CHAPTER 1
“Two pints of beer, and make it quick.”
She turned around to the gruff voice, shooting the middle-aged warrior a quick glance before pouring him his order. “A little early to be getting drunk.” The clunk of glass echoed around them as she placed the drinks on the counter, her curious gaze traveling over the man’s substantial form.
Rich brown curls reaching broad shoulders in cobalt blue military garments framed a stern face, the features rough yet welcoming. A ragged narrow scar cut across the male’s nose, his chocolate brown eyes locked on her as she inspected him from across the bar. A neatly trimmed beard covered his square jaw, its dark shade a perfect contrast to his toffee colored lips.
A moment of silence passed between them. “I’m looking for someone.” He took a sip. “Perhaps you can help me.”
Squinting, she appraised him once more. A pair of gold rings shimmered on his left hand, the royal insignia of the horned phoenix like a stamp of superiority and indisputable homage to his high rank.
“What business does the Captain of the King’s Guard have in this desolate village?”
The corners of his lips lifted. “Like I said, I’m looking for someone. A certain dragon slayer.”
Insides clenching, she turned her back to him, pretending to be completely unaffected by the male’s words as she continued to polish the row of freshly washed mugs.
“I was told he frequents this tavern. Nyro is the name that he goes by, I believe. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?”
“Hmm.” Her mind swam. Shit. “What do you need a renegade dragon slayer for? I thought the Crown had their own men for taking care of unruly beasts?”
The Captain chuckled, the sound so unexpected that it got her spinning to face him. “So you have heard of him.” A knowing look passed between them. Straightening, he threw a pair of gold coins onto the counter, his two drinks left almost completely untouched. “Tell your friend that Linus was looking for him, and that he would like to proposition him for a certain job. If he accepts, his record will be wiped clean, and he will be a free man once more. He knows where to find me.”
Heart hammering away, she could only stare after the warrior as he adjusted his weapon, and without a second glance, sauntered out of the establishment.
The cloth in her hand felt heavy, her breaths coming in short, shallow gulps as she struggled to breathe, the room around her tilting on its axis. She bolted, desperate to get some oxygen into her failing lungs.
Crashing through the back door, she let the cool autumn wind sweep over her, calming her raging thoughts. As fresh air entered her shaking body, the looming panic slowly began to subside.
“Nyra?” the cook’s melodic voice reached her. “What are you doing out here?”
Inhaling deep breaths, she faced the stout woman. “They found me.”
A loud clang erupted around them as the clay pot in her hands came crashing down, lying in shatters around their feet. “What!? How?! What are you going to do?!”
Nyra sighed, dejected, her mind swarming with possibilities. What, indeed, was she to do? She had been on the run for so long now, hiding from the authorities and the very man that the Captain represented, always two steps ahead of them, had even come to a point when she had naively thought herself to be finally safe.
It was risky, her flighty way of life, but luckily for her, she didn’t have any living family members, and so didn’t have to fend for anyone but herself.
Her delusions of safety had come crashing down the moment the middle-aged warrior walked into the tavern that day, the reality that she would never be truly free laying heavy on her over-exhausted mind.
“I don’t know, Margot.” She palmed her face. “There’s no point in running away again. If they’ve found me here, they’ll find me anywhere.”
There was only one obvious solution to her never-ending problem. Perhaps it was time that she finally accepted her fate, whatever it may be, for she was sick of living in constant fear, of thinking that at any given moment someone will come and take her away only to be locked up in some dark dungeon, never to be seen again.
“Oh, honey.” The copper haired woman’s arms went around her, holding Nyra close to her ample bosom. “Maybe it’s for the best. This was no way to live. Besides, I’m sure they will understand once you explain everything to them.”
Nyra wasn’t so sure, but she really didn’t have a choice, for deny it or not, her time was up.
“I’m to meet with the Captain of the King’s Guard. He wants to offer me a job. Margot–” she mumbled as the cook pressed Nyra firmly onto her chest, “–you’re suffocating me.”
The woman released her, muttering apologies under her breath. “Seems to me like you’ve already made up your mind. Better to get it over with then, I suppose. Come now.” A chubby arm hooked under Nyra’s as they made their way to the kitchen. “The dishes aren’t going to wash themselves, my dear. Best get started.”
?
The smell of ash and cedar reached Nyra Haldane as she stood in front of the temporary military barracks, the wind blowing her long red hair around her face, its vibrant hue of ripe raspberries making it appear as if her head was ablaze.
All night she had tossed and turned, her mind not allowing her even the slightest break before she finally gave up on sleeping and prepared herself. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable, she might as well get it over and done with.
So, while Margot and their guests were firmly sleeping in their warm beds, she had stolen out at the break of dawn and made her way down to the encampment.
The Captain’s tent stood twenty feet from her, its ivory flaps swinging on the wind, beckoning her to step into the unknown.
You can do this, Nyra.
She remained standing.
“You know,” the Captain’s voice came from behind her, “it might help if you actually moved your feet. That is what walking entails.”
Cursing under her breath for being caught in her moment of weakness, Nyra followed the warrior into his tent, anxious to get the formalities over with.
A large oak desk was planted at the far end of one wall, with piles of papers and a pair of brightly lit lanterns decorating its top. A makeshift bed lay a few feet away from it, covered in an array of brown furs, making it appear as if a huge bear had collapsed onto the soft mattress and was taking one of its deep slumbers on it. An adjoining room could be seen off to one side, which Nyra could only assume was a bathing chamber.
“If you’re done inspecting my space,” the Captain said as he moved around his desk, “perhaps we can get started. Take a seat.”
“I prefer to stand.”
His brows shot up, as if not used to having his orders disobeyed. “This might take a while. You would be more comfortable sitting.”
“With all due respect, Captain, I didn’t come here for a morning chat.” She was not one to waste precious time. “If we could get this over with, I have a tavern to run.”
Stroking his jaw, his eyes bore into her as she remained still, holding his intimidating gaze. “You’ve got quite a mouth on you. I could have you whipped for your insolence.”
She smirked, the man’s arrogance causing a sudden wave of irritation to wash over her. “I’ve faced fire-breathing dragons, it will take more than a royal uniform and a few lashes to frighten me. Besides, how did you know I was the one you were searching for?”
“I suspected, but I wasn’t sure until I saw you standing in front of my tent. Now, let’s see.” Grabbing a paper from the closest pile, he began to read out loud, “Burglary, trespassing, fraud, assault–”
“The charges were never proven.”
The Captain stood up, walking around the desk at an agonizingly slow pace, then picking up another long parchment, continued to recite, “–smuggling, theft, aiding a fugitive–” she winced “–and finally, deserting a military position.” Clasping his hands behind his back, he stepped right up to her. “Scared yet?”
Anger simmered in Nyra. “If I had been allowed to leave like a normal human being then I wouldn’t have been forced to do what I had to in order to survive.”
“You abandoned your position.”
“You gave me no fucking choice.”
“Tell me, dragon slayer, do you know what the punishment is for treason?” He leaned in. “Death by a thousand cuts.”
A sudden calm enveloped her, the words that were meant to scare her into compliance doing the very opposite as the not so distant memory of Nyra’s last encounter with a certain winged beast wiggled into her mind.
As the fear of being scorched alive arose in her once more, making his threat of torturous execution appear childish and inconsequential.
“I have a proposition for you,” the warrior continued, “one that will benefit us all, should you accept it.” Moving back to his place behind the desk, the Captain plopped himself down on the awaiting chair, and opening a drawer, pulled out a palm sized object. It landed on the table’s surface, the morning light shining off of it in brilliant beams of silver.
Her breath hitched.
A sly grin spread across the Captain’s stern features, his eyes twinkling with victory. “She remembers.” Taking the scale fragment in his hand, he twirled it, the Sun’s rays reflecting off of it, blinding Nyra from where she stood. “You are to go back and finish the job that you had started all those years ago, dragon slayer. In exchange, all charges against you will be dropped, and you will be a free woman once more.”
Confusion raked her insides. “I don’t understand.”
Chuckling, he leaned back in his chair. “You didn’t kill it. The silver beast still lives.”
She froze, not daring to move as his words sunk in. “Impossible,” muttering, her mind raced. “I watched it plummet to the ground, my spear lodged in its chest, right above its monstrous heart.”
The Captain watched her, the pads of his fingers scraping against the sharp edge of the scale. “Not quite. Raiden is an ancient dragon, one of the very first Kaminari that ever roamed the land of man. So ruthless, that no Raijin ever rode him. It will take more than an ordinary spear through the chest to kill him.”
Furious for being deceived, she seethed, “Why the fuck wasn’t I informed of this the first time that I was sent after him? Why make me believe that I had killed him, only to come back years later and drag me back into the whole mess again?”
Silence ensued.
The Captain’s jaw ticked as he contemplated on his next words. “We weren’t aware that he still lived. The village was desolate after Raiden’s attack, therefore no living witnesses were present at the time to confirm his death. The previous Captain also failed to inquire about Raiden’s state after your sudden departure, taking your immaculate reputation as the kingdom’s best dragon slayer to be enough of a confirmation of the beast’s demise. It wasn’t until about a year ago that we realized how wrong we were.” He sighed, palming his face. “He’s burning villages left and right, not leaving a single soul alive as he goes. It appears that he’s searching for something,” his eyes pierced her, “a certain someone that had dared to threaten his life, and he won’t stop until he gets his claws on her.”
Realization swept over Nyra. “You mean to hand me over to him.”
He cocked his head, observing her before confirming with a nod. “And to make sure that you follow through with our deal, should you accept it, I’ve added your friend’s life as an added incentive. Just in case you decide to run away again, of course.” He stood up, strolling over to where she stood motionless, a mask of indifference sliding into place as he inspected her. “What is one life compared to thousands, dragon slayer? If you are quick, you might just make it out alive.”
They stared at each other, neither one of them daring to break the silence as Nyra slowly processed everything that had transpired ever since coming into the Captain’s tent.
How the fuck did I get myself into this again?
Was this to be her destiny? To die at the mercy of some ferocious beast, the very same one whose supposed death had urged Nyra to go running from the military, abandoning her post, not being able to stomach the idea of killing another one of those magnificent creatures in cold blood?
This is madness. There has to be another way.
But what choice did she have? If she declined, they would torture her to death. If she accepted, she would most likely die in flames as the said dragon slowly roasted her body until all that remained were ashes in the wind.
Perhaps the most important question of all—was she so selfish as to knowingly sacrifice the lives of thousands of innocent people when hers could potentially save them all?
Nyra took a deep breath, her nerves settling down as she made peace with the only conclusion to her unfathomable reality. “Alright, I accept. When do I leave?”