Page 42 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
Was it Zion? Zariah? I didn’t care which; I just wanted them both to be safe!
“Zion! Zariah!”
I raced toward the dragon covered in a thick layer of ash like I was, wanting nothing more than to feel his scales heat my cold, blistered fingers.
The dragon had its head buried into the ground rubbing its snout and face furiously against the ground in an effort to clear ash and soot from its eyes.
“Let me—”
I reached and the dragon lunged, fangs bared. Grim realization shot through me as I realized the truth too late: this wasn’t my dragon. It was the queen.
A hand seized my collar and yanked me backwards, just out of reach of the queen’s fangs. I spun around to see the portly baker, covered in ash but his eyes wide in fear at seeing a dragon up close and personal.
“H-here, dragon tamer,” he whispered, withdrawing a small knife from his pocket. I took with plunging hope. It was a toothpick of annoyance compared to a dragon’s tough scales.
“Thanks,” I said anyway. “Now get away.”
I didn’t want him to see me get torn limb from limb, after all. The man scurried away, disappearing quickly in the debris cloud. He could have stopped ten feet away and I wouldn’t have known with how thick and polluted the air was.
The dragon huffed as I wielded the pathetic knife against her, smoke curling out from her mouth. She swiped her claws at me and easily knocked the blade from my hands, sending it skittering away and lost in the void of dust.
Well done, Mari.
The queen pounced and I tripped, falling on my back and raising my arms protectively over my face. Instinctively, I lashed out with the only thing I had left: my fingernails. I scoured her nose and eyes as best I could, taking brief satisfaction in her squeal of pain as she reared back, not expecting me to fight back with my own hands.
The dragon stomped and huffed backward, frantically rubbing her eyes with the backside of her arms. Blood streaked down her cheeks, and I smiled.
Take that, bitch.
She stalked forward again, and I raised my hands threateningly. She stumbled as if wounded or drunk. I watched in confusion as her massive body slammed to the ground, her crown from earlier detaching from where it had been lodged between her ears and rolling across the ground and coming to rest at my feet.
Slowly, torturously, she shifted back into her human form. Inch by inch, smooth human flesh replaced hard, silver scales. Her fangs retracted back into her gums, and her black, deadly claws became harmless human nails once more.
Well, not harmless. Look what I’d done with mine.
My mind whirled, confused at how I’d beaten her with so little effort. The memory of our deal in the palace came back to me, her snug voice echoing in my mind.
“Is the fight to the death, then?” I had asked, standing in front of her throne in my battle clothes.
The queen tittered, trying to sound like a bird. To me, she sounded like a cawing crow. “How barbaric. First blood will suffice.”
First blood. Firstblood.
Laughter bubbled from my lips, because it was so utterly simple. All this time, all either of us had to do was draw blood from the other? Grimly, I mentally thanked the queen for slamming me into the wall the other day, and not ripping me open with her claws. Hell, all she’d needed to do was scratch my pinky.
It didn’t matter now.
“And if I win?”
A slow, sick smile spread across her face, as though such a thing were laughable. “I suppose I’d have to relinquish my crown if such a thing were to happen.”
I stared at the crown at my feet. It was mostly covered in ash now, like everything else, but parts of it still glittered despite the heavy smog in the air. I let it lay and raced past her, unable to spare her any more concern when Zariah and Zion were silent in my head.
The repercussions of this would be dealt with later.
Zion! Zariah!
I couldn’t see more than five feet or so in front of me, and everything was covered in an ashy haze. The ash clung to my hair, my clothes, and my lungs with every breath I took. As I neared the destroyed wall, I was forced to slow down and carefully pick my way through the mess and debris.
