Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
TYNAN
My eyes followed the dragon shape that soared up in the sky and I swore, not caring that the others could hear me. Alina had shifted and her dragon was . . . red. She was a descendant of the red clan.
How could that be?
It was well known that the red clan was extinct. There was something in its bloodline that did not easily pass its qualities to next generations. The red clan was the oldest clan and was considered to be the closest to the gods. There was only one red dragon still alive as far as all of us knew.
I glanced at Alina’s scales which were shimmering with gold and copper.
She was absolutely magnificent, she was like the pictures I had seen in ancient dragon books that described the history of dragonborns.
No wonder the Red House was considered to be the sacred one.
Just one look at her, and I was damn near finding my religion.
A sudden pull came from the side and I remembered that the crawler dragon was still on my tail. I swirled in the air and avoided the dangerously close jaws of the decaying corpse.
“What the fuck is that?” Victor yelled.
I had to agree, I had no idea what was going on. The undead corpse was still pursuing me, not paying much attention to the others.
“Which part?” Frid joined in.
“The girl is red!” Victor continued.
“Is this how you do it?” Alina’s voice joined in, unaware of the current topic.
“What?” Victor asked.
“She can hear you, dummy,” Frid added.
“Guys, what do we do about the crawler?” Sol asked.
“We can't kill him in the air,” I said, avoiding the next round of attacks.
“How long can that thing fly?” Frid asked.
“Probably longer than us,” I said, eyeing the shape that was preparing to launch at me again.
“Should we land and hide? There are some buildings below. I think those will work,” Alina said and I searched the ground below.
The remains of the dragon temples. No one, at least none that I knew, had ever gone this far into the wastelands.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Victor muttered to himself.
“Ty?” Sol asked.
“Let’s do it! Get inside. I’ll follow.” I descended lower, keeping my eyes on my pursuer.
I executed a wide circle, making sure that the group had landed safely.
They shifted and quickly opened the thick weather-beaten door.
Alina stood in the doorway watching me descend before Sol pushed her in and looked up at me.
I built up some speed, coming in quickly, straight toward him.
When I was close, he stepped to the side, leaving me space.
I burst into the building at full speed, sliding on the floor while simultaneously trying to slow down.
Finally, I stopped when I hit the wall, after crashing through furniture items and peeling off the skin on my arm.
The collision stunned me, and when I turned to look at the front door, it was already shut.
When the buzzing in my ears subsided, I could distinguish the sounds of the crawler dragon behind the heavy steel door, trying to claw its way in.
“What the fuck was that?” Victor repeated.
I got up from the floor, inspecting my injuries. My shoulder was bleeding. When I started shifting back, every cut, every bruise burned and I clenched my teeth.
“Are you alright?” Alina stepped closer.
“Fine,” I said.
“What’s going on here? Who is she?” Victor chimed in.
I looked at Alina, who froze, watching him. Her eyes darted from Victor to Frid, and when she glanced at me, I saw confusion written all over her face. Either she did not know what her color meant, or she was really good at concealing the truth.
“I have to agree with Victor,” Frid said slowly.
“I don’t understand,” Alina responded.
“You’re red!” Victor strongly emphasized the last word.
“Yes, I know that. What’s wrong with being red?” Alina glanced at me.
“There’s only one other dragon from your clan in existence, and she sits on the throne,” Frid said.
I watched Alina’s eyes widen, she shook her head.
“Is that somehow related to the fact they wanted her in a high-security prison?” Victor gave me a hard look.
I crossed my arms on my chest, my eyes landed on the intricate decor of the mosaic floors.
It was all connected. We were being used to keep someone’s secret hidden.
I had no doubt about it. We were set up.
If I could take a guess, I would expect the council to be uncomfortable finding a descendant of the Red Queen somewhere in existence.
Because finding her meant that the queen would have an heiress.
The council, who had been in power for as long as I lived due to the Queen’s frail health, would feel threatened.
The Red Queen was rarely seen by the others, and the rumor that she had died long ago was constantly circulating in the cities of Talman.
Finding another red dragon would mean that the reign of the council would come to an end.
The remaining four clans would lose their powers, although a representative from the black clan has not been allowed in the council since the attempt to overthrow the government more than ten years ago.
Only the houses of gold, blue, and white have ruled over Talman.
“Ty?” Frid’s voice returned me back to reality.
“It’s possible,” I said at last.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Victor dragged his hand through his hair.
“What does that mean? What do we do?” Frid asked.
“It means that she’s a problem they need to make disappear,” I said.
“That’s the reason? Because of my coloring?” Alina looked at us in disbelief.
“We need to get out of here,” Sol’s calm voice sounded from the front of the room and I looked at the door behind him.
The undead dragon was slamming against it with all its strength and I suspected that the old door frame would soon give way.
My eyes followed the shape of the room and I saw a wide, unlit corridor.
I looked at the floor and noticed that tiles outlined the entrance, and continued further into the hall before disappearing behind the thick shadows.
I looked around and found ceremonial torches stacked in the corner.
My arm ached with pain as I picked up a torch and walked closer to the dark corridor.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the others had also grabbed torches.
I inhaled dusty, dry air and focused on the warmth that was building up in my abdomen. A thick trail of smoke escaped my mouth before a couple of sparks landed on the oily fabric of the torch and ignited instantly. I caught Alina’s eyes as she stared at the flaming torch in stunned amazement.
“I don't like this.” Victor stepped beside me.
I only looked at him. I did not like it either.
With those thoughts, I took a step forward.