The Fiery Crown Cycle: A Dragon's Rebirth

Chapter 19

Bianca’s gaze remained locked on the Aridfell below, the light in her slitted pupils burning with an obsessive fire.

Seeing the stubborn set of her jaw, Azure’s voice was a low, placating rumble. “Listen to me. We will shadow them. We will find their den.” She paused, letting the words sink in. “When Aiden awakens, we will return. We will have our revenge. This entire pack is nothing more than meat for our larder. Aiden will agree.”

Azure fell silent, watching her sister.

Below, the pack had descended upon their kill. Most were tearing into the camel carcass, but a few had turned on the corpse of their fallen packmate, ripping away chunks of flesh with savage hunger.

At the sight of such base cannibalism, twin plumes of frost hissed from Bianca's nostrils. Vile things. Filthy, inferior things! The rage that burned in her wasn't for the lost meal, but for the profound violation of her draconic dignity. That such creatures dared to feast in her presence—on her kill, on their own kind—was an unforgivable desecration.

But Azure is right. There are too many.

The thought was a bitter pill. With a final, agonizing struggle against her own pride, Bianca accepted the logic. With a sharp, resentful beat of her wings, she ascended, climbing away from the scene of her humiliation.

Azure watched her go, a flicker of something unreadable in her cool, blue eyes. Impulsive, arrogant, and thick-skulled to a fault, but not entirely deaf to reason, it seems.

Her own gaze drifted back down to the feasting pack, her pupils narrowing. A cold promise formed in her mind. Feast while you can, vermin. Enjoy what little time you have left. With a silent, powerful grace, she banked and followed Bianca into the higher altitudes.

From the sky, they watched as one Aridfell, an alpha nearly twice the size of its kin, lifted its blood-soaked head, scenting the air. The draconic presence was gone.

With a guttural bark, the alpha summoned its sentries, who had been watching the skies, to the feast. They fell upon the camel's skeleton with ravenous glee while two others took their place, their heads swiveling, guarding the perimeter.

…

High above, concealed within the wispy embrace of a cloud, two wyrmlings lay in wait. From this vantage point, the Aridfell were mere specks of black against the pale sand, yet to the dragons' superlative vision, every detail was clear.

Azure cast a sidelong glance at Bianca. The white wyrmling was sprawled on the cloud-stuff as if it were solid ground, wings outspread, her entire being focused on the creatures below. A perfect, unwavering embodiment of vengeful obsession. She has inherited the worst of the Chromatic legacy, Azure mused with a touch of dry irony.

Ignoring Bianca’s fixation, Azure settled down, letting her own senses drift, keeping only a fraction of her attention on the pack below.

They watched as the Aridfell, their hunger sated for the moment, began to hunt again. For hours they harried the creatures of the cactus forest, finally bringing down another camel. But this time, they did not eat. They worked with a grim efficiency, dismembering the carcass and shouldering the bloody portions.

They are returning to their den. The realization sent a jolt of fierce anticipation through Bianca.

“Azure~”

There was no reply. Bianca turned, an impatient retort on her tongue, only to find her sister lying perfectly still. Azure’s wings were spread for balance, her eyes closed.

She’s asleep.

The unfairness of it struck Bianca like a physical blow. She had been staring herself cross-eyed for hours, nursing her wounded pride, while Azure was napping!

An old grievance surfaced, followed by a wicked idea. Azure and Aiden are always swatting me when I fall asleep. An eye for an eye… a claw for a claw.

A predatory gleam entered her white eyes. Slowly, meticulously, she lifted one foreclaw, positioning it perfectly above Azure’s blue-scaled head. She savored the moment, then brought it down in a swift, satisfying smack.

Deep within a draconic trance, sorting through the vast archives of the Dragon’s Heritage, Azure felt a jarring impact. An attack!

Her eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was Bianca. A quick scan of their surroundings revealed nothing—no enemies, no threats. Which meant the source of the attack was the grinning idiot right in front of her.

She stared at Bianca, her blue eyes devoid of any emotion.

“Azure! You’re awake! That’s great!” Bianca trilled, her voice a little too loud.

“Did you hit me?” Azure’s voice was dangerously calm.

“The Aridfell! Down on the ground! They’re moving back to their den!”

Azure’s placid gaze did not waver. “Did you hit me?”

“Ahaha, well, I had to wake you somehow, didn’t I?” Bianca laughed nervously, turning her head away, unable to meet her sister’s gaze.

“So you did hit me.”

“Those lesser things are getting away! I’m going to follow them!” Bianca declared, flapping her wings and hastily launching herself from the cloud.

Azure watched the retreating white form, her pupils contracting to razor-thin slits. Her maw opened just a fraction, and a tiny, almost invisible shard of ice shot forth, faster than a stone from a sling.

Flying through the cool evening air, Bianca felt a sudden, sharp chill on her back. Strange. Why would I feel cold? She was a white dragon, a master of frost and water.

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She glanced at the setting sun, its rays turning the desert crimson. The temperature must be dropping. That must be it. Shrugging off the odd sensation, she refocused on the pack trotting across the sands below.

The twenty Aridfell ran in a tight formation, their haste betraying their poor night vision. They needed to reach their lair before true darkness fell. They never looked up.

Bianca followed them brazenly, her hunter's instinct flaring. They seemed so… preoccupied. She descended, testing their awareness. No reaction. She dropped lower still, to three hundred yards. They just kept running, heads down, focused on the path ahead.

A dangerous glint lit Bianca's eyes.

At the head of the pack, the alpha's short, tufted ears twitched. It subtly slowed its pace, allowing the others to draw slightly ahead.

Higher up, Azure had caught up and saw Bianca’s slow, predatory descent. Is she actually trying to pick one off? Azure’s eyes narrowed as she noted the alpha’s change in speed. It knows. She’s been spotted.

A faint, cruel smile played across the blue wyrmling’s maw. This should be entertaining. They won't stop for a single straggler, so there's no real danger. Let her learn.

At a hundred yards, Bianca chose her target—the last Aridfell in the line—and dove.

She folded her wings, a white streak of vengeance plummeting towards her unsuspecting prey. Just as her claws were about to find their mark, a blur of black muscle erupted from the side. The Aridfell alpha launched itself into the air, slamming into Bianca with the force of a thrown boulder.

The wyrmling was hopelessly outmatched in weight and momentum. For the second time that day, Bianca found herself crashing.

She hit the ground hard, shattering a towering cactus into a shower of green pulp. Her body tumbled end over end through the sand, carving a sixty-yard trench of chaos before finally skidding to a humiliating, undignified halt.

----------

The Aridfell chieftain, having sent the white wyrmling tumbling from the sky, did not press its advantage. Its red eyes remained locked on the spot where the magical beast had crashed, but its body was already inching backward. With a quick glance over its shoulder, it saw that its pack was already a good distance away.

Without a shred of hesitation, the chieftain spun around and galloped after them.

On the sand, a whirlwind of dust, scale, and flailing limbs resolved itself as Bianca struggled back to her feet. Her eyes, burning with shame and fury, darted toward the fleeing pack. They were already distant specks on the horizon.

AOWWW! she howled, a sound thick with impotent rage and bitter disappointment. Damned Aridfell!

“Forget them, they're getting away,” a voice drifted down from above. “I'm going on ahead.”

Bianca tilted her head back. Azure was hovering in the sky, a large chunk of green cactus held neatly in her claws. She took a leisurely bite as she watched. She's eating cactus again…

Bianca snorted, refusing to acknowledge her. She spread her white wings and, with a powerful downbeat, launched herself in pursuit of the Aridfell.

Azure watched her go. Is she… sulking? she wondered. She took another bite of the cactus. Sweet. The taste is exquisite. With a sigh, she spread her own wings and followed the white speck in the distance.

They tailed the pack for another half an hour. The sun dipped below the horizon, and the first true shadows of night began to stretch across the land. Below, the Aridfell finally came to a halt before a large cave at the foot of a mountain.

As the hunting party arrived, a flood of smaller Aridfell poured from the den's mouth—perfect miniatures of the adults. The hunters dropped the camel meat they carried, and the pups descended upon it in a writhing, snapping frenzy.

Even among the young, a clear hierarchy was visible. A few pups, noticeably larger than their littermates, dominated the best pieces of meat. When a smaller Aridfell found a good spot, a larger one would shove it aside without ceremony. The displaced pup would try to push back, but it was useless against the brute force of its sibling. This cycle of bullying repeated itself across the feast, while the adult Aridfell looked on with cold indifference. From the day their growth had fallen behind, the smaller pups were doomed to be left behind.

High above, Azure decided their mission was complete. It was time to return. Her gaze, however, shifted to Bianca. The white dragon was staring down at the scene with an unnerving intensity. Azure knew she had to intervene before Bianca's pride got the better of her again.

“We have the location. Let's go back.” Her voice was firm. “And if you're thinking of attacking, remember their chieftain is watching you. If you go down there, you might not come back up.”

The Aridfell leader had not taken its eyes off the sky since it arrived, its vigilance a palpable threat. Bianca wanted to argue, but the logic was, once again, undeniable. A descent into that den would be her last.

She sighed, a sound of pure frustration. “Hmph.” With another aggrieved snort, she turned and began to climb higher, leaving the den behind.

Azure watched her go before taking one last, satisfying bite of her cactus. Truly delicious. Then, with a leisurely beat of her blue wings, she set off after the retreating white dragon.

She flew for some time, enjoying her snack, when she noticed that Bianca had slowed considerably. The distance between them was closing rapidly. Azure narrowed her eyes. What great undertaking is she planning now?

Soon, she was flying parallel to the white wyrmling.

“Why have you slowed?” Azure asked directly. “Have you spotted something?”

“I…” Bianca began, then hesitated. She felt a surge of shame, but immediately crushed it. Shame is a weak emotion, fit only for lesser races. A dragon fears nothing.

That thought bolstered her. The light in her white pupils shone with renewed conviction. She lifted her head high, a picture of draconic arrogance.

“I do not recall the way back,” she declared. “Azure, you will fly in front. I shall follow you.”

Azure stared. For a moment, she was speechless. Is she… proud of being lost? This fool is so stupid it's almost endearing.

She decided not to engage. Arguing with Bianca would only lower her own intellect. With a deep, internal sigh, Azure composed herself.

“Then follow me.”

Bianca grunted, falling into formation behind her.

*****

Within the human Empire, a new day began not with the sun, but with the familiar, crude banging on a bedroom door.

“Isolde! Get up now and water the garden!” her Aunt Nerys's sharp voice cut through the wood.

Isolde sat up on her thin mattress and looked toward the door. “I know, Aunt Nerys.”

“You'd best be quick about it, or you'll get no meals today!” came the inevitable threat.

She kicked off the threadbare blanket. There was no such luxury as sleepwear; she simply pulled her academy uniform on over the clothes she'd slept in, slid the white, over-the-knee stockings up her legs, then slipped on her shoes. There was no mirror in her room, and even if there were, Isolde was in no mood to look at her reflection. She had to hurry.

Sliding the wooden bolt, she opened the door and made her way downstairs. In the main room, her aunt was cooing over her cousin Lorcan, coaxing him into his clothes. Isolde glanced at them once, then quickly looked away, heading straight for the courtyard to wash.

Clank… Splash.

The bucket hit the bottom of the well. As she began to turn the creaking windlass, her eyes drifted to the old tree that dominated the yard. A carpet of yellow leaves covered the ground beneath it.

Winter is coming again. Isolde hated winter.

The heavy bucket finally reached the top. With a grunt of effort, the small girl wrestled it over the stone lip and onto the ground. She dipped her hands in. The water was cold.

No time to waste. Aunt Nerys will be angry.

Isolde scooped up the frigid water and splashed it directly onto her face. It was shockingly cold, a jolt that chased away the last remnants of sleep. After washing her face, she wiped it with the back of her hand and picked up her toothbrush, its bristles worn and splayed. She wet it in the bucket and began to brush.

As she did, a familiar, intense heat bloomed on the back of her right hand.

It's happening again.

She stopped, lowering her hand. There, on her skin, a sigil was glowing with a soft, crimson light. It was a complex design: a perfect pentagram contained within two concentric rings. The space between the rings was filled with intricate magical runes, which seemed to flow and writhe like living things.

Isolde stared at the mark, her expression unreadable.

I have to ask Ms. Solana about this.