“Wh-what’re ye going to do with him?”
“He’ll be joining us on the front lines to fight for His Imperial Highness.”
The woman seethes through heated tears, desperately trying to hang on to the man I see her thread of fate is bound to. “Fight fer that madman? Ye’d have him kill our own?”
The soldier draws his blade and stalks toward her. “Enough of this nonsense! Release him, or I’ll have your head.”
“I beg ye, please—”
He grabs her roughly and starts to tear at her robes. She screams even louder.
Damn it all.
Good sense and self-preservation tumble out of my head as I spring from my hiding place. I charge the soldier with a yell, throwing all my weight against him as I tackle him to the ground. His sword flies from his hand, rattling against the dirt road as his body goes crashing. Dazed and confused, he swings at me wildly.I’m only successful in blocking one of his blows. The other hits me in the jaw hard enough that I hear my molars crack against each other inside my skull.
“Run!” I shout at the woman and her husband. “Get away from here!”
It takes me all of thirty seconds to realize what a bad idea this was. In doing the right thing, I have signed my own death warrant. All at once, the soldiers are on top of me. My own compatriots. We may live under the same flying banner, but they still treat me as scum beneath their boots.
And yet, I don’t regret it.
Even when I’m being kicked and punched and spat on, I find some semblance of relief when I see the couple escape into the jungle together. The soldiers stomp on my chest, swing at my head. My body is merely an outlet for their unchecked fury as they pummel me into the ground.
I’m not sure when it’s over. All I know is that I’m somehow breathing and lucky to be alive. For how much longer, it’s impossible to tell.
My bones are likely broken. Blood coats my teeth. Black encroaches on the edges of my vision. Lying on my back, I stare up at the gray sky, suddenly envisioning myself in flight. I can’t tell if it’s a memory or a hallucination, but I can see it as clear as day. Soaring through the soft clouds, wind sweeping through my hair—
Two dragons fly on either side of me, one a beautiful green and the other a dazzling blue.
I blink once.
Twice.
Definitely a hallucination.
The tips of my fingers and toes are numb, the rest of my body growing freezing cold. Exhaustion weighs heavily on my eyelids, but the feeling in my gut tells me to remain alert and awake. Istruggle to stay conscious, wheezing for air. I worry one of my lungs has collapsed inward.
“This is what you deserve, maggot,” one of the soldiers curses at me.
I snarl at him. “This maggot’ll feed upon your body when it decays in the ground, heathen!”
“Rot in Hell.”
He raises his arm, sword in hand.
My thread tugs upward.
Above, the roar of a colossal beast.
The dragon.
Our connection sings, a sudden warmth flooding my veins. I can’t move my head to see—my neck is sprained and my collarbone fractured—but I know it’s here. While I suddenly find myself at peace, all around me are the bloodcurdling screams of the men who hurt me for interrupting their cruelty.
I can only assume the worst, lying here paralyzed on the ground.
I hear the wet tear of flesh, grown men crying for the same mercy they dared not grant me, the metallic crunch of armor being pierced and weapons being thrown. At some point, I stop listening. I can’t find any sympathy for these loathsome men. As sleep pulls me under, I wonder if that makes me as bad as them.
Another minute passes. Or is it an eternity? I no longer have the energy to process time.
