A shame, really. Limitless planets were out there, waiting for him—if he could only escape this backward realm, and those stinking flying lizards. Without them, he’d be in charge already.
He walked down the tunnels and took the passage that spiraled down to his lab. Opening the stone door, he walked through the anteroom and inspected the glass vats in his underground laboratory. The whole lab was powered by methimium. By accident, he’d found the valuable energy source, here, in this corner of Dragons’ Realm, along with enough vassals to mine it. At least they were now spending their pathetic lives on something useful.
Reaching into a bowl on the lab bench, he sprinkled the finely-ground yellow crystals onto his tongue. The bitter taste permeated his mouth, bringing back foul memories of when his father had first started feeding him the stuff. He swallowed it down, craving more of the power it gave him.
Zens flicked a switch and yellow methimium-powered light flooded the vats. His lovelies were coming along quite nicely. Soon, he would overpower those vile dragons and put the entire population to work in his mines. Then, when the next mage opened a portal, he’d return to Earth and create methimium-powered weapons that would bring mankind to its knees.
§
Roberto snapped mind-meld and hunched over, dry retching. Even though he hadn’t eaten for days, his stomach heaved again and again. Although Amato had abused Roberto and sold him to Zens, who’d tortured him and broken his mind and will, never once had Roberto imagined inflicting that sort of damage on his father. He drove the ghastly images from his mind.
Zens must never know he’d seen his parents’ abuse, the bullies, or him killing his mother and father. Zens would kill him outright.
Roberto now knew Zen’s biggest weakness. A weakness Zens probably didn’t realize he had. A weakness Roberto might be able to exploit to get out of here.
But if Zens dug through his mind and found out how he felt about Ezaara, he’d also know Roberto’s weakness. He slumped against the wall, exhausted, mentally burying his memories of Ezaara.
§
Zens’ skull-splitting headache was brought on by the memories of his parents’ torture. Torture in the name of science. Torture that had made him the powerful being he was. Torture that had made his life on Earth miserable.
There was one remedy for his headache.
He entered the cavern adjacent to the lab, where 000 was working, and where he performed his own experiments. “Triple,” he said.
His beautiful first creation turned to him. “Yes, beloved Master?” 000 asked.
“It’s time for a killing spree.”
“I’ll find you some slaves,” 000 said, “and bring them to your chamber.” He stalked from the cavern, his boots echoing with menacing thuds down the tunnel.
Zens laughed. Today was getting better already.
Kierion’s Folly
The torch in her cavern was burning low when Ezaara got in, peeling off her damp jerkin and stamping her cold feet.
“You’re out late. It’s way after midnight.”
She started. She hadn’t seen Tomaaz, sitting in the shadows. “Hey, how are you, Maaz?” She’d been out, stunt-riding Zaarusha.
He unfolded himself and approached. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. Nightmares again?”
She shrugged. “Every night. And you? Why are you up so late?”
“I don’t know. Restless.” He shifted from foot to foot.
Perching on the bed, she removed her boots, and pulled on a fresh pair of woolen socks.
“You’re Queen’s Rider,” Tomaaz said. “You can meld with any dragon. And you’re a great healer. But I don’t know what my role is here.”
It wasn’t like Tomaaz to doubt himself. Something must be eating at him. “You’re incredible. You saved Lovina, Ma and the boy from Death Valley.”
“Taliesin’s his name—he’s talking now.”
“That’s good. While you were off saving lives, all I’ve done is sit at Dragons’ Hold.”
“And go to the Wastelands to save Roberto. And save Zaarusha from poison.”
“We do what we can for those we love.”
“Exactly.” He sat on her bed beside her.
She knew her twin. “Is this about Lovina?” she asked. “You love her, don’t you?”
His voice softened. “I do.” He stared at her. “And you, Ezaara? I guess I can’t ask you that question.”
He knew she loved Roberto. They’d never been able to hide much from each other. “We have to save him,” she whispered.
“We do,” said Tomaaz. “I feel terrible for leaving him behind.” He patted her hand. “Only four more days and we’ll return with the strength of Dragons’ Hold at our backs. I wish we could go now.”
Ezaara nodded, throat too tight to speak.
Tomaaz walked to the door and put a hand on the handle. “Believe me, Ezaara, every day he’s there kills me. It’s not fair that I’m at home with my loved ones while he’s subjected to the dragon gods know what.”
Exactly. When Tomaaz shut the door, Ezaara lay on her bed, staring at the cold stone ceiling.
§
By the time dawn touched the tips of Dragon’s Teeth, Kierion and Adelina were far from Dragons’ Hold, skimming over the northern part of Spanglewood Forest. The peaks protecting Dragons’ Hold were distant sentinels behind Kierion’s back. There was nothing quite like the thrill of flying above the realm while the sun bathed the snow-dusted trees in its glow.
Kierion mind-melded with Riona, “Where did Septimor see Roberto?”
“Just below this ridge, in the trees.” Riona shared Septimor’s memory.
Adelina hadn’t said exactly where Roberto was supposed to be or what he was doing away from Dragons’ Hold, just that he was on council business. But Kierion wasn’t stupid. She was holding something back. Since Tomaaz had returned without Roberto, she’d been troubled. Even Erob was back, although he was still resting on the infirmary ledge. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Roberto had been attacked by tharuks. Maybe he was missing. Rumors said he’d gone rogue, but Kierion didn’t believe Roberto would desert Erob.
Linaia and Adelina swooped down the ridge. Kierion followed on Riona, the rising sun making the gold highlights in Riona’s purple scales blaze. Exhilaration swept through him. He’d never imagined flying could feel like this—the wind in his face, the peace so high above everything, or the love he’d feel for such a magnificent beast.
“You’re not such a bad beast yourself,” Riona said.
Kierion grinned.
Their dragons dived between the trees, banking steeply to prevent their wings from hitting foliage. Riona and Linaia settled onto the ground, furling their wings against their sides.
“We’ll search for him by foot,” Adelina called.
“Good idea. The trees are too dense to scout by air.” Kierion took his bow and quiver from Riona’s saddlebag and checked his sword was secure in its scabbard. He slid to the ground.
“Look.” Adelina pointed to boot prints in the snow. “Maybe that was him.”
The prints led deeper into the forest. Kierion nodded. “As good a chance as any. Let’s go.”
Their boots crunched through the snow as they wound between the trees. Kierion was bursting with curiosity but he waited until they’d walked a while before questioning Adelina. “So, what’s Roberto been doing away from the hold so long?”
Adelina’s shoulders tightened. “Stuff.”
“Come on, Adelina. Something’s been eating at you.”
She raised a sardonic eyebrow. “Oh, has it? Then why don’t you tell me what it is?”
Kierion shrugged. “Erob was hurt, so tharuks must have attacked. Is your brother hiding somewhere, or injured?”
Her face paled.
Oh, shards. He’d blurted it out without thinking about how she’d feel. “Come on, Adelina. You know me. You can trust me.” He pounded his fist against his chest. “Always.”
She b
it her lip and kept trudging after those darned boot prints.
They probably weren’t Roberto’s. If he’d been hurt this close to the hold, he would’ve signaled a blue guard to collect him, surely. Unless he was hiding from the council. Kierion hurried after Adelina, then fell into step beside her, passing her an apple from his pocket.
She cradled the apple in her palm, murmuring something so quietly, he missed it.
He kept his trap shut and ears open, not biting into his apple in case he crunched too loudly and missed what she said.
Sure enough, after a few more paces, she spoke again. “He was on council business, you know. I wasn’t lying.” He nodded, and she kept talking while they walked. “Roberto and Tomaaz were sent to infiltrate Death Valley. As they were leaving, they were attacked and Roberto was captured.”
“By tharuks?” He could almost smell the pungent stench of the tusked beasts.
“Now Zens has him.” Her dark eyes were pits of despair.
Kierion had never seen Adelina so down. He’d do anything to make her brown eyes dance again. “When the blue guards said they’d seen him, they said he was healthy, right?”
Her eyes slid away. So maybe that was a lie. But dragons didn’t lie and Riona had shown him this place. He pushed back a branch so she could pass. Snow slid to the ground. “Adelina?”
Her lip trembled. “The council didn’t tell me to collect him at dawn. I-I heard a rumor that there was a Naobian in the forest. I j-just wanted to see if it was him … whether he’d escaped.”
So, he’d been duped. By a friend who was desperate to find her brother.
Tears glimmered in Adelina’s eyes. He put his arm across her shoulders, following the prints. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve come this far. We might as well find this Naobian. Hopefully it is Roberto and he’s escaped.”
“You don’t think it’s possible.” Adelina shrugged off his arm and glared at him, fists on hips. “He’s done it before, you know.”
“What?”
“Roberto. He’s escaped Death Valley before. And you know Tomaaz has.”
That’s right, Tomaaz had crept in and rescued Maazini. “I didn’t know Roberto had been there.”
She nodded. “And Lovina. She was a slave in Death Valley for years. Then there’s the boy Tomaaz brought back.” Chin up, she stared at him fiercely, daring him to disagree.
That was four people who’d made it out. “And Marlies,” he said. “The master healer was there too. So, there’s a high chance this Naobian could be Roberto. There aren’t that many Naobians in these parts.” His eyes slid to her dark hair and tan skin. Foot in mouth time again. “Well, except you,” he said. “Come on. Let’s find him.” Searching had to be better than arguing.
They ducked around a tree trunk. Adelina wrinkled her nose. Kierion hadn’t imagined the stench of tharuk—it had been real. A spine-chilling growl ripped between the trees. Instinctively, Kierion snatched his sword from his scabbard. Curse the Egg, he should’ve nocked an arrow instead. He could have shot that brute running at them. Too late now.
Kierion ran to meet the monster as more tharuks broke from the trees. Adelina’s arrow twanged through the air and struck the beast in the eye. It toppled to the snow. Kierion spun, claws raking past his head. He plunged his sword under another beast’s upraised arm. The monster howled and lunged at him. Driving his sword hilt deep into its body, Kierion ducked, its tusks just missing his head as the tharuk crashed to the ground. Black blood gushed onto the snow.
Kierion kicked the tharuk over and yanked his sword from its body. It twitched. Quick as lightning, the tharuk’s eyes flew open and it whipped its legs around, sending Kierion flying into a tree trunk. His side throbbing, he scrambled to his feet. The tharuk was on its knees, clutching its wound, struggling to stand. Kierion charged, aiming his sword at the beast’s neck, and hacked off its head. Stinking blood sprayed him.
“Kierion.” A shriek rang out. Adelina.
He whirled.
Adelina was up a tree, shooting arrows at beasts prowling around the trunk. A tharuk sank its claws into the bark, ready to climb the tree.
No, not Adelina. Sticking his fingers into his mouth, Kierion whistled. The piercing tone cut through the tharuks’ snarls. They spun to face him.
“Hey,” Kierion yelled, “I just killed your friend.” He waved his blood-stained sword. “Who’s next?”
The tharuks charged.
“Run,” Adelina screamed.
Kierion’s quick-fire instincts had him running before he could even think. He pelted through the trees, leading the beasts away from Adelina.
Their stench wafted after him, their boots thudding through the snow.
Shards, they were faster than he’d expected.
§
Adelina fired at the tharuks chasing Kierion as he disappeared into the trees, bravely drawing the beasts away from her. Her arrow flew into the rear tharuk’s neck, felling it. All those hours Roberto had drilled her at the archery range were finally paying off.
One of the tharuks whirled back to its dead companion. It roared and ran toward her tree. Adelina fired another arrow and another, but the beast zig-zagged, nipping in and out of the trees to avoid her shots.
Suddenly, it was below her, sinking its claws into the bark.
Heart thudding, she aimed. The foliage deflected the arrow, and it hit the snow. The tharuk climbed closer, its snarls turning to grunts as it hefted itself onto a branch, making the tree shake.
Adelina’s next arrow got embedded in a branch. The fetid stink of tharuk wafted up to her.
“Got you.” It grunted, heaving itself higher. Adelina stowed her bow on her back and climbed. If she got high enough, the furry brute would be too heavy for the branches. She scrambled up, pushing off with her legs and yanking her bodyweight up with her arms. As she reached for another limb, her bow snagged on a branch. Shards, she was suspended by her bow and her arms. Kicking with her legs, she tried to find a foothold so she could disentangle herself.
A raucous guffaw came from below. The tharuk climbed onto the branch she’d just been on, making the whole tree shudder. Adelina kicked out as it snatched at her. Her boot struck its head. The tharuk roared and grabbed her legs, yanking hard. Her arms were just about pulled from their sockets. Thank the Egg her bow was snagged, or she’d be in its grip already. Adelina tried to free her legs, but the tharuk yanked again.
The branch snagging her bow snapped.
Adelina fell in a tumble of branches, limbs and tharuk, bashing her body, arms and head. She landed in the snow, winded. The tharuk fell beside her and rolled to stand. Adelina whipped her dagger from her boot, and scrambled up, facing the beast.
§
“Kierion, run into that clearing and I’ll help you,” Riona called in his head. “I can’t see through the foliage. I might burn you instead of those monsters.”
Kierion couldn’t see a clearing, let alone think. The tharuks were practically breathing down his neck. One snagged his archer’s cloak, but he ripped free. His feet churned up snow as he twisted and turned through the trees, trying to dodge the tharuks. “Help Adelina.”
“My duty is to you, Kierion. You’re my rider,” Rona replied.
“Forget your sharding duty.” A tharuk swiped at him, and he spurted ahead, heart pounding. Dragon’s claws, that was close.
“Linaia is with Adelina.” There was a pause.
“What is it? Is she all right?” Kierion faltered.
“Get the human,” a tharuk bellowed.
Another tharuk leapt on him. They crashed to the ground.
Riona’s roars ricocheted through the forest. Flame blasted from above, but it couldn’t penetrate the foliage, only singeing the treetops.
Kierion palmed a dagger from his sleeve and thrust it at the tharuk’s chest. It slid off the beast’s leather breastplate. The tharuk’s claws gashed Kierion’s side. He struggled to free his dagger, but it was trapped beneath his enemy’s body. The beas
t grabbed his neck, digging its claws into his flesh. Warm blood ran down his throat as the beast squeezed.
Kierion gurgled, his airways tightening. The tharuk’s weight pressing down on his chest didn’t help much either. Desperate, he yanked the dagger out from between their bodies and whacked the tharuk on the skull with the handle.
The beast growled and squeezed harder. Kierion thrashed, hitting the brute again.
The rest of the tharuks formed a ring around them. Guffaws rang out. “Go, 1777. Get the runt.”
“Throttle the human.”
“Choke harder.”
“Riona,” Kierion called.
Above the tharuks’ heads, wings swooped. Riona’s mighty talons grasped a young tree, wrenching it from the earth. The tharuks stopped laughing and spun. Riona swung the tree through the air, clods flying from the roots, smacking a tharuk with the trunk. Others scattered. 1777 loosened its grip on Kierion’s neck. Kierion jammed his dagger into the soft tissue under the beast’s chin. The tharuk slumped, blood gushing over Kierion’s jerkin.
He rolled, thrusting the hulking beast off him, and ran, gasping. Snarls echoed through the forest. His side throbbing and bruised throat aching, he slipped in the churned-up snow.
Behind him, Riona swung the tree trunk. “We must get back to Adelina,” she melded.
“Is she all right?”
Once again, she was peculiarly silent. Something was up. Being a prankster, he recognized the complicit silence of his dragon—better to say nothing than reveal what was going on. Kierion rounded a grove of trees.
A group of tharuks jumped out from behind the bushes.
Shards, they’d sneaked up from another angle. He darted away. The Egg knew what direction Adelina was in.
The tharuks were gaining on him. Not again. His legs were tiring. There was no way he could outrun them. Climb a tree? Trick them somehow. Shards, his throat hurt. Every gasp of air was agony. The stench of the beasts enveloped him. Their breath rasped in his ears. Dragon’s claws.
A tharuk with a twisted tusk hurled itself at Kierion. A blinding flash of green light zipped between the trees. The beast twitched on the ground, engulfed in emerald wizard flame. A cloaked, hooded figure ran through the snow, flinging a second fireball at another tharuk. Its face caught fire. The beast shrieked with pain.
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