Within the Dragon's Jaw (The Dragon Thief Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Fitting that it would be hidden here where the priests could conceal it. Perhaps it has always been here, or perhaps the Dragon Thief left it here.” He smiled tightly. “Either way, it does not matter.”

  “Why do you want it?”

  “Because it calls to the power of dragons.”

  The burning flared within him, and he almost dropped the dauvern.

  Ty clenched his jaw, holding tightly to the stone, and shook his head as he looked at Roson. “It’s more than just that.”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t worked it out,” he said. “Seeing as how you were so clever when I was here before.”

  Could that be why his brother had wanted it?

  It didn’t seem to Ty that his brother would even care about calling the power of the dragons the way that the Dragon Touched did.

  Unless Roson meant something different than calling the power of the dragons.

  What if he meant calling to an actual dragon?

  Perhaps not even like the dragons that Ty had seen in the Hatchery. Maybe that was why Gayal had shown him the Hatchery.

  There was the flaming face that he had seen in the lava after he had dropped the egg.

  Could it all be connected?

  He shivered, trying to focus.

  But he couldn’t.

  The pain surged in his belly, burning within him. It was too much for him to withstand, too hard for him to tolerate. He struggled against it, trying to maintain some semblance of focus, but it didn’t work.

  Heat exploded around him. Roson waved his hands around in a circle and a burst of energy flowed toward Ty. He reacted, backing up, but not quickly enough.

  The heat slammed into him. It sent a surge of energy washing through him, mixing with that strange pain that flared up from him belly, washing all throughout him, and then down through him.

  With an explosion, energy seemed to shoot out from everywhere within him.

  Ty expected to be thrown back—but was not.

  Instead, as the heat started to clear, a smoky haze drifted around the inside of the temple. Through it, Ty saw the benches had all been strewn about. He looked over to see Roson James lying in a heap on the ground.

  Had he fired the crossbow?

  He held it up, but the bolt was still loaded in it.

  Get moving.

  If he was down, his magic somehow backfiring on him, then he wasn’t about to stay here and wait for him. Ty hurried forward. He reached the door leading out of the temple. A crowd had gathered and Ty looked around, searching for Bingham or Eastley, but saw neither of them.

  Eastley would love to know that Roson was here, and Ty could imagine what the large man would do to him if he learned that he was down, but Ty could think only of escaping with the dauvern. Get it away from here. Away from Roson.

  And then what?

  An item like this was powerful. Did he dare take it to Gayal?

  But if he could trade it for Albion, shouldn’t he do so?

  Ty wasn’t sure.

  He staggered forward and heard a shout near him. One of the priests called to him, but Ty ignored it. He stumbled further, reaching the courtyard.

  Why am I so tired and weak?

  There came a shout from behind him. He looked back to see Roson James standing framed in the doorway to the temple. Power radiated from him, circling around him in a band of flame that seemed to grow larger each moment that he watched.

  Ty started running.

  He shouted and an explosion of fire streaked toward him.

  He ducked, doing the only thing that he thought he could, and spun, pointing the crossbow at Roson, but a barrier of fire surrounded him. If he fired, it wouldn’t reach him, even if he were quick enough with it.

  Roson sent tendrils of flame streaking along the ground. It caught one of the priests, who started burning, screaming and shrieking, the sound a horrible and terrible sound that filled Ty’s ears. Roson strode forward. When another surge of heat started to flare, he knew he didn’t have much time.

  Whatever he was going to do was going to happen soon.

  Somebody grabbed him.

  “This way,” Bingham said.

  He pulled him toward a crowd and ducked down, motioning for him to do the same. Ty lowered his head, following Bingham. Even as he went, he could feel the energy building, that heat rising within his belly again.

  “He’s back there.”

  “I saw,” Bingham said. “And it took everything that I could think of to keep Eastley from going after him. The fool thinks that he can attack one of the Dragon Touched. If he gets to you—”

  “He can’t get it.”

  That much Ty knew.

  Albion had been willing to suffer for it. He had been willing to stay within the cell rather than give up the information about the dauvern to Roson.

  But why?

  Because it could control the power of the dragons.

  If Roson got something like that, he would be even more powerful.

  He clutched Albion’s note, holding it up against himself, keeping it tight in his fist, worried that if he were to lose it he might miss something. Even though he’d already found the stone, he had to believe there was something more that he might uncover within the note. His brother had left it for him, and now that Albion was in prison, Ty didn’t want to leave it behind, having no desire to lose the one last connection he had with him.

  Ty followed Bingham as they hurried through the streets.

  Roson chased them, flame stretching from his hands, swirling along the road.

  The crowd still pressed around them, and Bingham guided him through it, keeping his head down as they navigated along the street.

  The heat in Ty’s belly persisted, and he looked over his shoulder. Roson James was out there.

  But what if there are others?

  The Order of the Flame. They were another threat.

  And likely after the dauvern as well.

  How many know of it?

  He kept his hand in his pocket, wrapped around the device. His heart hammered. His mouth was dry. Everything within him trembled.

  Bingham looked over to him. “Keep moving.”

  Somebody shouted behind them. Ty glanced back to see one of the Order of the Flame raising a crossbow toward him.

  Bingham shoved Ty.

  “Find someplace safe. Hide.”

  The priest was behind them, and Bingham shoved Ty again.

  He didn’t see what Bingham did, but he heard a shout.

  Ty couldn’t leave Bingham to deal with the attack again.

  Not alone.

  And where was Eastley?

  Another shout. Burning grew in Ty’s stomach.

  He couldn’t wait. If he did, it was likely that either a Dragon Touched—and Roson James—or one of the Order of the Flame would catch him and take the dauvern.

  He kept slipping through the crowd, trying to move as quickly as he could. Where was safe?

  The only thing that came to mind was to head into the jungle.

  Was that safe?

  Pain clenched his belly again.

  He didn’t have any choice but to run.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Reaching the edge of the city and heading for the jungle was the only thought in Ty’s mind. He thought if he could get to the trees, he could disappear. He’d hidden from Roson James in the trees once before. He could navigate through the jungle better than he could. He was certain of it.

  The problem was staying ahead of him.

  Where is Bingham?

  As he raced through the city, he kept looking back, hoping that he would see Bingham or Eastley, but there was no sign of either of them.

  The crowd thinned the further that he ran. He should’ve been thankful that it was easier to navigate the streets, but all he could think of was that he was increasingly likely to encounter somebody who would slow him, stop him, or harm him. He caught sight of soldiers and tried to veer away from them. At one poi
nt, he could have sworn that he saw Dragon Touched, but he avoided them as well.

  The heat burning in his belly persisted, though.

  He wouldn’t be able to keep running.

  Hide.

  That was when the thought that came to him.

  He might not even be able to reach the jungle at this rate.

  Another surge of heat flooded through him. Ty stumbled and glanced behind him. Two men chased him, dressed in the black robes of the Priest of the Flame, though he suspected they were a part of the Order. I can’t let them catch me.

  He definitely wasn’t going to be able to reach the jungle.

  He could hide someplace.

  And maybe he could stay ahead of them.

  He darted toward one of the old temples in the distance.

  It was a different temple than the one where the first Order of the Flame had chased him, but it was similar in shape. A low, squat building made of all dark obsidian and a rundown stone wall that surrounded it. The grass in the courtyard outside this temple had grown long and unruly. As he hurried through it, something scurried underfoot, running away from him.

  Ty tried not to think about what it was. Maybe a snake, or a rat, or…

  No. He had to get moving and stay ahead of whatever was coming. He couldn’t linger here any longer than was necessary. He raced toward the building.

  Burning continued to build in his belly, gnawing at him. With each thundering footstep, it felt as if the Order of the Flame grew closer.

  He imagined a crossbow bolt in his back. He imagined stumbling to the cobblestones. Imagined bleeding out into the street while the Order of the Flame grabbed the dauvern, taking it from him.

  He wouldn’t be able to do anything against that.

  And then if one of the Dragon Touched came…

  He wasn’t strong enough for that, either.

  Run.

  He reached the entrance to the temple and tried the door but found it locked.

  Ty didn’t have much time.

  He grabbed for his lock pick set before changing his mind and slamming his dagger into the lock and opening it, darting inside. He breathed out slowly. Once inside, he recognized a strange energy here and spun around, worried that he wasn’t alone, but he didn’t see anybody else here. The Flame still glowed in the center of the room. Much like the other temple, this was a simple circular structure with nothing else inside. There was no evidence of anybody having been here in quite some time.

  He looked around though for a place to hide.

  Maybe he could trap them here. Draw them inside, circle around, and then block the door. It had to work. Either that or he would have to fight. He didn’t know how much dragon magic the Order had, but he did know they had crossbows.

  If nothing else, he thought that he could use the elevated circular pit that housed the Flame to hide from them. He didn’t know how willing they would be to get too close to the Flame. The Flame glowed with a burning sort of energy, and as he stood close to it Ty could feel that heat radiating from it, but surprisingly it wasn’t unpleasant. Even though it was flowing toward him, a strange sizzling and crackling energy, it didn’t burn.

  He crouched down.

  The door to the chamber thundered open.

  Ty didn’t move.

  That burning began to build within him again.

  He didn’t dare move, but panic set in. He noticed a faint haze beginning to drift around the elevated obsidian pit, though it didn’t seem to come from the door. It seemed to swirl around the pit and around him. The burning in his stomach was increasingly painful. He tried to ignore it, but as it stretched into his arms and legs and belly, it felt like fingers of flame rolling through him.

  Maybe the Order was also Dragon Touched.

  Footsteps on the tile were coming toward him.

  Ty tried to move forward, wanting to hide in the hazy smoke to make it difficult for them to see him. He could use that. Slip through the smoke, get back to the door, lock them inside.

  Unless they could track him in some manner. Maybe they detected the crossbow bolts that he carried on him or the dragon-bone blade. Short of dumping everything dragon bone on him, he couldn’t do it.

  Panic continued to build within him.

  He didn’t know what he was going to do with the dauvern.

  His brother had wanted to protect it. That seemed important to Ty, only he didn’t know how his brother intended to keep it safe.

  The smoke continued to build. Strangely, he could feel one of the priests near him.

  Ty slipped around the obsidian pit, moving away from him before thinking better of it. If he could knock them out, he might be able to get out of here.

  Within the smoke, he actually had a chance at doing it. If they could sense him, somehow, he wouldn’t be able to sneak up on them. But if they couldn’t…

  Ty crawled forward, reaching a small opening in the smoke.

  There was one of the Order there. His back turned to Ty.

  Ty reached for the crossbow before deciding against it.

  He crouched, sliding forward.

  There was a strange energy in the air. It was almost as if the smoke swirled around the priest, giving Ty a chance to hide within it.

  He launched himself before he lost sight of the priest.

  As he crashed into the priest, the man cried out.

  Ty slammed a fist forward, then kneed him, which elicited a sharp gasp from him.

  When he took a deep breath, he sucked in the smoke, then started coughing, then gagging. Ty rolled away. It was the same thing as what had happened outside the city.

  Could it be the Order wasn’t in control of the smoke?

  If they aren’t, then who is?

  Ty looked around and knew that he needed to keep moving, needed to get out of the temple, or better yet he needed to find the other member of the Order of the Flame and deal with him before anything else happened, but Ty wasn’t sure where to go.

  He crawled around the Flame. He could feel the heat radiating off it, so he knew where it was, but he got closer than he had expected and slammed his shoulder into the obsidian pit.

  He cried out and realized his mistake.

  Something moved near him.

  There was a pressure upon him, strange given the smoke and heat and energy all around him, but within that pressure Ty could feel something coming. The flames burning in his belly surged, and he rolled off to the side. A streak of fire shot over his head.

  Had he not moved, it would’ve struck him, and…

  Ty wasn’t about to think about what might’ve happened. At this point, all he could do was keep moving. He rolled again and came face to face with the Order of the Flame.

  The smoke cleared. For a moment, Ty thought the man was going to dart toward him, but he didn’t have a chance.

  The heat in Ty’s belly suddenly surged.

  Smoke swirled.

  The priest frowned at him. “All I want is the dauvern. Give it to me and this can be over quickly.”

  “For the same reason Roson James wants it?”

  The priest glared at him, and heat began to build from him again. He rolled, but the priest was there, stomping as if trying to step on him. Ty braced himself, putting his hands up. Smoke swirled away, getting in between himself and the priest.

  The burning in his belly flared again.

  Ty scrambled back, trying to get away, and got to his feet. When standing, the smoke wasn’t nearly as oppressive. It was only when he was lying on the ground that he was able to hide within it. That was odd as well. Most of the time smoke tended to rise. This looked more like a fog than anything else.

  He pulled up the crossbow, aiming at the Order member.

  “You will regret taking that from us,” he said. “The Order of the Flame will have the dauvern.”

  Ty stayed back and practically ran into the pit, though he skirted around it, staying away from the Flame. “Why do you even want it? It’s nothing but an old ston
e.”

  Could the Order know what it is?

  Given how much effort they had put into trying to capture him and trying to get to the dauvern, he suspected that they knew.

  The man took a step toward Ty.

  Ty shifted, aiming the crossbow.

  “How long do you think you can keep ahead of the Dragon Touched?” Ty asked.

  “Once I have the dauvern, they won’t be able to stop us.”

  At least it explained that much.

  Ty tried backing closer to the Flame, but it didn’t provide any protection. The heat radiating from it was too much for him.

  He was starting to panic.

  There was no choice but to use the crossbow.

  He aimed and fired.

  The bolt streaked toward the Order member, but a sudden surge of swirling flames stopped it, causing it to hover in midair.

  The man grabbed the bolt out of the air, twisting it in his fingers. “I didn’t know if you had it in you.”

  Ty glanced to the door.

  Not only one of the Order, but also a Dragon Touched.

  Smoke shimmered at a low level along the floor of the temple. It wasn’t nearly enough for him to hide. The pain in his belly surged again.

  He had to act quickly.

  Ty loaded another bolt into the crossbow but didn’t have very many more remaining. His adversary had already proven that they wouldn’t be effective, but he was going to have to keep trying.

  He backed toward the Flame. The elevated ring of obsidian pressed against the backs of his legs, and he stumbled, falling backward. He cried out.

  Surprisingly, he didn’t fall all the way in.

  It was as if there was a layer of something that caught him, holding him. Ty looked down and saw that the smoke had thickened around the Flame, and it swirled, rising up and holding him in place. The smoke started to spin, spiraling out around him, and strangely, a face formed in it. It lunged outward.

  Ty was too stunned to react to anything else.

  That face looked surprisingly like a dragon head.

  The priest pressed outward with the flames, letting them swirl away from him, but the image of the dragon that had formed within the smoke darted through the flames, swirling in between them, and then spiraled around the member of the Order of the Flame, wrapping around his neck, his head, and finally forcing its way down into his throat. The man’s eyes widened, bulging outward, and he collapsed. He kicked before falling still. The flames sizzled for a moment before flickering out, disappearing altogether.