Page 32 of Lightningborn

Storm gave a mournful trill, gazing at Remy with sorrowful purple eyes. But he turned and crawled back into the cave. Finding an overturned chair, he curled up beneath it, pressing his wings and tail tightly to his body while staring at the door. His accusing gaze made Remy’s stomach tighten, but he rose and took a step toward the door, toward the edge that dropped away into nothing.

“I’ll be back soon,” he told the dragon. “I promise.”

Storm didn’t answer, or move from his place beneath the chair. Worry and guilt raging an equal battle within, Remy turned and hurried out the door, hoping to reach Bart before Jhaeros did. Hoping he was doing the right thing in leaving his dragon behind.

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

“Well, there it is.”

Gem shielded her eyes, peering over the railings at the island in the distance. At first, all she could see was a silhouette against the glare of the sun. As they drew closer, the shape turned into a floating island, but one that was so jagged and sharp she wondered how anyone lived there. The capital island was mostly flat, with rolling hills to break up the land, and so big it had mountains surrounding the city that weren’t even close to The Edge. Cutthroat Wedge looked like a giant hand had reached down, grabbed the very top of a mountain, and wrenched off the tip before turning it loose to float in the air. Shanties were built on any available space, crushed together and stacked on top of each other, looking like they would topple at any moment. The wooden huts also seemed to spill down the sides of the island, crammed onto narrow ledges and connected by ladders or rickety wooden walkways. It did not look safe at all, and she wondered how many of the tiny shacks had come loose from the side of the cliff and toppled into the Maelstrom.

“It’s…so small,” she said, as politely as she could.

Beside her, the lanky pirate from that first day in the cargo hold laughed. “Yep, welcome to Cutthroat Wedge, the meanest chunk of rock in the Fringe,” he cackled. His real name was Jack, Gem had learned, and he was very nice. Though the crew said he was a bit sun-addled given how much time he spent in the riggings. “The last piece of civilization before the Great Nothing beyond. Though calling it civilized is a bit of a stretch. Only ones here are desperate rat eaters, smugglers, and pirates.” He snorted and flashed a toothy grin. “At least we’ll feel right at home, eh! Oh,” he said, holding up leathery, callused hands. “No offense to you, Miss Mary.”

“It’s all right, Jack,” Gem replied. Mary Featherbottom was her alias, something she and the captain had come up with to hide her true identity. None of the crew knew she was really the princess; they all believed she was a noble from Wyndhaven, traveling to Cutthroat Wedge to search for a long-lost uncle.

“Miss Featherbottom,” came the voice of the captain behind her. Gem turned to see Captain Cutlass peering down at her from the aftcastle. “We’ll be landing at the Cutthroat docks soon,” she told her. “I suggest you check on your dragon; make certain the beast is settled before we go landside.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Gem hurried into the cargo hold, descending the steps and gazing around for her dragon. They had given Cloud his own corner of the hold, and though there were no real stalls, they had stacked several crates and put down straw to make a cozy spot for him to sleep. The captain had been worried about the amount of flammable materials piled around the dragon, but Gem had assured her that Cloud never breathed fire without being told to do so. To which the captain had responded that if the dragondidburn down her ship, she fully expected Gem’s father to buy her a new one.

Cloud was curled up with his nose tucked under his tail, half-buried in straw, when Gem saw him. But as she approached, he uncurled, yawned widely, and gave a sleepy trill. She smiled.

“Hey, boy,” she greeted, stroking his nose. He smelled vaguely of fish, and an empty fish bucket sat close to the makeshift stall. Jack had been feeding the dragon nonstop since his arrival in an effort to make friends, and Cloud had certainly appreciated the extra snacks. It also made him sleepy, which was a good thing, she supposed.

“I have to leave the ship with the captain for a little while,” she told the dragon, who yawned again with a blast of very fishy breath. “You stay here and be a good boy, okay? Don’t try to follow me; I’ll be with the crew, so I’ll be all right.”

The dragon burbled and gave her an affectionate shove with his nose, then settled down and put his chin on his tail. Confident that Cloud would likely go right back to sleep, Gem turned and went topside again, feeling the wind tug at her cloak as she stepped onto the deck.

Cutthroat Wedge was much closer, a jagged, looming mountain above the roiling sea of purple-and-black clouds. The Maelstrom itself was also much closer, Gem saw, a mere stone’s throw away from the bottom of the island. A purple lightning strand flickered up, thread-thin fingers seeming to reach for the land, and Gem shuddered.

“Coming in on the docks, Captain,” said First Mate Tuhga, a dark, muscular man with colorful tattoos running the length of his arms and back. Gem peered over the railings and saw a web of piers jutting out of the side of the island, with several sky ships already docked.

“Steady as she goes, Mr. Tuhga” was the captain’s response.

“Ooh, it’s crowded today,” Jack mused, coming up beside Gem. “So many ships. The only other time I’ve seen Cutthroat Wedge so lively was when that rum smuggler died and left behind a holdful of barrels.”

“It’s because of Jhaeros,” Captain Cutlass said, walking to the edge of the aftcastle. Gazing at the island with her arms crossed and her hair fluttering in the wind, she frowned. “He’s got the whole island in a frenzy because of his search for that dragon hatchling.”

Gem gasped, immediately perking up. “A baby dragon?” she asked.

“Aye. That’s why I didn’t want you parading through Cutthroat Wedge on that beast of yours.” The captain shook her head. “Rumors are Jhaeros discovered a wild dragon out over the Maelstrom. He shot it down, but it had a hatchling with it that escaped, and the hatchling landed somewhere in Cutthroat Wedge.”

Gem put her hands over her mouth in horror. “That’s terrible.”

“Yes, and now Jhaeros has the entire town, and most of the pirate population in the Fringe, out looking for this hatchling. He’s offered an obscene amount of gold for its return, enough that word of it has spread throughout the Fringe, and more pirates arrive every day looking for dragons.” Captain Cutlass turned to look at Gem straight on. “So make sure your beast stays on this ship and out of sight,” she said, pointing straight down at the deck. “Knowing pirates, they won’t care that Cloud is an adult, that he already has an owner, that he is the wrong age, the wrong color, the wrong everything. They’ll just see a dragon, and they’ll try to take him back to Jhaeros for a reward.”

Gem bit her lip, her stomach twisting. She hadn’t known any of this before she began her journey. If she had flown into Cutthroat Wedge on Cloud, as she had been planning to do, what might’ve happened to her dragon? She was suddenly very grateful for the storm that had blown her into theQueen’s Blade, and that she had accepted the captain’s offer.

“Hmm.” Captain Cutlass continued to observe the docks as they swept in. “I don’t see theWindshark, though,” she mused, eyes narrowed as she gazed at the other ships. “You would think it would be obvious with how huge that ship is; you can’t miss it.”

“Maybe he left,” Gem said hopefully.

“Not without his dragon,” the pirate captain said grimly. “Jhaeros is a lot of things—narcissistic, egocentric, power-hungry—but one thing he is not, and that is a quitter. He doesn’t give up, and he’s not afraid to tear the entire island apart until he finds what he’s looking f—”

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