Page 90 of The Demon Mark

But then he heard the screams of his people. And he knew they were running out of time. If he didn’t make this deal, then he would lose the rest of his kingdom.

Sure, he could rebuild. But as his eyes lifted to see the people running from their homes and trying their best to avoid the dragon’s sweeping tail, he knew this was the only deal he could make.

“All the fires for your freedom. That’s a deal I’m willing to make.”

She shot off his hand without another thought, and he had to trust that she was going to help them and not immediately race out of his home. After all, there was no where for her to go. If she tried to go above, then she would be caught by the shadow creatures up there, just like every other magical creature.

For a second, he looked up at the ceiling of his home. He could release the shadow beasts into his kingdom. They would destroy the dragon in a moment, but the question was whether or not Envy could then corral them again.

Even Sloth made a grunting sound as he ducked back around the building. Dragon fire turned his form into a silhouette of darkness. “You can’t let them in, Envy. You remember how long it took us to contain them in the first place?”

“I remember.”

“And even then, we had to hide all the remaining people underground. It took you nearly three hundred years to build your people’s numbers back to what they are now.”

He had. And it had been a struggle. But there had to be someone or something that could fight a dragon because he couldn’t. Not even with all the creatures he had amassed, there wasn’t a chance unless...

He narrowed his gaze on Sloth.

His brother looked at him, looked away, and then looked back with a frown on his face. “Absolutely not. I know what you’re thinking, and it’s a terrible idea.”

“You could fight it.”

“I’m not going to fight it.”

“It’s a really small dragon, Sloth.”

“No dragon is small, and I don’t care.” His brother crossed his arms over his chest. “You will not convince me to do this. Figure out another plan.”

“There is no other plan. People are dying.”

“I don’t care that your people are dying.” Another blast of dragon fire illuminated the world behind his brother, and Envy knew he was running out of time.

It was hard to guess what leverage would convince Sloth to help. But now he knew there was a woman out there waiting for Sloth, and that Sloth had experienced this horrible gnawing ache of love. So Envy knew there was something he could say.

Eyes serious, heart in his throat, he held out his hands for his brother to take. “She is so close,” he said, his voice perhaps too low for Sloth to hear. “She is so close to me, Sloth, and I cannot find her until this is taken care of. I need this dragon to stop so I can find her again. I need to hold her. I need to know that the man who took her from me doesn’t hurt her like someone hurt your woman.”

Sloth’s pupils contracted. Bit by bit, those eyes looked more like a snake than they had before. “You can’t convince me this way.”

“I am willing to get on my knees and beg if that is what it takes. I have to know that she is alive, but you know that our purpose is to keep our kingdoms thriving. I wish I could choose her over all the other people in this kingdom. If I was like you, perhaps I would. Perhaps I would be able to let them all die and rush to her side, but I cannot. She taught me better than that.”

Sloth sighed, but it was more of a hiss than it was a human sound. “I do not like this plan.”

“Just don’t get yourself killed.”

“By a dragon that small?” Sloth shook his head, and already there were golden scales rippling over his body. “I promise you, my brother, a dragon like that will not kill me.”

“Don’t take out any more of my kingdom than necessary!” he shouted. Already Sloth was growing bigger, larger, expanding toward the top of his kingdom

Scales turned Sloth’s skin into an armor that was impossible to pierce. His hands twisted and turned into talons that were so massive they were longer than the swords Envy kept at his hip. And he continued to get even bigger. His neck elongated. His face twisted into a massive snout that split open and roared as the other dragon did the same thing.

Sloth was larger than the dragon Lorenzo had released. Envy had to cast a quick spell up on the building he was hiding behind, so the damned thing didn’t fall under the weight of the massive dragon that now leaned against it. The stones creaked, wobbled, but then held with the power of his magic holding them up.

He wasn’t sure how many homes he could keep up like this, though. Soon, he would need to sing the stones back into place. He could fix all the things that were broken. Just not yet.

But then Sloth turned toward him, a deeper gold than the creature that was summoned. “Go get her,” he said, his voice so low it made the very stones rumble.

It was all the permission he needed.

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