Infinity

“Allie!” I jerked my head down and over to see my father and his men racing into the clearing, Rhys and some of his men behind them.

“We’ve got men surrounding the palace,” Rhys said as he slid to a stop beside me.

There was a dull thwack and then the loud scream of an animal in pain. I turned away from him to see Mercedes still on the ground, another arrow in her bow as a large, red, snake-style dragon crumpled in midair, twisting so that he was facing upward and curling in on himself as he crashed down somewhere in the night.

“Woodsmen!” John snapped. “The dryad appears to have the first kill. Do you intend to let her do this single-handed or do you intend to help?”

Seven men hurried forward, slinging their own bows off their back and hurriedly loading them with arrows before lifting the weapons up and loosing arrows into the sky.

Rhys’s men started to circle the rest of the aerie, their swords drawn. “What’s your plan?” Rhys asked.

“We stay back and try to stay out of the way. If something comes down, and it’s not one of our dragons”—I swallowed—“kill it.”

“We can do that,” Rhys said as he pulled his own sword. “Why don’t you find somewhere safe to hide?”

“When have you ever known me to hide?” I asked. “Besides, this is my castle. I’m not going to run away while a bunch of flying lizards trash the place.”

“No, because running and hiding would have been the sensible things for a queen to do.”

“Oh, shut up, Sullivan. Before I decide to behead you or something.”

Instead of answering, he put his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle that pierced the night. I heard another loud cry after that, this one more of a squawk than a roar as Balmeer—Rhys’s pet roc—flew into the clearing and then landed heavily on his shoulder, his sharp, knifelike talons curling into Rhys shoulder. “If one of those lizards land,” I heard Rhys say quietly to the bird, “do whatever it takes to kill it.”

The heavy, three-foot-tall bird let out a soft cooing sound and shifted on Rhys’s shoulder, Balmeer’s eyes dark and his wings tensed. The roc lifted his head, watching the sky above like he was just waiting for something to fall into his new hunting area.

I heard the stinging slap of Mercedes’s and the Woodsmen’s bows all releasing at the same time and then the sharp shriek of the dragons in the air howling in pain.

“Mercedes got another one,” Kitsuna said. We both watched the bright blue dragon above tearing at its own wing with its teeth, trying to pull the arrow free as it tumbled, end over end, toward us.

“Balmeer,” Rhys said sharply. The bird instantly launched itself upward with a battle cry of sorts.

“Watch out,” one of the soldiers said in warning. “It’s going to land close.”

Close, I thought to myself as the blue dragon Mercedes had wounded crashed into the clearing, was definitely the word for it.

The animal let out a low moan as it hit the dirt, and I felt my entire body trembling as the creature let out a long, low hiss before rolling onto its stomach, struggling to get to its feet.

The dragon lifted his head, but before it could move, Balmeer dropped from the sky in a graceful, predatory dive, his beak aimed straight for the other creature’s eyes. The dragon brought its one good wing up to swipe at the roc, and Balmeer dodged it at the last second, pulling himself away and aiming his claws at the dragon’s back. He raked his talons across the creature’s spine.

The dragon roared, throwing his head back and letting out a huge burst of fire, trying to incinerate the roc before he could do any more damage. But Balmeer shifted to the side, still flying low, and came in again, his claws ripping into the dragon’s good wing before he climbed the sky again, preparing for another strike.

The dragon, angry and in pain, managed to rear itself up on its back legs and let out another roar, this one loud enough that I could feel the stones of the aerie shake. The dragon beat its wings together as if trying to fight people off by waving in front of its face and hoping that no one would be able to touch them. Usually, for humans, it wasn’t a very good self-defense tactic, but when you’re the size of a dragon, it could shift a fight in your favor pretty easily.

Another arrow flew into the dragon’s side, and the creature lifted his head again, roaring in pain. The dragon extended one wing, making contact with the smaller roc and throwing him across the clearing before dropping back down onto all four legs. The dragon turned toward the archers who still peppered his thick hide with arrows, the ends sticking out of his side like bristles on a hairbrush.

The dragon took one lumbering step toward us, then another, his movements shaky and his head bobbing back in forth like he was trying to keep his balance. The creature roared again and took another step forward, not giving the archers enough room to take their shot before they had to flee.

“Men,” Rhys said. We all tightened our grips on our swords, ready to fight.

The dragon turned his head toward the sound and changed course, now moving toward the aerie and the men guarding it. Heading straight for us, in fact. A low hissing sound came from its mouth as it weaved from side to side.

“For Nerissette and the Golden Rose!” Dravak screeched as he ran forward, putting himself between me and the creature before his shape began to waver, shifting in the dim light from human to that of a small red dragon, without even the slightest bit of a moan from the child.

“Dravak!” I lunged toward him, but Kitsuna grabbed my hand, pulling me back.

“Let him handle it,” she snapped. “If you get in the middle of a fight between dragons, you’ll get stomped on. Besides, we need to stay back in case they bring anything else down.”

The blue dragon stood on his hind legs, roaring at Dravak, and the tinier, much younger dragon lifted himself higher, roaring in return and beating his wings together in a full-fledged, teenage-boy temper tantrum. Instead of dropping back down though, Dravak let his wings lift him, bringing him forward in what looked like a giant hop as he spread his wings and beat them against the blue dragon’s head, distracting him enough for Dravak to press the advantage. He gave the dragon what looked like a reptilian equivalent of a football tackle.

The young red dragon pulled himself off his opponent and spread his wings before throwing his entire body into the attack. There was a crack like a gunshot and then a wet, sickening sound that made my stomach turn.

Chapter Ten

There was a loud roar in the night and the sound of yelling from the Woodsmen before I heard the sharp snap of arrows being shot. Then the night went silent again.

I shivered and tried to convince myself that this wasn’t real. It was all some sort of dream. I was home, at Gran Mosely’s, and this was all just a really bad dream brought on by reading one too many fantasy novels or a late-night showing of Lord of the Rings on television. None of this was real. None of this could be—

There was another loud roar, farther away this time, and I opened my eyes to see Dravak with the other dragon’s head clutched in his teeth. My stomach lurched, and I tried my best not to gag as the enemy’s head began to shimmer, reverting back to its—his—human shape.

The frilly black crest that Dravak had been holding gently in his teeth turned to a long, silky, black topknot. The long snout pushed back in, returning to a thick, fleshy face the color of brown, dried grass with heavy black eyebrows that seemed to crawl across his face like caterpillars.

“Good,” I said as my knees start to shake at the sight of the young dragon with his opponent’s head in his mouth. Right now he needed me to be brave. No matter how much looking at a dead guy’s head made me want to throw up. “Very good job, Dravak. I’m proud of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

“My queen.” One of the young soldiers standing near me stepped forward and grabbed my hand, stopping me from making my escape into the dark.

Instead of pulling away, I turned and dropped my head, vomiting all over the toes of what I’m pretty sure were exceptionally shiny black boots. My stomach clenched, and I was sick again. But this time the soldier was fast enough to step aside, saving his feet.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and I could smell both Kitsuna and Rhys behind me, her holding me