Page 3 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
My fingers covered my mouth as I felt the gasp escape from between my lips. Every fiber of my being was stuck in awe and terror, tugging futilely to get Garris to his feet. Wretched flames and smoke built in Krakos’ maw, and the light of dragonfire glowed in between the black scales of the beast’s chest.
The chains in Bella’s hands slacked as we all glared up at the chase in dread.
Garris perked up; the words, “Great Odiun,” escaped his vile mouth.
The fire built within Krakos, growling like pressurized magma before a great volcano eruption, ready to unleash upon its foe as the two dragons and their riders rode straight at us.
We only had seconds. In moments they’d be on top of us, andI didn’t even have a knife to protect us, not that that would do a damned thing, but shit… I had nothing!
I’m not ready to die yet! And I’m sure as the Infernal Depths not going to let them hurt Bella, or any of the children here. They’ve done nothing to enter the queen’s war, and I’m not going to let them die for nothing!
My fists clenched impossibly tight, and my breath hastened as my chest heaved.
I can’t let them destroy my home. I can’t let them destroy the only thing that offers a shred of comfort in this piss-infested, chain-rattling life of mine. I can’t let them take the only things I truly love in this world.
And as the flames poured out of Krakos’ maw, exploding into the green drake and its rider, I felt something stir inside of me. It was so deep it felt buried, like an egg inside I never knew about that was hatching, breaking free of its hard exterior shell.
The unworldly hot dragonfire incinerated the Stormscale dragon but kept pouring out, and it was still heading straight at us.
The colossal dragon flew down toward the city as the smell of the smoldering green dragon and rider filled my nostrils with its unbearable stench—like hot iron and burnt flesh.
The flames were so enormous, they were going to blow down onto us and all of Bramblebash. So many lives were going to be ended forever…
Something shifted inside me. It wasn’t fear—not exactly. It was deeper than that. Like a thread being pulled in my chest, tight and hot, like it might snap. Krakos’s roar cracked the sky, but what rattled me wasn’t the dragon. It was the pulse rising in my ribs—steady, ancient, wrong and right all at once.
My legs kept moving, dragging Bella behind me, but my skin prickled like the wind was whispering secrets against it. The ocean surged louder behind us, crashing like it wanted me to turn around.
There was something in me.
Not mine.
But also… mine.
I could feel it humming beneath my breastbone, like water boiling just under the surface. My throat closed, and for a second, I thought I might scream—or burst into flame.
I swallowed it down.
Not now.
Not yet.
But it was there. Awake.
A light surged inside me, welling from deep within, like lightning electrifying my soul, filling a well that I didn’t even know was dry. And as the light escaped me, pouring out of my mouth and eyes, sizzling out of my fingertips, Krakos’ deathly eyes widened beyond his evil flames.
The golden light erupted from me like an unstoppable hurricane. Violent winds ripped out of me with a fury I’d never felt. I got angry, oh by the god, I got angry! My teeth gritted, grinding as I glared up at the horned Blaze Prince and his genocidal dragon. I felt like I could move a mountain, change the tides, summon the moon!
And as the golden orb of light exploded out from me, the dragonfire collided with it, erupting in an explosion that rocked the ground beneath my bare feet. I felt the impact in my chest, stomach, and knees, buckling me down to a knee. The weight of the dragonfire was crushing me like an ant under a boot heel, but I was holding it at bay, keeping us from its unbearable weight.
Krakos roared like nothing I’d ever heard—like the Infernal Depths tore a hole in the earth, letting out every demon imaginable—his flames evaporating into the air. His roar was of sheer frustration, rage, and discontent.
My hands would have covered my ears from such a hellish roar, but they were all that was keeping us alive as the magicpoured out from my hands to the gigantic golden orb that repelled his devouring, fiery breath.
Though the battling destructive dragonfire and shielding, dazzling golden magic, something grabbed my gaze like a magnet. Through the eye slits in the horned helm of the Blaze Prince, his deadly gaze locked with mine. I was stuck, glued to them like cold water to hard ice.
Krakos roared again, ending his furious flames. I dropped to my knees, severing the addictive gaze of the evil prince as the dragonfire receded.
My golden light faded too, evaporating like mist under the bright afternoon sun.
