Chapter 61
Chapter
Sixty-One
With his hands still shackled behind him, Gerard sprinted.
The empress turned away from Elias and towards Gerard. With a cry, she flung her left fingers towards him. The glowing dagger shot straight at him. He sidestepped, trying to dodge. But he wasn’t quick enough. With a whoosh of wind, the dagger sliced his arm.
He grunted. But Gerard didn’t stop; he just kept running.
Already, she reached for another dagger, the final dagger at her waist. Her other fingers wove.
But it was too late. Gerard leaned forward, lowering his shoulder, driving it into her gut.
She cried out as his shoulder smashed into her. The dagger dropped from her fingers. She fell back onto the stone with a yell.
“No!” she screamed. She looked at Elias, then at all the corpses scattered around. None of the others remained alive. “No!”
Elias stalked up beside Gerard. “You’ve lost,” Elias said, face blank.
She scrambled to her feet and reached for the dagger she’d dropped.
But Elias was quicker. His fingers wove. They flicked. Lightning struck her. Screaming, she jerked back, the dagger falling from her hand. She hit the tower wall.
For a second, body jolting, she clutched at the stone. Then the wall crumbled behind her. Stone toppled off the edge of the tower. And so did she.
Her cries echoed as she fell. Then all of a sudden … silence.
With steady, calm steps, Elias walked towards the tower’s edge. Gerard followed. Empress Emmeline lay motionless on the ground. Dead. Elias gave a single nod of his head.
Below, several soldiers and sorcerers fled. Then Adelina ran out, away from the tower and towards the forest.
Gerard exhaled. His stepmother hadn’t even shifted to try to get away. It was hard to believe that Adelina was actually a very powerful dragon. But she’d never been able to keep calm under pressure. She always panicked. As a result, she had never even seen a proper battlefield.
Elias’s fingers moved. A flash of lightning struck Adelina. She fell.
“She knows where your father will be attacked.” Then Elias dashed towards the tower door, leaving Gerard to run after him.
Gerard cursed. He’d been so caught up in the battle that he’d momentarily forgotten about the planned attack on his father.
Thank the dragon gods Elias has kept his wits.
Adelina had just gotten to her feet as they sprinted out from the tower. She tried to run away. But Elias zapped her, bringing her down once again.
Elias and Gerard stood over her. She looked up at them, eyes wild. Tears streamed down her cheek.
“Where is the attack happening?” Gerard demanded.
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you! I have to do this for my children!”
They were running out of time! His father could already be under attack. He could already be dead! “Where?” Gerard shouted.
She flinched. Then she just shook her head.
They didn’t have time for this! They had to find out where to go to save his father!
Elias knelt in the grass beside her, face blank. When he spoke, his voice came out surprisingly calm. “Your plan has failed, Queen Consort Adelina. There is no chance for your children to rise.”
Her lip trembled. “But if I—”
Elias shook his head. “No. The plan has failed. Empress Emmeline is dead. Everyone will know what occurred today. If the king dies, you and your children will be branded as traitors, and you will all be held responsible for the king’s death.
Your children will be executed for treason and will be burned with dragonfire. ”
“No!” Her eyes widened. “They didn’t know!” She gripped Elias’s arms. They didn’t know! I acted alone!” She looked to Gerard, eyes beseeching. “Gerard, you will say that you knew they weren’t a part of this. You’ll tell everyone they knew nothing! That they are not traitors.”
“Why would he help you?” Elias asked. “You planned to kill him and his closest family members. He and I will both swear that they knew everything. We will swear that they are traitors and plotted to kill their father, the king.”
“No!” She sobbed.
Still, Elias kept speaking in his cold, level voice.
“All your children will die. You will be killed last. You will watch them be executed one by one, knowing they suffer and perish because of your actions. You will hear their screams. They will cry out for you, their mother, to save them. And you will be unable to do a thing as they are reduced to ash.”
Gerard had to suppress a shiver. He did not know if he should be impressed or horrified by Elias.
Adelina wailed.
“But that does not have to occur,” Elias said, voice softer now. “Tell us where the attack is taking place. Then we will tell everyone that your children had nothing to do with all this. They will not be branded traitors. Nothing bad will happen to them if you tell us what we want to know.”
After that, the queen consort spilled everything. And she revealed where the key to Gerard’s shackles were. Thankfully they were on Empress Emmeline.
They removed the shackles from around Gerard’s wrists. Then Gerard untied the rope binding Elias. They used the shackles on Adelina, locking her to a post outside the tower. Elias was all smiles and gentle, comforting words for Adelina now that she’d told them everything.
They took a few moments to tend to any wounds that needed it. Within minutes, Gerard had shifted and they’d put a harness on him, which had been by the front entrance.
With a shaky breath, Elias climbed on his back. “Now. Let’s go save your father!”
Gerard stretched his wings. He flapped, and they rose into the air. Gerard just hoped they were not too late.
And as they approached the location where the attack was meant to occur, they saw a large green dragon, his father, flying from the direction of the White Monastery.
Gerard’s muscles unclenched.
“We’re in time!” Elias cried out, patting Gerard.
Lightning flashed from the forest below, striking the king. King Alaric bellowed as the lightning raced across his scales. He spiralled through the sky, flapping his wings wildly before finally seeming to right himself.
But a second later, an orange dragon burst from the trees below, flying straight at the dragon king.
Albert! That fucking traitor.
Gerard roared, beating his wings as fast as he could.
Albert and the king clutched and tumbled through the air, claws cutting at one another. But the lightning strike had clearly injured his father, and he took more damage than he gave. Albert’s teeth sank into King Alaric’s shoulder. Blood spurted. The king cried out.
“You need to get them apart!” Elias screamed. “I can’t target Albert when they are locked together. I’d end up shocking them both.”
Gerard flapped, drawing nearer and nearer. He stretched his claws as he approached. He raked them up Albert’s back before snapping them shut around the edge of one of his wings. His claws tore the membrane.
Albert cried out. Gerard flew upwards, tugging at Albert, trying to pull him away from the king. Albert released his hold on King Alaric, and Gerard released his grip.
Albert spiralled mid-air, turning to face Gerard and Elias. His eyes gleamed. He opened his jaw wide. Fire sparked in the back of his throat.
Elias’s weight shifted in the harness. The air crackled. Elias shot lightning, and it struck Albert’s face.
Albert’s neck and head snapped back. His body convulsed. His mouth opened, but no sound emerged.
And for a split second, Gerard remembered what it felt like to be struck by lightning. He remembered the searing pain. He remembered the loss of control and sight. He remembered the certainty that he would die.
But this time, the lightning archmage was not his enemy. This time Elias rode on Gerard’s back, protecting Gerard instead of trying to kill him. Now they fought as one. The lightning prince and the dragon warrior, soaring through the air, fighting their enemy together.
The lightning stopped flashing along Albert’s body. He twisted and turned, trying to right himself and regain control.
Gerard flew towards Albert, opening his jaw wide. Dragonfire boiled in his belly, ready to spew forth and consume.
Then suddenly lightning darted towards Gerard, and Elias from below in the trees. Gerard swerved, trying to dodge the attack. But he knew it was too late. Gerard tensed, anticipating the agony.
But at the last second, the lightning veered off violently and flew up into the sky. Then it circled and came back down, towards them. Once again, Gerard tensed, preparing for the hit.
However, the lightning came straight towards Elias, who with a flick of his brilliant fingers, directed the lightning straight at Albert.
It hit Albert in the back. His wings went rigid. He bellowed and crashed into the trees below.
Gerard turned towards his father, who spewed dragonfire on the lightning sorcerers who’d attacked Elias and Gerard.
He is all right. My father is fine.
But then a weird pale light beamed up from the earth, hitting his father. His whole body slackened. The dragon king fell like a stone from the sky.