Page 30 of Spectacle

All eyes are on Silac when Saxon poses this question. He is in half form, and his tail twitches behind him, and his hood flares and retracts every couple of beats. He’s barely keeping himself under control. “No, I haven’t been able to reach any of them since Cronus advised us that my father had been turned to stone.”

“This is not good. We don’t know how many are on their side, and they have hostages. I’m assuming that if they destroy the stone statues, then they will kill the person inside, yes?” Brannock looks at Silac for confirmation. He gives a little hiss and flick of his tongue and nods.

“Yes, it is a permanent death.”

“We need a plan so we can avoid any casualties on our side, and possibly a greater force. It was different when we could rely on the warlock king and queen, but now it seems like they have been taken out of the equation.” The Aaz’axian looks at our small group. There are only seven of us in the rescue party, and despite our combined skills, Brannock is right, we need more intel.

Xavier sparks with fury at the thought that his parents have been turned to stone, but I guess it would be an effective way of taking them out.

“We will head to my family compound. My father will gladly help. He has been complaining about the basilisk family for many years, but they have not gone so far as declaring war, and that is exactly what they have done if they turned the warlock king and queen to stone. He will readily lend assistance.” Smoke drifts from Tirrian’s nostrils, and his eyes flare with anger.

“That’s probably a good idea. We need more help, and I’m assuming your father has probably been keeping tabs on their operations?” Link’s keeping a cool head, as usual. I wanted him to stay behind, but he assures me he is capable of fighting but prefers healing. He also said it is easier to hack into surveillance systems when he’s closer to the source. He and Silac have been trying to gain access to the cameras so we can get a better idea of what we are walking into.

“Yes, he should at least have a list of the current family members. The family relationships are turbulent, and leadership changes hands regularly. They turn their own family members to stone for a while to assert their dominance. I have no idea who is in charge at the moment. It may not even be Sissolic, but one of his brothers.”

“Sissolic is the father of your fiancée, right?” I ask Silac.

“Yes. He was the one who issued the ultimatum that I was to return and marry her immediately in exchange for my father being reanimated.”

“Well, why don’t we just give him what he wants? Then we can crash the wedding and rescue whoever needs to be rescued and take out as many of the basilisks as we can,” I suggest, but Saxon shakes his head.

“We still need to know the key players so we don’t end up hurting any innocents who may attend the wedding. I’m assuming it will be a fancy affair?”

“Yes. Sissolic or whoever is in charge will want to make a show of them grabbing our families business from us. It’s a power play more than anything else. Sadly, my father’s desperation didn’t let him see the catches.”

“I’ll teleport us to the dragon compound, and hopefully King Tysar will be able to assist.” Xavier waves us all closer, and we gather around him, each putting a hand on one another so we’ll travel together.

With a flash, we move. The dragon compound is located in the mountain ranges of Fluxx, and Xavier has obviously been here before, but when we rematerialize, we find ourselves surrounded by sword brandishing warriors with dragon scales flickering across their skin and wings tucked into their spines.

“Stand down,” a voice shouts behind us, and I wait for the guards to follow the instructions before I move—I don’t want anyone to get trigger happy. They are quick to respond though, and they all melt back against the walls of the throne room. “That was quite an entrance, warlock. Luckily I was expecting you, or you might have been BBQ and a late supper for our dragons,” a rumbly voice calls sardonically.

Tirrian pushes his way to the front, grasping my hand firmly in his, and walks to the smiling man who bears a striking resemblance to him. “Papa, meet my mate, Lila Adams. Lila, this is my father, King Tysar of the dragon clan,” he announces as we reach the formidable man.

Before he can respond, though, there is a commotion behind him. “That’s the bitch who got my son shunned from the circus and dragon kind. How could you betray your family by taking her for a mate?”

As one, Tirrian and his father turn to face the newcomer. Unlike the two men standing with me, who are both built tall and broad and have the same stunning pink and black wings, this man is slimmer and shorter and also bears a resemblance to his aforementioned son, Dylan.

“Destir, I suggest you mind your tone when you speak about my son’s mate. We all know the circumstances of your son’s disgrace. Keep that in mind if you don’t want to join him in exile,” Tysar cautions with a low rumble.

Destir sneers in my direction. “Your son has been fooled by the Skarrian slut before you. Maybe he is no longer in his right mind to be your heir.”

A low growl rumbles from Tirrian’s chest, and smoke drifts out of his nostrils as his whole body tightens in preparation for an attack. I reach forward and stroke a hand gently between his wings that have spread out to block me from his uncle’s view. His scales shimmer in the gap between his wings, and his body shudders. I smirk, thinking of what I’m doing to him in front of an audience before pulling my hand away now that I have his attention.

“Ignore the jealous, bitter man. His words really don’t hurt me. I am Skarrian and, by my very nature, slutty, but you also know I am picky, and only the best males will do for me. It’s probably why Dylan attacked me. He knew he never stood a chance with me or turning Caspian’s attention back his way.” My words are said quietly, but I know dragon hearing is super sensitive, so there is no way Destir doesn’t hear the implication that his son was never good enough for me. That should be a big enough of a hit to his ego that not even a slutty Skarrian would think his son was worthy. Besides, we have way more important things to worry about.

“I saw Dylan recently making deals with a Madovian. He wasn’t looking so great, so I wouldn’t cast stones in glass houses, if I were you. How can I fault my wife for her nature when your son goes against everything dragon kind stands for? Mates, women, and children are to be cherished, and your son tried to claw Lila’s eggs out of her body,” Tirrian says loudly for everyone to hear, and it gets the reaction he was looking for.

There’s a large gasp, and when I look around, the throne room is actually more crowded than I thought. Not only are the walls lined with guards, but there are also courtiers sitting around tables piled high with food. None of them look impressed by this announcement. In fact, they look downright lethal with fangs bared, smoke drifting from their noses, and wings arched up amongst the gathered.

The long table behind the king not only has Destir seated at it—or he was seated, because he’s now standing and leaning aggressively toward us—but there are two slightly older females. I’m going to take a guess that these are Tirrian’s mother and Destir’s wife. They have opposite expressions. Tirrian’s mother is looking at me with glistening tears—I’m not sure if they are from joy or sadness, but I guess I will find out eventually—while the other woman glares at me with as much venom as her husband. I move my gaze to the younger people at the table. I know Tirrian said he has siblings, but there seem to be a lot. Maybe some of them are Dylan’s siblings too. I try to figure out which ones, but none of them seem to show any venom like their parents, just mild curiosity. Perhaps I’m not the only person who hates Dylan. Although he sure had Tirrian fooled when he first arrived, maybe Tirrian’s had time to convince the rest of his siblings and cousins that I’m not a mate stealing whore.

“Outrageous accusation! What proof do you have?” Destir scoffs, and I feel Xavier’s power crackle behind me as he takes a step closer.

“I witnessed it. Are you calling me a liar?” he snarls, and this has Destir’s black skin turning a pale shade of gray. He sits down quickly, shaking his head.

“No, I must have been mistaken,” he mutters, and I hear Xavier scoff behind me.

“That’s what I thought.”

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