Page 119 of Courting the Dragon Prince
Buried and dead.
Cracks started all around them. Luther dove and swerved, narrowly missing the falling rocks. He couldn’t even see the earth elementals, but he could see what they were doing. He flapped his wings desperately, constantly looking around at his soldiers.
One by one, rocks fell onto them. The sound of the beating of their wings cut off in an instant, and the rocks fell. Only Luther remained from his division.
Luther had emerged from the tunnels into the sky and seen the rest of his battalion and the temple.
“They all died except for me,” Luther whispered, voice shaking. “They all died following my orders.” Luther’s heavy, uneven breathing filled the air as he finished his confession.
“We’d realised that you’d been using our own tunnels to attack and kill us and destroy our temples,” Onyx said.
Luther’s eyes snapped open, Onyx’s voice yanking him from the past to the here and now.
“So we started stationing earth elementals in the tunnels in case you used them,” Onyx said, voice hard and unflinching. “Then we crushed you.” His gaze matched his tone. “Then we buried you.”
ChapterFifty-Three
Luther gaped at Onyx.
“It’s actually surprisingly easy to bring down a cave ceiling,” Onyx bit out, tone harsh. “You don’t need many earth elementals to do it. And they don’t need to be particularly precise, powerful, or skilled.”
Onyx’s lip curled. “It’s unlucky for you though. No one had been stationed in those tunnels at the time. We’d all departed to assist the Voltaria army. The earth elementals who attacked and killed your people, they were those who’d been fleeing for their lives when you attacked our temple.”
Luther’s lungs clenched.
“So what did you do then, Luther? What did you do when you arrived at my temple?” Onyx asked through gritted teeth, his voice shaking.
Luther turned away from Onyx, trying to collect his thoughts, his feelings, his memories. But all he wanted to do was weep and scream. “The battle was already won when I got there. No enemies were alive.”
Onyx made a choked noise.
Luther closed his eyes. The temple formed in his mind, he remembered the sound of his wings beating. “I was so far gone. I’d led my division to their death. I was so enraged. So overcome by misery. So filled with regret.” He’d stared down at the temple, the tower, the pillars, and the stone structures.
Luther had opened his jaw, and all his pain spewed forth.
Luther opened his eyes. He stared at the granite pillar. He took a step towards it. “I burned anything. Everything. With dragonfire.”
To Luther’s surprise, his voice sounded strangely calm. He felt like he’d floated away and was just watching himself talk. “I slammed my tail into the tower. I watched it crumble. Then I burned the stones. I kept breathing fire until I could make no more. Then I landed, and knocked at the charred ruins and broken remains with my talons and tail.”
Luther’s hand clenched and then released. “The other dragons in my battalion had to knock into me to bring me back. They practically had to drag me away.”
“You destroyed my temple.” Onyx’s voice shook with rage.
Luther nodded, still staring at the granite pillar. “I did.”
“You killed my sister!”
Luther spun to face Onyx. “No.” Luther shook his head. “Your sister was already dead when I got there.”
“And that makes it better?” Onyx yelled, voice echoing through the temple.
“We were at war!” Luther screamed. “I lost warriors too that day. Your earth elementals killed them!” His voice broke.
Onyx’s nostrils flared. “They were attacking us! Your people deserved to die.”
“What? Fuck you!” Luther shouted and lunged. He grabbed Onyx’s shoulders and drove him with all his might against the granite pillar. “My people didn’t deserve to die!”
He yanked Onyx forward before shoving him back against the pillar again. “They were good warriors. They followed orders. My orders.” His voice shook as the tears streamed down his cheeks.
