Page 15 of Thauglor
The anticipation of the hunt is the strongest drive I feel from her. It pulses through our connection like liquid fire, making my confined blood sing with sympathetic excitement. Her predatory focus sharpens to a razor’s edge that cuts through every other sensation.
I can feel the minute the sun sets—her side of the bond burns to life like an inferno suddenly fed fresh fuel. I feel like I’m burning right along with her; the heat spreading through my shell until every scale prickles with shared intensity. It’s a constant burn that I can’t decipher, but it tastes of violence and righteous fury.
There are small flickers in the bond—not pain, just brief sparks of satisfaction that light up our connection like fireflies in darkness. I can only guess it’s when she makes a kill. Each flicker sends a pulse of savage pride through me. Her drive to hunt her enemies makes me so very proud of my mate. She moves through the night like death incarnate, striking with precision and retreating into shadows.
After a while, there’s silence that stretches like held breath. The sudden quiet makes my nonexistent heart race with worry. Then I faintly hear Klauth ask, ‘Mina, are you alright?’ His voice carries concern and admiration in equal measure, as if he’s standing right next to me rather than wherever she actually is.
She answers, and her voice flows like a siren’s song—deadly beautiful and absolutely satisfied. ‘I’m perfect,’ she says, and I can hear the smile in her tone. She single-handedly wiped outthe entire firedrake flight that was on campus. The magnitude of her accomplishment hits me like a physical blow.
If I were hatched, I would kiss my mate fiercely. I would claim her lips with desperate passion, tasting the victory on her tongue and sharing in the triumph that burns through our bond. Instead, I can only bask in the afterglow of her success, drinking in her satisfaction like the finest wine.
My queen has shown her enemies exactly why crossing her was the last mistake they’ll ever make. The purge may be over, but the legend of what she accomplished tonight will live forever. And I’ll be here, burning with pride for the magnificent, deadly creature who claimed my cursed egg as her own.
Chapter Fourteen
Something’s shiftedin the surrounding air. I don’t know what has happened—I can’t put my finger on it, but the energy feels different, charged with an electricity that makes my confined scales prickle. Klauth’s tone filters through my prison like distant thunder. “Ziggy, you and Balor go in together. Establishing dominance shouldn’t be an issue, since neither of you are dragons.”
Silence stretches out like a held breath until I can feel Klauth pick my egg up. His hands cradle the shell with familiar warmth, but tension radiates through his grip like coiled wire. I’m on edge, every instinct screaming that something isn’t right. The air tastes wrong—thick with anticipation and barely restrained need.
Then the answer comes to me like lightning striking my consciousness. Mina’s fertile. The realization hits me with the force of a physical blow, making my confined muscles clench with desperate longing. The scent must be driving every male in the vicinity to madness.
“You better hatch before our mate’s next cycle. I swear if I have to wrangle this again alone, I will punt your egg off a cliff.” Klauth’s tone is dead serious, carrying the weight of exhausted frustration. The threat vibrates through the shell, but underneath I hear the desperation of a dragon pushed to his limits.
“For fuck’s sake, you think I want to be trapped in here instead of taking care of our mate’s every want and need? Making her scream my name so loud that Bahamut himself hears it!”I yell into the void of my prison. The words tear from my throat like molten metal, burning with centuries of pent-up desire and rage.
“Don’t yell at me because your descendant didn’t make our mate submit last cycle. I wasn’t even hatched yet.” Klauth’s voice carries a bitter accusation that tastes like copper in my mouth. So it’s my descendant’s fault our young mate is almost feral with need. The shame burns through me like acid.
‘What happened to my mighty bloodline since our imprisonment?’I rest a taloned hand against the shell, hoping he hears me clearly. The smooth surface feels cold under my palm, a constant reminder of my helpless state. My bloodline was once feared across continents—what has it become?
“There are no wyrm dragons. Males aren’t reaching full maturity.” Klauth’s voice carries a deep resonance that tells me he’s lost in thought, trying to solve a giant puzzle whose pieces keep shifting. The implications make my stomach clench with dread.
‘Are we the last?’I ask my best friend, trying to gauge the state of the world sight unseen. The question hangs in the air like smoke from a funeral pyre.
“It looks that way. Our mate is stronger than most of the males born these days. Given her bloodline, I am not surprised.” Klauth’s voice radiates with pride that tastes like honey mixed with sorrow. The admiration of our mate can’t quite mask the tragedy of what our species has become.
‘It’s a sad state of affairs when a female is born stronger than most of the males,’I think, the words heavy with centuries of witnessed decline. The natural order has crumbled while we slept in cursed shells, leaving our magnificent mate to shoulder burdens that should never be hers alone.
I slip off into slumber again, trying to ignore the call of my mate that burns through our bond like liquid fire. Her need pulses against my consciousness in waves that make my confined body ache with sympathetic desire. This is the worst torture I have ever endured in my existence—to feel her calling for me, desperate for the relief only a true mate can provide, while I remain trapped in this cursed prison.
The scent of her fertility seeps through even my magical confinement, making every cell in my body scream to break free and claim what’s mine. Soon, I tell myself as her need washes over me in torturous waves. Soon I’ll be free to give her everything she craves, to show her what it means to be claimed by a dragon who’s waited centuries for her touch.
Flashesof what looks like the future flicker in my mind’s eye as I remain cradled in Mina’s arms. Her warmth seeps throughthe shell like liquid sunlight, but the visions cut through that comfort like shards of broken glass. She’s been stolen, and then she sees the teacher responsible. Terror radiates from her through our bond, making my confined muscles tense with rage.
A thunderous roar echoes in her mind, and I recognize it as my voice. The sound reverberates through the vision like an earthquake shaking the foundations of reality. My drake is roaring for its mate with a fury that could level mountains. Everything appears as seen from her perspective, and it’s fragmented—pieces of a nightmare puzzle that makes my stomach clench with dread.
She’s aveil walker, the most dangerous and valuable intrinsic to exist. The realization hits me like a physical blow. No wonder the curse found her—she’s rarer than phoenix tears and twice as deadly. She’s caught in the coils of a lesser basilisk, their scale plates larger than a regular basilisk. The creature’s grip looks crushing, and rage burns through me like molten metal.
Dirt falls from the ceiling in the vision, and I can see white scales on my maw. The sight shocks me—I don’t remember having that many white scales before my imprisonment. The silver spreads across my snout like frost on dark stone.How long exactly have I been trapped in this cursed shell?Centuries feel like moments when you’re unconscious, but the evidence of aging stares back at me.
The next part of the vision shows me melting a basilisk. Acid streams from my jaws in torrents that eat through scale and bone like water through paper. The satisfaction that floods through me tastes like copper and victory. Then I’m yanked out of the vision and back to reality with jarring suddenness.
I get to rescue my mate. The knowledge fills me with fierce anticipation that makes my confined heart race. That’s one hell of a way to make an entrance—bursting free from centuries of imprisonment to save the one who chose me.
Mina’s heart rate accelerates, and I try to listen to everything happening around me. The rapid rhythm pounds through our bond like war drums. I hear Mina and the basilisk Balor talking about when I will hatch. Their voices carry hope mixed with uncertainty.
“Warmer... Spring perhaps? Summer?” The possibilities dance through my consciousness like promises of freedom. I honestly can’t wait to bask in the sun again, letting it heat my scales until they glisten like polished obsidian. The fantasy of warmth on my face makes my chest tight with longing.
Mina talks about her suspicions, and it’s everything she already told me in whispered confidences. I know when I come to save her; I need to keep my eyes shut. Hopefully, my connection to her will be strong enough to see through her eyes since she’s already bonded strongly to Klauth. The thought of navigating through her vision sends electricity through my confined form.
