“He’s probably out hunting. He leaves a lot and comes back with prey for him and the other one.” He cringed. “Most of it is still alive, too.”
“The other one?” I asked. “James, who is - ”
A high-pitched, feral shriek echoed through the cave. I spun around. I couldn’t tell where the noise came from until I heard Halo hiss. He pushed himself in front of me just in time to block the attack of another dragon. They spat, gnashing teeth briefly before Halo tossed the other dragon over his shoulder, where he landed on two legs. In the torch’s light, I saw purple scales.
“Silas!” I shouted.
The wyvern stopped attacking, but his eyes narrowed into daggers. He shifted into human form and crossed his arms. “It’s about time you showed up. All this stupid omega does is cry and sleep, and I’m sick of keeping him alive!”
James kept quiet. I guessed he was too afraid to feel offended.
“Let me guess,” Halo growled, “you want us in exchange for letting James go free.”
Silas glared back at him. “Shift back. Then we’ll talk.”
Halo barked out a cold laugh. “You think I’m stupid? No way.”
But Halo quickly regretted it. Silas pulled out his sword and thrust it through the cage bars in one swift motion. James yelped as the blade stopped an inch from his neck.
“Ah! Please!” James cried.
Pure fury radiated off Halo. He hated being pushed into a corner and forced into decisions more than anything. With a venomous glare at Silas, Halo hesitantly changed back into human form, where his expression was equally as hateful.
“Good,” Silas said with a smirk. He withdrew the weapon and James let out a sigh. “Now we can speak like civilized people.”
Halo muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like, “Die.”
If Silas heard, he pretended not to notice. He strode past the cage until he circled back around us with a smug expression.
“In any case, now that you’re finally here, we can commence the exchange,” Silas said.
“So I was right. You do want us,” Halo growled.
“No. You’re not entirely right.” The joy on Silas’s face from telling Halo he was wrong was clear. “We only wantyou, Halo Fire-Eater.”
Halo rolled his eyes. “Great. What else? Should I serve myself up on a silver platter, too?”
Scowling, Silas said, “I’m not in the mood for your jokes.” He turned sharply to me. “As for you, Kassius, you’re a disgrace to the Knights you claim to serve.”
“What?”
“Don’t pretend to be surprised. I know what you did. You were supposed to watch the omega, and instead you set him free,” Silas snapped. “Do you know how much time and energy I wasted trying to find you?”
Anger bubbled up inside me. “You had him chained to the floor! That is certainly not Knightly behavior!”
“I should have known you would backstab the Knights,” Silas muttered, “considering you slept with the omega in the first place.”
“I didn’t backstab anybody!” I snarled. “If anyone is a traitor here, it’s you!”
My temper flared, but at the same time I realized that maybe I could change his mind. Having him on my side would be better than having him as my enemy.
“Look around,” I implored. “We were wrong about magic, Silas. It’s not the evil we thought it was. We can live with it peacefully, just like the people of Cinderhollow are doing right now.”
“That stupid omega has brainwashed you,” Silas spat. “There’s no coming back for you, Kassius, not after this.”
I felt a mix of anger and pity for him. I could try as much as I wanted, but I could see now that there was no changing his mind. I decided not to waste my breath any longer. “So you’re going to try and kill us, is that what you’re saying?”
“Kill thebothof you? No.” He glared at me. “You, Kassius? Maybe.”
