Page 57 of The Last Dragon
I shake my head. Of course, he thinks he knowseverything. “Over my dead body,” I say, taking a step toward the exit. Nida delays hers, staring Valous down before he lets out a sigh.
“Or hers,” he says.
I face him, closing the distance. I grab his white shirt and throw him against a wall.
“Watch the shirt,” he exclaims, hands up, eyes wide at the sight of my fist around his collar, wrinkling the fabric over my knuckles. But quickly his eyes flick to my right knee between his legs—just in case he needs extra convincing to keep his mouth shut. I feel my blood pulsating in my ears, my jaw locking itself tightly.
“Is that a threat?” I hiss, slamming his head against the wooden wall, causing a painting to shift askew. My arm slightly twitches and he grabs my wrist, sinking his dark nails into my flesh, adjusting my first to relieve the pressure.
He gasps for air. “No,” he says, pushing me off of him. I shift my stance and let him go.
With a sneer, he straightens his clothing. “Just a warning.” His eyes land on Nida, as if assessing her, then he stalks away.
I bare my teeth. It’s not worth having this conversation with him. But Raumen and Ilian decide to have a shouting competition with Valous from across the room. Alex, like always, isn’t bothered by the feud and continues to twirl his daggers, watching everything unfold. I sigh, then I grab both Ilian and Raumen by their collars and drag them out the door.Don’t need to make a worse scene than we already have.
As I drag them out, they continue to laugh and shout vile words at Valous while Ilian raises a middle finger. Their eagerness to continue acting like children gets on my nerves. Sam tiptoes to the side of me, barely visible. He hates loud noises and people screaming, and always vanishes when thingsget too much. Eryca throws a comment or two, but she doesn’t let herself waste more breath on the likes of Valous.
“What was that all about?” Nida asks.
I shake my head, letting out a sigh. “He’s a local snake you don’t want to get involved with.” I watch the rest of the unit sing and hang off each other’s necks. I’m about ready to give this day a break and keep Valous out of my mind. Though I can’t shake the feeling this won’t be the last time I see him.
CHAPTER 20
After three days of more training, studying, and briefings that tell us there’s no dragon nearby, I find myself in the library. Not many come here anymore. Soldiers spend their free time drinking booze made of fermented grain and old fruit, or standing guard until their legs give out. But that’s their balance in duty and leisure. Never mine.
When I joined the Corps, the library was a place to learn everything about the dragons, hoping the knowledge would one day save my comrades. But now it’s abandoned. Quiet. Professor Marina Fay—a dragon behavior specialist—is one of the few people who walk amongst the bookshelves while subtly cursing under her breath when a book is misshelved. Sam comes here too for herbology books, occasionally complaining that one is missing. The one he desperately needs. He never really told me for what.
The library is small, with books scattered across the floors from lack of shelving. Some shelves cling to life on rusty nails, barely holding up books that had survived for centuries, teetering on the edge of collapse. They’re delicate. Years of accumulated dust and bitter cold nights turned their papers brittle. Maybe I can find some answers to my questions about the Redsnout here.
The moment I turn the corner and scan for a seat, I spot Nida already settled at a table tucked beneath tall shelves markedTracker Section.She’s flipping through pages, fully absorbed.
A small light on a long wooden table illuminates the spines of the books a few meters away and the red strands of Nida’s hair. Everywhere else it’s dark.
“Are you always at the library when you’re not punching bags?” I ask, taking a seat across from her. I push the tower of books to the side to get a better look at her. She tosses her long, wavy hair to the side, whilst leaning on her right hand. She looks up for a split second, but then quickly returns to the book. She doesn’t say anything. I lean in and read the title.
“Tracker’s Guide?” I mutter.
She nods, releasing an irritated sigh and pushes the book to me, the silhouette of a Redsnout dragon staring back at me. She grabs another book stacked neatly with the rest.Dragon’s Atlas—the exact same one I have in my room. She skims through the pages and shows me another image of the Highspine Redsnout.
“Notice anything?” she asks.
I drag my eyes over the two books with nearly identical information. “Am I supposed to?"
“These books are new editions,” she says, dumping the book down onto the wooden surface. I raise a brow, while she leans under the table, reaches for a leather satchel, and pulls out another book. It’s anotherDragon’s Atlas,but the title has faded from years of neglect.
She slams the first book in front of me and puts the identical books side by side.
“This” —she says, pointing at the book she pulled out— “is anolderedition. It belonged to my great-grandfather, who enlisted in the Corps. The same book my brother studied from. Whilethis” —she points at the fresher looking book— “is new.Revised. It came out, what… thirty years ago?”
Both books are nearly the same, but the green shade of the newer version contrasts with the grayish-green of the older book. “Okay,” I drawl. “What about it?”
Nida opens both books to the information about the Redsnout and points at similar locations in each. She traces the worn edges of the page in the older book and drags her finger across the words above the red beast.
“When breathing fire, a male Redsnout will cock its head to reach the palate due to its shorter tongue length. Females maintain a direct line of sight.”
The sentence is there. Clear. Simple.
She then points at the newer version of theDragon’s Atlas. Nothing. No mention of head movements, tongues, or sex differences. Just diagrams.
