Light-footed, I marched on. I knew I couldn't stay in one place for too long, but my body was draining. I’d already ran three miles north, trying to stop myself from taking a few moments to gather my strength and let the enemy spot me. This was my ticket out of here, and I had to tread carefully. Because Dradersi was dangerous, unpredictable, and almost impossible to weave out of alive if you weren’t a dragon.
Then all of a sudden I heard crunching leaves, the closeness of the sound to my location making my blood cold. I swear I forgot how to breathe when my body jerked left, jumping behind a large boulder as I ducked.
Chills—I hated the feeling. My eyes scanned over my escape route options, and things looked super bad for me right now. It was either take the shadowy path to my right, or cross my fingers and hope that whomever was chasing me didn’t turn around and spot me hiding behind a rock.
As I waited behind the boulder, I made my racing breaths shallow. Afraid of being caught, I didn’t move a muscle, but my chest was pounding so hard, it felt like it was about to blow my cover! Calm down, Jezz, I said to myself. I closed my eyes, trying to gather the little strength I had to prepare myself to fight.
If they caught me, I wouldn’t go down without a fight. Despite the odds being against me, I knew better than to roll over dead for those genocidal bastards!
Every footstep shot my adrenaline—one, two, one two. I focused on the rhythm, trying to find a break in their gait so I could make a run for it. The footsteps were closing in, and it felt like my stalker was right on top of me. But the scent of this dragon was still far, far enough to test my luck. I knew I had to make a decision and make it fast. Heading for the shadows was a risky move, but it was my only chance of getting out of here alive.
Then, a miracle…
The footsteps stopped immediately, and then a few seconds later, they started to backtrack!
Perfect! Now was my chance!
I’d give it a few more seconds, until the steps faded into the dark. Once my path was clear, I launched, only to be taken off guard by a thin thread sweeping around my neck. I took a step forward to catch myself from falling, and in that slight movement, I felt the thread slice open my skin.
“Wooo, look at that? I caught a live one,” a woman behind me said, my body frozen stiff under her restraint. “A pretty spunky blonde wolf.” She sniffed. “She’s nice and prime for a beating. I could smell the fear rolling off her sweaty skin!”
A second pair of feet moved toward me, the idea of having two dragons on my ass making me feel like an idiot! I’d been so focused on escaping that I didn’t stop to think there were two, and the fact that I couldn’t smell another predator also threw me off.
It was the princess herself, the one of the two I couldn’t detect.
“Release her, Matissa,” Lucyna said, my eyes squinting at that name. I remembered Silas mentioning that she was the animal shifter who had spotted us in the other timeline, the same psycho who pretended to be dinner for the orcs in Guedmar.
Matissa withdrew her thread, the long piece of wire snapping back in her wrist. I felt fresh blood drip from my throat, but it wasn’t deep enough to garner my attention.
No, the dragon princess won that honor. I had my eyes and ears locked on her, the way she circled me making me tense.
“So it was you two, wasn’t it? The death of Ezmar, the collaborating with goblins, it was all just a ploy to get into my father’s palace and assassinate him, and me.”
I sucked my teeth at her. “I don’t know what you’re babbling on about…”
“Don’t play dumb with me, mutt. You’ll learn to regret it.”
I smirked. “You’re paranoid. Do you really think I’d join sides with goblins? After everything they’d done to Senterrians?!”
“I think you would. Because you’d do anything Alzera-Kar says. And I know for a fact Silas would coerce you into thinking her words are made out of gold.”
“You think you know her so well?”
“Side with the orcs, the goblins, and the fae. While those blade-eared freaks wouldn’t budge to a lesser race, I’d expect the orcs and goblins to consider pairing up with you to take out the bigger factions in this war. Desperation can make people do terrible things, things they will regret… You know that better than anyone, don’t you, Jezz?”
I glared bitterly at her. “If you’re talking about siding with the goblins, I already told you, I—” She fed me a right hook straight into my mouth, making me fall on my back.
“You got lucky, mutt,” Lucyna seethed through her teeth. “If Gerald would have killed you instead, you would have been a blood stain in the rubble, just like those stupid goblins.”
I shuffled on my knees and spat the blood in my mouth with a witty smile. “You mean just like your daddy and the rest of the conclave? Or maybe, your boyfriend?” I snickered. “I didn’t know someone as cold hearted as you could even love someone other than yourself. Well now I’m ecstatic that those goblins got one up off of you pricks! Honestly I don’t care if you think I was part of this schemy and brilliant plan of theirs. And I care less if I die. Just as long as I know Silas is out there doing his job, then I can die in peace…”
“Really?”
“You know, the energy in the stone egg was pretty convincing. I even thought it was the real deal. I heard them talking over a fire about their plan, but they never stated what it was that gave off its power. They knew I wouldn’t warn you about the trap, they knew how much I hated your guts! So I stayed silent, played my part. I was ready to die, but your body guard did something so strange. I guess I had an angel looking after me in that parley. Someone as unexpected as the grim reaper.” She tossed me into the dirt, Lucyna’s face as hot as fire. She was burning up inside from being caught off guard like that, and seeing as she was in a rush to chase me out here, she probably had no idea what had happened to the rest of the conclave or the king.
If these goblins had really pulled the death of the dragon king off, this sabotage would mark the first victory over the Dradersi kingdom…
“We need to make her talk, my lady,” Matissa suggested. “Anything it takes…”
Lucyna considered Matissa's suggestion carefully, her eyes honing down at me with fierce vengeance.
“Make her bleed,” Lucyna finally said, her voice cold as she gestured for Matissa to bring me to my feet.
Matissa yanked me by my arm, a sinister smile etched on her twisted face. “Oh, I just can’t wait!” she said, snickering like a witch.
“You know, you could make it easy on yourself,” Lucyna said, a sly smile curling at the corner of her lips. “A power that emits shards of a blood knight’s sword, a blade that could kill dragons. It was clever, and the last thing I’d suspect from goblins. It left me wounded, but as you can see, it has its flaws. Even so…” She looked at me desperate for answers, and then said, “Just tell us everything you know about Tog and that weapon he had, and I’ll kill you quickly.”
“Now, where’s the fun in that?”
“All of this false bravery Jezz, don’t you ever get tired of it? Deep down inside, I already knew you were banking on this happening. You were hoping that the goblins failed, and that you could find your moment to escape. You were praying to the goddess that they were way over their heads, and that you could run back to Silas again.”
My eyes grew at her claims.
“Because let’s face it, there were only two possibilities here: actually being captured by accident after being separated from Silas, or believing this set up would work. However, if it was the latter, you wouldn’t have fled like that. No, the Jezz I know is thorough, and she would have made sure that the king was dead. That I was dead. So with what you said and what the goblins confirmed, the goblins weren’t lying about everything, which has me thinking that Ezmar truly is dead, and that his death has something to do with you being apart from Silas.”
“I didn’t want them to fail…” I said gritting my teeth, my body trembling from her words.
“Oh, but you did. Like I said before, all of this is too conveniently placed on a timeline, and now, I’m finally seeing the pieces of the puzzle fit.”
