Page 108 of Blood of the Stars

Aeliana stepped to the edge of the roof and leaped. She aimed for Arvid, her boots hitting him in the side and knocking him off balance to the ground. Her momentum tried pulling her along with him, but she reached for the dragon’s collar. Only one hand caught the collar’s loop, and instead of giving her purchase, the awkward angle jerked her left shoulder. A sickening pop with searing heat made her yelp, and her body dangled from the collar, her legs closer to the dragon’s chest than its back. Durriken turned sharply to assess his attacker, which miraculously swung her legs back up toward his back. She momentarily gained purchase, freeing the arm that now hung uselessly at her side.

Arvid’s shouts were drowned out by a threatening rumble in Durriken’s throat, but they proved he’d survived the drop.

Aeliana yanked another scale from the beast’s back, then launched on top of his paper-thin wing, dragging the scale through the translucent skin the same way she’d used the scale to slice through Vera’s cloak.

A strange howl escaped the dragon’s mouth, instantly flooding Aeliana with remorse.

Until the gap she’d created in his wing widened, and she fell through. She landed hard on her side, unable to catch herself on the ground with her injured arm.

Arvid glared down at her, his bloody hand outstretched. His blood had never given him as much magic as hers, but she supposed he had access to many more half-lights’ blood now. Maybe even more powerful blood. She flinched when his fingers twitched, but his scowl only deepened.

“That was my ride you just damaged.” He backed away a step, his eyes glancing down at her neckline, at the proof of her starlock’s presence. “She won’t let me kill you, but it will be worth it. You’re on borrowed time. And when you belong to her, she’ll do far worse than kill you.” As he reached the edge of Durriken’s wingspan, a dark cloud swept through him and in him, his eyes turning black.

Aeliana’s mouth went dry, images flooding her mind of the people he’d killed, the villages he’d destroyed, all under the influence of a dark spirit. She didn’t have time to warn her friends. There was nothing she could do to stop him.

But Arvid didn’t fight. He simply pointed at her and grinned. “Your time’s almost up.” He released flames from his bloody palms, where they were met by Velden’s stream of water, and he ran off in steam as thick as fog.

She turned her attention back to Durriken, who was no longer nursing his injured wing. A deafening roar left his open maw, mere feet from her. A paw lifted off the ground, his talons extending. He let the paw drop over her chest, one talon drifting to a finger’s breadth from her eye. As his weight shifted, the breath left her lungs until she thought he’d crush her.

Then the weight released, and Durriken shook his head as if clearing his mind. He studied her, then glanced at Kendalyhn, whose illusion flickered. The dragon backed away, freeing Aeliana to scramble backward and stand. He cocked his head, eyeing her one more time, as if waiting to see if she would change like Kendalyhn had.

He wouldn’t kill her. He knew who she was. Or he at least knew that Mayvus wanted her alive.

Before she could process what that meant, she caught sight of Cyrus above her, slicing through the dragon’s other wing.

“No!” she cried out.

Lukai dragged her away from the dragon, blocking her view of Cyrus.

“We have to get out of here.” Lukai shoved her forward. She tripped over rubble, and they drew closer to the gate.

“Stop. Please!” She turned, and his forward momentum brought them both down. She cried out at the strain on her arm. “We have to go back for Cyrus. I have to go back. The dragon won’t hurt me.”

She shoved Lukai aside.

“That doesn’t mean Arvid won’t,” he called after her.

Fire and water rained around her, forming a smoky mist where they collided, but she kept her focus on Cyrus, who now lay beneath the dragon’s wing just like she had moments earlier.

“Durriken!” She held out her right hand, steadily walking toward the beast. He looked up, distracted, just like she’d wanted. He blinked as he took her in, shaking his head with that same eerie recognition.

Everyone in the square went still. Even Sylmar and Velden kept their rim magic at bay, as if they knew using them now could send Durriken over the edge. There was no sign of Arvid.

“Cyrus. Get behind me.” Aeliana kept her voice low. “He won’t hurt me.”

Cyrus didn’t hesitate but clambered back as Aeliana moved forward, steadily getting closer to the beast until her hand was in arm’s reach of his snout. There was a strange sense of power that came with being so close to something so deadly. She supposed it might be considered courage, but it felt a lot more like stupidity or pride. Still, cautious fear held her back, watching, waiting to see what the dragon would do.

Once Cyrus was behind her, she knew she should step back, inch her way to the gate and make her escape, but the creature before her almost seemed broken with his tattered wings. His head tilted, and he let out a slow breath like he might lie down and cover his snout with his paws and have a good cry.

“You won’t hurt me,” she whispered. She took another step forward, heart pounding in her ears. Her name hissed across several lips from behind her, but she kept advancing, holding her trembling hand out for the dragon to smell.

He did, snorting air hot enough to burn. Then he nosed at her hand and let her rub her fingers over his snout like a horse.

Images flooded Aeliana’s mind, and for a moment she was back at her Awakening as the disjointed visions took over. But these visions were muted, blurry. Flying over forests and deserts, a collar being wrapped around her neck, a brand being seared into her paw. Her mind balked at that one, reminding her she had hands.

The strangeness of it all allowed her to step outside the visions enough to realize she was seeing Durriken’s memories.

CHAPTER 44

---