Page 93 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood

Kaida and Nailah bugle with happiness as the black dragon veers away and flees.

“The black dragon was drugged and enslaved. For the second time, actually. I freed his mind like I’ve done before, back at Flighthaven. He’s going to find somewhere to gain strength and recover, somewhere far from Aclaris. I couldn’t have left him like that. Not when we could help.”

The black dragon disappears into the flurry, and pride flares in my chest.

Bastian exhales a loud breath. “Then let’s get out of here and hope no one else heard the bugling. Even with you on our side, I don’t want to try and take on four other riders. And I’m afraid my fire is just about drained, so I won’t be much help for defending or keeping us warm.”

A wave of fear ripples over us, prompting Nailah to fly after the fleeing black dragon and Kaida to thrash around while searching the sky.

I know something terrible is coming when the black dragon’s icy panic starts coursing through me.

ChapterThirty-One

Snowflakes whip around, stinging my face, as I hunker down against Bastian’s back and try to spot whatever has instilled so much fear in three adult dragons. We’re high up, the mountain range beneath us a jagged scar through the storm’s fury. Kaida’s massive wings beat with a thunderous rhythm, his black scales barely visible in the whiteout.

Nailah and the Aclaris dragon have vanished, their silhouettes lost to the northern gales. I squint into the blizzard but can’t spot them. My heart aches for them. Their fear has stolen their reason, and even my attempts at mental soothing fail to register.

I focus on the wreath of fire around us to ward off the bone-chilling cold. It’s a delicate balance. Too much and I risk scorching Bastian or Kaida, too little and frostbite will claim us. My magic flares, casting an eerie glow against the swirling snow. But even the warmth isn’t enough to entice Nailah to come back to us. The retreating silhouettes disappear in the sheets of ice and snow pouring down the high mountains.

We still don’t know what triggered that influx of fear. A drachen would be the most logical assumption. However, we’re high in the air and should be out of their reach. Snowstorms such as these, I’ve read, can sometimes become lightning storms. Which can cause unease in animals or humans caught in them.

Through our empathic link, I urge Kaida to follow them. Without the bubble of heat, ice will form on Nailah’s wings and slow her down if nothing else. She could lose control and spiral to her death on the valley hidden far below.

Kaida’s roar vibrates through my bones, a mix of fury and fright. Though he’s as scared as Nailah, he refuses to give in to it, stubbornly determined not to abandon us again. And he’s angry that he still wants to flee, regardless. His anger is a beacon in the storm, a lifeline he clings to as he shivers with fear.

The howling wind distorts Bastian’s shout. “There!”

I track his gaze, and my breath catches. A black dragon emerges from the storm, terror rolling off it like a palpable force. Every nerve in my body and beat of my heart tells me this beast is fear incarnate. Fright and the instinctive urge to flee crash against my senses like a relentless tide.

“Damnit!” My head pounds, and my vision blurs. I can’t let this terror consume me, drown me. With gritted teeth, I pull my magic inward, crafting a shield within my mind that wraps around me. The protective barrier dulls the assault of raw emotions.

Then the cold seeps in.

I broke my bubble of heat to form my dampening shield. Both Bastian and Kaida shiver as the lost warmth leaves them exposed to the artic temperatures.

Focus, Lark. You’ve got this. One in. One out. You know how to do both of them. Now you have to do both at the same time. You can do this.

My fingers dig into Kaida’s scales, icy blasts threatening to peel away the warmth we’ve cocooned ourselves in.

The effort is like holding onto two wild alicorns flying in opposite directions. Possible, but only barely. “Something’s off. That dragon is terrified, but it’s still heading directly for us. There has to be a drachen following it.”

“Can you reach it? Calm it down?” Bastian shouts over the howl of the storm, his words barely breaking through the chaos. “Maybe free it from their control like you did with the last one before it can reach us to attack?”

I grit my teeth, starting to get the hang of maintaining conflicting shields at the same time. “Only if I stop dampening, but then I’ll be filled with the projected fear and might end up doing something stupid.”

Kaida dips lower, muscles coiling beneath his dark scales as he puts distance between us and the mountain’s wrathful weather. We’re finally slipping out of the storm’s grasp, the ferocity of the snow lessening and granting us clearer vision of our pursuer.

The wind bites at my skin, a thousand needles of cold as Kaida banks sharply to the left, his massive wings straining against the gale. I push my focus to the forefront, trying to make sense of the dragon that hounds us.

“It doesn’t look right. Why would the dragon be rushing toward us if not urged by a rider?” My brow furrows. “And the way it moves…” Unease settles deep within my gut. Am I seeing this wrong? With the swirls of reflective ice and snow, maybe I’m hallucinating.

Then, as if the very essence of my shield decides to betray me, it falters. Dread floods in, drowning me in raw terror.

It’s not just any fear. It’s ancient, primal, and utterly paralyzing.

It’s not screaming to run. Or hide. Or anything else like the dragons felt before. What is going on? Is there something below that is forcing it to attack us?

“Look again!” Bastian’s yell cuts through the numbness that encases my heart. “That’s no dragon.”

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