Both were so close; I could taste them.
My army of Winged Soldiers flew steadily behind me. The sound of their wings beating against the air was incredibly satisfying as we moved toward the mountain.
I roared again, and this time, the green dragon beat his wings. He lifted off the ground, the sun catching on his horns as he rose. Trees shook, their leaves rattling, as he flew at me.
The other dragon bellowed, lighting up the afternoon sky with a burst of fire and smoke.
Though he was large, his movements weren’t threatening. I could feel him poking at my mental barrier, attempting to speak with me. It had been decades since I’d had another dragon try to speak to me mind-to-mind, and I wasn’t about to start today.
I shook my head, blocking him out. The persistent dragon tried again. Each prod was more desperate than the last. The draken that lived within me narrowed its eyes. Like a predator locking in on its prey, the beast reared our head.
Killthat one first,it commanded.The rest will not stand a chance once he is gone.
Perhaps at one point in my life, I might have felt something akin to remorse for the green dragon. Perhaps at one point, I would have cared that we were the only two of our kind left in the Four Kingdoms. But remorse had no place within me.
There was only room for one dragon on this continent. One queen.
Me.
Gladly, I replied.
Swooping down toward the dragon, I extended my talons. He flew in my direction, trying to speak to me. I ignored him, flying steadily. I made out the gold of his eyes as he stared at me, unblinking.
For a moment, there was nothing at all but the wind blowing past us.
Then the moment shattered, and we crashed in a tangle of wings and limbs. Teeth gnashed. Talons tore into scales. Flesh seared. Fire burned. One of the elves screamed. The dragon roared.
Flicking my tail, I slammed into his flank. He bellowed, flying back as his golden eye blinked slowly. Crimson blood dripped down his side, staining his scales and matching the red on his own talons.
I glanced over, noticing for the first time a tear in my wing.
A strange mewling sound came from the green dragon. It was so utterly undragonlike that it made me sick. The fool was still trying to talk to him. Ridiculous. I was not his sister anymore. I did not care for him.
Teach him a lesson,the beast urged.Kill him. Kill them all.
That was exactly what I intended to do.
I reared back, my wings flapping steadily despite the searing pain in my wing, and I gathered fire from deep within me.
I was the Dragon Queen, and no one would keep me from my prize.
Silence and Death
XANDER
Saena was here.
She was flying at us, approaching at break-neck speeds. Not only that, but she was traveling with an army. Handing the Gilded Amulet to Aileana, I pulled off my trousers, and I shifted. Agonizing, searing pain ran through my body as my bones broke, remaking themselves in my dragon form. The moment was the beast was free; I launched off the ground, flapping my wings as I propelled myself at the fire-breathing blue draken that was my sister.
Seeing Saena like this was like someone was stomping on my heart, shattering it into a million pieces. Violence radiated off her, echoed by the Winged Soldiers who flew in her wake.
It wouldn’t be long before they attacked.
Saena!I pushed at her mental barriers, attempting to force her to hear me. It had been years since I’d spoken to another dragon in this way, but it should have worked.
I tried again and again. Each time, there was no reply. It was as though she was purposefully shutting me out.
Saena’s wings beat steadily against the air and there was a glint in her ice-blue eyes that I had never before seen. It spoke of silence and death.