Page 34 of Trial of the Cursed Egg

We twist and turn through the twisted path, the oppressive silence closing in around us. My senses are on high alert, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling with the anticipation of danger. Then we emerge into a cavern, the air suddenly colder, the space widening out before us.

Mina kills the lightning and tilts her head, listening. Without a word, she melts into the shadows. My heart pounds painfully in my chest as I strain to hear anything—anything. A muffled gurgling sound breaks the silence, followed by a heavy thud.

“What was that?” a gruff voice calls out, and before I can react, another body hits the ground.

“Let’s go.” Her voice is a whisper of wind against stone, and she appears at the mouth of the cave, her eyes gleaming with deadly resolve. We sprint for the flight field, her lithe form a blur of motion ahead of me.

Reaching back, she snatches her bag from my grasp, and in one smooth motion, her dragoness rips free from its human shell. Scales shimmer and ripple as she shifts, her powerful form taking to the skies. I don’t hesitate, my drake bursting forth in a storm of midnight and shadows, wings snapping out to catch the air as I follow her.

She leads us out of her family’s valley, navigating through treacherous updrafts and jagged cliffs. I take the lead once we’re clear, clinging to the rock face as we ascend, hiding our silhouettes from prying eyes. The wind howls around us, a fierce, biting cold that would have rattled lesser beings. But I push through, my gaze locked on the silhouette of my parents’ nest in the distance.

When we’re finally within range, I let out a thunderous roar, announcing our arrival. Torches blaze to life in the courtyard below,signaling its safe to land. I circle twice, scanning the area for any signs of danger, before gliding down to touch the ground.

My parents emerge, expressions grim, but Mina doesn’t land. Instead, she circles above us, her head snapping back toward the path we just came from. A sudden plume of chlorine gas bursts forth, aimed directly at her.

“Mina!” I shout, but before I can run to shift, my father’s iron grip clamps down on my shoulder.

“She’s immune, son. You’re not.”

I watch in horrified fascination as Mina whirls midair, the frill along her spine sparking with crackling bolts of lightning. The air hums with raw energy, and then she roars, her voice vibrating through the stones beneath my feet. Electricity races up her scales, arcing out in a flash of blinding light.

Her attackers don’t even have time to scream as the bolts hit them, their bodies jerking violently before they drop to the ground in smoldering heaps, charred beyond recognition.

She roars again, a sound so filled with rage and pain that it shakes the very mountains around us. Every fiber of my being screams to go to her, to comfort her, but I can’t move—frozen by the sheer intensity of her fury.

My mother steps forward, hands raised in a placating gesture. Mina’s head whips around, her gaze locking onto Mom with a feral intensity that makes my breath hitch. For a heartbeat, I think she might attack. But then she exhales slowly, nostrils flaring as she studies my mother.

In a single fluid motion, she lands, claws scoring deep grooves into the stone courtyard. She shifts back and reaches into the small pack she had carried.

Mom approaches cautiously, taking the backpack with slow, deliberate movements. To my utter shock, Mina allows it, her gaze following every movement with a predator’s focus. With a gentle murmur, Mom turns and leads Mina inside.

I’m left standing there, stunned, my heart hammering in my chest. The wild, untamed look in Mina’s eyes lingers in my mind—a terrifying reminder of the depths of her power and the pain that’s driven her to the edge.

I take a deep breath before launching into the story of the dinner from hell, my words sharp and clipped as I recall every detail. My father’s eyes flash with a dark, dangerous light as he listens, his knuckles whitening against the edge of the table. “I knew he was bad, but not this bad,” he mutters, voice barely a growl. The air thrums with barely contained fury. His gaze drops back to the map sprawled before him, the land under Abaddon’s control bleeding out like a dark stain. His fingers hover over a line, tracing routes and strongholds. “How many did he train like Mina?”

His eyes lock on mine, the weight of his question a leaden force. There’s a moment of silence, thick and oppressive, before I answer. “He tried to teach a squad … She is the first and the last to survive his training.” The admission sends a flicker of something—pain, anger, regret?—across his face. My father curses under his breath, shaking his head. The room seems smaller, the walls closing in around us as he wrestles with what I’ve just said.

Mina stands quietly to the side, a dark presence in the leathers of my people. The armor absorbs the light, the black almost swallowing herwhole. Knives and weapons hide in every pocket and sheath, her movements a whisper of leather and deadly intent. The bodice of her armor glints under the dull light, reinforced with basilisk scale—the hardest scales known to exist. An impenetrable shell for an unstoppable force.

My mate strides forward, her gaze zeroing in on the map with a precision that sends a chill racing down my spine. “This is outdated,” she declares, her voice a low, deadly rumble. Without hesitation, she reaches into the pocket on her thigh and pulls out a smaller, folded map. The air around us seems to crackle as she unfolds it, revealing an updated sketch of her father’s compound. A near-feral grin curves across her lips, baring a hint of teeth as she offers it to my father. “My mating present to you, Vox, and to your people.”

Her voice is firm. No trace of the vulnerable girl I met all those months ago. This is someone honed by fire and pain, someone forged in blood and betrayal. The moment Abaddon sent people to kill her, something shifted irrevocably inside her. Now, only the weapon remains—razor-sharp and lethal.

“Thank you, Lady Mina.” My father smiles, but Mina’s eyes narrow, a dangerous gleam igniting in their depths.

A laugh bubbles up from her lips, dark and wild, as her dragon’s eyes eclipse her human ones. Molten golden pools of endless depth stare out from her face. “I’m no lady. I’m the weapon my father created. The weapon my mate will wield one day to bring an end to my father’s reign of terror.”

There’s a cold calculation in her gaze as she turns to face me. A shudder runs through me, unease curling like a snake in my gut. Her father pushed her too far, crossed too many lines, and now she’s set on a path that even I might not be able to pull her back from. Mina’svoice drops, a chilling whisper of vengeance. “I want my father’s head on a pike for what he’s done to me … to my sister… and my mother.”

My father doesn’t hesitate. “You shall have it.”

Mina nods, her shoulders relaxing slightly. She moves to my side, the tension in her frame lessening as she presses her head against my shoulder. A familiar gesture—one of comfort, but there’s a hardness to it now. Her warmth is still there, but it’s buried beneath layers of ice and steel.

I don’t like this shift in her, the thought twisting painfully in my chest. He’s pushed her into a corner, turned her into something more dangerous than any weapon in his arsenal. Now he’s made an enemy for life, and with her strength, he’ll rue the day he ever crossed her. A silent vow forms in my mind: I’ll see that bastard fall, even if I have to tear him apart myself.

“How’s school?” My father’s question is so out of place, so bizarrely mundane, that it almost startles a laugh out of me. He’s trying to reach her, to remind her of something normal.

“Good…” Mina’s tone is light, but there’s a glint in her eyes that sets me on edge. It’s the look of someone planning a bloodbath. “Tell me what you know about the cursed eggs. I have one of the tickets to try for one.”

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