Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

I was so, so tired.

My legs hurt from traversing the tunnels for what felt like the past twenty-four hours nonstop. My arms and back burned from carrying my satchels and supplies, but I wouldn't put any down. I needed everything.

If Shava was tired, she hid it well.

That mud constitution that made them all tough might have skipped me. Well, physically, anyway. I was the toughest person I knew mentally. Who else could make precise cuts into their skin and bleed, all for the sake of magick?

"Zariah better be here or nearby. I can't walk another step."

Shava emerged from the mine shaft and into the hot desert sand, the sun high in the sky by this point. She collapsed to the ground with a groan, rubbing her feet.

It was tempting to join her, but I resisted.

"Finally, they've joined us."

I jerked and Shava gave a small yelp as the queen stepped out from behind an outcropping of rocks, two Fireguards at her side holding a squirming Noble.

"HELP! HELP!" He screamed incoherently at me, face twisted in horror. Surely, I didn't look bad. I knew I looked rough after my rituals, but his reaction was over the top. Especially considering what he'd likely turn into, assuming he was one of the Noble's about to turn into a demon.

"Dear me … what have you done?" the queen asked, stepping up to examine me closer. I returned the favor, noticing the odd, skintight outfit she wore on her body like a second skin. The garment left nothing to the imagination. She may be far older than me, but the queen was still a beautiful woman.

One silver-white eyebrow arched at me as if she knew the direction of my thoughts. I didn't hide my gaze as it shifted to her breasts, arching an eyebrow of my own in response. Wear ridiculous clothes, and you'd get ridiculous looks.

"Did he look like this before?" the queen questioned Shava, turning her sharp tongue on him.

Shava glanced at me, oddly shaken as she shook her head furiously side to side. "N-no. I don't know what he's done. Do you?"

I frowned, touching a hand to my face. My nose felt a little off and my skin seemed paler, but surely it was simply because of exhaustion, or maybe something had happened from the ritual that had almost accidentally taken place.

"You're uglier," I bit out to the queen. Not that I cared how I looked. If doing rituals had physical consequences, I was fine with that. It was simple curiosity that led me to get more reactions, and more information.

"Now really isn't the time to discuss it," Shava shot back, eyes on the queen. "But we need to talk about it later. Assuming we're not dead."

A nonanswer that avoided my question.

"Why is it always you?" the queen sneered. "What magicks have you dabbled in?"

I stared at her feet, realizing they were just as bare as Shava's. What in the world was going on? The queen was out here dressed like some sort of … loose mud girl!

I didn't have an answer for the queen, so I didn't provide one. Caught red-handed openly defying her like this, I already knew Shava and I faced execution. For real, this time. Hopefully, it will be by the dragon in my back pocket.

"I'd order you to take him up to the dome, but that hasn't been working well for us lately, has it? I suspect I haven't given clear enough orders to the right dragon," the queen continued.

I assumed the queen was using the royal we, but her comment was puzzling. There was only one dragon, so what was she talking about?

Don't smirk. Don't give an inch.

My face stayed impassive, though behind me, Shava trembled. A wet stain appeared on the Noble's crotch, and I wrinkled my nose at him in disgust. I wanted to hiss at everyone to pull it together. Shava at least knew the dragon was on our side! What was she afraid of?

"ZION!" the queen thrilled out, her voice pinging off the surrounding rocks.

The massive golden dragon soared overhead, circling down before landing with a giant ‘thud' a distance away. His giant wings stayed flared, casting a shadow on everything under his gaze.

"There you are. I suspect these two have been smuggling goods and even people out of the kingdom. I know you didn't assist in this endeavor, did you? You of all people know how dangerous these people are."

The dragon crouched flat on his belly, his head whipping back and forth in an unmistakable gesture of submission.

"Well? Did you know?"

The dragon shook its head.

I frowned. Hadn't Zariah said they had to obey the queen and couldn't lie to her?

"As I suspected. Kill them."

I didn't have time to react or lord over our secret little alliance with the dragon. Mostly because the dragon ignored said alliance and dove straight for us, the guards yelling and leaping out of range. The Noble cried noisily and fell to the ground, covering his head with his hands. All the while, the queen laughed hysterically.

The dragon would have killed me almost immediately with its outstretched claws through my chest, had Shava not yanked me backwards flat onto the ground. A flash of silver went by my face and the dragon screamed, rearing back in pain as the knife nicked the soft skin around its eyes. It breathed fire everywhere, creating absolute chaos.

"Fuck, missed," Shava cursed, pulling me up harshly. "Come on, get up! We have to get to the tunnel, and fast!"

In its rage and pain, the dragon stomped and blew fire everywhere, scattering the guards and making it hard to breathe, let alone see. The queen screamed at him to obey and soon enough he would, so we had to hurry, scurrying back through the gate into the mud quarter. My body kept moving automatically while my mind kept whirling, not understanding why the dragon had lied to the queen. And when I didn't understand something, it drove me mad until I figured it out.

And then, through the smoke, the impossible happened.

A second golden dragon dropped out of the sky and tackled the first one.

"What the fuck—" I breathed out.

"No time! Come on!"

By some miracle, Shava found the tunnel's entrance, and yanked me in after her.

Two dragons? TWO DRAGONS?

And why had Zariah attacked us? Hot betrayal burned in my gut. It was M all over again, winning my hard-earned trust only to stab me in the back.

This was why you never trusted people. This was why humanity wasn't worth my effort.

But two dragons .

"I think we made it far enough below ground. The shaking has stopped." Shava's hand around my wrist tightened. Her eyes were wide with panic, but her voice was steady. She was steady, like always.

My spiraling thoughts ground to a halt. Shava was right; the rumbling in the earth was gone, the dragon's rampaging only muffled thuds far off.

"Zariah lied to the queen's face, and then he attacked us!" I shouted out into the abyss as Shava grabbed my wrist and held on, ensuring we wouldn't get separated in the darkness. There was no time to light a torch. I was too in my head to do anything but follow behind her.

I thought back to the day I'd first met him.

"Prince Zion," I gasped out.

The naked boy frowned, sitting back on his haunches.

"No. I am Zariah."

"Zariah? The prince's name is Zion," I protested.

The boy's eyes watered with tears as he slapped his hands over his face.

"I'm not supposed to tell! Momma said!"

I blinked as possibilities crashed together, leaving one inevitable conclusion.

"There's two of them," I whispered.

"What?" Shava asked, barely sparing a glance back at me as she pulled me along. In my stupor, I wasn't keeping up. "Speak up. You're muttering."

"Twins," I continued, lost in my own thoughts. "Fucking dragon prince twins. "

She stopped so suddenly I crashed into her, banging noses. We didn't waste time on apologies or rubbing bruises appendages. She stared at me, knowing what this meant.

"You mean—"

"One lives his life mostly with the queen in the palace; that's the Prince Zion," I began. "The other lives his life mostly as the dragon. That's Zariah." Lost in the revelation, I babbled mindlessly. "I can't believe all this time … it makes so much sense. "

"W-wait for me!"

A terrified, snot-nosed voice filled the passageway, jerking both of us out of our shocked stupor.

"You're fucking kidding me …" I growled, recognizing it immediately.

The pasty Noble stopped in front of us, panting hard with his hands on his knees. His blonde hair stuck to face, sweaty and sticking up every which way. His eyes were brown, the only hint of his mud parentage. Had his mother been a reaped girl forced against her will like so many of the others? Why had my own experiment and the princes' worked, but this Noble's hadn't?

He scratched nervously at his wrist, the skin red and inflamed. I glanced down at it, and Shava was quick to catch the movement. He'd change eventually, just like all the others.

"The d-dragons … they were rampaging everywhere. I didn't know where else to go. The queen is so angry with me! What could I have done? Did she know I nicked one of her spoons a week ago?"

He trailed off in thought, pudgy face quivering.

I ignored him. There were more pressing concerns.

Shava saved your ass. You owe her something.

I hated owing anyone anything, but she had proved her usefulness.

Just proves I did an excellent job choosing her.

And yet …

"You are quick thinking," I pushed out, before I could think better of it. I couldn't see Shava's reaction in the darkness, and that was for the best. I didn't want any sappy declarations or misunderstandings.

Shava gave me a dubious look, but there was a ghost of a smirk at the corner of her mouth. "We need to find another way back through one of the branching tunnels and plan what to do now. Hopefully, they don't find us. There are more passageways, but we haven't explored them. The queen will send Fireguards after us."

And that was why I liked her: pragmatic and not prone to hysterics.

"And perhaps then we can discuss why there are two dragons," she finished, the look on her face saying she didn't quite believe it either.

"Agreed," I muttered, though I shot the Noble a harsh look. There was someone I wouldn't mind sacrificing for some bloodmagick experimentations.

BOOM. BOOM.

The Noble yelped, and the ground shook, nearly throwing us off our feet. Dirt and pebbles rained down on us, the roar of the dragons muted but audible above us.

"Shit, they're still going at it," I said to no one.

"They could cave the tunnel in!" Shava exclaimed.

The Noble didn't wait for us. He took off down the tunnel as far as his pudgy legs could take him.

Which wasn't far. Especially without a torch.

We caught up to him in seconds, nearly running him down.

"What are you doing? MOVE!" Shava pushed him in the back, a little harder than he was prepared for. The man squealed as he hit the ground hard.

"Get UP! We don't have time for this!" I snarled at him, refusing to help.

Shava took off and I waited with ill patience, gnashing my teeth as the Noble shakily stood and shuffled off down Shava's retreating torch.

Swearing under my breath, I took the rear.

BOOM.

A larger rock fell right in front of the Noble's face. He hesitated.

"RUN!" I screamed, as another rock fell and clipped me on my shoulder. I grit my teeth and ignored the pain. While it was tempting to run ahead of the Noble and leave him behind, I wanted to ensure his survival.

I wanted to study him. I wanted to use him.

"GO!"

So I stubbornly stayed behind him, pushing my torch forward with one hand and him with the other. I grabbed his arm and kept him upright when he fell, and pulled him after me when necessary.

All the while, the roars of the dragons increased and the tunnel walls shook and groaned. Rocks and dirt fell until it was raining debris, making it nearly impossible to see.

"COME ON!" Shava called out from somewhere ahead of me, thankfully not too far.

BOOM. CRASH.

The tunnel collapsed behind me, and I shoved the man forward with all of my strength. Which, considering my blood magick, was considerable. My torch snuffed out and fell somewhere behind me.

"AHHH!"

His screams cut off abruptly. Hopefully not because he was dead.

Rubble clogged the air, choking my lungs and rendering it impossible to breathe. I put my robe over my nose, but it did nothing.

Hold your breath. Get out.

"Z! Are you ok!"

Shava's voice didn't sound closer; if anything, it was more muffled than before. The fresh breeze I'd felt before the cave-in had ceased to exist. A pit of dread opened in my stomach.

Trapped. You're trapped. Not again.

I couldn't panic. Panic wouldn't save me.

It's just like last time. But Shava can't get in to save you.

Unsheathing my knife, I slashed at my forearm to activate my blood magicks. The glow illuminated the area briefly, but there wasn't much to see: just rocks behind me, rocks ahead of me, and an unconscious Noble in between both.

I'd been so focused on completing rituals to survive fire and heat that I hadn't yet done much work on building my strength. If I had, I might have had a shot at moving the rocks.

Hindsight was a bitch.

I pushed and dug and rummaged at them anyway, refusing to give up and die. How much air remained in this cave? Would it be painful to asphyxiate?

The ground rumbled again, and I welcomed it. If I was lucky, the dragons would crash right into our tunnel and smash us to death. It would be quicker than suffocating. At least, I hoped it would be.

Don't give up.

Why not? Logically, there was no way out. And to think, there were so many experiments and trials left to be done, and so much knowledge wasted inside of my head. Should I have written it down for someone else to one day learn?

It didn't matter now.

My head pounded, and I was on my knees before I realized it, sharp edges cutting into the flesh of my palms and knees.

It didn't … matter … now.

Sleepy. Just lay down and die.

No.

Yes.

No.

Nothing.

* * *

Smack. Smack. SMACK.

I blinked, blinding light forcing me to screw my eyes shut again.

"Oh, no you don't! I can either carry your unconscious body or kick along the Noble … not both!"

Groggily, I forced myself to open my eyes, the anger in Shava's voice stretching a grin onto my face.

Hadn't I been actively dying?

"Yeah, it's so funny. Don't touch that!"

I struggled to focus as I slowly sat up, wiping the grit out of my eyes with the neck of my robe. Shava had turned around and slapped the man's hand, who had reached it out tentatively to pat the massive gold dragon next to us.

"You!" I accused, pointing a wildly waving a finger at the scaly menace in question. "We … have to talk."

The dragon snorted embers out of its nose, and I lowered my finger lamely.

Glancing around, we were back at our home sweet home atop the canyon, with the city in the distance. My bags and satchels lay in a tattered, dusty heap outside the cave entrance.

But they made it, at least!

One hand on her hip, Shava brushed away a streak of mud on her cheek. Her eyes were tired, but she was still so beautiful and strong. I wanted to possess it. I wanted to take it for myself.

"The short of it is simple: Zariah fought off his brother, accidentally caving in your tunnel during the process. He then dug you out and brought you here."

Well. That was relatively simple. It was annoying being constantly in someone else's debt, though. I would work to rectify it immediately. Though the amount of food I brought back certainly at least took a chunk out, right?

"There are two of you, then?" I clarified, feeling that Shava had been rather nonchalant in skipping that point.

Shava waved her hand dismissively. "It's like you said, isn't it? Zion is the heir, Zariah here, the spare." She gave him a half-sad, half-whimsical grin. Zariah growled, and ducked his head under a wing.

The Noble sniffed loudly, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. "Two princes. Two dragons. We are more cursed than we know!"

"Shut up, already. Or we'll feed you to the dragon."

Cerys emerged by the cave with D, already eyeing up the satchels of supplies next to me.

"No, this mud girl here said the dragon wouldn't," he insisted, but shot nervous looks between both.

"You're surrounded by mud people, you ingrate," I sneered at him.

He lifted his hands above his head in deference, his large sleeves falling down and exposing his arms.

"I'm sorry! I'm just hungry. And tired."

Shava's gaze sharpened just as much as mine. She saw what I'd seen: the smudge of gray ash on the Noble's left wrist.