Page 67 of Trial of the Cursed Egg

Balor and Abraxis exchange a look, a silent conversation flickering between them before they both break into slight, almost mischievous smiles. “Yes, you should be,” Balor answers, but the word “should” lands heavily in the quiet space, sending a chill down my spine.

“Should.” I raise an eyebrow, feeling my skin prickle with unease. “Should” leaves far too much room for “could” or worse yet, “might.”

“There’s no record of a gargoyle ever facing down a Green Dragon,” Abraxis adds, busy typing something out on his phone. A few seconds later, his phone chimes, and he glances up with a nod. “There’s a high probability of you being immune, or at the very least, resistant.” He shoots a glance at Balor, then back to me. “But let’s not take the risk just yet.”

I roll my shoulders, a faint growl in my throat. “I can coil tightly enough to protect her,” Balor interjects confidently. “That is, if they even survive my stone gaze.” He stretches, and his eyebrows suddenly lift. “Oh, that reminds me. Mina is immune to it.”

Abraxis’s head snaps up, his voice a near-roar. “How the hell did you figure that out?” The cursed egg behind us blazes with his outburst, casting long shadows and a wild glint in his eyes.

Balor raises his hands, backing up a step. “It … slipped. I was distracted. My basilisk rose to the surface, and she … she just stared at me. Didn’t even blink.” He shakes his head, looking half-shocked, half-amused.

I decide at this point a hasty retreat would be my smartest move. Last thing I need is to be trapped between a black dragon and a basilisk in an argument.

The explosion jolts me awake, and the foundation trembles beneath me. I fall out of bed, instincts taking over as I shift, my skin hardening, features sharpening. I’m in the hallway in seconds, still disoriented, but Callan’s voice booms through the chaos, cutting through the noise.

“Get to the egg chamber and guard the door!” he commands, shoving a sword and shield into my hands. I grip the cold metal, nodding once, and take off, heart hammering as I weave through the twisted corridors of the lair.

Why is my room so damn far from the chamber?

The air shudders with the thunderous beat of wings, and a quick glance out a passing window shows me the battlefield above. Three black dragons spiral in the sky, desperately fending off a swarm of green, their scales shimmering like venom in the early light. My pulse quickens as I make it to the chamber and check the door, relief flooding me when I find it still locked from the inside.

I don’t waste time tapping into the raw strength of my gargoyle form. I move one of the enormous stone statues from its perch. Gritting myteeth, the scrape of stone on stone reverberates painfully in my ears. The statue is massive, almost too tall for the narrow tunnel, but it’ll do. I push two more heavy statues in place, fortifying the door. No dragon in human form is getting through this.

The sounds of battle filter through the stone above, a relentless echo of scales clashing and claws tearing. Every blow on the structure reverberates through the tunnel, and for a moment, a dark thought pierces my mind—for all I know, this tunnel could become my tomb.

A loud banging sounds from the door behind me, and my spine stiffens at the ferocity of her voice. “Let me out!” Mina roars from the other side of the barrier I erected, her voice more dragon than human. The banging shifts, splintering wood, and the unmistakable scrape of talons reaching through the growing gaps.

I drag the first statue away, cursing the delay. Her talons burst through a crack in the door, wrenching and tearing, until golden light sears through the hole. Mina’s dragon eye glows, fierce and blazing, illuminating her rage. “Let me out!” she screams again, her voice breaking as she tears at the wood with relentless fury. “Abraxis needs me!”

The desperation in her voice twists my gut. I push the statue aside, trying to give her enough room to claw her way through. “Why isn’t Balor unlocking the door?” I shout, breath catching as I strain to make space.

“He swallowed the key!” Her voice is filled with a dark mix of rage and despair, and then the rest of the door shatters under her talons. The moment there’s a gap wide enough, Mina forces her way through, splinters flying. She stumbles, and I rush forward, catching her before she can fall.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper, pulling her close, but she’s already slipping out of my grip.

“I need to get out therenow.” She presses her lips to mine in a fierce, fleeting kiss before tearing away, sprinting toward the open expanse outside. I chase her, but before I even make it through the doorway, her dragoness form emerges, filling the early morning light. She’s massive iron scales shimmering with emerald hues as she turns, eyes blazing with primal wrath. The roar that erupts from her fills the sky, shaking me to the core, before a surge of lightning blasts from her maw, blindingly bright. Three green dragons burn mid-flight, caught in the fury of her attack as she launches into the air.

Her roar tears through the battlefield as she strikes. They’re right about one thing: never provoke a dragoness with an egg.

Mina

Before the attack…

Sleep wraps around me, soft and warm, pulling me under. Memories flicker like scenes from a twisted movie, my life before the academy unraveling with a clarity that’s both brutal and sharp. For the first time, I see things as they truly were—Dad didn’t raise a daughter; he bred a weapon. All those doctrines he forced on me about our lineage, the endless hours drilling me to understand … but thinking back now, none of it seems right. My parents’ species were never meant to mix, not in any natural way. And my sister—she’s … different. No green dragon traits, not a single one. My stomach tightens, the realization sinking in like poison. Could it be … was Mom with someone else? Is she even truly my father’s?

A sudden burn slices through my thoughts, a fierce pulsing through two of my bonds—one tinged with anxiety, the other seething with anger, so intense it nearly chokes me. Something is wrong, terribly wrong. My mind claws through the haze, struggling to shake off whatever they’ve dosed me with. I can feel Abraxis’ anger, a fiery thread thrumming with barelycontained rage. He’s fighting. Against what? Or who? A sharp stab of panic jolts through me.Klauth’s egg …I need to wake up. Now.

I focus, straining, but my limbs feel chained, locked down by something I can’t see. My dragoness slumbers deep within me, her presence dim. I grit my teeth, summoning every ounce of my willpower, screaming inside my head. ‘Wake up. Our mate, our egg—they need us.’ My voice rises in desperation, echoing through the hollow silence, but the fog clings to me, thick and unmoving.

Then, I hear it—a distant rumble, low and dangerous, like the start of a storm. Lightning cracks through the dreamscape, a blaze of fierce, electric blue tearing through the darkness. Relief floods me.She hears me. My dragoness stirs, her power bleeding through, splintering the chains around me. A blinding white light ignites on the far edge of this darkened realm, and I know it’s her—my dragoness, my salvation.

Without hesitation, I bolt toward it, my heart pounding with every step, ready to tear through whatever holds me back.

Blinking, my eyes slowly adjust to the dim, eerie glow in the egg chamber. The familiar obsidian coils of Balor’s basilisk form enclose me and the egg incubator, their weight pressing into the cool stone floor. My heart races as I shove at his massive coils. “Let me out! Abraxis needs me!” I scream, my voice cracking with desperation, tears almost spilling over. If it’s my father’s people, their acid breath, or poison gas will kill everyone here who isn’t immune. I have to reach them—before it’s too late.

Balor shifts, his towering form melting back into his human shape, his face shadowed with sorrow. “I can’t do that,” he murmurs, hisvoice tight. “I promised to keep you here and safe.” He tilts his head, looking at me with an intensity that makes my breath catch. Pain flickers in his dark eyes, words he doesn’t dare to say out loud. I can feel it—he cares. Maybe more than a mere bodyguard should.

“If you feel anything for me…” I pause, my voice softening as I watch the faint shift in his expression, the way his gaze wavers. “Let me out. They will die if I don’t do something.” I move closer, placing my hands on his chest, tilting my head to meet his gaze. “Please…” I never beg. I never ask twice. But this—this is different.

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