Black Crown

by Kelly St Clare

  His question made my stomach flip, and my attention on his strands sharpened. And just what does that do?

  Draedyn is alpha. If he got in somehow, he replied, hedging. Then he was behind that.

  I stopped looking for the oily green energy of my father and pulled my vision back. I couldn’t find any trace of him, but that wasn’t to say he hadn’t been and gone. Why would Draedyn want us to dance the maypole?

  I put myself in my father’s disgusting shoes, trying to reason like a sick tyrant. Why would he want me and Tyrrik to dance the maypole?

  The answer hit like Jotun’s fist.

  “He wants us to have Drae babies,” I gasped. That was the entirety of his plan, I was certain of it! Not only did he want Tyrrik and me out of the fight, he wanted us to grow the Drae population.

  My voice shook with fury as I asked, Take me back. What do you remember?

  36

  Tyrrik flashed images through our bond. He’d been asleep. His guard was down. He’d awoken at the first intrusion in his mind, at the powerful “suggestion” from the alpha. Tyrrik’s initial call for me had been in the split second he’d known what Draedyn was doing, and then I’d burst through the door, and Tyrrik’s only thought, compulsive instinct, had been to make little Tyrriks and Ryns.

  All of that was replaced by Tyrrik blaming himself for being too weak to resist.

  Anger, fiery hot, pulsed, and in an instant, turned into a roaring inferno of rage.

  “Draedyn,” I yelled, seizing the emperor’s emerald power in my own. What did he plan to do if Tyrrik and I did have children? Take them for his own? Raise them in his soulless image?

  I followed the strand of emerald power to his core and hurled a blast of my raging fury at him, going further than I’d ever dared to go. Returning to my mate, I wrapped our Drae energy in my Phaetyn net.

  “It’s not your fault,” I grumbled, opening our bond wide to let Tyrrik see the only anger I had was with my father. I scooted to the edge of the bed. The knife was by the door, and I picked up the blade and waved it at Tyrrik. “Phaetyn blood on this one and not mine, so be careful.”

  I stormed toward the door. This wasn’t over. I could count on one hand the amount of times I’d been so murderously enraged. He’d gone into my mate’s mind. And I’d left Tyrrik alone as he slept, vulnerable. Not only that, I felt wild protectiveness surging through me at the thought that Draedyn might try to control any future family we had.

  I couldn’t let this rest.

  Wait—

  Don’t tell me—

  I just need to get dressed. In a blur, Tyrrik stood by my side, dressed again in his black aketon. He opened the door, his features hardened, and said, “Let’s go.”

  We charged through the castle, side by side, my mind tracing Draedyn’s emerald power through the palace like I’d done a moment before. I couldn’t feel the core of it like before, but the traces were strongest from the levels above.

  Doors slammed, and the sound of footsteps pounded behind us.

  Druman, Tyrrik said to me.

  We both ignored the mules.

  The dining room was empty when we arrived. I glared at the rough-hewn table and the otherwise empty space. Where was he?

  “Out here,” Tyrrik called from outside on the terrace.

  I blurred out to join him, noting the sun halfway up the horizon with its daily climb. Tyrrik pointed to the sky, and I swore, my fury over personal grievances settling into horror for the entire realm.

  In the pale-blue-and-gray dawn, two dozen dragons were flying toward Azule.

  My insides twisted in horror, and I grabbed Tyrrik’s arm. “He’s heading for the army!”

  My terrified shout was superfluous, but the dread spilled out. Dyter was out there. He had to be! And Lani and my Gemondian friends. The entire rebellion would be on fire.

  “Lani has the shield up over most of the army,” Tyrrik reminded me. “We’re not fighting this alone.”

  But his eyes scoured the ground, and I followed his gaze. Hundreds of Druman scrabbled out of the mountain like ants, leaping and bounding along the ground toward Azule after their father and master.

  The emperor was making his move. I’d been so upset about what he’d just tried to do I missed the why. That he might’ve had another layer of motive to his action hadn’t even occurred to me.

  If I’d surrendered to Tyrrik’s bite, we’d have been none-the-wiser to Draedyn attacking the army. And he’d lied about the number of Druman he had.

  My talons and fangs lengthened. “What do we do? They’ve got a head start.”

  Tyrrik and I stared into each other’s eyes, our bond swirling around us.

  “Draedyn is away from the palace,” Tyrrik said, gripping my hand. “It’s the perfect chance to destroy his base.”

  “But the army,” I whispered, pointing out to the valley.

  “We’ll have to trust Lani and the others. We’ll light his palace up—”

  “Which might turn him back anyway.”

  “And then give chase. Leave him nothing to come back to.”

  “Wait.” I gripped his arm. “The prisoners. There are Phaetyn down in the dungeons.”

  His gaze darted back inside, toward the maze of hallways and stairs of Draedyn’s lair. “Okay, don’t worry. I’ll get them out now.”

  I didn’t have a chance to tell him no before he was gone.

  I didn’t want to lose sight of Tyrrik, not even to save others. I felt out of depth, unprepared. I wasn’t ready to come head to head with Draedyn. I was on the cusp of understanding how I could take advantage of my half and half powers, but I hadn’t had time to test anything.

  The next few minutes were among the worst of my life. The duration multiplied tenfold as I imagined every possible harm befalling Tyrrik.

  But he blurred back into the room.

  The Phaetyn? I blurted.

  On their way out. If they want to save themselves, they will.

  After seeing what Ash did to herself, I had no trouble understanding his comment.

  I feel like there’s so much more to do, I said as we walked out onto the balcony.

  My love, you cannot prepare for this. None of us can.

  Tyrrik pulled me over the edge of the graphite cliff.

  I tumbled with him into the open air, unafraid.

  Hurtling downward, our gazes locked. All our regret and fear and hope pressed between us, but those emotions would drown us if we let them. We let them go. The air sucked them away greedily, and then we pushed away from one another.

  And shifted.

  My neck lengthened, and my spine elongated with the size of my Drae, the bony protrusions extending into deadly spikes. My tailbone stretched, and barbed spines burst around the end of my clubbed tail. With a powerful beating of my wings, I surged into the air in tandem with my mate. We unleashed our roars, combined, shaking the very stones of the graphite mountain.

  I’m going to light this place up, Tyrrik said, sounding a mite bit too pleased with the idea.

  The realm should be worried that my mate not only possessed the ability to breathe fire but enjoyed it. Pyro.

  He swooped to the bottom of the cliff, and I noticed a massive entrance carved into the side I hadn’t seen before, being mind controlled on arrival here.

  As Tyrrik dove, the inferno in his chest glowed, showing through his scales as his chest expanded with the pressure building within.

  I maintained my high position, scanning the ground. Human soldiers were gathered beneath us, close to the palace. I blinked and noticed the golden powers coating their arrows and spears.

  Phaetyn blood on their weapons, I cautioned Tyrrik. Don’t get hit.

  Then I smiled. Because arrows and spears were nothing against me. And neither was Phaetyn blood.

  I’m taking care of the soldiers, I told my mate as a jet of his lapis lazuli flame, our flame, licked the entrance, dissolving the doors within seconds. The rest of his fire shot inside.

/>   Be careful.

  I spread my hind talons wide and circled to the jutting cliff balcony outside the dining room, ripping off a huge chunk of graphite. And then I dove on a steep incline and headed for the thick army of human soldiers.

  If they’d hidden in their huts, I would’ve guessed they were unwilling accomplices to the emperor, vulnerable, hence controlled and afraid. But to rally against me and my mate with weapons? These men were a danger, an enemy I wouldn’t hesitate to kill.

  Coming in from the side, I launched my oversized boulder at the army below, roaring as it catapulted through their midst. Men screamed as the massive stone broke apart, the pieces crushing many in its path. Returning to the cliff, I dug my talons in again, repeating my tactic with the relatively soft stone.

  I blinked through an image from Tyrrik, and he systematically worked along the base of the cliff. The fire would rise, but as he climbed from the base of the mountain, a massive detonation shook the entire range.

  I dropped the chunk of graphite in surprise, and my mouth gaped open as Draedyn’s castle, and the whole cliff he’d built his home in, imploded. As the black stone mountain collapsed in on itself at the base, the top third of the peak broke away and fell forward, spilling death for hundreds of feet into Draedyn’s lands.

  The humans with their Phaetyn-dipped blades were buried, along with their uniform houses.

  Tyrrik flew through the gray dust billowing out from the implosion and subsequent collapse, his Drae eyes reflecting none of the shock raging through his body.

  Uh, nice work. I take it you didn’t know you were going to do that?

  No idea. He shook his head. I can’t hear anything except when you speak in my head. That explosion is making my ears ring.

  Do you want me to heal you?

  No time. We have Druman to kill.

  He sent me a flash of giving chase, and hot-potato-pie, was I ready. This was just a warm up although even better than I could’ve imagined. We roared together, and I pushed up through the air to race by his side as we hurtled after my father’s Drae army. They were nearly upon the rebellion but remained together as a group, their pace slow compared to our desperate flight. When I’d sent the surge of fury at Draedyn after Tyrrik bit me, my father had still been inside the palace. I’d felt his core. And now, they could only be ten minutes or so in front of us.

  No, less. We were gaining fast.

  Pumping my wings, I flattened my scaled body to cut through the air as I scanned our army ahead. Lani’s barrier was up, reminding me to put up my own. I allowed the Phaetyn power to flood my mind first, inside my Drae power, and then I worked on wrapping my blue Drae powers around my head before finally erecting another level of my Phaetyn powers to cover our physical bodies. Three walls of my power now protected my mind. But it wasn’t until Tyrrik added the fourth layer of his onyx power over my blue tendrils that I felt invincible.

  Now I was ready to take my father down.

  Ryn, Tyrrik said. Is there any way to break Draedyn’s hold on the female Drae?

  What? I have no—idea. But then I realized . . . I did. Draedyn’s powers coated their minds in the exact way he’d coated mine. The females wanted to be free of Draedyn, and if I could separate them from his power, they could either fight with us against him or at least get out of the fight.

  We’ve got to try. You saw how quickly we dealt death to the men he left behind. Those outside of the Phaetyn barrier don’t stand a chance against twelve Drae.

  I focused my Phaetyn eyes ahead, my pace slowing as I attempted something I’d never tried. I’d only discovered I could even see Draedyn’s hold over the other Drae in the bath with my aunt the day before.

  Focus, my love. If this can be done, you will do it.

  Tyrrik’s belief bolstered my courage, and I stared ahead to the blaze of Draedyn’s emerald-green powers, vibrant in the early morning Draeconian sky, surrounding the others’ Drae energy. Doing my best to blink through the intense glow, I traced his power to the female closest to me and farthest from him. His power covered her mind like a blanket of rocks, just as he had with me.

  Do I break it with my Phaetyn or Drae powers? I asked Tyrrik.

  Can you attack with both?

  His answer was so simple, and yet for a moment, I could only gape at the epiphany. Why not layer both for an assault? I’d been layering them for my defense. Why try to keep the two powers apart? That wasn’t in my nature. I was both races.

  I narrowed my already slitted eyes further as I concentrated. I threaded a tendril of my Drae power outside of the veil, siphoning a wisp of the Phaetyn veil to wrap around the tendril. If Draedyn saw what I was doing, he’d fight me. Better to blast away his control of as many of the females as I could before we had to face him.

  Ready? I asked. I’m going to slap them with a pancake of power. It will work. I hoped.

  As long as you don’t ask me to call you a potato, I’m with you, love.

  I snickered or made a noise that vaguely sounded like it. Al’right. I’m going to hit as many as I can, I said. You need to tell me I should stop if anything bad happens to them.

  My wings continued to beat, but the heavy rhythm slowed as I focused on my Phaetyn-Drae beam of power and set my intention. I didn’t just want the beam to break Draedyn’s hold; I was going to shatter his control over my kin.

  I set my gaze on the same female on the outskirts as before, her pale-yellow energy almost completely swallowed in the emerald green. With my next exhalation, I shot my powers out like a spear. They blurred forward too fast for me to see, hitting the ring of emerald power encircling the Drae’s head. I didn’t stop to watch what happened; as soon as I felt Draedyn’s control splinter, I moved to the next Drae, blasting my power out to her. To the next, blast. The next, shatter. The next, fracture. And then once more, only this time as I severed Draedyn’s powers, they fought back, blasting through the sky like the sun exploding, flinging both me and Tyrrik back in the air.

  I clung to my defenses as I righted myself, glancing at Tyrrik to make sure he was okay before we continued our desperate flight without delay.

  Where are they? I asked, searching for the six Drae I’d blasted free. Below us, much of our army lay slaughtered, those first to absorb Draedyn’s display of Druman strength.

  Falling to the ground, Tyrrik said. They’re out cold.

  I immediately altered my trajectory.

  No, Ryn. Let them fall. They will not die, but Dyter and Lani’s army will. Can you do the same again?

  He’ll be expecting it.

  Then don’t hold back. Tyrrik’s anger with Draedyn leaked through our bond. Not just a pancake, hit them with a stack.

  I hesitated because we were closing the distance, and as I paused, Draedyn and his harem reached the army of my friends. I roared as the females dived upon the exposed portion of our soldiers.

  Still minutes away, I watched in horror as Draedyn’s chest expanded, just as Tyrrik’s had at the palace. Screams filled the air, lending an erratic beat to my flight.

  Blinding white-green fire exploded from the emperor’s mouth.

  Tyrrik! I screamed, my eyes widening in horror.

  Draedyn wasn’t aiming at the exposed portion of the army. He was aiming at Lani’s shield. He shouldn’t have even been able to see it!

  On his back, Tyrrik said. Kamini’s on his back.

  I scoured my father’s form and saw Kamini there, a Druman holding a knife to her neck. Two Phaetyn children were also there, probably dragged up from the dungeons. Two more Druman held knives to their throats.

  She’s showing him where the army is.

  You have to stop the other Drae first, Ryn! Tyrrik shouted. We’re nearly there. Just delay them.

  The emerald-green power licked the sky in every direction, filling me with a heavy weight. Who could compete with such raw power? I was eighteen, thousands of years younger than Draedyn with thousands of years less experience. And yet I was the first of my kind, the mo
st powerful Drae as I’d told Zakai, and the only one who could do this. If I failed, we would all perish.

  I dropped my external Phaetyn veil, pointless against Kamini anyway, and then unravelled half of the lapis Drae bands from around my head and slapped my green Phaeytn mojo alongside them, merging the powers as tightly as I could.

  Without pausing to think, I blasted the interwoven force at each female in rapid succession. For the first three, I did okay. I even braced for the rebound flare of Draedyn’s energy as before. I caught an image from Tyrrik of three more of the Drae toppling from the sky. Screeching, I funnelled all of my might through the band of his control around the remaining three, but the last flare of Draedyn’s power was tailored to resist my efforts.

  I can’t get through, I called to Tyrrik.

  Keep trying. I’m flying ahead.

  No! I screamed at him, fear clawing at my heart. We stay together.

  I could feel his answer, but before I could respond, shock stunned me. Through his eyes, I watched a turquoise Drae rise from within the rebels’ ranks.

  It’s my aunt, I choked as emotion overwhelmed me. My Aunt Ryn.

  Untangling a strand of my powers, I threw them like a net to cover my aunt who was circling above Draedyn. The net settled around her just in time, and then Draedyn and I were both locked in two battles. Not only did I need to keep my aunt’s mind free as she attacked him to give the rebels a fighting chance, but Draedyn and I fought for power over the remaining Drae still under his control.

  Draedyn unleashed a second bout of white-hot fire on Lani’s shield, the crackle of power singeing the air.

  Despair flooded me as the green power swallowed her gold veil, and then the Phaetyn barrier began to shrink, exposing more and more of our army.

  I glanced up just as my aunt dove.

  I wasn’t sure whether I felt Tyrrik holding his breath or if the tension inside was all mine as I did the same.

  Aunt Ryn closed the gap, plummeting toward the emperor, and I pounded against his control of the female Drae, gaining an inch.

  Draedyn cut off his flame and twisted in a circle in the air, whipping his spiked tail high and wide.