Page 118 of Wild Flame

I blinked through my spotty vision as they both struggled to their feet. The blood loss from my wound was definitely getting to me, and I knew I didn’t have long before I would pass out.

Malik looked to see if I was all right, and Amir took advantage of his distraction. The hit snapped his head back, but Malik returned the favor with a vicious strike to Amir’s jaw.

Virath’s back was not even a dozen feet wide, and the dragon was no doubt trying to fly level for his rider’s sake. We had left the city behind now and the night was even darker around us.

I tried to follow what was happening as Amir tackled Malik and Malik kicked him off, but my head was pounding now, and it was hard to focus. My body had slumped over again, and once more it felt like I was sliding.

“Leida!” Malik cried.

My hands grasped futilely at the smooth surface of the saddle, of hardened scales, as my body weight slowly dragged me sideways. A scream bubbled up in my throat and my vision momentarily cleared as panic gripped me.

I scrabbled for purchase as I tried to twist back. But I was slipping.

I knew I was going to fall.

Then Malik was there, his big hand gripping mine as our eyes met. I held on with all my strength as the wind whipped the hair into his eyes and he pulled me back up with a grunt of effort.

I breathed a sigh of relief once I was stable again, and was about to thank him when my eyes snagged on something behind him.

Amir. The dagger from before was clutched in his hand.

“Malik!” I cried a warning.

Malik didn’t hesitate as he spun around, and in a move that I would have struggled to replicate, twisted the knife from his brother’s grasp and plunged it into Amir’s chest.

The prince’s eyes widened in shock as he coughed and stumbled back. Virath cried out and jerked beneath us as Amir fell to his knees.

Pain flickered across Malik’s face as he spared a final look for his brother. Then, in the next instant, he was scooping me up into his arms. I tried to wrap my arm around his neck, but my body wasn’t responding to my directives at the moment. It didn’t matter, though. Malik didn’t stop moving as he darted for the far edge of the dragon’s back. Amir was dying. We couldn’t be on this dragon when he finally did.

The next moment, we were airborne and then landing with barely a jostle onto Azrun’s back. At any other time, the sheer athleticism of the movement would have impressed me. Virath’s lamenting roar rang out from behind us as Malik made it the rest of the way along the wing and positioned me in the saddle before him.

I blinked heavily as I tried to glance over my shoulder towards the other dragon.

As I watched Virath careen sharply to one side and flap his wings madly as if trying to stay in the air, I thought, as I often had, that dragons dying with their riders was one of the cruelest realities the gods had ever subjected our world to. Then again, perhaps it was actually a mercy. I wasn’t a rider, so I couldn’t begin to understand the complexities of the bond. All I knew was that watching such a magnificent creature in its final moments did not feel like a victory.

My thoughts drifted to Leif and his dragon. So much unnecessary death. All because of one man’s need for power.

At least we are out over the open desert now, rather than over the city.No more innocents had to die. That was my final thought as I began to lose consciousness.

The final image was that of a dragon plummeting in a death spiral to the unforgiving sand below.

When I woke in our bed, my head throbbed, and my side ached.

Azrun sat at the foot of it while Malik sat in a chair beside me. I could tell that he had not yet washed or seen to his own needs. He was still in the clothes he had worn to the meeting.

I met his tired eyes. “I guess it’s my turn to have you attend me in my sickbed.”

My husband’s face didn’t soften at my ill attempt at humor, and I didn’t blame him. I hissed in pain as I attempted to sit up.

“Be careful,” Malik said as he stood to help press a pillow to my back. “The healer only just left. You lost a lot of blood.” At his words, I realized that the weak light coming through the windows was that of early morning. I must have only been unconscious for a few hours.

When I was settled, Azrun moved from the foot of the bed and put his long head in my lap with a huff. I froze and looked at Malik with wide eyes.

A hint of something that was too tired to be humor lit his eyes as he shrugged.

Not quite sure what to do, I patted Azrun’s head, and he hummed. Once again, I found myself oddly touched by this creature’s concern.

Malik sat back down again, and I took his hand.

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