Every strike he threw at me was calculated, precise, a brutal testament to years of training.
He hadn’t been chosen by a dragon. I knew that. Everyone in the guild knew that.
But his father had been a rider. And his grandfather before that. All the men in his family bore the mark of the guild.
He’d likely spent his whole life preparing, only to be passed over when it mattered most.
And now, here he was, trying to carve out worth with a bloodied sword.
His blade sliced low, nicking my thigh. I hissed through my teeth, but didn’t falter, pivoting fast enough to catch his next swing on the flat of my sword.
“Why?” I spat, forcing him back a step with a hard jab. “Why the Crimson Sigil?”
He smirked, that feral gleam in his eyes again. “How can you be sure we’re affiliated with them?”
Doubt prickled at the back of my mind.Am I sure?
Another swing, harder this time. I caught it barely; the force jarring my injured leg and sending pain lancing up my side.
I gritted my teeth and fought through it.Focus. Move.
“You betrayed us,” I said, panting as I parried.
“The warders and Fourth Guild have it coming,” he sneered.
“The warders? Why, Luther?”
He pressed the attack, relentless, our blades locking for a moment as he leaned close enough that I could see the wildness flickering in his eyes.
“There’s a bigger picture,” he said, voice low, almost pitying. “But you’re too blind to see it.”
He shoved me back and began circling.
“Others have already taken my place in the guild,” he sneered, feinting left and striking right. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
I blocked high, the impact rattling my bones.
“No dragon chose you,” I snarled, anger crackling through me. “Because you weren’t worthy.”
The words hit harder than my blade ever could.
His face twisted in rage, and he came at me with renewed fury, his strikes faster, heavier, more reckless.
Kaelith’s roar split the sky, a sound so deep it rattled my ribs, shaking the very marrow inside me.
A moment later, Hein answered, his roar louder, slicing through the smoke like a blade.
Both dragons descended together, fury incarnate.
“Back!” Zander barked, grabbing my arm and yanking me toward the coast.
We stumbled away, our squad following fast, giving the dragons the space they needed, because gods help anyone caught between them and their prey.
Kaelith’s wings flared wide, her scales glowing with a deep, molten light as she opened her jaws and unleashed a torrent of orange flame.
Hein’s dragon fire followed a breath later, white-hot and blistering, colliding with Kaelith’s breath in a cyclone of destruction that devoured the clearing whole.
The rebels screamed.
