Page 30 of Mad Dragon of Chaos

Shey nodded. “I also want to send support to the Isle of Stone, but I’m in a tricky position that I don’t know the current state of events at home.”

Nori held up a hand. “We don’t fault you or question your earnest desire to establish a friendship with the many dragon clans, Prince Shey. We understand that more immediate needs might tie your hands. You must protect your people first. Right now, it is easier for Erya to assist us. My hope is that you will give more personal assistance to a member of my clan.”

Haru leaned over toward Shey from where he sat on the prince’s right and announced in a ridiculously loud whisper, “He’s talking about me.”

It was hard to fight back a grin at Haru’s ridiculous antics. Even harder when Nori sighed with such heavy weariness, as if he’d been dealing with this kind of nonsense for centuries.

Nori lowered the hand that had briefly massaged his furrowed brow. “He knows well that I’m talking about you.”

Haru’s cheeky smirk dimmed and his face grew serious. “Your Highness, we discussed going to Brightspire so that we could lay Yesuntei’s powers to rest, but even by dragon, that is a long trip. It means you’re unable to help your people while they’re in danger.” Lines gathered between Haru’s brows, and he shook his head. “I can’t allow that to happen. You need to go home first. Kick those Order bastards out of your country.”

Hearing Haru say those words was like having a massive weight lifted from Shey’s chest. He’d been growing more worried since the encounter on the ship. He needed to get home to find out what was happening and do what he could to stop it. But he’d made a promise to Tyche and Haru to help. It wasn’t just a matter of protecting Haru’s life. Those powers from the Goddess of Nightmares needed to be secured so they couldn’t fall into the wrong hands.

“Are you sure?” Shey’s sharp stare snapped from Haru’s worried expression to Tyche, who was also frowning. He didn’t like this idea. He had to be worried about Haru and those powers getting tangled with the dragon’s. “Another option is for us to remove the orb now and send Tyche to Brightspire with some dragons for protection.”

Except he wasn’t ready to let the god out of his sight. Once Tyche had Yesuntei’s powers settled in her shrine, that was it for him, right? They had no reason for their paths to cross unless Tyche wanted them to. And Shey didn’t like his odds. Tyche was a strange, reclusive creature. Shey was sure that the second they were apart, Tyche would convince himself that it wasn’t worth the trouble to seek Shey.

Tyche seemed reluctant to meet his gaze, keeping his eyes locked on the dragon.

“No, this is the better option. With Adrian at my side, I feel more in control, more balanced,” Haru reassured them. “Plus, Vitor is in Sirelis, right? He has all the information from Ruben’s computer. We need it before we can plan our next move against Damardor.”

Gods, he’d almost forgotten about Vitor and the information they’d stolen off Ruben after killing him. It had been such chaos since escaping Bellcairn that he hadn’t given Vitor another thought.

Shey looked at the God of Luck, who was nearly scowling. “Ty?”

“I go where the orb goes.” His lips crooked into a stiff semblance of a smile, but there was only warning in his eyes. “I guess you’ll have to put up with me for a bit longer.”

“Not a hardship.” And Shey meant it. Spending time with Tyche had been enjoyable, and he wasn’t ready for it to end.

He’d meant it as a playful comment, but Tyche was looking at Haru as he stood. He crossed the aisle and stopped in front of the dragon. “Are you sure about this? You cannot consciously choose to use the magic that you hold under any circumstances.”

Haru nodded. “I don’t need it.” He began to turn his head toward Adrian on his right, but Tyche surprised him by grasping his jaw and forcing him to meet his eyes.

Behind Tyche, Drayce, Caelan, and Nori all jumped to their feet, but Shey held up a hand, signaling for them to wait. He trusted Tyche. The God of Luck really cared for Haru and wanted to protect him.

When Tyche spoke, his voice became something as cold and unyielding as the Isle of Stone mountains. “If you attempt to use Yesuntei’s magic, it will merge with your magic, and I won’t be able to take it out while you’re alive. Your family will have to kill you. Caelan will have to fight you. Adrian will have to stab you through the heart, and while your body is cooling, he will have to dig around inside you and pull out the magic, because we both know he won’t allow anyone else to do that to you.” He jerked Haru’s head to his right, forcing him to look into Adrian’s pale face and wide eyes. “Do you want to put the man you love through that torture?”

“No.” The single word came out sounding so haunted, as if it were the culmination of all Haru’s nightmares.

“Good. Behave yourself and let me work.” Tyche released Haru’s face and dropped his hand back to his side, but he didn’t return to his seat. He drew in a slow, deep breath and released it, allowing his shoulders to slump as if he were pushing the tension from his body. After a couple of heartbeats, he reached up with his left hand and plucked something invisible out of the air. With the invisible item still pinched between his fingers, he pressed his left hand to Haru’s chest.

The dragon didn’t seem to suffer any discomfort. He watched Tyche with wide eyes and a relaxed brow. “What was that? It felt warm.”

“An early warning system. I wrapped a tiny amount of good luck around Yesuntei’s magic. I’ll sense when you penetrate this barrier to access the power.” Tyche’s eyes narrowed again. “If you do, I’ll jerk a knot in your tail and take the magic from you. I don’t care what’s happening.”

“Yes, sir,” Haru agreed with only a hint of humor.

“Good.” Tyche sniffed. He patted Haru on the top of the head and marched back to his chair.

Shey took an extra second to school his features. It was a serious matter. Horrific things could happen to Haru if he messed with the goddess’s magic. But catastrophic things could happen to the world if that power was unleashed. It was good that Haru was taking it seriously. Or at least, he appeared to be taking Tyche’s threat seriously.

“It seems things are settled. We’re going to Caspagir to deal with the Order’s threats as well as to uncover what we can about the schemes of the people in Damardor,” Shey announced.

Adrian sucked in a breath and jumped to his feet, but Caelan beat him to the punch.

“Sergeant Westergren, I am temporarily assigning you to Crown Prince Shey Thrudesh-Vo as a representative of Erya. Your orders are to help with his efforts to eliminate the ongoing threat to our ally, Caspagir. You are to follow his orders as if they were my own, so long as they don’t run counter to the oath you made to Erya and the crown.”

Adrian snapped to attention and pressed his fist to his heart in a salute before bowing to his king. “As you command,” he agreed in a deep voice.