Page 75 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

“I’m sorry, brother,” he said. “I cannot kill you. I cannot spill my own blood.” He tossed the grimthorn away, rested the tip of his sword on the dirt before him, and lowered his head. “Do what you must.”

There was no remorse on Huxor’s face, only the glee of the victorious as he rushed forward, sword raised. Just within reach of his brother, however, he froze, as if he’d come to his senses. Hope sprang in my chest. Had Huxor finally overcome Iphocles?

But no.

The man dropped his sword and stumbled back. One step, then two, then he fell like a tree…with the end of Bain’s sword seated under his chin.

Tearloch and Sweetie might have impaled themselves on the swords poised around them when they jumped up and down, euphoric. Thankfully, the guards stepped back. I celebrated by allowing tears to pour freely from my eyes. Two friends lost. One saved. And no one had killed Tearloch for stepping out of line.

But he was next…

36

WE ARE UNITED, WE ARE FLIGHT, WE ARE WE

Ithought my heart might burst waiting…

Tearloch stood with his hands on the wall before him and stared up at me. I fought the urge to bury my face and weep. This might be all we would have together.

Griffon’s parting words to Lennon resounded in my head.We didn’t need eternity to find perfection.But at least they’d hadsometime. Months, years. Tearloch and I had only a few days, and after learning of our bond, we’d had mere minutes together.

To whom could I take my complaint?

Certainly not to Ciro.

We waited along with the monsters to see if Dower would recover. But despite Bain trying to wake him, the younger brother never moved. It didn’t make sense. Did Hestia’s laws of nature not apply within The Soundless?

It must have cost Bain his sanity to have to remove Huxor’s head, and now…Dower’s dwindling hope was costing him his heart.

Thankfully, the power of the wicked sorcerer had ascended through the center of the arena, out the crosshatched dome and into the sky without anyone catching it. Of course, plenty of those monsters reached out, but they were left cursing their luck.

They had no idea how lucky they were.

The tall, gaunt announcer stepped into our box, offered Ciro a quick nod, then handed over his wide-mouthed horn before retreating. Ciro stepped forward, then turned to give me a fresh, sly wink before addressing the crowd. I barely listened as I debated whether to run at him and propel us both over the edge. But alas, the drop wasn’t far enough to do real damage. Still, it might postpone the rest of the events…

“Lennon!” he called. “Please join your dragon in the center of the arena!”

Lennon? Not Tearloch? Didn’t he intend to keep her in his unholy collection of DeNoy?

Lennon patted Kivi’s cheek then started forward. Naturally, Griffon tried to join her but was blocked by a wall of spears and bodies. She sought him for one last poignant look, then lifted her chin and continued on.

Meanwhile, Dower’s body was removed and a grieving, unseeing Bain was ushered back to his seat.

“Fellow DeNoy,” Ciro called. “Lennon has declined my offer and will not be joining our little community. Instead, she prefers to be treated as her criminal friends. And I have decided to allow it. However, there is no one worthy of fighting a DeNoy but another DeNoy. And since I will not risk the life of another one of you, her only option is to fight…to the death…against her own dragon!”

The masses gasped in shock. Apparently, such a duel wasn’t done. And from what little I’d read, I assumed it would be no easier to kill one’s dragon than to kill oneself.

Lennon laughed and shook her head. “Not gonna happen,old man!”

Ciro was taken aback. He certainly didn’t appreciate being called an old man. But his smirk quickly returned. “Then you have doomed you both.” With his arm, he summoned someone from the right end of the arena. Soon, six guards came around the corner pulling a long wagon that contained some tall contraption. When the wagon turned to the side, sunlight glinted along the edge of a monstrous, angled blade. It hung precariously at the top of a frame fifteen feet tall. If it fell, it could sever whatever was laid in the gap--even something as large as a dragon’s head.

“No,Marka.” The dragon enunciated clearly.Marka,in the old tongue, meantrider. “I will not allow it. You will face me and defeat me.” After a moment of stunned silence, the onlookers squealed with delight. But that delight turned to concern, and they began calling for mercy—for Kivi. Obviously, they thought it wrong to kill a speaking dragon. And what crime had she committed?

Ciro was unprepared for their response and stood speechless for an awkward amount of time. Finally, he raised his arms and demanded their silence.

“Good people of The Soundless, the price for justice must be paid. Her crime was entering the skies of Hestia and bringing the prophecy down on our heads. But we now declare…Kivi’s will be the last blood of a blue dragon to spill in this arena. Unless she kills hermarka…”

Again, they complained, pointed out her ability to speak, which brought him to the end of his patience.

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