Page 69 of Trial of the Cursed Egg

“Vaughn, shift and hit the door with everything you’ve got,” I command, retreating to the rear of the chamber with the egg cradled close to me.

Balor shifts, his powerful coils wrapping around me, forming an impenetrable shield. The distant gleam of his scales presses against me, and I feel the safety of his embrace as Vaughn slams into the door. The crack of splintering wood fills the air, each fragment scattering like shattered bones across the stone floor.

When the thuds finally fade, Balor shifts back, and I take in the carnage. What remains of the door hangs limply from the hinges, mere slivers, and scraps left clinging to the frame. The path is open, and the victory tastes even sweeter with the destruction lying in our wake.

Abraxis kneels by the spot where the cursed egg had once rested, his fingers sifting through the nesting material. He carefully pulls out a piece of the shell and holds it out to me, a rare, warm smile lighting up his face. “This was part of your egg,” he murmurs, reverence in his tone. From his pocket, he produces a small, curved disk—another fragment of my eggshell. But this one has been transformed into a talisman, its edges smooth and gleaming. “Mom had this made for me,” he explains, his voice softer, “to remind me of what was waiting for me back home.”

I glance up at his mother, who gives him an approving nod, pride evident in her eyes. Then I look back down, studying the talisman and the piece he’s placed in my palm. It’s surreal—I’ve never seen my eggshell before. Iron-gray scales ripple across the surface, woven with veins of green that shimmer like embers in low light. “My dragon’s coloring…” I whisper, piecing it together, “…it matches my eggshell.”

Holding Klauth’s egg, I see it clearly now—his scales will echo this same crimson and silver pattern. A fierce wave of protectiveness fills me.

Before I can process further, Abraxis pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me, a silent promise in his touch. The others quietly slip out of the chamber, leaving us alone in the icy silence of the room. He talks, sharing fragments of his life since the day I hatched. His tone is steady, but there’s a thread of darkness to it—confessions of mistakes, nights spent burning off anger and pain. “It meant nothing, Mina,” he assures me, his gaze steady, almost pleading. I tell him about my life, every brutal detail laid bare.

When I finish, his face twists with fury, hands clenched tight enough to crack bone. I feel the heat of his anger rolling off him, intense and unrestrained, and it doesn’t scare me. It fuels the fire in my chest. What they put me through, everything I endured…

It pisses me off, too.

Callan

The destructionof the nest unfolds around us, and I’m not sure what to make of it. This place has housed so many memories, good and bad. But Mina didn’t waste a moment — first, she had Abraxis and his dad set fire to the dresses she despised and every item her father left behind. Now she stands in the middle of the courtyard, a strange sense of calm about her as Iris perches on her shoulder and the egg carrier is strapped to her chest. In her hand, she holds some sort of circlet.

“Mina?” I approach cautiously, watching as she slowly turns to me.

“Oh, hi Callan.” Her expression softens, and she nestles against my side, resting her head on my shoulder. A small comfort amidst the destruction. My gaze drops to the object in her hand.

“What’s that?” I gesture to the twisted Ouroboros collar she’s holding.

“Dad’s method of controlling us … or more precisely, my mom and sister. It’s a modified mage cage.” Her voice is calm, too calm. At the sound of it, Abraxis, Vaughn, and Vox join us, their eyes zeroing in on the collar.

“What do you mean, modified mage cage?” Vox asks, eyeing the device with something akin to horror. Without a word, Mina hands the egg carrier to Abraxis, preparing to demonstrate.

“I’ll show you.” She snaps the latch open and slips the collar around her neck. The second the snake-shaped clasp clicks into place, sealing the collar, it’s as if a shroud falls between her and me. I can’t feel her dragon anymore.

“Holy shit…” The words escape me in a whisper, and I slap a hand over my mouth, staring at her in disbelief. The emptiness of her bond is unnerving, like looking at a ghost of who she was just seconds before.

“That explains how he controlled your mother,” Vox says grimly. “The rescue team had to cut hers off her.” His eyes flicker with a dark realization as I reach out, fingers brushing against the collar’s cold metal, and unlatch it from Mina’s neck.

As soon as I remove it, the bond floods back, and her dragon’s presence flares to life, grounding us both. It’s terrifying to imagine her father wielding this kind of control, but seeing her free of it now feels like reclaiming something precious.

I watch Mina take the collar back, her eyes heavy with something I can’t quite place. As Iris nudges her cheek, Mina’s laugh is soft, distant. But then, I see it—the flicker of lightning sparking down her arms, illuminating the metal as it heats and drips, molten, to the ground. The glow is eerie, almost mesmerizing, until the collar’s nothing more than a small, smoldering pile at her feet. She stares at it, expression flat, though a telltale tick at the corner of her eye betrayssomething deeper. I recognize it, that strain just beneath the surface. Whatever’s eating at her, she’s hiding it well.

“Mind showing me around a little?” I ask, my tone gentle, careful not to disrupt the moment as she flicks the last remnants of the molten metal from her hands.

“Sure,” she replies, surprising me with a soft smile. “I love the gardens here, so that would be a wonderful place to start.” She leans over to kiss Abraxis, and then, with a surprising tenderness, she says goodbye to Vaughn too, linking her arm with mine.

“They’re this way.” She gives my arm a gentle tug, and I fall in step beside her as we make our way toward the northern part of the compound. The tension’s there, a thread I can feel humming between us, and I know I’ll have to be patient. Whatever’s troubling her, I’ll find a way to help her face it.

Mina’s silence hangs heavy between us, as dense as the shadows draping the stone walls. The faint glow from her horns dances off the ancient brick, casting eerie shapes that move and twist with every step. I watch her carefully, my gaze flicking between the barely restrained tension in her shoulders and the fierce set of her jaw. She’s a storm in the making, and I can only hope she lets me in before it breaks.

The dim corridor finally gives way to a soft, natural light that spills in from the garden beyond. As we step through the final archway, my eyes adjust to the unexpected brightness. In the center stands a massive weeping willow, its branches trailing like fingers that brush the earth, graceful yet foreboding. The garden stretches out on oneside, vibrant with blooms that defy the fortress’s gloom, each flower unnaturally vivid, almost unnervingly beautiful.

But it’s the iron fence on the other side that snags my attention, its dark, imposing bars enclosing something unseen. I nod towards it, curiosity and unease threading my voice. “What’s over there?”

Mina’s gaze drops, shadowed by something unreadable. Just as quickly, she steels herself and takes a step away. “Oh, that…” She doesn’t elaborate, her expression guarded. Instead, she turns slightly, her voice carrying an authority that brooks no argument. “Iris, bring Abraxis, Balor, and Vaughn here for this.”

Her dragon familiar, a small but fierce creature with wings like iridescent smoke, chirps in understanding before darting back down the dark tunnel. I watch it disappear, feeling a cold prickle of apprehension. Whatever we’re about to face in this hidden corner of the garden, it’s something even Mina doesn’t want to face alone.

“Why didn’t you just call them?” I say, pulling out my phone. There’s no signal, though the gardens are open to the sky. “Oh…”

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