Page 111 of Oath of Rebellion

The king's boots turned. "What?"

Knox looked up, coming up on one foot and using his knee to push to standing on the balcony. He breathed shallowly through his mouth against the wave of pain in his ribs.

"I found the carriage on the Lone Road and pulled the baby princess from the wreckage."

The king's face turned almost purple in rage, and he raised the rope whip. Knox lunged at him, hoping the offensive attack would throw the king off.

They exchanged blows, swift and sure crunches of pain. Knox landed a solid punch to the king's jaw, which just made him madder. He pounded the hell out of Knox with both rope and fists until Knox' mind began to wander. It was the only way to detach himself from the constant biting pain.

His vision spun as blood dripped into his eyes. The king shot red-hot knives of pain into him, each one burning. Knox yelled, jumping to the side and hitting the wall behind him. Darkness clouded his eyes, and he fell to his knees.

The wind whispered to him through the open air. It caressed him like Eirwyn's fingers playing over his scales and horns. He groaned, the pain trying to drag him into the darkness.

"Gods, why did you have to save her? This all would've been so much easier if she would've died with our parents like planned," Gastone grunted with every slash of the rope and punch of his fist.

Knox blinked and fell to his back, dipping his head to wipe his eyes on his shoulder. He heaved a deep breath, the wind soothing him like Eirwyn. He rolled onto his side and stumbled to his feet, using the little alcove of the door to stop the blows of the rope whip.

The king lifted his hands toward the balcony's railing and roared, fire blasting out from his hands. Knox tucked himself behind the door, using it to block the heat.

It finally faded, and he panted, looking around and clearing his vision. The fluffy white and gray clouds didn't care that the world was burning around them. The sun was just beginning to dip below the railing. The glow of the sun and Gastone's flame magic made the sky glow a bright red and yellow.

Now that Knox was standing, he could barely see the trees in the distance, the glow of magic turning them yellow.

The edge of the city lay between them and the trees, and everything burst into flames as the king's roar turned into a shrieking laugh. Buildings that were in the path of destruction went up in a blaze. People began to scream as they ran from the buildings.

Knox' heart stopped, his entire body freezing in awareness. The blast of heat from the king dwindled to a stop, but the glow on the forest remained.

"You see that, Robin? I'm flushing out all of those precious people you just rescued. Soon they will come screaming from the burning inferno of the forest and my guards will capture them all."

Knox shuffled forward, a knot of dread settling in his stomach. His heart began to race. "The forest–"

"Is on fire, yes. Beautiful, isn't it?" Gastone turned to the railing, a smile on his face.

"You've set the forest on fire."

"Yes, so nice of you to catch up. Now, let's teach you those etiquette lessons so I can kill you before dinner. I'm getting a little peckish."

Knox took a shallow breath, the sharp stab of pain in his ribs still present. Not as bad as before, but they were definitely still broken.

"My name is Knox, not Robin. You're burning my forest, robbing from my people."

He couldn't quite bring himself to claim a kingship. It was too soon, too strange, too anathema of the freedom he spouted.

Knox widened his feet and squared off to the king, his hands shifting into fierce claws. His tail waved behind his head, preparing to strike.

Gastone smiled, the cruel tilt of it matching his wild eyes. "Yours? I think not. You're nothing but a mongrel, an ugly sad excuse for a drakin. You can't be allowed to live. I'm putting you out of your misery, actually. And putting others out of the misery of having to look at you."

They circled each other, Gastone gathering more flickering flames into his palms. "You will die today, you ugly demon spawn. I can't let another drakin live. I'm the only one who will rule this kingdom."

Knox swallowed hard, his hands fisting at his sides as he wove vines up the side of the castle. "Is that why you went to war with Glathen? Because they're ruled by drakin too?"

Gastone threw a blast of hot flame from one palm to the other, catching it like a ball as he watched Knox advance. A gust of wind snuffed out the flames. Gastone shook his hands, sparks lighting them up again as he frowned.

"I'm going to be the only drakin. I have to purge world of the rotten, dirty mongrels like you. It's my divine destiny."

Knox breathed harshly, the smoke filling his nose but the wind bringing a calmness before the storm of battle. Hope warred in his chest to see Gastone's flames growing weaker. He was using too much magic. If Knox could just wear him down and last longer...

Green tendrils of gas sank to the stone at his feet as his emotions heightened and vines stretched over the railing and across the tile floor. His body began to shake from the effort to grow so many vines so fast.

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