire to create a potion that can control dragon riders. He’s been controlling you and the others. He’s the one who drugged Ramin. He worked with Mercedes. He’s behind all of it. And Malik,” I swallowed hard, knowing this would be hard for him to hear. “. . . he’s the one who wanted Zara killed.” Malik’s jaw hardened as a mixture of anger, pain, and resignation passed through his eyes in quick succession. But it was all quickly replaced by a look of determination.

Standing, he helped me to my feet and down the stairs. “How bad is it? Can you walk?” he asked me, studying my side.

I gripped his hand. “It won’t kill me. I’m staying with you.”

He simply nodded, but I saw the love and pride shining in his eyes.

The Talonar had subdued some of the entranced riders and were still fighting others. Malik bent to pick up one of their discarded swords.

As he did so, I couldn’t help but wonder how he was so coherent even with the help of the obsidian and not out of his mind like Sura. Then, all at once, I remembered what Amir had said. Manticore venom. He had said he used a form of manticore venom in the Fleshfire. Malik had been stung by a manticore and survived. So was he partially immune?

Whatever the reason, I was glad for it as we headed back to where Leif and Amir still fought.

“Good to see Leif following the plan,” Malik observed.

I looked up at him. “What? What plan?”

Just then a bellowing roar sounded from the direction of the main part of the palace, and mere seconds later, Azrun came diving through the broken portion of The Sphere, spreading his wings wide and swooping low.

“Amir!” Malik bellowed.

The prince’s eyes fell from Azrun and widened as he caught sight of his brother striding towards him. “Malik!” he said in surprise, taking a faltering step back before he seemed to recover his nerve. “It’s not possible. How—”

“It doesn’t matter how!” Malik thundered. “Look what you’ve done!” Releasing my hand, he gestured to the burning landscape around us, to the partially shattered dome.

Azrun shook the ground as he landed not far off and snapped at Virath. The other dragon immediately turned toward the larger threat and the two became a wall of biting teeth and slashing claws. Wormoth quickly backed away from the warring dragons and bent to lick at a wound on his foreleg. He appeared worse off than I had realized from his fight with Virath, and I hoped it was nothing too serious.

“Tell me it’s not true!” Malik roared, his face a livid mask, taking a few more steps towards Amir. Leif moved to stand beside me, his eyes darting to his injured dragon. “Tell me you aren’t the one behind all this!” Malik demanded. “Sending someone to assassinate Zara—our little sister who adores you, the assault on Three Points, using Ramin to attack our own people? Murdering innocents and destroying lives all so that you could what—be king?” He spat on the ground in disgust.

Amir didn’t shrink under the onslaught of his Malik’s fury. In fact, he hardly seemed affected at all by his brother’s words. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You’ve been given everything your whole life, while I’ve had to claw and scrape for every little thing I wanted.” There was no remorse on his face at all, only hatred as he stared back at Malik. “You don’t deserve to be king,” he spat. “But I do.”

Malik shook his head and just stared at his brother. “Well, now you’ve ensured that will never happen. Your plan failed. And you will spend the rest of your life in the dungeon until you are put to death for your crimes.”

Amir just smirked. “No, dear brother, I won’t.”

He threw the blade towards me. I made to move aside, but thanks to my injury, I knew I would be too slow—

But then Leif was there. Thrusting his body in front of mine. Taking the blade meant for me.

I felt his body jerk before he went down, taking me to the ground with him.

Shouts and roars rang out, but I was barely conscious of any of it as I turned Leif to his back, cradling him in my arms. The knife protruded from his chest, near his heart.

“Leif!” I cried. Oh, no! “Leif!”

“Leida . . .” Leif gasped for breath, and his throat made a horrible gurgling sound as blood appeared at the edges of his mouth. His eyes found mine. “. . . sorry, Leida. S-So . . .”

Shock held me immobile as his eyes fluttered, then closed. “No, no, no, no, Leif!” I cried, gripping him tightly as his big body shuddered, then went still in my lap. Horror suffused me. And the feeling only grew as I heard a mournful, suffering keen and looked up to see Wormoth stumble and collapse to the ground mere feet away, making the ground shake. The great beast’s big muzzle stretched out toward his fallen rider, and my heart clenched as I watched those shining, brilliant eyes dull and darken before he too went still.

My head went quiet as cold suffused my body.

Malik was shouting at Amir, and I had the vague notion that the two were fighting. Swords clanged, but I could barely hear it. I wasn’t aware of blood all around me—my own, Leif’s—nor the pain in my side that had turned to a dull numbness that I knew I should probably be concerned by. Nothing broke through the barrier of cold—the ice in my veins.

Leif was dead. His dragon was dead.

Disbelief and pain lanced through me, followed quickly by a healthy dose of guilt. Leif had saved me. He had sacrificed his life—his dragon’s life—for mine.

Because he loved me.

I couldn’t help but feel unworthy of such a monumental sacrifice. My eyes took in the man in my arms, then moved to the now dead dragon. There was a weight on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

I gently slid Leif’s body to the ground—and was suddenly jerked out of my numb haze as I was pulled roughly to my feet. A breath later, cold steel was pressed to my throat.

Amir, I realized. Amir was holding me to his chest with his sword at my throat.

Terror and anger sparked in Malik’s eyes. “Amir—” he began, his voice like granite.

“Uh, uh, uh, brother, it’s my turn to speak now.” Amir chuckled near my ear. “Here’s how this is going to go—you are going to let me leave here with Virath . . . or she dies.”

I knew Malik was trying to think of a way to get me out of this unscathed without letting the man behind me go free.

He must have taken too long, though, because Amir pressed the knife more firmly against my throat and I hissed. A trickle of blood dripped down my neck.

Malik tensed but finally nodded.

Amir relaxed slightly behind me as Azrun allowed Virath forward and the dragon crouched low. Amir slowly backed towards his dragon, still dragging me along. But when we reached him, Amir didn’t let me go. Instead, he pulled me up onto the dragon with him, nearly slicing my throat open on the sword as he did.

“What are you doing?” Malik yelled. “Let her go!” Azrun growled his displeasure from Virath’s other side.

“I’m no fool!” Amir snarled. “If I give her to you now, you won’t let me go! No, I think I’ll keep her with me until I’m sure you haven’t followed me.”

“If you harm her, I will kill you,” Malik threatened, and I knew he meant every word.

Amir laughed behind me, and it sounded more than slightly unhinged. “Then it appears we are at an impasse, brother mine,” he taunted.

“Give her to me, and I will let you go,” Malik promised.

I knew Malik loved me and didn’t want to see me in his brother’s clutches, but I also knew his honor would not allow him to let Amir go free, not after all he’d done.

Amir knew it, too. He didn’t respond and didn’t even bother to strap us both in before Virath beat his mighty wings and took off. I cried out and gripped onto the saddle.

“Leida!” Malik roared as we rose higher and higher into the air.

I didn’t take my eyes off him, that handsome anguished face, until Virath wheeled around and flew towards the gaping hole in The Sphere. I cringed, bracing for impact as we barreled straight through it.