Page 28 of Dragon Throne: Part One

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“What do you want to talk about?” I barked when Venom landed in the Woodlands, taking us only far enough for everyone else to be safe from the Warlock King.

“This is your preferred spot for our conversation?” Raithian replied, disgusted by the lack of finesse. “Surrounded by dirt. Nowhere to sit. No drinks?”

“Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you may have a drinking problem,” I retorted, jumping off Venom, and onto his wing to land on the grass. Not wanting to give the bastard my back for a moment, I turned to face him, seeing the green smoke reappear and leave him standing across from me.

Venom hissed at him the second he was off his back, double tongues flicking out in warning, like a serpent’s. The crackling of his lightning rushed over his scales, illuminating the fin-looking things along his neck and on the sides of his face.

“Well, he really doesn’t like me, does he?”

“I guess the question should be, is there anyone who actually likes you?”

Chuckles escaped Raithian, and to my surprise, he removed the demon mask to reveal a cynical smirk… as well as three ragged, angry red scars along the left side of his head and face. The sight of it was sickening, causing my gut to tighten in repulsion. I had done that to him.

“I was married once,” he confessed, walking towards a fallen tree—forced down by our sudden lading. “It was a marriage of convenience, you see, so I cannot particularly say that she was fond of me,” he clarified, sitting on the large trunk, and extending his cloak behind him as though he was sitting on a royal bench. “She was offered to me by one of the few noble families left back then, to appease my wrath, I suppose.” He shrugged. “She served me well enough… until I siphoned her magic and killed her.”

My hands fisted at the detached way with which he spoke of abusing and murdering my grandmother. As though she had been nothing but an old pair of shoes that he got rid of after getting enough use out of them.

“No heirs?” I asked, both insulted and curious to what he would say.

“None worthy of life.”

Electrifying energy rushed through me, his words fueling my anger, and the loud crackling of growing lightning reverberated around us. My hatred fueled Venom’s in return. The threads of energy concentrated on his fin-looking appendages, and they stood on end as he lifted his head like a cobra about to strike.

“Calm down…”I sent to Venom, lifting a hand to him, but it was too late, and he was wild after all.

Deadly lightning burst from his mouth, flying straight towards Raithian.

His staff shot upwards the next second, intercepting the bolt before it could electrocute him, and the sphere illuminated instantly, becoming almost blinding. The glow lit the entire area before dimming to a dull, throbbing radiance.

It had absorbed the energy.

Holy shit.

Raithian had actually siphoned Venom’s lightning bolt as though it was nothing.

“Thank you for revitalizing me,” he offered to the chartreuse Dragon, unbothered by the attack.

That only enraged Venom further, and he rose on his hind legs, his energy coursing through me almost unbearably as his entire body filled with threads of scorching light. He was going to blast us both at this rate.

“Venom, calm down!” I ordered out loud, the breath lodging in my chest from the pressure of his swirling power. “Stop!” I shouted again when his jaws opened, and his head snapped towards me, nearly white eyes glowing gold briefly when we connected.

“Astonishing!” Raithian breathed, standing, and eerily floating to my side.

Before Venom could respond to my request of his own free will, a green light captured his irises. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he crashed onto the ground, his crackling energy receding. I stumbled backwards when the earth shook beneath my feet, resembling an earthquake and jolting the trees around us too.

I saw red.

“Do not touch my Dragon!” I yelled, rushing Raithian and slamming him against the tree behind him. “Do you understand?” I seethed, blood boiling in my veins as I pressed my forearm against his neck.

He didn’t even try to get me off him. Instead, amusement filtered into his observant expression. “So young and impetuous. I fear that temper of yours will be your downfall sooner rather than later. It might even get youkilled.”

His warning was clear, and a sliver of fear mixed with my anger. The extent of his magic was more than I could even imagine, and the memory of what he had done to Evie and our Legion was still fresh… I may have magic too, but I had no clue how to use it. I couldn’t fight that kind of power, not yet.

Stepping away from him, I forced a couple of breaths down my lungs, attempting to calm myself.

“YourDragon?” he asked, like I hadn’t just tackled him against a fucking tree, and I instantly realized my mistake.

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