1. Calista
1
CALISTA
We hid in the trees in the mountains, waiting for the sun to pass overhead and dip behind the land. The cold was suddenly inconsequential when it had ravaged my body before. It was either the fire in my blood or the adrenaline.
ARE YOU ALRIGHT, CALISTA? YOU HAVEN’T SPOKEN.
I sat against the log in front of the campfire that Talon taught me how to build. There were no more matches in my pack, but Inferno engulfed the wood in flames with his fire. We were leagues outside of Scorpion Valley, the mountains acting as a wall around the territory. Our lands didn’t extend beyond those borders because there was no passage to the other side—unless you had a dragon.
CALISTA?
My eyes shifted to the red dragon across the campfire.
YOU WORRY ME.
“I’m okay.” Several days had passed since the dead had surrounded me on all sides and Talon had pressed his blade into my neck. I’d vowed to be his enemy forevermore, but he’d still let me go. I’d spent that time in quiet reflection, free for the first time in my adult life but with no idea how to use that freedom. A heavy pain settled on my chest and made it hard to breathe. I stood by my decision—but it fucking hurt.
YOU MADE THE RIGHT DECISION.
I stared into the tree line and ignored his red eyes.
DON’T FEEL GUILTY.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” It hurt to talk about it. It hurt to think about it. When I slept, I saw his black eyes and the rage that burned hotter than a dragon’s flames. I saw the hurt of betrayal, the hatred.
Inferno continued his stare, like he wanted to push the topic forward but refrained from doing so.
“You’ll wait here. I’ll start the journey to Scorpion Valley.”
THAT’LL TAKE DAYS.
“We have no other choice.”
WE CAN FLY UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS.
“That would work if your scales were black instead of red.”
I’M PROUD OF MY SCALES. THEY MATCH THE FIRE IN MY SOUL.
“I didn’t mean that as an insult.”
I CAN GET YOU THERE WITHOUT BEING SEEN. IT’S UNWISE TO TREK THROUGH FOREIGN TERRITORY ALONE.
“I don’t want Talon to find us.”
WE CAN’T STOP THAT FROM HAPPENING. WHEN KHAZMUDA IS CLOSE ENOUGH, HE CAN FEEL MY MIND. AND TALON CAN PROBABLY DEDUCE THAT IS THE FIRST PLACE YOU WILL GO SINCE IT WAS YOUR NEST. BUT HE CHOSE TO LET YOU GO, SO I WOULDN’T WORRY ABOUT HIM.
I shifted my gaze back to him.
I MAY NOT LIKE TALON, BUT I BELIEVE IN HIS INTEGRITY. HE DIDN’T FORCE ME INTO SERVITUDE THE FIRST TIME HE PROPOSITIONED ME. HE DIDN’T THE SECOND TIME. WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR IN BEING SPOTTED BY ANYONE.
“Do you think he has the power to force you?”
IF HE CAN COMMAND THE DEAD, HE CAN COMMAND THE LIVING.
I looked away, remembering the way he gave me a choice when he didn’t have to. I’d witnessed cruel men do cruel things, but he’d never used that cruelty against me. Then let’s go. I rose to my feet and kicked dirt into the fire.
WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO THERE?
“My father knew the location of the dragons. I’m certain of it.”
BUT HE’S GONE.
“The castle is in ruins, but it still stands. I wonder if I can find something in his study.”
WOULDN’T TALON HAVE PICKED THAT CLEAN?
“My father hid things. He showed me his hiding places, where to look if something happened to him.”
I SEE .
“Talon must not have found it…or it’s not there at all.”
We flew over the trees and approached the valley I once called home. The castle was in the distance, half of it still standing, while the rubble remained at the base. It used to be a pinnacle of power at the top of the hill, a shining beacon of hope to the village below, but now, it was a sign of our destruction.
I held on to the spike as we soared over the village, Inferno’s bright-red scales visible to everyone below. The wind blew through my hair, and I felt power like I’d never known, riding upon the back of a dragon, the fire burning in my veins. I’d returned to my home much stronger than when I’d left it. I would carry the scars for the rest of my life, but only I could see them.
Inferno landed on the open field outside the castle, his heavy body creating a thud that caused a tremor to travel through my entire body. I looked at the castle, moss growing over the outside and wrapping around the stone to the inside. It looked weak, like too much weight in one place would send the whole thing toppling down.
I slid down Inferno’s side and felt my boots hit the earth for the first time in ten years.
I WILL WAIT FOR YOU HERE.
I nodded with my back to him then moved forward, walking through the gardens that had fallen into disarray without the servants to attend to them. Weeds had grown through the cobblestone. It was overgrown, only a few rose bushes still alive.
The door to the rear was missing, so I stepped inside, my eyes needing a moment to adjust to the darkness of the interior. I was near the servants’ corridors and the kitchens. For a moment, I got a waft of pot roast and fresh bread, one of my father’s favorite meals. It disappeared the moment I sensed it, just a trick of my brain.
I moved down the hallways, passing old bedchambers and stepping over fallen chandeliers. There was debris everywhere, wooden clocks knocked over, sculptures smashed upon the floor, paintings with ripped canvasses upon the floor.
The aftermath of the massacre, of when Khazmuda ripped the castle apart as Talon stormed it.
I made it to the grand entrance, one of the heavy doors on the ground from where Khazmuda had kicked it in. The other was hanging off its hinges. The stairs that led beneath the castle to the secret tunnel were still collapsed, the rubble stacked on top.
I looked down at it, still seeing the small hole in the rock where I’d crawled to safety. The commander’s corpse was still buried in there, his family probably never finding it. So much time had passed, it would just be bones now.
I continued through the castle, feeling the ghosts of those who’d passed, feeling a heavy weight on my shoulders even though chunks of the castle were missing and spots of sky were visible.
I had to take the stairs to a higher floor to make it to my father’s study. Sections of the hall were missing, so I had to jump and climb, afraid that the wrong landing would send the castle crumbling.
But I made it to the door—and then stopped.
Because the last time I saw my father, he was slumped over his desk, the vial of poison in his hand, and if he was still inside…he was a skeleton.
Tears started to form in my eyes.
WHAT IS IT?
I’m outside his office.
YOU CAN DO IT, CALISTA.
I’m afraid he’s still in there.
I’M SORRY. I WISH I COULD DO THIS FOR YOU.
I know.
HIS BODY MAY REST THERE, BUT HIS SOUL RESTS IN PEACE.
I stayed in front of the door a moment longer before I took a breath and stepped inside. The smell hit me first, the stale air, the dust that collected on the rug and the curtains. My eyes remained on the floor, looking at the corner where I’d tried to hide from the guards. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the desk, to see his dusty bones.
If I wanted to look through the desk and the hiding spot underneath, I would have to move his body, and the very idea made me sick. Tears pooled in my eyes at the thought because it was far more traumatic than anything else I’d endured. I would take a night with General Titan over this prospect.
I looked at the desk, but he wasn’t there.
I inhaled a breath that came out as a gasp, and the tears spilled down my cheeks in relief. If he wasn’t there, then I didn’t know where he was, but at least he wasn’t in front of me.
ARMED MEN APPROACH THE CASTLE.
How many?
TWO.
I got to work and moved behind my father’s desk. The window was still intact, the curtains still secured apart to let the sunshine spill onto the rug. The dust was visible as particles in the air, floating in suspension.
I crawled under the desk and lay on my back, seeing the panels of the wood above me. My father had shown me where he hid his private things, showed me if I ever needed something. He’d designed the desk with the carpenter to make it undetectable, and the craftsmanship was solid because it took me several moments to remember how to make it come apart. It had to be done in a specific order, with three different steps. I slid one panel down, which released a hook on the other side, underneath the wood. Then I turned the panel clockwise, which released another hook. Then the panel suddenly came loose and was able to be slid sideways. I pushed it aside and saw the box secured underneath.
“It’s still there…”
I pulled the box free then crawled out from underneath the desk so I could open it on the rug. I removed the top and saw the parchment inside, just a couple of sheets, and a gold necklace.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and I clenched my jaw in frustration because I desperately wanted to see what my father had left behind. But I was forced to shove the papers and the necklace into my pocket and right myself, unsheathing my blade and gripping it in my hand.
The first soldier rounded the corner and stilled when he saw me, dressed in armor with my sword drawn.
I stared.
He stared back.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” I was the one who spoke the words, but Talon’s voice said them in my mind. I got a flash of his stare, of the way he said it with such anger and sincerity at the same time. These were still my people, even if they served a new king.
The soldier didn’t reach for his sword. He was older, my father’s age when he passed, and his eyes seemed kind rather than hostile. “Princess Calista…?” His eyes narrowed in disbelief, like he couldn’t believe the sight.
My grip loosened on the sword. “Yes.” I said it proudly, unashamed of my identity, of the blood in my veins that was mixed with fire.
“I don’t expect you to remember me, but I served your father. My name is Ronan.”
“As did I. Arthur.” The other soldier stepped in the doorway. “Is that your dragon?”
“He doesn’t belong to me, but yes, we came here together.”
“King Talon isn’t here, then?” Ronan asked.
“Just me.”
“Have you come to take back the throne?” Arthur asked with hope in his eyes, like they hadn’t forgotten what had happened to this castle either, like they would never forget how our king had been stolen from us.
“Yes—but not today. I was looking for something.”
“If it’s your father, we buried him in the cemetery,” Ronan said. “You can see his headstone.”
Tears welled in my eyes and blurred my vision. My father had claimed his own life, but his people still honored him. They buried my father when I couldn’t, and that gesture meant the world to me. “Thank you.”
“He’ll always be our king,” Ronan said. “And you’ll be our queen…when it’s time.”
He had been laid to rest with his forefathers, in the royal cemetery reserved for my ancestors. Generations of kings and queens were at peace in the soil, the tombstone the only marker of the lives they had lived.
He had been placed beside my mother.
The tombstone was engraved with a sword and a crown, my family’s royal crest. His name was easy to make out because it was only ten years old, while the other tombstones were almost so degraded they couldn’t be read.
I didn’t want to cry, but it was hard not to.
I’d never really had a chance to grieve. After my father died and Talon let me go, I ran for my life…and I’d never stopped running. This was the first time I’d finally gotten to stop, knowing no one was behind me, that I was a free woman under a tyrant’s reign.
Everything hit me at once, my father’s suicide, my torture by General Titan, the loss of my kingdom…the final words I exchanged with Talon. It collapsed on top of me like the rest of the castle had fallen onto my shoulders.
I cried in a way I’d never allowed myself to cry. Just let it all out.
I sat on the ground and leaned against his tombstone, feeling my father hold me up just the way he did in life. The loss of my mother had been hard because I’d had to watch her slowly wither away and succumb to an illness no one could stop. But the loss of my father had been so quick and unexpected, and that was somehow harder. I’d had no time to prepare for his death. Had no warning what he was about to do. How had he said goodbye to me, knowing that he would be dead just minutes afterward?
He wasn’t a coward.
The soldiers stood by the entrance to the cemetery, keeping their distance as I grieved, looking away so they wouldn’t stare. But then Ronan walked toward me and stopped a few feet away. “I’m sorry to interrupt…but they’re coming.”
“Who?”
“The Death King has lieutenants stationed at each city. The one here sent us to investigate the dragon, assuming it was King Talon, but now that we haven’t reported back, he’s sent more men. You have to go.”
My grief had been cut short, and now I was being driven from my homeland once again. “I understand.” I got to my feet and looked at my father’s gravestone one last time.
“What should we tell the lieutenant?”
I was tired of hiding. Tired of running. “The truth.”
“We can lie and say it was King Talon?—”
“King Talon will eventually confirm that’s a lie, and he’ll have your heads for it. You’ve already shown me great kindness by burying my father, and you owe me nothing else.” I placed my palm on my father’s tombstone before I turned away. “One day, I’ll reclaim these lands in the name of my father…and exile King Talon.”
Inferno landed in the forest, finding an empty clearing just before sunset. Now that people had spotted the mighty red dragon, newfound attention would be on us both, and it was best to stay out of sight when we could.
Once I dismounted, I built a campfire, making the pile of rocks before collecting dead tree branches found on the forest floor. Inferno added his fire to the logs—and then the clearing was illuminated.
I sat on the log that Inferno had retrieved for me, my shoulders heavy from the emotional day. I got to say goodbye to my father, but I also had to confront the Talon I’d first met. My perception of him had changed during our time together, so much that they felt like two different people.
But I was painfully reminded that the two men were one and the same.
Inferno was quiet for a long time. I WISH I COULD SET YOUR PAIN ON FIRE…AND LET IT BURN AWAY.
My eyes lifted to him. “I know.”
I’VE NEVER BEEN FUSED BEFORE—SO FEELING ANOTHER’S EMOTIONS AT THIS INTENSITY IS HARD TO TOLERATE.
“I’m sorry.”
DON’T APOLOGIZE. I’M GLAD WE’RE ONE.
“Soldiers came to the castle while I was in my father’s study, told me they buried my father in the cemetery. I got to visit his tombstone…my mother’s too.”
KING TALON MAY RULE THESE LANDS—BUT YOUR FATHER STILL RULES THEIR HEARTS.
“Yes.”
DID YOU FIND ANYTHING?
After I’d shoved everything into my pocket, I’d forgotten about it, thinking only of my father’s cold tombstone. “I did.” My hand moved into my pocket and pulled out the folded parchment, hastily crinkled in the depths of my pants. I unfolded it, and the necklace fell into my lap. I looked at the first sheet of parchment and recognized my father’s handwriting. It was addressed to me, and that made me swallow. I started to read in my mind, knowing Inferno could hear my thoughts.
My daughter, if you’re reading this, that means I’m no longer with you. I’m sorry that we’ve parted ways, but I know we’ll be reunited once it’s your time to join me . Whether it’s war or illness that’s brought the end of my life, just know that every moment prior has been spent in joy—and that’s because of you. Even the years after I lost your mother were good because I always had you. I know that you’re alone in the world now, but I hope you find the love that I found with your mother, that you have children of your own and know the same happiness that I felt the moment I held you in my arms .
There’s something I need to share with you. I intended to hand you this information once you took the crown and I stepped aside, but that obviously didn’t come to pass. This may come as a shock to you…and I know you’ll have questions that I can never answer. But many generations ago, buried deep in our history, dragons roamed free here…until our kind tried to enslave them. This happened so long ago that this knowledge has been lost—and purposely destroyed. But our bloodline is directly descended from dragons, and it’s been our moral responsibility to protect them. This secret was passed to me from my father, and his father before him, and so on. Now, I pass it to you. As Queen of Scorpion Valley, it’s your job to carry this secret in silence, to ensure that the free people of this world never grow obsessed with dragons and their powers again. You’re the first line of defense—and hopefully the only one you need.
The Guardians of Thalian are located to the north, in Riviana Star, a place you’ve never heard of because anything north of the White Mountains has never been plotted on any map—except the one that I’ve enclosed. If you ever need to travel there, there’s a secret path through the mountains, but the road is long and dangerous. I don’t advise you to go there unless it’s absolutely necessary. It’s marked on your map .
Riviana Star is home to the elves, beings as old and wise as the dragons we serve. They’re generous and kind, but distrustful toward those who aren’t their own. They say more in the words they don’t speak than the ones they do. If you find yourself in their presence, be careful.
And one other thing—my brother Ezra lives in Riviana Star. You may remember him from when you were a child. He chose a life alongside the elves rather than his own kind. I didn’t ask him to stay because it was clear that his heart was set on a different path .
I know you will be a beloved queen—and the man you choose as your husband will be a revered king. I’m sorry that I won’t be there for the special moments of your life, your wedding day, the birth of your first child, for a family dinner on a cold winter night. But now my heart is with you…wherever you go.
Love,
Your Father.
I turned over the page, hoping for the letter to continue, hoping that my last connection with him wasn’t over. As I read the words, I heard his voice clear in my head, a voice I hadn’t heard in a decade. I wanted to believe he was with me, but I also hoped that wasn’t true…because he would see how much I’d suffered since his death.
I suddenly felt a surge of longing, a desperation to tell Khazmuda and Talon what I’d just read, to share with them like I’d shared everything else about my life. But then there was a flood of acid in my mouth, a twinge of pain and self-loathing.
SO THERE ARE FREE DRAGONS IN THIS LAND…
I folded the parchment then grabbed the other sheet, seeing the detailed map of the north, the lands beyond the impassable peaks. The tops were covered with snow all year-round, the elevation so high that it remained a constant frozen wasteland. There was no way through, and after many attempts by many explorers, it had been abandoned.
I stared at the map, seeing a world bigger than the one I’d known my entire life. Riviana Star was marked in bold, a thick forest away from the coast and the mountains. There were other places marked in ink, a place called the Wastelands. It seemed to be a desert like the Arid Sands, just on the opposite side of the mountain range. The secret passage was marked in red, a line that crossed farther west. “We can’t see them in the skies because they’re beyond the White Mountains.”
I’M SURE KING TALON HAS EXPLORED THOSE LANDS WITH KHAZMUDA.
“Yes, you’re probably right.”
THIS HAS BEEN A LONG-KEPT SECRET. I’M NOT SURE HOW THEY’VE MAINTAINED IT.
“I wonder if they’re the same dragons my ancestors tried to enslave…and they flew over the mountains.”
PERHAPS .
“I guess we should travel to Riviana Star. Ask the dragons to help us exile King Talon from our lands.”
I DON’T THINK THEY CARE FOR THE AFFAIRS OF THE LAND THEY ABANDONED.
“Do you think they’ll care about the enslavement of your kin across the sea?”
THEY MAY. THEY MAY NOT. SINCE THEY UNDERSTAND HOW IT FEELS TO BE OPPRESSED, THEY MAY. BUT SINCE THEY UNDERSTAND OPPRESSION AND ARE NOW FREE, THEY MAY NOT WANT TO RISK THEIR SCALES AGAIN.
“Yeah.”
ALL WE CAN DO IS PLEAD OUR CASE AND HOPE THEY LISTEN.
My thoughts drifted back to the black eyes that had pierced into my soul on dark nights, across the campfire in the cold, across private bedchambers. “I’m not sure what to do about Talon.”
MEANING?
“If the dragons agree to help us, then that means we’re on the same side…technically.”
BUT WE DON’T HAVE THE SAME OBJECTIVES.
“We don’t?”
YOU WANT REVENGE FOR WHAT HE’S DONE TO YOU, SO YOU WANT HIM DEAD. YOU ALSO WANT TO SAVE THE DRAGONS BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. HE, ON THE OTHER HAND, ONLY DESIRES TO AVENGE HIS FAMILY.
“I don’t think that’s true. Despite the anger I feel toward him, I can’t deny that he and Khazmuda have deep love for each other. I know he wants to avenge his family, but he wants to help Khazmuda too. And I don’t want him dead.”
YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO. BECAUSE DICTATORS LIKE HIM DON’T STOP UNTIL THEY’RE SLAIN. ONCE THEY HAVE POWER, THEY NEVER LET GO. Inferno stared at me, his eyes locked on my face.
When the stare was too much, I looked away.
I UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS FOR HIM ARE COMPLICATED, BUT IF YOU DON’T KILL HIM, HE’LL KILL YOU.
“He could have killed me, but he let me go.”
HE LET YOU GO THIS TIME. BUT THAT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN. HIS ANGER WILL FESTER IN YOUR SEPARATION. THEY SAY DISTANCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER. IT ALSO MAKES THE ANGER GROW DEEPER. YOU BETRAYED HIM, AND AS THAT BETRAYAL SETTLES MORE COMPLETELY INTO HIS BONES, HIS RAGE WILL GROW LIKE AN UNSTOPPABLE WEED. WHETHER YOU WANT TO ADMIT IT OR NOT, YOU’RE OFFICIALLY ENEMIES.
I stared at the fire, remembering how palpable that rage was, the way it heated my face just like real flames.
A long stretch of silence passed. LET’S LEAVE FOR RIVIANA STAR IN THE MORNING. I’M EXCITED TO SEE DRAGONS IN THE SKIES ONCE AGAIN.
“Yeah…me too.”