Page 25 of Exquisite Monster
“Like I said, you’re more useful broken. Your dragonfire is helpful, but the best is yet to come. Don’t worry.” Andaros’s tone was mild. “I’m not going to kill you, but I won’t pretend this is going to be comfortable.”
They struck me from behind and sent me to my knees, using the distraction to separate my hands and move me. Hands on every limb. They forced me onto a table, and I didn’t fight them.Couldn’tfight them. Not when they hit me again for sport or when they bound my limbs down with more metal.
Protect yourself from my thoughts, I told the others.You don’t want to feel this.
Their anger came through, and worry.What are you talking about?
I slammed walls down around my mind. There would be no getting through this if I could hear them too. My power couldn’t protect me enough, and this would hurt.
Something crossed my forehead, keeping my head in place, and something else in my mouth, to keep me from screaming.
Something glowed in the corner of my vision. It couldn’t be fire. They knew better than that. Whatever it was, it would be worse.
“My alchemists say this is particularly painful for your kind. And after what you’ve done, I think it fitting. Let’s find out, shall we? Andmaybe the dragons will think twice before stealing what belongs to me.”
The pain stole my breath, and I threw my mind away. Back into a warm place where Lena rested on my chest and slept. Where I could breathe in her scent. Where I could feel her.
Every time new pain came I tried to return to her, until there was nothing left, and I was fading down into nothing but darkness.
CHAPTER TWELVE
________
KATALENA
Metal clattered on the floor when Gleym met me in the room I’d come to think of as the fighting ring. Smaller, sharper knives spilled from a leather bag, sliding across the floor before her hand flew out, creating a glowing set of circles on the far wall. They were a shade of violet that matched her eyes.
“What’s this?”
“I have decided you are right,” she said. “You are not strong enough to defeat a dragon, or, in reality, even wound one. Forcing you to pummel yourself into the stone trying to wound me is a foolish, useless endeavor.”
I blinked slowly. “Thank you so much for your vote of confidence.”
Gleym snorted a burst of smoke. “You have skills. It’s not an insult to tell the truth. As we’ve already noted, in order to balance the scales at all, we must think differently. I will keep training you as long as you are here, and if youcanhit me, I will commend it. There’s every chance you will have to fight a human, which would be a more even match. But we must also think outside of that.”
Inclining my head, I bent and picked up one of the smaller knives. But upon closer examination, they weren’t knives at all. Longer and thicker, squared like nails, but light, and honed to brutal sharpness on both ends. “What are they?”
“Something that will use your current skills to your advantage, with some adjustments.” The metal barb disappeared from my hand and appeared in hers. She smirked when I made a face. It was a move to show off. Clearly. “They are meant to be thrown. You may not be able to, but you could catch a dragon off guard if you are fast enough. These also have other benefits for throwing distances. Precision. Silence. Poison. Even setting off traps.”
Throwing.
Looking at the shape, it made sense.
Varíscrambled into the leather bag and came out with three of them hanging from his mouth, and dropped them at my feet. I couldn’t help but laugh when his tail wiggled and he turned a fierce shade of orange. “You like these?”
He growled, and Gleym laughed too. “He thinks they’re like him. Small, fast, and can fly.”
“Varídarts?”
The happy chirp he let out as he flew to my shoulder and rubbedhis face under my chin had me smiling in spite of everything. Even though I was glad Gleym and I had settled our differences and come to an understanding, restless frustration and anger still roamed under my skin. Grief and sadness still clung to my lungs like every breath had weight.Varí’sjoy lifted that, if only for a moment.
“You think I can throw them?”
She nodded. “Try, and I’ll see how much work it will be.”
I took my time examining the metal in my hand. It fit well there. But even though I was passable at throwing a knife, I could already see this wouldn’t be the same. A knife turned end over end in the air, and you needed to feel just how hard and at what angle to throw it for the blade to strike. These were so light that if they turned end over end, they would fall.
No, as I looked, I noticed the ever so subtle twisting of metal. These were meant to glide hard, fast, and straight. Almost like…
