Page 48 of The Last Dragon
“He drew a dagger on me, sir.”
“A dagger?”
“Yes, as we sparred.”
“You sparred.”
“Yes, sir.”
He remains silent for a moment.
“Alright,” he says. “I’ll see to it.”
“Thank you.” My salute falters as my eyes flick to the stack of papers on his desk.
He notices, sets the quill down with a sigh, and rests his arms on the chair’s armrests. “This dragon killed hundreds of soldiers in the past month,” he says. His gaze settles on a map hanging above the long-neglected fireplace. The room is always the coldest in the building—he claims others need the warmth more than he does, especially since he rarely spends time here unless reporting to the King.
“Instead of being out there helping, I’m stuck with administrative duties—playing the bridge between the Third and the Center,” he mutters. “It wasn’t always like this. I used to fight beside my soldiers, lead them into battle. Now I sit here, buried in paperwork, listening to reports of others risking their lives.” His jaw tightens with irritation.
He clasps his hands and lifts his gaze. But they aren’t the eyes of the general I’m used to. These are the eyes I’ve only seen when the weight of his title slips away, revealing the man beneath.
He clicks his tongue, followed by a sigh, and turns to me.
“You know, I am hoping one day you will take my place as General,” he says.
His words are like a knife twisting in my stomach. For years, I have followed his teachings, learning the importance of duty and sacrifice. But deep down, I have always believed that his teachings, his efforts, were placed in the wrong hands. Deep down, I knew that I would never live up to his expectations.
“You want me to be General?” I scoff.With what time left in me?
“Yes. That’s why I gave you the title of Commander, that’s why I’m throwing you to lead those out there. Because over the past decades I’ve been here, I don’t see anyone else doing it as well as you.” He stands and slowly approaches me.
“And how many more decades do you plan on being here?”
“Hopefully a few more—”
“A few more that I don’t have,” I snap back. “You put me as a commander to lead, but you fail to see that I cannot follow in your footsteps. I cannot take up a role in which I’m not fit for.”
“I’ll make sure you are fit for it. But understand this—every duty I assign you is deliberate, shaped by careful thoughts and plans I’ve run through in my head a thousand times. And not once have you failed in them. You may have lost faith in yourself, but I haven’t.” He places his hands firmly on my shoulders, a rare gentle smile revealing crow’s feet at the corner of his gray-blue eyes. I relax, letting out a sigh.
“Speaking of—” he breaks away and reaches for a book on the corner of his desk. “The last book in the series you were reading a few years back. If you have another sleepless night, give it a read.”
I take the book, its corners beaten down from years of passing around. A smile tugs on my corners and I give a slight nod.
“Happy birthday,” he says.
Shit.
Time has blurred together that I didn’t realize it’s been two months since Division Day. And that it’s my birthday.
Today I’m twenty-two.Once the doors of the general’s office close behind me, I sigh and lean against the wall. I tap the back of my head on the wall several times before closing my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm myself. My eyes travel along a crack in the stone opposite me. It was never there before, but the impact of the dragon slamming itself into the Hold must’ve caused some damage. It might take a while to patch it up. My mind races back to the battleground, combing through every mistake I made—not just today, but all the ones that came before.
The Gates. Blood. So much of it. Nida. Aris.
No. Don’t think about that now. Ever.
I stare at the book in my hand, wondering if I’ll ever have time to read it, to find out what happened to the boy, silently wishing I could grow old with it.
CHAPTER 18
