Chapter 22 Khiona
Iheard the dragons’ drums before I saw them. I hoped the thick canopy would keep them from noticing me, but that hope vanished as they hovered in a circle directly above my little prison.
Curse Andar and his stupid summer magic. How could he imprison me? How could he—
The dragons lowered themselves again, this time landing on the stony ledges to my north with a thump so heavy that the ground shook, sending reverberations through the stones and up the tree I was tied to.
A knot tightened in my throat. They knew I was here.
The ground shook again as they stomped closer to me, but there were still a few trees between us. And they were big trees.
My knees gave out when huge claws wrapped around all four of the trees separating us and tore them out of the ground.
Soil clung to long threads of roots as the dragons tossed the gargantuan trees like small bones.
The invisible ropes Andar had used to tie me to the tree kept me upright, and the knot in my throat sank to my stomach.
Would they tear my tree out next? Rip me off of my tree?
And then what? Eat me in one bite? Divide me up so all six dragons had a portion?
One of the dragons spread his wings in front of me and snaked his massive head closer to mine, until his nostrils were only two feet away, and then he sniffed. All the branches around us bent toward him as he inhaled, and then bent back to normal as he exhaled.
He opened his mouth and hot, smelly air washed over me. I closed my eyes. The thought of getting his breath on my eyes made me sick.
His deep, rasping voice filled the forest. “Give me the treasure, fae, and I will let you live.” His voice grated like nails on ice, but I’d never heard of the vermin speaking, so I opened my eyes.
“What treasure?” I was not above bargaining for my life, but I’d seen what Maeva packed for us. Unless food counted as treasure, this discussion would be very short.
The dragon hissed and steam rose from his nose. “Do not think to toy with me, fae. I know how you delight in twisting words.”
Not good. I needed him to believe me. “I’m not trying to trick you. I do not know what treasure you want. I’m happy to—”
A plume of blue fire erupted from his mouth and burned right next to me. The flames passed so close to my skin that a hot burn reddened my arm. I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming in pain at the searing heat.
“The treasure you stole,” the dragon ground out while his fire caught the tree just behind me.
My chest seized as crackles and sparks heated the air behind me. How could I convince a monster-sized thief I hadn’t stolen from him? Unwillingly, my eyes darted down the path Andar had disappeared on. If only I’d gone with him—
No. He had tricked me.
I glared at the dragon. Even if I knew what he wanted, I couldn’t get it while I was tied up like this. And he looked like he’d rather roast me than explain anyway.
If only I could reach my magic! I felt it—like the crystals that flutter off the edges of ice butterflies as they beat their wings—but I could not grab hold of it and use it. I scowled at the dragon and cursed Andar. That wretched fae had left me here like a picnic for the scourge of the hills.
And I couldn’t do a thing about it.
The dragon snorted two clouds of smoke. “This is your last chance. Surrender the treasure.”
I looked into his yellow cat-like eyes. So this was how I died. At the flames of a dragon while tied to a tree. He opened his mouth—
And then snapped it shut.
Without blowing any flames.
He swung his head around, and I followed the movement with my eyes. Had Andar come back?
No, that double-crossing, traitorous piece of leech-meal wouldn’t come back. This had to be something else. I couldn’t see anything, but—
I heard it.
A sickly sweet melody with power dripping around it wove between me and the dragons. Another lute joined the first and snapped a wall of power at the dragons. The blast was so strong, it bent the air like a great wave.
“Ooh, hoo!” cried out Bummel. “That got ‘em!” He and Amador came into my view, playing their lutes and cracking magic at the dragons. I never thought I’d be happy to see the obnoxious musicians, but as they distracted and led the dragons away from me, I was so grateful I would have thanked them out loud—if there had been any chance of them hearing me over the flames and music.
I startled when Aakil popped out from behind a tree and ran up to me. “You seem to be a little tied up, Your Majesty.”
Annoyance suddenly tempered my gratitude. “Such an astute observation.”
A grin cracked his face in half, full of humor and triumph. Probably an unfortunate effect of spending too much time with Bummel. He touched a hand to my right arm, freeing it from Andar’s invisible bonds. “Who managed to separate you from your friend?”
I rolled my eyes. “Andar was the one who left me here.”
Aakil’s hand froze half-way to my other arm, and uncertainty replaced his good humor. “Why?”
I clenched my jaw. “Because he’s a double-crossing, back-stabbing traitor.”
Worry crowded Aakil’s brows. “Your Majesty, I…” His voice quivered. “I am not comfortable freeing you if he thought you needed restraining.”
I reached for my magic, furious when I still couldn’t grab it. “He is the one you should be worried about, not me.” I waved my free hand. “These are temporary bonds. He only tied me up so he could sneak away from his promise to me.”
Aakil inched away from me.
I glared at him. “I could have killed you in a dozen different ways already, but you are still alive!”
“Yes, but—” He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s because of Andar. I’m sorry, Your Majesty. We’ll try to keep the dragons off you, but—”
“Aakil!” I wanted to sound commanding, but it came out more desperate. “Does it matter if you trust me?”
He tipped his head, that scholarly librarian look overtaking his expression. “What do you mean?”
He was listening. This was my chance. “Can you three take on six ice dragons? Even here, where your magic is strongest?”
He glanced at his friends. They scurried like mice dodging raptors, their magic irritating, but not threatening, the dragons. “No,” he said. “Our best chance is to slip their notice in the forest.”
I looked pointedly at the trees they’d ripped out. “They are giant vermin. They don’t avoid trees—they tear them out by the roots and burn down or stomp on things in their way. You need more hands to help you fight them.”
I couldn’t make him any promises about my magic or how I would normally feel confident in taking down a beast by myself—my magic was still out of reach. But I could make him think my magic would be helpful without actually promising it.
He hesitated. He had to know he needed me. He just didn’t know he needed a lot more than me in my current state.
He made a decision—I saw it flash in his brown eyes just before he ran up to me and stared into my gaze. “Will you promise not to attack us?”
Maybe I would survive long enough to disappear into the forest too. “I’ll do better than that. I promise not to hurt you, Bummel, or Amador deliberately.”
Satisfied, he released the rest of Andar’s bonds and gestured at his friends. “Let’s go help them.”
“Actually—” I swallowed. An uncomfortable sensation tightened my throat.
Guilt? I wasn’t supposed to feel anything, but I couldn’t think of any other description for the lump in my throat.
I turned my attention inward. Ah, there it was—a few weakened spots in the crystals around my heart were allowing feelings to seep through.
The last few days had been too much to keep my walls unscathed. I’d have to—
One of the dragons roared, a bone-chilling, ground-shaking sound that stopped my internal reflection.
I’d have to deal with those leaks later.
When I could manipulate my magic. “I can’t help you,” I admitted to Aakil.
My tight throat squeezed more as his jaw dropped.
If this was guilt, I hoped Andar’s shame made him choke.
Aakil lifted his jaw enough to speak. “But I freed you.”
I raised my chin. I would not stare at the ground, even if I was humiliated. “Andar blocked my magic.” It was the simplest explanation. “I literally cannot help you.”
“But you said—” He cut off, probably realizing exactly what I had said. If this had been Bummel, I might have needed to spell it out, but Aakil understood. “Very well. I hope you survive.”
“And you.” One of my hands settled on my belt, and I traced the raised runes as I watched Aakil run toward his friends.
He pulled a pan flute out of a pouch on his side and started playing it.
At the same time, one of the dragons pounced on Bummel, opening its giant maw and swallowing the musician.
Aakil’s music grew louder and more frantic, but then shifted to an abrupt slower pace.
The moment the tempo changed, the monster who had eaten Bummel twitched like it had been hit across the face.
It opened its mouth, and Bummel fell out of it.
Two dragons turned on Aakil, but I couldn’t watch what happened because two others converged on me, blocking my view of everything besides their massive scaly bodies.
One of them blew a fountain of blue fire right next to me, deepening the burns I already had on my arm.
I wanted to grab the injury, but I knew that would only hurt it more.
“Changing clothes will not hide you,” the dragon hissed. “Last chance. Relinquish the treasure.”
I hadn’t meant to change clothes, but my outfit had shifted to the dress. I would have enjoyed it more if the dragons weren’t trying to kill me. “I don’t have any treasures with me,” I panted, panic rising, “but I can get you one! I just need to get to the Kalshana Palace, and—”
“Lies!” the fire-happy dragon hissed, flooding my face with smoke and heat. “We want the Kahunamons treasure. I smell it on you.”