The Fiery Crown Cycle: A Dragon's Rebirth

Chapter 60

Inside the dragon's lair, Aiden's heavy eyelids peeled back, his nictitating membranes retracting. He pushed himself up, his four massive claws bearing the weight of his draconic form.

CRUNCH… CRUNCH…

The sound of methodical chewing came from ahead. A blue silhouette had its back to him. Azure. Has she not slept at all?

Aiden took a step forward. And then another. The weight on his back suddenly lessened as a sleeping Bianca rolled off him and onto the stone floor with a soft thump.

Scrabble… scrape…

At the sound of his approach, the chewing stopped. The blue dragon's head, stained with blood from its meal, lifted and turned. A pair of intense blue eyes met his. It was Azure.

Aiden padded closer, his gaze falling to the mangled carcass on the floor. The Aridfell was torn to shreds, more than half of it already consumed. His red eyes then met Azure's blue ones. Something was different. The calm, placid depths of her pupils, usually as still as a frozen sea, now held a flicker of something new.

Anxiety.

“You… you didn't sleep?” he asked.

Azure nodded once, a curt, definitive motion.

“You were searching the Heritage all this time, weren't you? Did you find a way to escape this plane?”

“I did,” she said, her voice raspy from disuse. “But they are not suited to our current state.”

“Tell me.”

Azure lowered her head and tore another chunk of flesh from the Aridfell. CRACK. Bone shattered between her teeth. As she chewed, she spoke.

“The first method is to find a thin place in the fabric of this world, a planar seam. When the seam becomes unstable, we could slip through and escape.”

She swallowed.

“The second method is to find the will of the plane…” Her blue eyes were suddenly filled with a terrifying, predatory light. “…and slaughter it.”

Aiden ignored the savagery that had momentarily consumed her gaze. The first method was plausible, if dependent on immense luck. The second was pure suicide.

The will of a plane was a being of at least nine stars of power. The will of a main plane, like Aethelgard, had already entered the Sequence. A being of the Sequence Tier could extinguish a ten-star entity as easily as snuffing out a candle.

“Are you serious?” Aiden asked, his voice flat.

The ferocity in Azure's eyes vanished, replaced by her usual placid calm. “I was joking.”

“It wasn't a funny joke,” Aiden rumbled. “Let's change the subject. Can the next life sacrifice be predicted?”

Azure leaned her head closer to his, tearing a massive bite of meat and bone from the carcass. “It can be gauged by the rank of the magical beasts,” she said through a mouthful of food. “If five-star magical beasts become numerous, it means the harvest season is approaching for the plane's will.”

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Five stars? Aiden's own chewing paused. He hadn't explored much of this desert, but he had already encountered two creatures of that magnitude. The Sand-Wyrm in the cacti forest, and the other great beast that had been drawn by the scent of the Skyrazor hunt. He hadn't seen its full form, but the aura of power it radiated had been unmistakably five stars.

The situation was not merely bad; it was dire. Five-star magical beasts were already dense in this region. The plane might already meet the conditions for the sacrifice. No. I have to hunt. I have to gather magic crystals and accelerate my growth.

Aiden lifted his head, his gaze locking with Azure's deep blue eyes. “Go wake Bianca.”

“Mm,” Azure grunted in assent. She turned and padded over to the still-slumbering white dragon. Without ceremony, she lifted her right foreclaw and brought it down in a sharp slap.

AOW!

The white wyrmling shot into the air as if struck by lightning, landing with a clatter. Bianca's eyes blinked open, seeing only a blue shape in front of her. There was no red. Her pupils narrowed, and the sleepiness in them was instantly replaced by fury.

“AZURE—!”

FWOOSH!

A torrent of red dragonfire erupted from above them, spewing into the cave and striking the black rock wall. The stone didn't just scorch; it began to melt and run like wax. The wave of heat was immense, but all Bianca felt was a chilling dread. If that fire had touched her… she would be dead. Absolutely dead.

“Do not do anything unnecessary,” Aiden's voice boomed, cold and hard. “Come here and eat.”

His warning delivered, Aiden turned his attention to the food cache. The rubble sealing it had already been pushed aside. His long, sinuous red tail whipped into the darkness of the opening. He felt it pierce something solid. He yanked his tail back, dragging a frozen, rock-hard Aridfell corpse out with it. With a powerful flick, he sent the carcass skidding across the cavern floor.

His tail aimed, then blurred, striking into the cave again like a red phantom. He pulled it back, another frozen Aridfell tumbling out.

Bianca, thoroughly cowed, scrambled over and began to eat without a word of protest. The Aiden of today was different. A primal instinct told her not to defy him.

Azure joined her, and for the next half hour, the only sound in the cave was the rhythmic crunching and tearing of their feast. Soon, nothing remained of the two carcasses but a few scattered bones.

Aiden licked the blood from the edges of his maw. He was about seventy percent full. It was enough. Eating to satiety only made one sluggish.

Bian Bianca, however, pushed herself up and began to shamble toward the food cache for a third helping. The corner of Aiden's eye caught the movement. He lunged, grabbing her swaying white tail in both of his foreclaws. She spun around, her bright, slitted pupils wide with feigned innocence.

Aow?

“You are not to eat anymore,” Aiden stated. “You're coming with me to hunt.”

“Aow! No! Let me go, I'm not full! This isn't fair!”

Ignoring her protests, Aiden stood up on his hind legs and began dragging her by the tail toward the cave entrance. Bianca dug her claws into the stone floor, but it was useless. The gouges she carved did nothing to slow his inexorable advance.

Azure understood his intent. He meant to hunt, to grow stronger as quickly as possible to face the coming life sacrifice. Under the circumstances, it was their best—their only—option.

Reaching the exit, Aiden swung the flailing Bianca around once and, with a grunt of effort, hurled her out into the open sky. She tumbled through the air before frantically unfurling her wings to stabilize herself.

Aiden's maw split into a snarl, ruby flames leaking from between his teeth. Seeing this, Bianca, who had been about to charge back in defiance, froze in mid-air. A misty film welled up in her white eyes. She looked utterly aggrieved.

Aiden felt a flicker of familiarity. This was the second time he had thrown her out of the lair. He ignored her attempt to play cute. Spreading his own wings, he launched himself into the sky and hovered before her.

His red eyes bored into hers. “You two will follow me. If you dare to fall behind,” he said, his gaze locked on Bianca, “I will break your wings.”

The threat was pointedly, nakedly for her. Bianca knew it. Hmph! Vile, hateful Aiden! She turned her head away, refusing to meet his eyes.

Aiden flapped his wings, rocketing forward into the vast desert sky. Azure, without a moment's hesitation, followed in his wake. His decision was the correct one.

Soon, only Bianca remained.

She glanced back at the dark, yawning mouth of the cave. Then she looked at the two distant figures, already shrinking into the haze. A strange, heavy feeling washed over her. Her heart, usually so light, seemed to beat slower, heavier in her chest.

She flapped her wings. Fine. I'll follow. I don't want my wings broken.

That's the only reason! she thought to herself, a fierce denial rising within her. It's definitely not because I'm afraid of the dark!