Chapter 22 #2
Zayr was possibly the only one I didn’t actually wish dead in this city. His eyes bulged out at the press of the exposed vertebrae of my tail against his throat. His fingers scraped against the bones in a futile attempt to loosen the noose.
“I can’t…” he croaked. “I gave a vow.”
That was true, he did. And if he broke it, he’d die a death much more gruesome than being choked by my tail.
I released him. “Go then. Go warn your master that I’m coming for him. Save him from my wrath, as your vow demands you do.”
He smirked, rubbing his neck.
“Ray’s order was to guard him on his visit to Mazra’s, and guard him I shall,” he said slyly, before turning his back to me and running along the line where the beach met the Wall.
This was the shared territory. Some caves here belonged to Ray, a few to Mazra. The chaotic structures of tents and awnings clung to the foot of the Wall all along the beach, occupied by whomever had claimed or stole the space last.
Zayr ran fast, but I easily kept up with him. He didn’t disperse into shadows or hide in the nearest cave, running in the open instead, for me to see him and to follow. He wasn’t taking me to Ray, he was running to protect his master as per his orders. But he led me to him nevertheless.
Reaching the main tavern cave, Zayr ran into it.
I followed, barely containing the rage and the fire inside me.
My skin burned as if on fire. My bones heated, feeling like armor made from molten metal against my body.
I feared the flames would consume me if I didn’t release them.
Yet I held back, following Zayr into the dark corridor in the back of the tavern.
It could very well be a trap. But I didn’t care. A part of me even wished that it was an ambush, so I could finally release the flames that churned inside me and lashed against my skull like whips.
Drawing his long sword, Zayr turned into a side corridor next.
“What took you so long? What’s going on out there?” Ray’s whiny voice came from around the corner.
A heatwave of anticipation rolled through me, the fire all but bursting through my skin. I stretched my wings wider, moving them just enough to keep me suspended in the air.
Ray stumbled out from the side corridor.
His skirt was hanging loose on his narrow hips, held crookedly by a single pin.
His hair was only partially braided, the rest hanging in long tangled ropes.
A naked human woman was draped over his shoulder, with his arm wrapped above her knees to keep her from sliding off.
I didn’t need to see her face to know the woman wasn’t Elaine.
I’d memorized every part of her body, from the exact shade of her skin to the shapes of her toes, and was absolutely certain even in this dimly lit corridor that it wasn’t her.
Ray rested his unfocused gaze on me, taking time to process what he was seeing right in front of him. His brain seemed too muddled for his face to express any emotion at all.
“Where is Elaine?” I roared.
Finally, he blinked, taking an unsteady step that sent him crashing into the wall instead of taking him forward.
I flinched, afraid he’d drop the woman, but he managed to keep her on his shoulder somehow.
“You know she isn’t any better than th-this one,” he mumbled, slapping a hand on the naked woman’s backside. “Maybe even worse. H-how the fuck did you manage to fool all of Kalmena? Why did they pay you so much for her joy?”
I sucked in a breath, and the only reason I didn’t release it with a burst of fire was the consideration for the helpless woman on his shoulder.
With a sharp beating of my wings, I lurched at him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up into the air with me. The woman slipped from his shoulder, and I caught her, hauling her under my arm like I’d done with the human male before her.
Ray coughed against my grip, then made a meek attempt to disperse into shadows but only managed to make his outline waver for a moment or two.
I brought his face to mine and growled, “Where is she?”
My breath hissed between my fangs with a burst of sparks and smoke, blowing back Ray’s dirty hair and scorching his eyebrows.
He wiggled in my grip like a worm on a line.
“K-kill him…” he croaked, trying to turn his head to where Zayr was standing by the wall.
Zayr’s chest rose with a sigh as he lifted his sword.
“You heard the order, General,” he said grimly. “I’ll have to kill you unless…unless you kill him first.”
“W-what?” Ray squeezed through his throat, his eyes bulging out.
“Gladly.” I bared my fangs in a smirk.
Zayr lunged into an attack, putting in a real effort to stab me with his sword. I swerved away from his blade, but maneuvering in flight wasn’t easy in this enclosed space. The listless woman under my arm also slowed me down.
“Where is she?” I hissed into Ray’s face, shaking him like a rag doll.
“Mazra has her. I swear! I have nothing to do—”
Zayr stabbed me in my right thigh. Ripping through my skirt, his blade slid against the dragon scales underneath, causing no harm. But Zayr turned around quickly, getting ready for another blow.
“Kill him, General.” He panted heavily, wiping his brow with his forearm before lunging for me again.
Fury bubbled and rose, ready to erupt from my chest like hot lava. But it wasn’t directed at Zayr.
“Useless, pathetic male not worth the skin you wear,” I growled, squeezing Ray’s neck in my claws.
He garbled a curse as dark, bloodied foam stained his lips. With a lash of my tail, I sliced his head off his body, sending it rolling down the corridor.
The woman jerked under my arm and gripped my wrist, then opened her mouth in an ear-splitting shrill.
Zayr stopped as if suddenly frozen, halting his sword mid-thrust.
“Fuuuck,” he drawled, rolling back his shoulders and straightening his spine. “I didn’t think I’d ever be free from him.”
He kicked his former master’s head, sending it rocking and bobbing into a side corridor and out of sight. I tossed aside Ray’s headless body like the useless sack of flesh he’d always been.
“Do you know where they’re keeping my woman?” I asked Zayr. No longer tied by his vow, he had no reason to keep the truth from me.
“Mazra has her,” he said, then gestured down the side corridor. “Right there at the end of this tunnel.”
My heart thudded against my ribs, ready to break through. Elaine was close. Right here. I had to get to her. Now.
I had no time to take the naked woman to Prince Rha’s people because I couldn’t stay away from Elaine for another moment.
Neither would I trust a Joy Vessel to Zayr.
I’d sooner trust him with my life than with the life of the helpless human woman whose true value was more gold than Zayr had ever seen in his life.
But of course, I didn’t want to see him dead or captured by the royal warriors, either.
“Don’t go outside or you’ll be killed,” I told him. “And don’t wander into the caves either, you’ll burn. Go straight to Ray’s water reservoir underground and stay there until it’s all over.”
He nodded briefly, sheathing his sword.
“And Zayr,” I stopped him before he left. “Don’t give any formal promises or vows to any man or woman ever again, do you hear me? If it gets tough, find me in Teneris.”
“Teneris?” He raised an eyebrow. “Is that where you’re going from here?”
“Yes.”
As Zayr left, the woman under my arm turned her head to see who was holding her. Just a glance at me was enough to send her into a fit of terrified screams and desperate struggle against my grip.
“Shh,” I tried to soothe her, which wasn’t an easy task when looking the way I did. “I’ll keep you safe. Ray is gone. No one will touch you against your will ever again. I’ll make sure of it.”
She stopped screaming, but only because she’d run out of breath, exhausted.
Taking her with me, I flew down the corridor that Zayr had pointed at for me.
The ceiling was lower here, and the walls came closer together, leaving hardly any space for me to fly.
I couldn’t walk, but I would crawl to Elaine if I had to.
Thankfully, the corridor remained just wide enough for me to fly all the way until white curtains closed off the space ahead of me.
The light material swayed in the draft blowing through the tunnels.
There were no guards here. They either ran off, trying to escape Prince Rha’s army or Mazra had never posted them in the first place.
Moans came from behind the curtains, curdling my blood with terror. Rage gripped me by my throat, making it hard to breathe. Struggling to keep it under control, I carefully sat the human woman down and noticed with relief that she was steady enough to stand on her own.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“I’m not going back in there,” she warned, giving the curtains a hostile glare.
“I have no time to take you to safety,” I explained. “If you run outside alone, someone will catch you, and it may not be someone you want. Stay close. I promise I won’t leave you here with them.”
She glanced down the corridor, then gave me a long assessing look, taking it all in from my red dragon eye to the wings moving behind my back to the tail lashing around behind me.
“Where will you take me after?” She swallowed, her voice strained. “What do you mean by safety?”
“Teneris.”
“Back to Teneris?” She sighed, biting her lip in the gesture that painfully reminded me of Elaine, urging me to run to her. “To Prince Rha’s sarai again?”
“Yes,” I said quickly, burning with impatience. “Unless you prefer staying and dying in Ashgate.”
“No, I…” She kept staring at me while keeping cautiously to the wall. “What are you?”
Fuck, I didn’t have time for this. But I couldn’t just leave her here, either, not without making sure she’d do as I said.
“I’m someone who will get you out of here soon and won’t feed you any magical tea against your will,” I snapped.
“Teneris is fine,” she finally conceded, then scowled at the curtains again. “Better than here.”
“Good. Stay close then.”