by Terah Edun
“Will he fight?” she murmured to Thanar as she eyed the Emperor, who appeared at once frightened and exhilarated at once.
Thanar snorted. “A dragon? No, he’s no fool.”
“But how did he capture her in the first place?” Ciardis asked with wide eyes.
“A fast-acting sedative that I managed to undo,” Thanar answered. “Without that, he is helpless. Just the way we want him.”
His skin is sparkling like a blue gemstone with light arcing from all sides, she thought. It was both the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and the scariest. She had to wonder what it meant. It became clear to her that Thanar was very aware of her thoughts on the matter, because he patted her gently on the arm.
“It’ll be all right, Golden Eyes,” he murmured fondly.
“What will?” Ciardis asked. “Your skin, or the Emperor once he clears this mess?”
Thanar’s voice deepened and his face tightened. “Don’t you worry. He won’t be leaving this battlefield alive.”
Ciardis paled but did nothing as Thanar walked off toward an Emperor who had no idea what was heading for him.
For that matter, neither did Ciardis Weathervane.
Thanar looked like a god descending from on high. Both wondrous and beautiful in his intensity.
She watched with one eye as Raisa continued to rush from one foe to the next, eviscerating them with glee before moving on with faster intensity every second. Before long, the green grass was literally shiny with red entrails and what was left of the soldiers’ chainmail, discarded like rags after the dragon had picked them from her fingertips.
It was both a satisfying end to what had been a horrible few hours and a grisly display of power.
Ciardis watched Maradian carefully, wondering if he would call on his power at all. Could he defend himself when his opponents weren’t sitting ducks?
Apparently he could. Ciardis watched the Emperor lob fire and lightning and what looked like dark mist against the ever-closer daemoni prince. But whatever he did, no matter how awesome and how awe-inspiring, it had no effect.
Thanar just kept coming like an unstoppable ship heading for port.
As the Emperor began to back away in fear, Raisa stalked across her killing field with blood rage on her face.
As she caught the look in Ciardis’s eye on her approach, she shifted her face to a more acceptable demeanor. Rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth disappeared from her mouth, revealing normal human molars. Her head grew decidedly less scaly, and the claws receded a bit.
“Better?” asked the ambassador smoothly.
As Sebastian joined Ciardis with a bemused look on his face at the carnage he had to step through, he said, “Much, Ambassador.”
Raisa gave a satisfied smirk.
Ciardis couldn’t help the cold shiver that went over her.
Raisa’s mouth was still dripping blood and little pieces of entrails were caught between her teeth.
If anything, it was more disturbing in a human mouth where it shouldn’t be than in a dragon’s where it should. Apparently Raisa realized the depths of Ciardis’s distaste because she stopped a few feet away.
“Ambassador,” said Prince Heir Sebastian, after a minute had passed. He beckoned her closer to present a united front.
Raisa nodded and came to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
They all turned to watch the final battle between the Emperor of Algardis and the daemoni prince he thought he had killed.
“I’ll take that,” Thanar said with a snarl, snatching the ancient device from the dead commander’s jacket. Ciardis almost felt sorry for her. She had only been following orders.
Tossing it over his shoulder, he yelled at Sebastian, “Watch over that!
With wide eyes, Sebastian caught it and said flatly, “Sure thing.” Under his breath, the prince heir added, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Ciardis didn’t think Thanar heard him, which was a good thing.
They all watched the daemoni prince stalk his prey with bloodthirsty grins on their faces. Maradian was exhausting himself lobbing magical attacks at Thanar, but nothing stuck.
He’d even tried to change tactics and assault the three of them from far off. But Thanar deflected this assault as easily as he did all the others.
“He’s like a god now,” Ciardis said, her voice trending toward awe.
“He practically is a god,” Raisa said as she watched. Her voice did not sound approving.
Ciardis glanced at her out of the corner of her eye but didn’t say anything. She wondered if the dragon was still here because of Thanar’s newfound gifts, or because she really wanted to see Maradian dead.
“Perhaps a little bit of both,” Ciardis chuckled to herself.
“What?” asked Sebastian.
“Nothing,” Ciardis said quickly.
The prince heir shook his head. “Five more feet and Maradian will have nowhere else to go.”
The Emperor was literally about to run into a wall. He actually looked scared.
Ciardis gave a devilish smile. “Good, let’s see how he reacts to being backed into a corner. For once.”
Sebastian sighed. “There goes another of my bloodline. I think I’m the last full one left.”
Ciardis snorted. “Good riddance.”
Raisa asked casually, “Did the three of you ever figure out that tie-to-the-land business?”
Ciardis paled, and Sebastian looked like an absolute ghost a second later.
Thanar, the land! they both screamed into their bondmate’s head.
He sent them a wave of smug reassurance along with his thoughts. I figured that out in my time over there, so relax. Now, please shut up. Your ambassador friend barely left me anything to play with, and as much as I’m enjoying stalking this imperial coward, it’s time for me to show him what it’s like to really be torn to shreds.
The hate and the malice in his mind were overwhelming. Sebastian and Ciardis pulled back and looked at each other.
“I guess we should let him,” Sebastian said in a slightly nervous tone.
Ciardis replied with a mutter, “As if we can stop him.”
Sebastian said, “You know when this is all over, we’re going to have a major problem?”
“I know,” Ciardis said sadly. “He’s still blue.”
Sebastian laughed. “By this time tomorrow, the entire city will be clamoring to do something about his arrival.”
“We’ll address it when the city stops burning,” Ciardis Weathervane said with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Let’s,” agreed Prince Heir Sebastian Athanos Algardis as they contentedly listened to the screams of a fallen Emperor echo long into the afternoon.
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About the Author
Terah Edun is the New York Times bestselling author of the Courtlight, Crown Service, and Algardis series, set in the eponymous Algardis Universe. Her books boast exhilarating adventures, breathless romance, and incredible fantasy for readers of all ages. You can visit her online at www.terahedun.com.
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