Chapter 39

THE KING ROUNDED ONKnox, his hands wide at his sides with balls of flame in one palm and the fiery rope whip swinging in the other.

"The hell she didn"t. The darling princess of the nation? Everyone loved her. They"d have rejoiced to see her on the throne instead of me."

"Was that why you"ve poisoned her for so long?" Knox asked, careful to stay just out of reach of the rope as he circled him. His hatchet was long gone, lost in the cellar.

Knox slowly circled the king, but at his words, the king went mad. His face reddened, and he swung the end of the rope again. It lashed out like lightning, and Knox dove.

But he wasn"t quick enough. Knox grunted, his body falling, the rope wrapped around him once more. The stabbing pain in his ribs made him choke down bile.

"She has undermined me her entire life. Trying to make her death look like an accident has been the hardest thing I"ve had to do as king. She was supposed to die in that carriage accident twenty years ago with our stupid parents, but some sad fool brought her home."

The king took a step with every word, dragging Knox toward the balcony. He released the whip, and Knox gasped a full breath of pure pain.

Blood dripped down his chin as he pushed onto his hands and knees. "Ah, that would be me."

The king"s boots turned. "What?"

Knox looked up, coming up on one foot and using his knee to push to standing on the balcony. He breathed shallowly through his mouth against the wave of pain in his ribs.

"I found the carriage on the Lone Road and pulled the baby princess from the wreckage."

The king"s face turned almost purple in rage, and he raised the rope whip. Knox lunged at him, hoping the offensive attack would throw the king off.

They exchanged blows, swift and sure crunches of pain. Knox landed a solid punch to the king"s jaw, which just made him madder. He pounded the hell out of Knox with both rope and fists until Knox" mind began to wander. It was the only way to detach himself from the constant biting pain.

His vision spun as blood dripped into his eyes. The king shot red-hot knives of pain into him, each one burning. Knox yelled, jumping to the side and hitting the wall behind him. Darkness clouded his eyes, and he fell to his knees.

The wind whispered to him through the open air. It caressed him like Eirwyn"s fingers playing over his scales and horns. He groaned, the pain trying to drag him into the darkness.

"Gods, why did you have to save her? This all would"ve been so much easier if she would"ve died with our parents like planned," Gastone grunted with every slash of the rope and punch of his fist.

Knox blinked and fell to his back, dipping his head to wipe his eyes on his shoulder. He heaved a deep breath, the wind soothing him like Eirwyn. He rolled onto his side and stumbled to his feet, using the little alcove of the door to stop the blows of the rope whip.

The king lifted his hands toward the balcony"s railing and roared, fire blasting out from his hands. Knox tucked himself behind the door, using it to block the heat.

It finally faded, and he panted, looking around and clearing his vision. The fluffy white and gray clouds didn"t care that the world was burning around them. The sun was just beginning to dip below the railing. The glow of the sun and Gastone"s flame magic made the sky glow a bright red and yellow.

Now that Knox was standing, he could barely see the trees in the distance, the glow of magic turning them yellow.

The edge of the city lay between them and the trees, and everything burst into flames as the king"s roar turned into a shrieking laugh. Buildings that were in the path of destruction went up in a blaze. People began to scream as they ran from the buildings.

Knox" heart stopped, his entire body freezing in awareness. The blast of heat from the king dwindled to a stop, but the glow on the forest remained.

"You see that, Robin? I"m flushing out all of those precious people you just rescued. Soon they will come screaming from the burning inferno of the forest and my guards will capture them all."

Knox shuffled forward, a knot of dread settling in his stomach. His heart began to race. "The forest–"

"Is on fire, yes. Beautiful, isn"t it?" Gastone turned to the railing, a smile on his face.

"You"ve set the forest on fire."

"Yes, so nice of you to catch up. Now, let"s teach you those etiquette lessons so I can kill you before dinner. I"m getting a little peckish."

Knox took a shallow breath, the sharp stab of pain in his ribs still present. Not as bad as before, but they were definitely still broken.

"My name is Knox, not Robin. You"re burning my forest, robbing from my people."

He couldn"t quite bring himself to claim a kingship. It was too soon, too strange, too anathema of the freedom he spouted.

Knox widened his feet and squared off to the king, his hands shifting into fierce claws. His tail waved behind his head, preparing to strike.

Gastone smiled, the cruel tilt of it matching his wild eyes. "Yours? I think not. You"re nothing but a mongrel, an ugly sad excuse for a drakin. You can"t be allowed to live. I"m putting you out of your misery, actually. And putting others out of the misery of having to look at you."

They circled each other, Gastone gathering more flickering flames into his palms. "You will die today, you ugly demon spawn. I can"t let another drakin live. I"m the only one who will rule this kingdom."

Knox swallowed hard, his hands fisting at his sides as he wove vines up the side of the castle. "Is that why you went to war with Glathen? Because they"re ruled by drakin too?"

Gastone threw a blast of hot flame from one palm to the other, catching it like a ball as he watched Knox advance. A gust of wind snuffed out the flames. Gastone shook his hands, sparks lighting them up again as he frowned.

"I"m going to be the only drakin. I have to purge world of the rotten, dirty mongrels like you. It"s my divine destiny."

Knox breathed harshly, the smoke filling his nose but the wind bringing a calmness before the storm of battle. Hope warred in his chest to see Gastone"s flames growing weaker. He was using too much magic. If Knox could just wear him down and last longer...

Green tendrils of gas sank to the stone at his feet as his emotions heightened and vines stretched over the railing and across the tile floor. His body began to shake from the effort to grow so many vines so fast.

"You"re no king. You"re a savage mockery of what a leader should be. Killing your sister and parents? Bleeding the people dry with taxes to pay for your bloody war?"

His heart hammered in his chest, and his stomach twisted. Anger threatened to choke him with smoke, but he breathed in the crisp air of peace and out a steady stream of green poisonous gas.

It sank to the stone, billowing up around their heads, growing in intensity. His nose began to bleed as the use of too much magic. This was more than even blasting the entire castle with the sleeping gas during the robbery.

The drakin king was tougher than most humans, but he wasn"t immune. He began to choke, his eyes and nose dripping and his flickering hands burned brighter, a beacon for Knox to attack.

Knox launched himself at the king"s legs and tackled him to the ground. They rolled with grunts, and Knox straddled his torso. He landed a blow to Gastone"s head, making it snap to the side. Wet-hot drops of crimson splattered across the stone.

"Burning down the forest? Blowing up homes and half the city? Those people have done nothing to you but obey unjust laws that benefit only you. Bleed and die on a battlefield for a war only you want. No more," Knox ground out as he rained down a flurry of blows with claws as sharp as any dagger.

The king roared, a burst of flame shooting out from him as he bucked. Knox fell back, his stomach twisting and his eyes growing heavy.

The king whipped an elbow up and drove the point into his jaw, his red-shot eyes wild with madness. Knox bit his tongue, the taste of copper flooding his mouth. Pain pulsed through his head, making him see stars.

Knox grunted and kicked out, his tail whipping out to seek its target. Gastone rolled out of the way, the venom landing uselessly on the ground. He had to stab the king through the heart and inject his venom. The poison breath wasn"t working fast enough. It was his strongest weapon, and the king had to die.

Knox" stomach twisted with guilt at what Eirwyn would say about it, but the king was mad with power. Knox scrambled to his hands and knees and dove at Gastone again just as he began to gather more magic. The two tumbled, exchanging blows and kicks with merciless force.

Knox" tail wrapped around the king, trying to hold his arms down and block punches. The king twisted a wrist and the magical burning rope wrapped around Knox" tail, jerking it back. The king landed a blow to Knox" temple.

Blood stung his eye. His breathing became labored and still he pushed more gas into Gastone"s face. The king choked, and the flickering flames on his hands shifted from red and white to blue.

His claws raked through the king"s jacket, shredding it and drawing blood. Gastone"s hands burned Knox where they hit, the sharp sting of pain in his ribs making it harder to breathe.

The magical rope tossed him back, dragging him by the tail. A mixture of red blue flames shot at Knox, but he rolled just in time.

The flame hit the stone, melting the wall. Knox" heart stopped and his eyes widened. The king"s arms shook, but he didn"t stop.

Knox blew green gas at the king and roared, launching to his feet and picking his opponent up around the waist to slam him onto the stone tile.

His tail struck down at the king"s face. Gastone"s Red-rimmed eyes widened, and he pushed up with his arms. The barb punctured through the jacket, and the king jerked, bucking Knox off again and throwing a blast of sputtering blue heat.

The heat didn"t hurt Knox, more scales covering his body the longer they fought. Knox twisted, watching the king shake off the venom. He wasn"t sure if he"d broken the skin or not. He had to try again.

He angled his tail as he reached up to grab the king"s hands in solid scale covered claws. The king wrapped the burning whip around Knox" arms and jerked.

Knox went flying over the king"s head, landing on the edge of the railing. Venom splattered on the king"s sleeves as Knox landed a few feet away.

He blinked, looking down at the crowd below. There was a clattering and clanging of battle, but Knox couldn"t tell which side was winning.

Knox groaned and blinked the pain away. He shook his head trying to clear it of the ringing, then rolled to his side to find Gastone.

The king was already on his feet. He brought his boot down on Knox" throat. Knox grabbed his foot and twisted, his heart beating wildly. His tail twisted out to gain leverage for a strike.

"Die... already," Gastone panted, his nose bloody and one eye swollen shut. He raised his shaking hands, blue flames flickering as he reached for more magic.

Vines twisted around the king"s back leg and jerked. A sputtering fireball shot out, disintegrating the vines even as the king stumbled. He hit the edge of the melted stone wall as Knox came to his feet.

A feminine cry rang out, "No!"

The king stumbled to his knees, his eyes rolling back in his head as he fell to the stone. Knox didn"t stop as blue flames still covered Gastone"s hands. He dove again, stabbing down with his tail and puncturing his throat.

The king"s mouth opened and closed like a fish on a hook, and Knox jerked his tail back. A small pinprick mark was at his neck, a trace of green ooze around it.

It would take a few minutes, but Knox breathed a sigh of relief.

Then his tail was jerked back.

And with it, Knox flew over the edge of the balcony.

Wind rushed over him as he blinked, his heart racing as the Edge called to him. He shouldn"t have pulled so much magic to make the vines grow so fast and so tall.

A lower gabled roof rose closer, and the stark reality of his situation pressed on him like a weight driving him faster down to his death.

His body ached all over, and when he landed several stories below, he knew it would be all over.

He closed his eyes and accepted his fate, letting the Edge draw nearer. The wind and freedom blew over his skin, scales, and horns, and he relaxed.