He stretched back, nesting his fingers behind his head, and stared up at the roof of the tent. “I guess I was too, considering the Obsidian Palace is built into the mountain.” He flashed her a grin. “No midwife required. We hatch from eggs, usually on our own.”
As a scribe, Leena was vaguely aware of dragon reproduction, but she’d only read descriptions in scrolls. “Do you mean that your mother wasn’t even there when you were born?”
He shook his head. “Dragon queens lay their eggs in a place we call the cradle. It’s a cave, deep within the mountain—a holy place with a mural and an altar to the goddess. The queen lays her eggs in carved depressions in the stone, and they incubate there in the heat of the volcano under the watchful eye of Aitna. I don’t remember much about the day I was born except seeing my twin, Sylas, for the first time. He was the same color as my paws and tail.”
“You’re born in your dragon form?”
He nodded. “I shifted for the first time a full season after I hatched. That’s when our magic manifests our rings.” He held up the garnet on his finger. “Mine matches Sylas’s, although the setting is different.”
“Fascinating.” The tension in her shoulders relaxed, her natural curiosity trumping any discomfort that lingered at his nearness. “You weren’t close to your mother, then.”
“No.” He snorted. “Hardly knew her.”
Leena frowned. They had that in common. “What about your father?”
He sighed. “Killian was a decent dragon. He spent time with us… mostly in the training room, mind you. The pits. He came from a wealthy merchant’s family and was a champion in his own right. That’s how he’d met our mother and become her consort.”
“The pits are where you fight each other for sport?” She wondered what that was like. It sounded barbaric to her, but elf culture was so different.
“Yes, and for the royal family, status in the ranks was considered a badge of honor. It’s all related to our military, the Obsidian Guard. We trained to be warriors and to fight side by side with the other soldiers if we ever went to war. All royal heirs are trained to be military leaders.”
“Melee combat isn’t practiced in Rogos.”
“So I am told. The rebels I’ve met from Rogos say your army is made up almost exclusively of archers.”
She nodded. “And engineers.”
Colin’s brow knit. “I hadn’t heard that. What do engineers do in the army?”
Leena adjusted her legs under her. “Build things. The crypt key is just one of many feats of elf engineering. We’re extremely gifted metalworkers. You fought in the pits as a youngster. We battle our mechanical creations in an arena where we animate them with magic. We call it the Animus Games.”
“I never knew children here did that.”
“That’s not surprising. Elves are protective of their children. As far as I know, outsiders aren’t invited to the Games.”
“Did you participate?” he asked, brows raised in surprise.
“Once.” She thought back to the time she was nine. “My creation’s name was Monstrata, a two-legged beast with slashing blades for arms and a head with a snout of sharp, snapping teeth. My father helped me with the design.” She fought back a wave of bitter nostalgia. “It was the first construction I’d ever animated. Anyway, my creature faced off against one built by an older boy named Newton who’d constructed his with a shelled back like a turtle. Mine was stronger and faster, but no matter how I tromped on his or sawed at the shell, it would not break. His was slower and less deadly, but his turtle chipped away at Monstrata until she was no longer functional.” She sighed.
“Where is this Newton now? Do you want me to rough him up?” Colin winked.
She laughed lightly. “I have no idea, and thankfully I took the lesson he taught me in resilience and put it to good use. I didn’t win that competition, but my creation was in the top ten for my age group, and that was enough for me.”
He grinned at her. “Leena, the monster maker.” He turned on his side and propped himself up on one elbow. “What other secret talents do you possess?”
She popped the last of the cheese into her mouth. “Nothing too exciting. But back to you. Do you think your military training is why you’re so good at leading the Defenders of the Goddess?”
He shrugged. “Goodis open to interpretation.”
She carefully folded the now-empty cloth wrapper in her hands and placed it back in the pack. “You know you’re good at this. If we succeed against Eleanor, it will be because of you. With your background, you’ll know exactly where and how to strike.”
His eyes darted to hers, his face growing somber. “It saddens me sometimes. I’ll have to face the army I was born to help lead. Those soldiers in the Obsidian Guard… they’re just kids. It’s why I’m praying the three sisters find this tanglewood tree and then get their hands on that grimoire. It’s our only hope of taking Eleanor out with the least number of casualties.”
Taking one last sip from her canteen, she stretched out beside him. “Maybe, when we get back to the temple, we can help things along.”
“What do you mean?”
“We know approximately when the scroll was written. We might be able to cross-reference the date against the graves registered that year.”
