by N M Zoltack
The courtyard, however, would be a likely spot for the dragon to strike, given how quickly the plants could go up in flames.
“Go on,” she urged, and she moved on to find a few others to tell.
The guards who accompanied her to the battle had taken their leave, but the ones who had been left behind seemed a bit obtuse. She marched right up to one, no longer trying to hide when she spied a young child chasing after a dog.
The child was completely ignorant of the dragon bearing down on him, the massive dragon opening his mouth, orange building in the back of its throat.
With a shriek, Rosalynne burst out and raced over, cursing the long skirts of her dress. If she couldn’t run fast enough to save him…
She yanked the child out of the way just as the blaze burst forth from the dragon’s mouth. The fire was so close to Rosalynne she could feel its great heat, and the arm that had jerked behind her as she ran was slightly red from the intensity and proximity of the flames.
“My Queen, you must head inside!” Wilfrid insisted.
She continued to hold the boy, who was trying to break free from her grip, still trying to find his dog. Where had the animal gone? And as for the castle, even that didn’t seem safe as the dragon was now breathing fire anywhere and everywhere, even at the stone walls of the keep.
Nowhere was safe, and that had been the case for a long while now.
6
Ulric Cooper
Before the battle started, as in just moments before, Ulric Cooper had glanced all around. The uniformed lines of the legionaries made for more than a slightly formidable sight, but it was to the surrounding area that caught his attention.
Most noticeably the guards atop horses escorting the queen.
Queen Rosalynne.
Ulric had grimaced and flexed his hand, vowing to put the chestnut-brown-haired, dark-eyed woman from his thoughts entirely for fear he would perish in the upcoming battle. The truth of the matter was that Rosalynne was never far from his thoughts. He had been nothing more than a simple servant who had hoped to one day be elevated to become one of her guards, to protect her from any and all threats.
He never thought that one day, they would become friends.
But that was the extent of it. He could not dare to admit to anyone, not even himself, just how very fond he was of her.
He would die for her.
Then again, he would die for Tenoch as well.
He would also die for the beautiful young woman who stood not that far from him and his merry band of fighters. She was waiting, eager even for the battle to start. When Ulric had spirited Princess Vivian from the castle after learning Prince Noll had been murdered, he never would have thought she would return a warrior. That she had hidden herself among the female fighters of Vincana to train astonished him.
Once the battle had started, he strove to stay by her side so they could watch over one another, and in kind, they both saved each other. He also sought to stay near his own motley crew, of course, but as the lines of the legionaries fell apart, however, and battles sprang up all about them, they all grew apart to the point he could no longer see her and hardly any of his crew either. All he could do was fight, stab, parry, counter, block, on and on and on.
And then Gomes died, after begging Ulric to call their group the Forbidden Doom. Righteous fury and grief consumed Ulric, then, and he fought as if possessed. He had taken a potion before the battle that had increased his strength and vigor, and he fought as if he had a second one, as if he had no reason to live except for this, to die here on this very battlefield.
But the moment the first dragon appeared, Ulric didn't bother to watch the skies. No, his gaze immediately shifted to the plateau to seek out his queen. She appeared agitated as her horse hooved the ground.
Fire blazed past Ulric, and he had no choice but to look away, to seek safety for himself first and foremost. Rosalynne was far enough away from the dragon that she should be safe.
But then two more dragons appeared. The various skirmishes between Tenoch and Vincanan warriors ceased, and at that moment, they all were united in their terror from the threats looming from above, raining fire down on them.
Desperate to get to one of the Rivera sisters, Ulric spun about, but there was no way for him to locate Vivian here. Far too many soldiers were milling about, running this way and that.
For one moment, Ulric spied a woman with long, dark hair. She wasn't near the battlefield, not quite, and her back was to him.
He headed toward her when a man shoved his shoulder into Ulric’s. The two of them went down hard. By the time Ulric climbed back to his feet, the man was up and racing away.
Ulric glanced behind him and backpedaled. The dragon was sweeping across the skies toward him and then veered away as if chasing down certain prey.
Ever backward he went, uncertain if he should tend to the wounded, if he should fight the dragons somehow, or if he should stop the few tiny squabbles that had arisen in the panic-induced crowd.
His feet brought him backward, climbing up a slight incline, giving him a better viewpoint of the field, and he turned to rush up it and slammed into Vivian.
No, not Vivian. A different woman stood before him whose long hair was both darker and straighter than Vivian's. This woman had black eyes instead of the princess's dark blue ones.
“Apologies,” Ulric murmured, dipping his head and then confused as to why he almost felt the need to bow to her. “Ah, why are you here? It’s not safe for you here.”
"Why?" she asked without any hint of emotion, which struck him as odd given the chaos and anarchy reigning over all those present, himself withstanding. "Because I am a woman?"
“Because it is not safe for anyone here,” he said frankly.
“That is indeed true,” she muttered.
She glanced around as if in search of someone, and for a moment, Ulric thought he saw a man that had once been at Atlan Castle, the champion from Maloyan down among the fighters, but no. Surely Ulric was mistaken. The man had been sent to his kingdom and was never to return again, or so Ulric had heard.
He turned his gaze back to the plateau. No one stood on either of them. Surely that meant the queen was being taken to safety, but what of the princess?
With firm resolve to locate her—but not to save her because Vivian would slice him clear through if he even thought she needed to be rescued—Ulric reentered the madness once more.
7
Rase Ainsley
The frustration part about needing others to help you meant you had to wait on their time, and patience had never been Rase Ainsley’s strongest suit. A goon, a huge monster of a man Joachim Carpenter had said, had been the one to attack Rase’s sister, Leanne, but so far, none of Rase’s “friends” had been able to locate the man or discover his name.
Leanne was all Rase had left. His pa had been killed for trying to feed his family. Stealing food. Better than gambling but only if you don't get caught, and his pa had paid the price for it.
Rase took it on himself to try to be the man of the family, to take care of Leanne and his ma and also Leanne’s friend, Maxene Byron, after she became pregnant by an earl’s son. The earl’s son was nothing more than a coward for casting aside a pregnant woman even if she had not been a lady, but then again, Radcliff Snell was nothing more than worm food at this point. Rase had seen to that.
But Maxene and the baby had died, and so had Rase’s ma. Rase’s struggle to provide for his shrinking family meant that he had gained questionable allies and many, many enemies.
Despite everything he had done for Leanne, despite his attempt to provide for her, she had spurned him, had fled. That was when she had been attacked by that monster. Rase had spent hours looking for her, had gathered as many of his allies to help find her. Once found, Rase sent her to the new house he had secured for the two of them while the carpenter brought Rase to the spot where Leanne had been attacked.
The goon wasn’t there.
Rase was now hurrying back to the new house. Perhaps Leanne would be willing to talk some more, to tell him enough details that he could locate the goon himself. If not, then he would sit with her for a spell, serve as a means to help soothe her soul, and not dare to make mention about how she should have listened to him and admit already that she needed a husband who could provide for her.
As much as it should frighten him, Rase had a feeling his life would be short indeed. He wasn’t all that old as it was—only thirteen years old—and he had far too many enemies, powerful ones even.
But Leanne, he would die so that she could live on and survive. Yes, his dying young would mean the Ainsleys would all die and end with him. Leanne would find a husband and continue his name, and the blight that had been the Ainsleys would cease to matter anymore.
Leanne would not die. She would not suffer a terrible fate brought on by the males of the Ainsley family.
His trying to get her to accept that she needed a husband was why she had fled the house in the first place, so for now, he wouldn’t mention it, but she would see reason, wouldn’t she?
He hoped so, and Rase didn’t have many reasons to hope right now. He hadn’t for a long time.
The sight of the new house should make him smile, but he scowled as he opened the door.
“Leanne?” he called.
But there was no answer.
Confused, he lit some of the candles. Plenty of natural sunlight filtered through the windows. He should find some curtains to hang up so they could have privacy. He didn’t want anyone to know when he was about and when he was gone.
Room by room, Rase sought his sister.
Once again, she was gone.
Or had she been taken?
Why hadn’t one of his allies stayed with her? He hadn’t thought he needed to instruct one of them to be with her at all times, but clearly, he needed to.
Rase stalked to the kitchen and grabbed several long knives. Then, he hurried out of the place. He had two people to hunt for now, and if he had to tie up Leanne so she would stay put, he would. How could he keep her safe if she continued to run off? Did she…
She no longer trusted that he could keep her safe.
For so long, she had been malnourished, underfed. Her hair had fallen out, and she appeared sickly. After their ma had been killed right in front of her, Leanne had not wanted to eat much. She hadn’t walked much. She hadn’t done much of anything at all. Rase hated to see her like this, and he had wanted her to get out more, but not like this.
Had she merely gone for a walk? That quickly became evident that wasn’t the case, and Rase ran everywhere, shouting her name. The marketplace had been the site of a battle recently, and she wasn’t there.
Several times, long before their pa had been killed, Leanne would head down to the river, and Rase headed there now. The scent of smoke and fire alarmed him, and he glanced skyward.
A massive creature bore down on him, claws out, reaching for him.
Rase dropped to the ground and rolled over, watching as the dragon flew off.
A dragon.
What was the world coming to?
8
Olympia Li
The chasm from which the dragon burst out of only grew wider as the ground quaked again, and Olympia Li could only watch in horror as two more dragons appeared.
All three dragons had returned.
Olympia’s heart had never pounded so fiercely, and she went to put a hand to her chest when she realized she still clung to Bjorn Ivano. She shoved the brown-haired man from Maloyan away as she struggled to control her breathing and to conceal her fright.
It would not do for the true ruler over all of Tenoch Proper to be a shivering coward in the face of adversity, although who could stare at these fire-breathing creatures and not be terrified?
But she was a Li. Her father had been the king until Jankin Rivera had his family executed.
Only she and her twin had been smuggled out of the castle before they could be killed. Another baby had been killed in their stead. Few had known her mother had been pregnant and even fewer that she had been carrying two babies instead of one.
Olympia had made the long trek from Xalac to Maloyan on the northern portion of the continent of Tenoch. From there, she had traveled with Bjorn down to Atlan, toward the castle.
The two queens had no business wearing crowns when Olympia should be the one to do so. She left originally to find her twin so that they could be reunited for the first time since they had been separated to increase their chances of survival. Together, they would restore peace and harmony and end the war the two queen pretenders had started with Vincana.
But Olympia had no army. She had no means to wrestle the crown away from either of the queens.
Which one infuriated her the most? The eldest daughter of the man who had murdered her father and his king in order to take his throne and crown? Or the one who had married the king for power?
Both of them equally, she decided. After all, they were to blame for the war.
Maybe the war had caused the dragons to return. Maybe there was so much corruption and evil lurking in the hearts of men and women that every last one should be burned to the ground.
The Lis had always been faithful servants to the ideals and notions the dragons three had asked of the humans, and Olympia had dreamed about the winged beasts many times as a child.
She never thought she would live to see the day when they might return.
They breathed fire all around the battlefield, and then one flew off toward the castle, the other two lingering on the field.
“We should go,” Bjorn murmured.
With distrust, she gaped at the Maloyan. The one-time champion looked uneasy and more than a little frightened. He ran a hand through his short dark-brown hair and then rubbed his sharp nose.
For quite some time now, Olympia didn’t know what to think of the man. He was a survivor, she knew that much, and he had delivered her here to Atlan.
But this fear and horror she felt, she shouldn’t feel them. Nothing she had ever done should cause the dragons to turn against her.
Instead of acknowledging the man, Olympia stepped around the massive chasm from where the dragons came forth from, heading a bit closer to the battlefield.
“Where are you going?” Bjorn hissed. “Do you want to get yourself killed? Is that how you’ll thank me for bringing you here? I knew we shouldn’t have stayed here, that as soon as we saw the men lining up for battle, we should—”
“Men and women,” she corrected.
“Yes, yes. The men and women. We should’ve gone for the castle.”
“You said it yourself. I can’t just sneak into the castle and sit on the throne. I know that. I’ve always known that.” She murmured the last to herself.
Her plan had always been to locate her twin, but somehow, along the trek here, she had become more caught up in the idea of wrestling control away from the other queens.
She headed to a slight hill, uncertain if she should stay or leave as the battlefield, already a spot where crows circled overhead, had been a terrible scene, but now it was far worse, a true travesty in every sense of the word.
Tears burned her eyes, and abruptly, Bjorn darted forward into the fray. What on earth was he doing? Through blurred vision, she could just make out that he was trying to break up a fight between two of the youngest fighters on either side before a dragon could bear down on them.
So intent on Bjorn, Olympia was almost taken down to the ground when a man plowed into her.
“Apologies,” he murmured, dipping his head.
She gaped at him. He seemed different from the others, not trained to fight, not a knight or one of the legionaries. Who was he?
“Ah, why are you here?” he continued. “It’s not safe for you here.”
“Why?” she asked, not wishing to speak with him any longer than she must. No one was to see her, not yet, not until she was ready, and with the dragons about, t
hat time was certainly not now. “Because I am a woman?”
“Because it is not safe for anyone here,” he said frankly.
“That is indeed true,” she muttered.
Now that she had recovered from her despondent emotions over the heart-wrenching scene unfolding before her, she glanced around for Bjorn. He couldn't and shouldn't involve himself in the fighting, and even more than that, he was right. They should leave. This wasn't the place for them.
The man reentered the battle, and Olympia was ready to herself in an attempt to locate Bjorn when one of the dragons swooped down close enough to her that she could see that the eyes of the dragon were absolutely stunning. The pupil wasn't a circle but rather in the shape of a jagged blade, and the coloring! It was the same orange-red as the flame bursting out of its mouth.
The dragon blinked and flew off, heading away from the battle and not toward the castle as the first had.
Mesmerized, Olympia watched as the third dragon, the only one to still scourge the battlefield, completed a few sweeps before flying off into the distance in a third direction, more northwest.
Wherever the dragons were off to, Olympia had a feeling they would exercise far more fiery breath upon the land.
9
Bjorn Ivano
The sight of the small fighters trying to kill each other incensed Bjorn Ivano, and he hardly knew what he was doing when he left Olympia’s side to tear them apart. While it made sense that a boy could sneak onto the battlefield if he were from Tenoch, but the one from Vincana? How had he managed to sneak his way here? Maybe he was the son of one of their military leaders, but they should have kept a better eye over him.
The din of the fighting, the yelling, the people milling about and trying to flee… It called to the warrior within Bjorn, and he longed to join them, but what could he do? One man against what? For the most part, the majority of the soldiers were no longer engaging the other side, instead fleeing away from the dragons, but that only served to increase the chaos and pandemonium.
