Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“He’ll get back into it—in time.”
“What about Storm?”
“Pyre is supposed to talk to him.”
“I’m assuming I would ride Storm and you would ride Pyre, so Storm needs to communicate with me.”
“I’ll let Pyre take care of that.” I followed Pyre’s gaze into the sky, looking in the same area he did, but I didn’t see a thing.
“Tell him to get down—because I want to get the fuck off this island.”
“Then that means you agree?”
He turned back to me. “My first act as king will be to send my people to war. Not a great way to start my reign.”
“Like I said, we don’t have a choice. We have no chance of succeeding without the dragons.”
His eyes were full of fury, but there was no argument from his lips. “That’s the only reason I’m agreeing.”
35
HUNTLEY
The sun was barely over the horizon, and we were ready to depart. The only reason the outcasts hadn’t attacked was because they were organizing, probably forging alliances with other tribes in preparation for the onslaught. Capturing a dragon was enough reason to put aside their blood lust and work together. Only one person could use a dragon to their advantage, so even if they were successful, a bloody war would take place afterward.
I wouldn’t allow either one of us to be here to witness it.
Pyre spoke with Storm all night, doing his best to convince him to speak with me, to help us in the war that was about to come. It wasn’t until the morning that I learned the outcome of that debate.
Storm stared at me with his angry eyes. They were yellow, like the full moon on a haunted night, and he had a lot more bite than Pyre did. Even his subtle movements were aggressive, the way he turned his head, the way he put one foot in front of the other. He was definitely far more compatible with me than Pyre was.
I waited for him to speak first, but he was just as stubborn as I was.
“Are we doing this or not?”
Ivory turned to me, her eyes pissed off. “Do you know how to talk to people?”
Storm’s eyes contracted, his pupils dilating.
I ignored my wife and kept my gaze fixated on the dragon. “I need you for something. You need me for something. It’s that simple. For as long as you’re my ally, I will protect your scales. I will not enslave you as my own or allow my people to do so either. This is an alliance, and once that alliance is fulfilled, you’re free to go. Unlike most men, I don’t need a dragon to be powerful. I have my ax and my shield. Your fire and strength do not tempt me.”
His snout gave an exhale, a little bit of steam coming out. Why should I trust you?
I heard the words loud in my head, heard them echo in my mind. “I never asked you to trust me. You should never trust anyone—that’s my best advice to you. But I can tell you that my ambitions are far bigger than enslaving a dragon. My ambition is to return to my family home and reclaim the throne that was taken from me, to rule a world in peace and not war, to defeat corruption. Nothing else matters to me.”
That seemed to be enough for him because he turned to regard Pyre.
Ivory looked at me. “We really need to work on your people skills.”
“I’m not a people person.”
“You’re going to need to be if you want to be king.”
Storm turned back to me. I accept.
“If we’re all in agreement, we need to depart the island immediately.” I looked over the hill that led to the inhabited part of the island, where the outcasts were preparing for war. “Because they’re coming for us.”
Both dragons looked in the same direction before they turned back to us.
“It’s a week-long trip by boat,” I said. “So, if we fly, I imagine we can make it in less than two days. Are you capable of that?”
Yes.
“You’re sure?”
Dragons are meant for the sky—not the earth.
I turned to Ivory. “Then it’s time to leave. Are you ready?”
She released a breath like she was nervous, a gesture I’d only seen her make a handful of times. “I guess.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a far trip… What if they don’t make it?”
“Then we’ll swim.”
“I told you I can’t swim.”
“Then I’ll swim for you.”
I mounted Storm, climbing up his scales the way I’d seen Ivory do every single day. I straddled his back just like a horse, my legs split over his spine, and I secured my essentials to his scales with a tight rope. I sat just behind his head, a sharp spike at the back of his neck that I could grasp like a pommel.
Ivory was already ready to go on Pyre, in her element. “It’s wild, right?”