Page 103 of The Spark that Ignites
“I’m sure you’ll be disappointed to hear my father has passed.” Vesper cleared his throat. “And I’m not like him.” Emmery blanched, her gaze locking on Vesper’s profile. His father did this? But he said his father was a good man. And this—
“No, it seems you are not. He would never step foot inside this cave,” the dragon said and cocked its head to the side; a predator playing with its food. “What makes you think I would offer my essence willingly?”
“Are you not Arborius, Keeper of the Holy Flame? Is it not your sworn duty to aid the children of the goddess?”
The dragon blinked. “No one has spoken that name to me in nearly a century. I fear you are brimming with false hope. That name and title were lost long ago, along with my duty.”
Vesper clenched his jaw. “We’re asking, Arborius. Not taking.”
The dragon inhaled sensually. “You smell different. Familiar. You are—” It tasted the word, “Other.” Its lips curled up in a menacing grin. “What are you, child? Are you a friend to dragons? Your familial reputation would tell me differently, Vesper Merikh.” It released a decayed breath and Emmery’s stomach clenched as she fought a losing battle to nausea.
Vesper didn’t waver. “You don’t know me.”
Arborius emitted a wicked titter like Vesper’s Kaida. “I am sure I know more than you know of yourself. I askedwhatyou are. Not who.” The dragon licked its lips. “I do believe youareShadowhearts. How ... deliciously interesting. It seems the world is righting itself again.”
“Youhave a chance to do right by the world,” Vesper pressed. “By helping us.”
“Nonsense!” Arborius growled. “You know nothing of the world and its cruelties.”
Emmery sighed. This was going nowhere. Her heart pounded, knees wobbling as she stepped out from behind Vesper. “What would it take for you to give us your essence, Arborius?”
Vesper’s head snapped toward her; his shock mixed with pride and fear.
The dragon drew a sharp breath, his gaze drinking her in, but Emmery’s stare held as he scrutinized her. “You look just like her.”
Heartbeat resounding in her ears, Emmery tilted her head. “Like ... who?”
“The Fallen star that started it all.” He chuckled, the sound unearthly. Predatory, yet overflowing with intelligence. “The beginning and the end of all things.”
Her breath caught. Arborius could only mean one person. Emmery had seen her image in that stained glass window and the statue by the Whispering Spring. The similarities were uncanny. “Goddess Kahlia? The Goddess of the Fallen?”
“Very good.” The dragon’s teeth pulled back again, blood dripping from its gums. “And do you know why I am here, Fallen Star?”
Emmery grappled for words but settled for shaking her head in response.
“A corrupt king’s orders. I have rotted here because I trusted in a man whotrickedme. Convinced me I was fighting for justice. I cannot even find solace in death knowing it will never come.” Arborius’s head tilted up and he made a pained sound.“I can still see the sky. So close and yet ... I cannot taste it. The cruellest of punishments.”
Her throat worked as he stared longingly through those deep fissures in the ceiling. “I ask again, what will it take for you to give us what we seek?”
“What we all seek in one way or another.” The dragon licked its bloody gums, a wicked gleam in its eyes. “Freedom.”
Emmery opened her mouth to reply but Vesper wrapped his hand around her bicep and yanked her back. “We can’t,” he hissed.
“That is my price.” Arborius reared his head, laughing again. Perhaps he was more than a little mad after being trapped for so long. “Everything has its price.”
“How do I know you aren’t lying?” Emmery pressed, struggling from Vesper’s hold. “How do I know that you didn’t kill these people for your own sick pleasure?”
“Dragons cannot lie, Fallen Star.”
Emmery glanced back at Vesper. “Is it true?”
“Yes.” Vesper’s jaw clenched. “But, Emmery, we can’t free him. The barrier is connected to those chains. If we do, the whole thing will break down.”
Her teeth ground together as she asked, “Well then what are we supposed to do? Were you going to steal it from him? Take it unwillingly? That’s wrong, Vesper. I won’t molest this poor creature. And we can’t leave him trapped like this.”
“It’s—” He grappled for words. “There’s no other way.”
She shivered, imagining him tapping into a vein as the dragon roared in pain. “No,” she snapped. “There has to be some other way.”
