Someone screamed.
This was real after all.
Chapter Nineteen
THE GUARDS DROPPED my beam and I crashed to the floor, my head feeling like it had been cracked in two as I landed. The crossbeams hit the floor so firmly that I felt the reverberations running through my whole body. I gritted my teeth against the pain, but there was no way to defend myself spread-eagled as I was across the beams.
A hundred other throats screamed all around me as Enkenay shoved himself through the ruined floor and landed heavily over me. All I could see was the ghost-like white of his semi-transparent scales as his belly settled over me, one leg between each beam. But I could hear the sound of running feet and screaming enemies, and then the rippling sound of fire through the air.
Smoke and ash washed back over me and blinded my eyes, but my heart still thudded on like a drummer who hadn’t noticed that the song was over.
Rakturan – who must have been on Enkenay’s back – bellowed something in Baojang and Jalla replied and then the sounds of battle extinguished everything else. I could smell sulfur and burning clothing. I could hear shouting and cursing and steel on steel. I tried not to think of what else I was smelling.
Amel? Are you okay?
I was okay. Sore, shaken, my heart felt like it didn’t fit in my chest anymore. But I was okay. I shook slightly on the beams, twisting my head to try to see, but all I could see between Enkenay’s thick legs were the hummocks of fallen Magikas across the stone floor. Was Raolcan hurt?
No, but Enkenay hasn’t found the Magika who holds me fast. I’m stuck here until he does. Thank goodness for Jalla!
Jalla?
She is fighting for Ahlskibi and me.
Jalla?!
There was a crash from the other end of the room.
The army has arrived.
Whose army?
Who even knows anymore.
And Enkenay moved and I shut my eyes tight and gritted my teeth as his scales brushed my nose. I opened my eyes too soon as the tip of his tail smacked my face. Ouch.
I blinked in the glittering dust ray that shone over me now that he was gone. Dust shone like tiny rainbow gems drifting down to me.
In the torn remnants of the ceiling, a dark figure crouched, lit from behind. He was holding a rope. He descended, arms and legs flung out like a dragon’s wings. I could hear the sound of the rope playing out across the edge of the gash. Behind him, the ceiling of the room above – a golden network of crossbeams – looked like the sort of place I imagined angels would live in. Perhaps the man was an angel.
He was slowing as he grew nearer – that ceiling really was high! – and I tried, helplessly, to repress my feeling of vulnerability. I couldn’t move an inch, not to protect myself, or even cover my eyes as he fell from directly above me, his own face still wreathed in shadow.
His descent slowed abruptly and I just barely recognized his face before we were nose to nose, his breath gentle on my cheeks.
He kissed me – tender and treasuring, as if he were afraid I would crumble. I was far from crumbling. My heart soared, my breath quickened, my arms ached to hold him.
Leng scrambled to the side, moving into an easy crouch of readiness, quickly sliding the rope he’d glided down on from a network of larger ropes tangled around his waist and thighs. He drew a small knife, darting back as an enemy guard leapt from out of nowhere and lashed out at him.
Leng danced back and forth like a snake between the rocks, keeping the guard at bay and away from me before something hit the guard from behind and he slumped to the ground.
Leng didn’t hesitate. He spun back to me, smiling like he was trying to make me brave with his smile and then darting to slice the leather cords that held my right wrist. I wiped dust from my eyes as he scrambled over me to cut the cord from my left wrist and help me sit up. I ached from head to foot but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as he worked to free my feet without harming me and help me gain control of my crutch.
He was alive! He was safe! Or at least, as safe as any of us ...
“It’s my turn to save you again, heart of hope.”
“What are you doing here?” I gasped. It was hard to tear my eyes from his familiar face but behind us, the sound of steel on steel continued and so did the shouting. I glanced to Raolcan still frozen where he stood. How would I help him?
“Helping Savette spy out the source of the Ifrits,” he replied.
“Dust,” we said both at once, but we were both looking at our dragons, worried about them.
He nodded. “And blood – or deep flows of magic. They seem to use both. But now that your army has scattered the Magikas, I won’t be able to hatch my plan.”
The battle had moved across the hall, the Boajang army fighting with the guards, but where had the Dominar gone? Where were the Magikas? Or Rakturan?
“Your plan?” I wanted to give him my full attention, but I was distracted as I slowly pulled myself to my feet. Leng hurried to help me up.
“I was going to burn down this tower with all of them assembled here.”
“But you were above them! You would have burned, too!”
His gaze held a guilty look.
“No wonder Ahlskibi was worried!”
I looked toward Raolcan and Ahlskibi at the same time that Raolcan shook himself.
Finally! And now, if you’re about done making puppy-eyes at each other, spider, I’d like to show some of those Magikas what helplessness feels like.
“I wasn’t trying to die. I planned to get out through the escape hatch. There’s one here in the audience chamber, just like there was in Vanika.”
And that’s where the Dominar and his Magikas went and where Rakturan followed.
The hatch opened suddenly and Jalla poked her head up through the trapdoor, noticing me first.
“Good. You’re still alive. Rakturan needs reinforcements. Take your dragon and follow him, slave.”
“I’m not your slave anymore, Jalla,” I said firmly, feeling more strongly about that word than ever as I saw shock flash across Leng’s face. “I gave my life for you – I didn’t die, but the offer means something – and here in the Dominion that would make you my slave – so we’re even now.”
That wasn’t true – that I knew of – but I was betting that Jalla didn’t know that either and it sounded like just the kind of nonsense they would use in her land. I held my breath, waiting to see if she would believe me.
Jalla stared at me for a shocked second before jumping out of the hatch and slamming it behind her. She strode forward so forcefully that Leng moved to intercept her, but I put a hand on his arm. I could deal with Jalla.
I expected a blow or a raging outburst. I didn’t expect a violent hug. Before I’d even shaken off the shock she drew a knife, slashed her palm and wiped it across my cheek. Yuck!
“We’re blood sisters now,” Jalla said urgently. “Marked by blood and honor. This is good, yes, even better than before,” she nodded as if to herself before looking me in the eyes. “Send help as soon as you can.”
She turned and ran back to the hatch so quickly that I was still wiping blood off my face and looking at it on my fingers and she was already gone.
I had a terrible feeling that being Jalla’s blood sister might be even more dangerous than being her slave.
You’re getting wiser.
Read the rest of Amel’s story in Dragon School: Troubled War
Behind the Scenes:
USA TODAY BESTSELLING author, Sarah K. L. Wilson, hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario where she lives with her husband and two small boys. Her interests include the outdoors, history, and philosophy. Her books are always about fantastical adventures in other worlds.
Sarah would like to thank Harold Trammel, Eugenia Kollia, and Sarah Brown for their incredible work in beta reading and proofreading this book. Without their big hearts and passion for stories, this book would not be the same.
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Dragon School Reading Order:
Dragon School: First Flight
Dragon School: Initiate
Dragon School: The Dark Prince
Dragon School: The Ruby Isles
Dragon School: Sworn
Dragon School: Dusk Covenant
Dragon School: First Message
Dragon School: Warring Promises
Dragon School: Prince of Dragons
Dragon School: Dark Night
Dragon School: Bright Hopes
Dragon School: Mark of Loyalty
Dragon School: Dire Quest
Dragon School: Ancient Allies
Dragon School: Pipe of Wings
Dragon School: Dragon Piper
Dragon School: Dust of Death
Find them all on their Amazon series page.
Why Novellas?
I love watching television series. I don’t really like movies, because they’re simply too short of a story arc for me. I prefer long, drawn out stories in smaller, bite-sized episodes. Dragon School is my book version of the television dramas that I love. I’m writing the type of series I want to read – long and rich but with short episodes I can read in a single evening. I hope that you’ll enjoy this format as much as I do. I am planning approximately twenty episodes for the first season. The first season will be a complete, self-contained story.
There is a second season planned for 2019 that will continue in the same world and timeline with a new main character and dragon. Many of the beloved characters from Dragon School will pop in and out of the story, so you won’t miss them too badly. Stay tuned for Dragon School: Chameleon!
Dragon School: Dust of Death Page 7