Page 54 of The Dragon Maiden

“Lord Dracul is an excellent fighter,” Lord Fangburn said quietly to me, and I looked at him in surprise. He was trying to comfort me.

Borthen struck first, launching with his jaws in an attempt to bite Dracul, who took to the air to get away. The bronze dragon swiftly followed, and the two began a deadly dance of claws, jaws, and fire. Dracul singed Borthen’s shoulder before getting slammed into one of the domes by Borthen’s tail, collapsing it from the force.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” Borthen crowed before letting out a fireball of his own, Dracul just barely able to dodge it. “You can’t be fully healed just yet. You’re slower than you usually are.”

Though I had never seen Dracul fight before, from what I had seen of his flying, Borthen was right. He moved a tad slower than the bronze dragon, and I watched as Dracul continued to take blow after blow, rivulets of blood steadily streaming down his body. But he did not give up and managed to seriously injure Borthen, taking a chunk out of his leg and chest.

After several minutes, both were winded, breathing heavily while resting briefly on different domes. Borthen decided to use this time to gloat more.

“Loyalty does not run strong within your clan, Dracul,” he sneered. “I have been kept abreast of your activities. Your Dragon Maiden there has made enemies for herself.” My stomach dropped at his words. “You should have chosen more wisely instead of picking an outsider like her. Her enemies have become your enemies.”

Dracul let out several short bursts of fire, catching Borthen off guard, but he still managed to dodge at the last second.

“Who has been spying for you?” Dracul hissed, anger lacing his tone.

Borthen let out another laugh. “Come here and force the answer out of me,” he taunted.

A look of surprise crossed his face when Dracul immediately launched himself towards the other dragon, sinking his claws deep into his flesh. Dracul threw his whole body at him, sending them off the dome. They both plummeted towards the ground, Dracul angling their bodies so Borthen would take the brunt of the fall. My mouth opened in a silent scream as they landed with a giant crash. Debris from the impact flew towards us, but both Lord Firenze and Lord Fangburn used their bodies to protect me from the blast.

When the dust cleared, we saw Dracul slumped to the side of the cave and Borthen lying on the ground coughing up blood.

With much effort, Dracul dragged himself over to Borthen, putting a claw to his throat. “Tell me who was spying for you,” he said. “And I may give you an easy death.”

Borthen laughed, a gurgling sound as he coughed up more blood. “You might want to check with your friend over there,” he said, gesturing to the three of us.

Dracul looked up, his gaze hard before swiping his claw, ending Borthen’s struggling. Once he knew Borthen was done for, he stalked towards us, scooping me up in a claw once more. “Firenze, what has your Maiden been up to?” he asked in a low voice. “Have you been keeping an eye on her?”

My gaze shifted between Dracul and Lord Firenze, my mind trying to keep up with the conclusion Dracul had drawn based on Borthen’s ambiguous hints. Surely, he could not mean that Vimery had been handing secrets over to Borthen?

Lord Firenze bowed his head. “I’m afraid I have not been able to keep as close an eye on her as I usually would,” he said. “I’ve been too busy, but when we return, I will make sure to interrogate her thoroughly. A weak link in our forces will not be tolerated.”

“See that you do.” Dracul nodded. He limped along before I held a hand to his chest and he looked at me.

“I can walk,” I said softly. “You’re injured. Because of me.”

He shook his head, clutching me more tightly to him. “I’m never letting go of you again, Lora,” he said.

We entered one of the main hallways where fighting was still going on. I heard the sound of screaming and could smell the blood, not to mention the bodies that littered the hallway.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“We’re wiping out the entire clan,” Dracul said grimly. “Anyone aligned with Borthen is being executed.”

The expression on his face scared me and I felt dread deep in my stomach. Right now, he was acting just like Borthen—punishing others for one person’s mistakes. I had to struggle against the urge to vomit.

“No, Dracul,” I said. “You can’t do that.”

He looked at me, his eyes stony. “They must pay the price of their allegiance to him,” he said.

“Dracul,” I snapped.

His eyes cleared suddenly, as if he finally could see me without the bloody haze he had settled into.

“You can’t do this. You’d be no better than him,” I said. “Show mercy to those who would bow to you, to those who would show remorse. Do better.”

After a tense moment where I thought he would not listen, he nodded. “Call the others off,” he directed to Lord Firenze and Lord Fangburn. “If there are those who would plead for mercy, show them mercy. Anyone who fights must be killed. Is that understood?”

The two nodded before going to relay his orders.

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