Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

SIYANA

My breath caught in my throat, and my hand tightened around the hilt of my sword until my knuckles hurt.

Forfeit his dragon.

Tightness clawed at my throat as the rules played in my head over and over. The undine god being unable to resist a new form of entertainment was what I had taken a bet on. I hadn’t doubted he would pull some sort of trickery, but the stakes of my bet were nothing at all like I could have imagined. The cost was too high, and I was afraid Theo would willingly pay it.

I refused to look at Theo or Kaida, dropping my eyes to the arena floor instead. I couldn’t think of them. They were safe for as long as I had my life and the fight left within my heart. I was thankful now that we couldn’t speak to each other mentally, needing the silence of my mind to carry me through this trial.

I had to do this for them. For us .

Chains rattled as the gate groaned open, the sound of it locking into place echoing through the air. It was as ominous as it was unsettling, sending chills of fear down my spine. I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end as I stared into the dark depths beyond the gate that led from the arena floor.

Acid filled my stomach as the ground began to shake, a tremor running through it to my boots.

Whatever was coming was much larger than myself. I slid a foot back as I fell into a battle-ready stance, shifting my hips to allow my knees to bend and hover slightly forward. Pulling the hilt of my sword between both of my palms, I took a deep breath, trying with all my might to dispel my nerves.

They had no room in this battle. I couldn’t put myself at a disadvantage before the fight even began.

“I am nothing if not fair,” the elemental called out as from the depths of the shadowed hall now, a blood-red dragon’s head emerged, orange eyes burning like their magic had eternal flames in their depths.

My pulse spiked. Was this an ember dragon?

“I created a dragon for you to fight, though I didn’t imbue any extra magic into him. He is a standard ember dragon, with the simple ability to breathe fire. That is his one weapon, as your sword is yours.”

I couldn’t help the snort of incredulity that came from me. This was fair to him? Fascinating.

Perhaps I would have taken that as a compliment, if there wasn’t so much at stake.

I kept my gaze trained on the dragon that had stepped fully into the arena. Bouncing lightly on the balls of my feet, I was prepared to launch myself in any direction to avoid an attack. His large head swung around, slitted eyes taking stock of our surroundings as steam poured from his snout.

Using his distraction to my advantage, I took the opportunity to quickly try to gauge the size of the dragon in comparison to others I had encountered in my time away from my father’s home. From this distance, I felt that I could safely assume he was around the same size as Sinda, whose size I was familiar with both close up and from far away. This was always the first thing I did when facing a new opponent.

Assess and compare strengths and weaknesses.

Speed would be on my side, but the sheer size of him would cancel that out. If he lifted a foot, intending to crush me, the diameter for where he needed to strike was massive. I would have to not only choose the correct direction to avoid him before he brought it down but also hope that I could get to the edge of his hit zone.

The same went for his tail. Thankfully the ridges and spikes that started small at the bottom of his tail, progressively becoming larger as they moved up toward his back, wouldn’t be an issue, unless he could twist his tail around to impale me. As it was, I could attempt to duck, jump, or throw myself to the side if it swept toward me. That move, at least, would be heavily projected and give me time to react, but considering I was about the same size as the skinniest part of his tail, I was once again at a disadvantage to the beast.

“Best of luck, mortal.”

The god’s words broke me out of my inspection of my opponent just as the dragon seemed to focus on me, swinging its neck around and pointing its snout in my direction.

I quickly surveyed the arena, finding the walls around us were far too tall to even consider trying to climb. The only exit appeared to be the hall from which the dragon appeared, which still stood directly behind him. Perhaps I could use the more narrow hall to my advantage to fight from, instead of the large arena that left me vulnerable and open to attack from all sides.

Time was up for my inspection as the dragon opened its jaw and unleashed a torrent of fire as it lumbered toward me. I quickly darted to the side, pumping my arms and legs harder than I’d ever pushed them before as my heart leapt into my throat. This was the true beginning of my trial.

I felt the heat of the dragon’s fire breath licking at my back, but I refused to glance back, focusing instead of interspersing my path with sharp and unexpected turns to throw the dragon as far off my trail as I could manage. Eventually the heat dissipated and I took the opportunity to glance over my shoulder, breathing heavily as I saw a glow building from his belly. He came to a stop, giving me a chance to put the pieces of information I’d gathered, together.

So there was a finite amount of fire that he could blast me with before he needed to produce more, it seemed. The faint glow from his underbelly was the perfect cue for me to watch for, and with that in mind, I took the risk of turning back and heading toward him. If I wanted a chance at survival, I had to see how quickly he could begin to attack with fire again–my survival depended on my understanding of the extent of his abilities. If I stayed far enough away, he might perceive me as not being much of a threat and hold onto the fire until he felt it was needed again.

A growl vibrated as his lips peeled back, spit dripping from his razor-sharp teeth and dropping to the ground, causing the stone to sizzle and heat waves to appear in the air above it. So his spit contained some level of heat as well.

Just as I began to build confidence in my ability to catalogue the ember, he lowered himself slightly, haunches bunching before he launched himself into the sky. As his jaws opened once more, his wings flapped, lifting him higher. The god must have encased us in a magical barrier, though, because after a moment, the dragon was forced back down, as if he had bounced against an invisible wall of force.

He quickly righted himself, hovering just below the space where he’d smacked into the barrier before cascades of flames tore through the air, coming directly for me.

“Shit!” I squeaked, equally impressed and terrified of the distance the flames could travel.

I sprinted toward the open hall, knowing there was no other place to find cover. The dragon could stay in the air indefinitely, wearing me out until I made a mistake or was left with no stamina to escape the flames. The only way I stood a chance was if he came back down to the ground and fought on my level.

His earlier attack had left scorched, hot lines that glowed across the stone floor, but with the path I needed to take to get to the hallway, I was left no choice but to run directly over them. The bottoms of my boots hissed with the contact and I gritted my teeth as the heat quickly passed through to my feet as I reached the other side. Now I knew I couldn’t afford to let him cover the entire arena floor with fire either, the heat of his breath attack working against me on multiple levels.

I was quickly running out of options for finding a path that would allow me to get close enough to the dragon to even wield my own weapon against him.

Still, I refused to concede. Every enemy had an opening. I just needed to buy myself enough time to find his.

Darkness passed over me as I retreated into the hall, the heat of flames blasting the opening at my back. My chest heaved as I gasped for air, whirling back around as the heat faded once more. It seemed he’d run out again.

My thoughts raced as I desperately tried to piece together what little information I’d gathered, knowing I had limited time until either the stone floor would be too hot for me to survive running on or until my own stamina failed me. It required every bit of energy I had to keep up the pace required to avoid his flames, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could keep it up for long. Nor was I foolhardy enough to believe that the dragon wouldn’t begin to formulate his own plans of attack, easily seeing how limited my own prowess was at a long-distance.

I needed him up-close and he needed me far away, or pinned to one spot, to use his fire accurately.

My eyes blinked rapidly as my brain snagged on that thought. The only way he’d risk coming close enough for me to use my weapon was if I was pinned to one spot, unable to flee, giving him an opening to funnel his flames into.

This hall was the perfect trap for both him and me. All that mattered was who executed their plan best.

My palms began to sweat as my heart skipped a beat, and I took a moment to wipe them on my trousers, passing my sword between my hands as I did so. I shuffled back and forth on my feet, nerves twisting my stomach into a mess of churning bile as I waited.

The rhythmic beat of the dragon’s wings sounded, growing closer as his shadow cast over the opening.

That’s it. Come down to my level.

I wouldn’t get a chance to surprise the dragon again. If I didn’t get this right, I was dead, plain and simple.

The only option was to either die alone or be victorious. I could not allow Theo to give up the very essence of his being to protect me. Never before had I felt such immense pressure weighing on my shoulders for the sake of someone else.

Someone who matched my own fire and would never let me settle.

Someone who made me ache deep to my core when I was in his presence.

Someone who forced me into uncomfortable growth.

Theo.

Not only was I fighting for him to keep his dragon, I was fighting for the life I desperately wanted the chance to explore with him once we got the answers to break this damnable curse.

To see if we’d still choose each other when we no longer had to for the sake of a treaty.

My chest expanded as I took a deep breath, seeing the talons of the ember descending in front of the opening. A strange sense of peace passed over me as my truth poured through my mind.

I would choose Theo, over and over again.

He may drive me absolutely insane at times and have his own personal work to do, but I wanted to be there when he finally realized he could let others in and heal from the scars of his past.

I didn’t want to picture anyone else at my side, infuriating me until my hair turned gray and my skin wrinkled, belying the beauty of the time that we’d spent together.

The ground shook beneath my boots as the ember settled down onto the arena floor, far enough away that there was still a gap between the opening and him. That same space allowed his snout the room to lower until it was level with me. He thought he had me right where he needed me to char me down to bones.

Yet a smirk of determination pulled my lips up at the edges. It bounced on the balls of my feet, mustering the arrogance needed to bluster myself into actually implementing this truly insane plan.

It was now or never.

Tingles spread through my body as I planted my foot back, kicking off toward the beast.

I rushed in with my blade following behind me, watching in anticipation as the fire built in his belly. It felt like déjà vu rolling through my body as I stared directly into the jaws of death as they opened before me. This time I didn’t run away. I couldn’t evade him, needing him to think he had me trapped and unable to escape the hellfire of his breath weapon.

The orange glow of fire built from within his throat, and I knew I had to time this perfectly. I only had one shot to shift directions and take him by surprise, using his limited line of vision against him.

Once his jaws widened, stretching until they were fully open and prepared to spill fire down this tunnel, he wouldn’t be able to turn his head in order to see me. Turning would force the fire in a different direction, and what would be the point of trapping me just to waste his most devastating weapon? He may have enhanced long-distance vision, but what he didn’t have was excellent depth perception, due to his eyes facing out on the sides and not forward. I would exploit that very weakness of dragons here and now, but to do so would require a level of bravery I’ve never before had to conjure.

As his growl trembled through the ground and I watched the first flecks of a spark on his tongue, I bit down, my own jaw clenching as every nerve ending in my body screamed for me to flee.

Wait.

I pumped my legs faster as molten fire spewed into his mouth with the same force of a geyser spitting boiling water into the sky. Impending heat began to blister my cheeks just as I passed through the narrow opening between the arena floor and the opening in the wall. My eyes closed briefly as the fire consumed my vision, blinding me as I planted my right foot into the ground.

Now.

I threw my body over my shoulder at the last second with all the power I could muster, pulling the hilt of my sword and my elbow up to jaw level. I swung my sword around with me as I barrel rolled through the air and to his side.

I saw Brenson’s look of surprise flash through my mind when I’d initially come up with this move during our final morning of training. At the time, I’d used his poor depth perception due to his late night of drinking against him. Unlike that morning when I’d pulled short of cutting deeply into Brenson’s neck, I let out a scream as I drove all my energy through my arms, placing my other hand on the hilt as the tip of my blade flew toward the dragon’s eye. My aim was true, sinking deep within the orange serpentine eye all the way up to the hilt.

The dragon’s roar of pain reverberated through my body, shaking me in the seconds before he jerked his head away from the source of his anguish. I lost my grip on my weapon, the force of the dragon trying to escape his pain flinging me bodily away from him. Rolling over and over, all of my focus was on my stomach twisting with nausea…until my body hit the arena wall, forcing me to a hard stop as the breath was knocked forcefully from my lungs. Briefly I wondered if it hadn’t been enough as I picked my head up to watch my opponent.

Was the sword not long enough? The force of the thrust not great enough? The desperate determination I’d forced through my trembling limbs not feral enough?

Seconds later, the beast stilled and his slitted pupil blew out, round and lifeless as his head flopped to the side, the force of it shaking the ground beneath my feet. The hilt of my sword was barely visible with how deeply embedded it was.

I’d done it.

I’d slayed the beast on my own.

My nervous system was wrecked from adrenaline and fear, making me uncertain of whether I wanted to shake from the shock of it all or scream my relief. The decision was made for me as a figure climbed up from the other side of the dragon’s snout.

He shook his head, the waves of his white hair now long enough to cover his dragon eye. Soot was smeared across his cheeks and neck as he walked toward me, fury blazing in his eyes and swiftness in his gait.

“Theo…” I breathed out, shaking my head in disbelief of what I was seeing. My body trembled at the implications of seeing him here with me on the arena floor, my knees going weak before giving out beneath me. I crashed to the ground, falling hard on my shins as I blinked away the tears stinging my eyes. “No. No. No.”

He’d jumped down.