Page 77 of Of Scale and Blood

Well, perhaps next time you’ll listen to Kaia and not get sprayed by the acid.

Her head dipped, and the faintest trace of regret ran through her thoughts.Wanted kill.

We all wanted to kill them, Rua, but it does no one any good if you and Hannity die.

Understand.

Which was not an indication of regret. Indeed, I suspected that, given half the chance, she’d do the same thing over again.

Do you really?I snapped.Because you risked not only your own life, but Hannity’s. If you ever do that again, you will not get flame. If you can’t obey your queen’s orders, we can’t risk giving you fire.

Understand,she repeated, and this time, I believed her.

Is young, Kaia commented again.Young foolish.

That does not excuse her actions, Kaia.

Know.

But?

You make good queen. Is why you my kin.

I snorted and glanced at Yara. Both she and Kaia had created large hollows in the sand and were now hunkered down within them, their tails curled around their bodies and something close to a contented rumble rising from their throats.

Me not ignore queen or kin, she said, then added,Sands warm.

Meaning the volcanic activity that had created this island was still ongoing underneath it. Perhaps Kele and I should dig a similar hole and just drag some wood from the forest to create a crude lean-to. Normally we would have constructed something within the forest, but with two big drakkons curled up on the beach and a third currently dominating the bay, there was little point.

As Hannity limped out of the water, I ran back to the tree line to grab a thickish branch. The beach wasn’t exactly a great place to be treating a bad wound, but if we could at least keep it raised and the sand out, that was half the battle.

I dragged the log down the beach and then motioned for her to sit. Once her leg was raised, I drew my knife and carefully sliced away her pants leg. The wound underneath no longer bubbled, but large chunks of the flesh on her thigh had been eaten away, and in one section, I could see bone. But given she could still use the leg and she hadn’t bled out, it had obviously missed major muscles and blood vessels, and that in itself was a miracle.

I rose to retrieve my medical kit from my pack, then gave her both a pain potion and one to fight any infection that might brew from being hit by what was basically shit. Once the pain potion had kicked in and I was able to start cleaning, sealing, and bandaging the wounds, I said, “Tell me, Hannity, did you see my signal to retreat?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you respond?”

“Because Rua wanted to attack, and it wasn’t like I could stop her.”

“And in truth, you weren’t opposed to the idea anyway?”

A longer hesitation, then, “No.”

Annoyance surged. “Damn it, Hannity, do you understand the problems it would have caused if you and Rua had died? Not everyone in Esan thinks it’s a great idea to be using the drakkons, nor does every drakkon think they should be helping us after nigh on being hunted to death. Your death, and hers, could have been held up as an example by both sides.”

Confusion flitted across her expression. “But I’m a soldier, and death is part of life—why should being on drakkon back be any different to courser?”

“Because fucking coursers don’t eat humans when they get mad.” I took a deep breath to calm down, and then frowned. “How did you know Rua wanted to attack?”

“I felt it. I can’t talk to her, but I can sense her emotions, and she was feeling murderous.”

“You should have signaled there was a problem. We would have dealt with it.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“If you do it again, you’ll return to regular scout duty—understood?”

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