There was so much gold that my eyeshurt.
The air was heavy with bile, blood, and an overwhelming amount of incense. Above the dais sat a throne shaped like adragon’s jaw. The Dragon God’s seal had been burned into it; claws interlaced around a sun.
We didn’t spawn in as a group this time. Dimitri, Koa, and I seemed to be together, but Rune and the rest of the squad weren’t in my line of sight.
I rolled my shoulders, letting my chaos magic lick my knuckles in silent sparks, and dropped a fake smile into place.
Dimitri walked closer to me and muttered into my ear. “Do not escalate until you see the right time to do so.”
“Define escalate,” I teased, already drifting toward the roped-off section where the dragon regime was.
“Arson,” Koa offered helpfully.
“Good thing that’syourspecialty.” I winked.
I adjusted my ripped cream tunic, which probably had been white at some point. I wore boots scuffed to the Veil, a Dragon God pin, and a tailored jacket one size too tight.
I hated it.
An enforcer stepped in front of me. “Clearance?”
“Here’s your clearance.” I dropped a chaos-manifested coin into his palm that turned into Snakey, who bit him before fading back to me.
He yelped before fainting from the pain. He was probably the weakest dragon I’d ever seen.
I swiped his tooth-built lanyard. I didn’t even want to think of what teeth that came from as I pocketed it.
Anxiety clawed into my gut at the lack of sight of Rune.
All the way back was a group of enforcers, or guards, or whatever they were called, blocking off another entrance.
I strolled up to all of them with a grin. “I have to report an omen!”
The guards at the velvet-blocked archway looked like they were born frowning. Four dragons wore golden half-plates with the Dragon God seal on them.
“An omen?” One raised an eyebrow mockingly. “What kind of omen would the Dragon God bestow on a lowly demon?”
Chaos slicked my palms as my magic combed the air and slunk into a slender coil of darkness. Snakey floated between us with his belly softly aglow as if lit from the inside.
“Behold!” I said dramatically, hoping they didn’t know the difference between a female and male snake. “The Dragon Goat—shit, God, has spoken!Prosperity. Fertility. Favor upon this very doorway.”
The nearest guard leaned in despite himself, eyes glittering. “Fertility?”
“It seems so, doesn’t it?” I answered with a question to seem more seer-like. “I must pass now.”
Three guards stepped out of the way, but the fourth lingered.
“I don’t trust anyone to be a prophet except for Roak,” he stated. “And favor upon this doorway? No way. That’s stupid.”
I jerked my head toward the guy, and Snakey bit him. “Oh, no! The Goat God—shit,Dragon God—is angry with you!”
The dragon looked up as he turned gray from the pain plundering his muscles. “You…”
“Ooo. That looks infected.” I winced sympathetically, already palming the tassel. “There’s definitely anti-venom in…uh, the healer’s room or whatever you call it.”
“Dude, don’t insult the Dragon God like that,” one murmured.
“Yeah, man,” another agreed. “Don’t you know Roak’s interested in a basilisk right now? He’s trying to create a venom-drake.”
