Page 19 of Echoes of Fire

Her comment stopped just short of teasing, but it still nudged too close to reality. I waved her off and let myself out, the door clicking softly shut behind me.

The tunnels were quieter now, the soundscape reduced to the occasional hiss of steam vents far above. The market district lights had probably dimmed by now, and I imagined the bustling trade had slowed to murmur and flicker.

But Selene’s questions still churned. What role did I want Rath to have in my life?DidI want Rath in my life? Did any of it even matter? The bond couldn’t be broken. We were stuck on this planet. What choice did I even have?

My thoughts spiraled violently as I walked. Time moved strangely in Scalvaris with the suns blotted out by so much rock, it was difficult to keep track. When I reached the tighter corridors leading to Rath’s quarters, the silence weighed too heavy. Something chafed against my instincts, the kind of subtle wrongness that set alarms I couldn’t ignore.

The corridor felt empty—but not the kind of empty that invited peace. The eerie sort, like the silence of predators just before striking. Heat crystal veins faintly lit the walls, painting jagged shadows across the passage floor, their occasional flickers betraying any movement.

My heart thudded faster. Each step felt heavier. My fingers flexed reflexively at my sides, searching for something to anchor to as the unease crawled across my skin. If someone was following me, I didn’t want to confirm it by turning.

Then, just ahead, the shadows wavered unnaturally before solidifying into a hulking figure.

Drakarn.

I stopped breathing for half a heartbeat. Dark scales glistened against the crystal’s dim light, their edges marked with dark red burns that’d fused them jagged near the warrior’s left jawline. His wings hung poised, their membranes catchingbarely enough light to seem like a predator fanning them before striking. All menace. His slitted eyes warmed with barely contained hostility as his snout lifted to fix me under his unwavering scrutiny.

I knew him. One of Karyseth’s zealots—Krazath. Those burns hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen him.

The hate in his eyes? It had only grown stronger.

This wassonot good.

SIX

ORLA

My feet were lead.

My fight-or-flight reflex leaned toward panic in both directions, but escaping through the narrow passage the towering Drakarn now filled wasn’t an option.

If Krazath wanted me dead, running wouldn’t do me any good.

I couldn’t let him think I was weak. If the Drakarn were one thing, it was brazen. I couldn’t be a meek little human. My voice came low, steady enough—though too sharp-edged to be safe. “Nice burns. Someone cooking a little too close to the lava vents?”

His sneer widened, with fangs catching the faint light. “Foul human,” he rasped, his voice scraping like charred stones grinding against each other. His claws flexed as he crept forward, his tail dragging along the floor. “You crawl among us, stinking, frail … You should be extinguished like vermin.”

I squared myself, forcing calm into my stance even though I doubted it would last. “You’re wasting my time.” Stupid. Taunting a zealot was idiotic, reckless even.

But something hot inside me couldn’t be cautious. Not right now.

I think I really hate this guy.

Krazath’s eyes narrowed, his yellow pupils contracting into sharp slits. Heat radiated from him, thick and stifling. His tail struck the ground with a crack that rolled through the stone like thunder.

“You, and all your kind, pollute this place,” he spat. “Soft, brittle things who scavenge at the feet of real power. You stand here because one of us allows it. Because the warrior lord is too blind to see what filth he’s bathed himself in.”

“Funny,” I said, my voice steadier than I expected. “Considering you’re spending your time cornering one of usweakings, I’d say you’re the one dragging down the honor of your people. Picking on me doesn’t make you powerful. It makes you pathetic.”

Real smart, Orla. Poke the dragon some more.

Krazath’s lips curled into a snarl. “Watch your tongue,mokral,” he said, his claws raking across the stone wall. My translator couldn’t handle that last word, but the tone was clear that it was an insult. “Rath’s protection won’t last forever. It’s made a mockery of everything. No Drakarn worthy of their name allows himself to—” His sneer deepened, the next word practically spat from his mouth. “Matewith prey.”

The insult hit me harder than it should have. I clenched my fists at my sides, the urge to lash out bubbling in my chest. My rational mind screamed at me to shut my mouth, to stay quiet, to de-escalate. But another part of me, that deep-seated fire Rath had somehow stoked, refused to back down.

“He doesn’t seem ashamed to me,” I bit out. “But if you have such a problem with him, why not take it up with Rath directly? Oh, that’s right—you won’t, because you’d lose. Badly.”

The words left my mouth before I could weigh them, and the reaction was immediate. Krazath’s eyes flared with rage, his tail slamming against the wall with enough force to send tiny fractures racing across the surface. It was getting hotter with every passing second, like a freaking furnace.

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