Page 11 of Blood of Dragons

BUT HE’S GONE.

“The castle is in ruins, but it still stands. I wonder if I can find something in his study.”

WOULDN’T TALON HAVE PICKED THAT CLEAN?

“My father hid things. He showed me his hiding places, where to look if something happened to him.”

I SEE.

“Talon must not have found it…or it’s not there at all.”

We flew over the trees and approached the valley I once called home. The castle was in the distance, half of it still standing, while the rubble remained at the base. It used to be a pinnacle of power at the top of the hill, a shining beacon of hope to the village below, but now, it was a sign of our destruction.

I held on to the spike as we soared over the village, Inferno’s bright-red scales visible to everyone below. The wind blew through my hair, and I felt power like I’d never known, riding upon the back of a dragon, the fire burning in my veins. I’d returned to my home much stronger than when I’d left it. I would carry the scars for the rest of my life, but only I could see them.

Inferno landed on the open field outside the castle, his heavy body creating a thud that caused a tremor to travel through my entire body. I looked at the castle, moss growing over the outside and wrapping around the stone to the inside. It looked weak, like too much weight in one place would send the whole thing toppling down.

I slid down Inferno’s side and felt my boots hit the earth for the first time in ten years.

I WILL WAIT FOR YOU HERE.

I nodded with my back to him then moved forward, walking through the gardens that had fallen into disarray without the servants to attend to them. Weeds had grown through the cobblestone. It was overgrown, only a few rose bushes still alive.

The door to the rear was missing, so I stepped inside, my eyes needing a moment to adjust to the darkness of the interior. I was near the servants’ corridors and the kitchens. For a moment, I got a waft of pot roast and fresh bread, one of my father’s favorite meals. It disappeared the moment I sensed it, just a trick of my brain.

I moved down the hallways, passing old bedchambers and stepping over fallen chandeliers. There was debris everywhere, wooden clocks knocked over, sculptures smashed upon the floor, paintings with ripped canvasses upon the floor.

The aftermath of the massacre, of when Khazmuda ripped the castle apart as Talon stormed it.

I made it to the grand entrance, one of the heavy doors on the ground from where Khazmuda had kicked it in. The other was hanging off its hinges. The stairs that led beneath the castle to the secret tunnel were still collapsed, the rubble stacked on top.

I looked down at it, still seeing the small hole in the rock where I’d crawled to safety. The commander’s corpse was still buried in there, his family probably never finding it. So much time had passed, it would just be bones now.

I continued through the castle, feeling the ghosts of those who’d passed, feeling a heavy weight on my shoulders even though chunks of the castle were missing and spots of sky were visible.

I had to take the stairs to a higher floor to make it to my father’s study. Sections of the hall were missing, so I had to jump and climb, afraid that the wrong landing would send the castle crumbling.

But I made it to the door—and then stopped.

Because the last time I saw my father, he was slumped over his desk, the vial of poison in his hand, and if he was still inside…he was a skeleton.

Tears started to form in my eyes.

WHAT IS IT?

I’m outside his office.

YOU CAN DO IT, CALISTA.

I’m afraid he’s still in there.

I’M SORRY. I WISH I COULD DO THIS FOR YOU.

I know.

HIS BODY MAY REST THERE, BUT HIS SOUL RESTS IN PEACE.

I stayed in front of the door a moment longer before I took a breath and stepped inside. The smell hit me first, the stale air, the dust that collected on the rug and the curtains. My eyes remained on the floor, looking at the corner where I’d tried to hide from the guards. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the desk, to see his dusty bones.

---