Page 18 of Mad Dragon of Chaos

Behind Rayne, Eno made a choking noise. He covered his face with his hand while his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

Shey withdrew his arm from Tyche and caught Rayne’s clenched fist. His skin was icy and clammy from the ride. He wrapped both hands around Rayne’s, trying to infuse some warmth into those still fingers. “Rayne, I’m sorry. I don’t have an excuse. You have every right to be furious with me. I failed you as a friend.”

“I’m a piece of dog shit,” Tyche suggested in a stage whisper. “Oh! And a teenage boy who has yet to learn how to deal with grown-up emotions that make me feel awkward and helpless.”

Rayne and Shey turned their heads to stare at Tyche. The mischievous God of Luck grinned up at Shey, looking far too proud of himself.

“What? I’m helping you.” Tyche turned his attention to Rayne, his expression unwavering. “Congratulations on your marriage. He really is an idiot, and you should think twice about being his friend. But in his defense, he was locked up in a prison and being tortured while you were getting married. So that is a pretty good ex⁠—”

Shey released Rayne and grabbed Tyche. With one arm wrapped around his shoulders, Shey slapped his hand across that wicked mouth, muffling anything else that was about to come out. By this point, Eno, Caelan, and Drayce had joined their little party.

Caelan’s dark eyes twinkled with ill-concealed mirth. He touched Rayne’s arm and jerked his head toward him, but it was Drayce who tactlessly blurted out, “You’ve now met the God of Luck.”

“What?” Rayne gasped, all his composure crumbling in the blink of an eye.

“Another god?” Eno joined in, his deep voice like the rumble of distant thunder.

“I-I-I’m so confused. Another god? How? I thought…” Rayne’s head snapped from Caelan to Tyche to Shey, who could feel Tyche’s grin growing wider against his fingers.

Nori stepped forward with a gentle look. “Why don’t we go inside, and you can rest? Some nice, soothing tea will help to settle you after your long trip. We can get you caught up on all that’s happened before you share the news that you have brought.”

It was as if the old dragon had waved a magic wand over everything. Just like that, Rayne pulled himself together, losing his befuddled expression. His face returned to its usual look of calm control, and he nodded.

As a group, they followed Omari Nori through the clan buildings until they reached a central meeting hall big enough to hold the contingent from Erya, as well as a god and a wayward prince from Caspagir. Haru and Adrian had been roused from their rooms, and both appeared rested.

Nori sat at the head of the room on a wide chair that was something like a modest throne, while Megumi and Uki took seats on either side of him. Meanwhile, the rest of them were arranged along the length of the room as if they were all seated at a giant board table, except there was no table, only an empty aisle in front of them. Delicate, narrow tables separated each chair. Upon each, a squadron of servants had rushed in to place tea and snacks for everyone, which Tyche promptly started to eat. The god, however, wrinkled his nose at the tea. As Haru had stated, there wasn’t a coffee bean to be found on the Isle of Stone outside of the ones he’d brought.

Rayne and Eno sipped some tea while Haru and Adrian inhaled a light breakfast, giving Shey a chance to give the new arrivals a shortened version of events that had occurred in Damardor. Here and there, Tyche and Adrian would chime in with comments, but they were serious. The joking had fallen off.

“Huh.” Eno set his teacup on the side table to his right with a heavy thunk, almost missing it because his eyes were locked on Tyche. “There are more of you. I mean…I…I thought…”

Tyche smirked. “You thought that there were only five—er…” His gaze darted over to Caelan, and he winked. “Six gods left. No, there are more of us, but we keep to ourselves and we’re much less trouble than the big ones.”

Caelan snorted. “You’re a different type of trouble.”

Shey couldn’t argue with that assessment. Tyche was his own unique brand of trouble.

“But,” Tyche paused and held up one finger, “there aren’t a lot of us, and those of us who still exist would like to continue existing for as long as possible.”

Something tightened inside Shey’s chest, and all the awkwardness and sadness he’d felt earlier regarding Rayne burned away under the heat of low-simmering rage. “No one is going to touch you or another god.” Yesuntei’s death was tragic enough. He wouldn’t stand by and allow Tyche to suffer the same fate.

Caelan cleared his throat. “I’m assuming you’ve brought urgent news and not just another pile of paperwork for me to sign.”

Rayne flashed the king a tight smile and patted the leather messenger bag resting near his feet. “I’ve done both.”

“The Damardor Dominion is no more.” Eno’s announcement silenced the entire room.

For several seconds, there wasn’t a single coherent thought in Shey’s head. How could the country be no more? In terms of destruction, the fighting had devastated only a few blocks, and he couldn’t recall any of the buildings being leveled. Maybe some wind and flood damage.

“What Eno means is that New Rosanthe exerted its control over the country of Damardor, engulfing it and erasing the border between them. The announcement went out yesterday that the area that was New Rosanthe and Damardor is now to be known as the Federation of Order.” Rayne’s description of events was cold and precise, but it did nothing to get Shey’s brain working again.

“Holy shit.” Adrian exhaled, slumping in his seat. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as he stared at the floor in front of him.

“There’s also a new chancellor,” Eno continued.

“Not an emperor? I thought New Rosanthe had an emperor,” Drayce demanded.

Rayne frowned. “They’ve ‘elected’ a new chancellor.” His mouth twisted the words into a sneer.