Chapter One Hundred and One Myla #2
I rotate the sword in my hand, its light weight perfectly tailored for precision.
“It’s been a while since I’ve held a blade like this.
” Daggers are easier to transport, less cumbersome to move with.
“But you don’t have to worry about me, Brother.
” Moving to slide down Lan, I’m stopped by Navin with a hand on my arm.
“Remember the plan, Myla. Find a spot to hide in the enclosure holding the dragons and wait for me. Once I’m sure the area is secure enough for us to search for Sunis without getting caught, I will join you, and we will look for your dragon together.
” His eyes bore into mine, their shade infused with more gray than black as we wills me to agree.
I nod, and his shoulders relax. “I’ll be back soon.
” He waits for me to climb down, and I feel his gaze on my back as I edge along the black dragon stone building, its exterior smooth beneath my free hand.
When I finally reach the front, I hear Lan take off and watch as they rise into the sky before disappearing to the other side of the compound.
Gripping tightly to the sword, I eye the front of the building as I cautiously walk towards its entrance.
Calling it such feels like a misnomer, considering the entrance is just a fucking hole in the facade large enough to fit a dragon Bali’s size through.
With the sun gone, I stick close to the edges of the structure, a shadow blending into the onyx.
Rounding the very edge of the enclosure’s opening, I slip in without issue, my eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dim lighting.
The air is warmer here and thick with a myriad of smells, all of them unpleasant.
Edging against the inner wall, I take in every detail I can see beneath the sparsely lit torches.
The inside is round and carved deeply into the mountain in a feat that must have taken decades to accomplish.
My steps falter when I realize that the dark heaps set between more standing torches at the center of the enclosure are fucking dragons.
The hum of their snoring vibrates the air, and an uneasy feeling slithers down my spine as I get close enough to take in the first one.
A metal cuff is attached to each foot that I can see, chains thicker than my forearm looping together and connecting to a stake as thick as a tree trunk into the stone floor.
A muzzle made of metal and stone is strapped to the dragon’s snout, preventing it from breathing fire with any sort of efficiency.
I take a step closer to the dragon—its green color indicating it’s predominantly from the Hiravar line, though striations of black flow on its side—and I’m hit with the pungent smell of belladragis.
It makes saliva gather at the back of my throat.
An empty metal basin sits to the dragon’s right, the opening wide enough that it can dip its entire caged mouth in to get a drink of what was likely the tainted water.
I push forward to the next dragon and then the next, the color of their scales indicating they aren’t Sunis.
But the scene is the same for every beast I visit; dragons are chained and drugged, awaiting whatever methods my father has mapped out for the mages to use.
The scent of the paralytic plant grows stronger the deeper I traverse into the cavern, completely abandoning Navin’s commands to stay put.
I had never done well at following instructions anyway.
Despite the cargo this enclosure holds, I only spot a handful of guards. The king has no reason to worry that this place will be infiltrated. It’s a fucking suicide mission to even try.
Metal scrapes against stone, and I duck behind a water basin set between two knocked-out dragons as a guard leisurely walks up to the one closest to me. “Hey!” he shouts, his voice booming as it echoes out. “Look at this!”
Without waiting for his companion to answer, he begins to climb the sleeping dragon’s side.
I slink deeper into the shadow cast by the basin, holding my sword at an angle in front of my body to try and keep it hidden.
Dragons have always been treated with the utmost respect because they were supposed to be gifts from the gods specifically to the fae.
It’s why no other kingdom commands them. Why no other being can bond with them.
Laughing rings out, another male voice taunting the guard now pumping his arms over his head as he begins to jump on the slumbering dragon. “It’s the only way you’ll ever ride one of the beasts.”
“Fuck you. I’ll get a dragon soon. Especially after the king is done messing with them.” He squats down, fingers scraping down the dragon’s scales. “There’s that young black dragon we just got in. Bali’s offspring. Maybe I’ll take that one.”
To make this male bleed would be a gift, and I consider leaping up and sliding my blade across his throat before I calm myself.
While it would satiate the need to shut him up, it would also alert the others to my presence.
I was already breaking my word to Navin by venturing in here without him.
I suppose I should at least try to keep the casualties low until I get to my dragon.
“I think the king wants her for something else.” The second voice grows closer, and steady my breathing as my fingers flex around the sword’s hilt.
“Well what can he do if I bond her first?” The male jumps off of the blue dragon’s back, his armor clanging together when he lands.
“We’ve got another mage test to get ready for—there’s a fresh batch of them, I hear—but after that?
I’m bonding that fucking dragon, even if I have to keep her drugged in order to do it.
” Laughing, they carry on with whatever it is they are supposed to be doing.
Once they move out of earshot, I slink deeper into the cavern until I’m so far back that I can no longer see the monstrous opening at the front.
I pause when I finally spot Sunis, relief sweeping through me until I catch sight of the muzzle and chains.
Then my eyes move to the right, and I grit my teeth together hard.
Sunis is here, and she isn’t alone.