Page 184 of Crown of Briars
I stared at the beast, my terror ebbing as I recalled how fondly Sybelle had spoken of it. Azure was her name.
I held perfectly still, allowing my gaze to rove over her huge form. Her body was long and serpentine, coiling in the grass. Before my eyes, her scales shifted from a navy blue to a brilliant cerulean. Her gleaming eyes fixed me with an intelligent stare that seemed to pierce through my very soul.
A voice resonated in my mind.“Can you understand me, FaeKing?”
I yelped, turning to Tislora, my eyes wide with shock. But she only frowned in response.
“Did—Did you hear that?” I gasped.
“Hear what?”
I turned to look at the dragon again.
“Use the amber stone,”said the voice.
My brow furrowed before I remembered the orange gem I had used to communicate with Sybelle. I fumbled over my tattered trousers until I found the stone lodged in my pocket, trapped inside several frayed threads. Miraculously, it was still here, even after my time as a beast.
I clutched the amber tightly in my fist.Can you hear me?
“Speak aloud,”the dragon commanded.“That is how it works.”
I cleared my throat, feeling ridiculous. “Can you hear me?”
A rumbling sound of contentment quivered through the dragon.“Yes. Sybelle has broken your curse, but she is dying. You must come with me.”
I froze. She broke the curse?
Was that the cause of the earthquake? The spark of magic that rippled over my body?
Before I could process this, my mind snagged on Azure’s last statement:She is dying.
Panic and terror blotted out all other thoughts. “Where is she?” I demanded.
“Just past the Noxen Forest. I didn’t want to bring her body here amidst the bloody battle.”
My blood ran cold.Her body.
She couldn’t be… She wasn’t…
“Climb on my back,”Azure commanded.
“Lor.” I turned to the sorceress, who was staring at the dragon with starstruck eyes. “Climb on with me.” I would have asked her to fly behind us, but Gerard had managed to shred one of her wings.
I wished I could rip out his throat all over again.
“I can fly in my crow form,” Tislora said.
I nodded as Azure sank to her knees and allowed me to climb on. Her scales were sharp and bumpy, and I shifted, trying to find a comfortable position. “Are there no reins?” I asked.
An indignant snort rippled through her.“I am no common mule.”
“How am I to hold on?”
“You trust that I will not unseat you.”
Before I could object to this illogical arrangement, Azure leapt into the sky.
I bit backa cry of alarm as my stomach dropped, the wind whipping at my hair and face. Azure’s great wings beat behind her, putting on a burst of speed. The muscles of her body moved with each powerful thrust, and I felt my body slipping from the jolting movements.
