She’s suddenly frozen. Abruptly silent. Her wide eyes become blank and she stares sightlessly upward.
A moment later, she mumbles, “I don’t remember… Who was he?” She peers at me hopefully. “Do you know?”
I watch her carefully, once again wary of any sudden moves in case this whole thing is an act to catch us off guard.
In the next moment, her brow smooths out and she takes another penetrating look at me, as if she’s seeing me for the first time. “Asha, you’re all grown up. But, dear girl, what happened to your hair?”
I turn to Erik, register his wariness, and try to focus on the most important thing Milena said. “If she didn’t kill the dragon, who did?”
“He betrayed me,” Erik replies. “That’s what the dragon itself said. That’s what Milena said just now.”
Cold is creeping through my bones. “There’s someone else mixed up in this. There has to be. Someone hiding in the shadows.”
“Possibly using Milena as a puppet,” Erik says.
“Puppets! Dragons!” Milena jolts and gives such a sudden gasp that the air shrieks between her lips. “This is a trap!”
She shoves at me, even though she’s too weak to move me an inch. “Run, Asha Silverspun. Run,now!”
I’ve barely registered her panic when screaming wind drowns out her voice, rushing from the direction of the forest.
Snow billows around us, spraying across my vision in thick streams. Our pelts fly across the clearing. Even the dropped spears wobble in the snow where they lie. Blue leaves rip from the branches above us and rush across the clearing, all the way past the cliff’s edge and out into the sky.
In the distance, a ferocious roar sounds.
“Go!” Milena screams. “Run!”
Chapter35
We don’t have time to ask questions—even if I thought Milena could answer them.
Erik’s arms wrap around us both, wrenching me to my feet and reaching for Milena, taking her from me.
I dart toward my medallions, scooping up the plain one, which is still in the form of an axe, and slipping the dragon-imprinted one into my pocket.
I seek the location of the onyx spears, but they’re both too far away—it’ll take too long to reach them.
The only way out of this clearing is back through the forest.
But that’s the direction from which the new threat comes.
A bronze beast shoots toward us across the treetops. Its wings wide enough to block out the afternoon light. Its size and speed make my heart stop.
We’ve only made it three steps around the tree when a beautiful dragon drops into the space at the edge of the forest, blocking our escape.
A beautiful, angry,grievingdragon.
Its head thrashes back and forth, its voice filled with pain. “Blacksmiths! Murderers! My son’s blood is on your hands.”
This has to be Graviter Rex, the dragon king himself. The one the fae never want to meet, let alone fight.
Sleek, bronze scales run from his snout to his tail, while his eyes are like brilliant gems, the horns on his head are as sharp-looking as daggers, and his teeth and talons are all larger than my arms.
I meet Erik’s eyes for the briefest moment before he turns and places Milena onto the ground in front of the tree.
Her wide eyes are filled with fear and she’s whimpering up at him. “Run… run…”
But there’s nowhere to escape that the dragon’s talons won’t reach or his tail can’t swipe. The clearing simply isn’t large enough. In fact, it will only take him seconds to reach us if he decides to charge at us.
