Cain slowly approached Safani.
“I have no interest in the world. But this city is Fienna’s kingdom, and that kingdom is in my care now. Your poison allowed me to realize this once and for all.Thatis why I came for you.”
“Who is Fienna?”
He doesn’t even know,Cain scoffed bitterly. Fienna was just a name to this man, no more a person to him than she was to the Empire and the Capital.
Cain limped ahead. Safani frantically dragged himself away from Cain with one working arm, blood gushing from his shoulder as it lost the pressure the wound needed. The amount of blood told Cain that Safani’s artery was pierced, and that he was as good as dead. The dying man asked, in a weaker voice that resembled a sigh, “What kingdom are you talking about?”
Cain replied, “The one you didn’t bother to see.” He plunged his sword into Safani’s chest.
35ARIENNE
Arienne was crossing the snow-covered valley on a chestnut horse. She was clad in light armor according to Emere’s suggestion. Lysandros’s Power generator—his son, Tychon—was in one of the bags hanging from the horse’s side.
White smoke rose from the volcano. With the smoke came an unbroken sort of buzzing, an invisible but palpable tension. It reminded Arienne of a working Power generator.
Arienne stopped the horse before a small stream. In the water’s reflection, her eyes were violet and glowing slightly. Whether because the dragon was near or perhaps Eldred’s Power was spilling from his wounds and into the world, she didn’t know. She splashed her face with the cold water. Behind her, fifty soldiers waited at least ten paces away from her. Farther away, Emere led the way on his horse. They all feared Arienne. She still didn’t dislike this.
Just a little bit more, and she would come upon the mouth of the cave, the secret entrance into the volcano.
“That sword is a dragon’s fang.”
It was Eldred. He spoke for the first time since the fight at Finvera Pass.
Arienne looked over her shoulder, making sure the trailing soldiers were too far to hear her speak. “I know. The princess told me so.”
“That princess is no ordinary woman.”
“Neither am I.”
She’d been dragged to the Capital for being a sorcerer. She’d had to run away, hide, and be chased after for the same reason. But being a sorcerer did not mean she was a slave. Sorcery was strength, and sorcerers had that strength. Arienne had come to realize this on her journey.
Eldred made a sound that was something like a laugh.
“And I, myself, am not an ordinary man.”
“You’re not a man at all.”
The stumps of Eldred’s arms still leaked violet smoke, which by now should’ve overflowed the room but somehow hadn’t. The windows of the room in her mind were twisted from Lysandros’s attack, the books from the bookshelf scattered on the floor.
From ahead, Emere raised an arm and shouted, “Lady Arienne! I have found it. A marked wall. But it does not seem to be a door. I see no cracks or seams…”
Arienne squeezed her legs twice, and her horse trotted forward.
Emere had come down from his horse to inspect the wall. Justas the princess had told Arienne, there were deep sword marks on the stone.
Arienne dismounted and shouldered her bag, its strap biting into her body with the weight of the Power generator.
“Thank you. Please wait here with the other soldiers. I shall enter alone.”
“Will you be all right?”
She nodded and drew Wurmath, the fang of the dragon, from the blue scabbard on her belt. The wall of rock melted at her approach. As soon as she was inside, the wall reappeared behind her. It was dark here, but Wurmath’s slight glow gave enough light for her to see the way, and its warmth calmed her fast-beating heart.
It was not long before she came to another wall, which also vanished when she approached with Wurmath held toward it. A chamber of gray rock walls, larger than any hall of her school, lay before her. And in the middle of the cavern lay something Arienne had never thought to see in her lifetime.
Could such a huge thing be alive? This was her first thought at the sight of the chained, sleeping dragon. Dark red scales covered its enormous bulk; it was the size of a large house. Spear-like teeth overlapped its closed lips. Its many eyes were closed. The folded wings looked like they would cover the whole sky when spread. Each claw of its front paws, upon which its head rested, looked almost as long as she was tall.
