Ambrose crouched down into her fighting stance, painfully aware of how far her sword was now. Too far to get it before he could attack. Either way, she wouldn’t go down easy.
“We’ll see about that.”
A grin split the man’s face in half, showing off a golden canine as his eyes pierced the darkness. “Looks like we got lucky today boys!” he called to the trees. “That’s by far the largest dragon we’ve hunted yet and wouldn’t you know it…” He pulled a dagger from his side and pointed it at her chest. “Youjust so happento have a very high bounty on your head.”
With a single twitch of his hand he sent the dagger sailing for her chest. She turned her body just in time and the blade sank into a tree behind her. Relief only hit her for a second when it flew—blade singing—right back into his outstretched palm.
A metal mage.
Rare.
And dangerous with a blade.
Chapter 27
Six mages emerged out of the cover of the trees and joined the metal mage in circling around her and the dragon. The beast roared furiously and shot its flames at one of the men closest to it, who skillfully blocked it with his own burnt orange flames. The charge that surged through the air told Ambrose that every one of the strangers was a mage in their own right, though she had no way of knowing what type.
Metal. Fire.
At least two of them had shown their hand but how was she supposed to fight all of them? The power coursing around them was unmistakably intense as each of the mages showed no fear in the face of such a monstrous creature as the dragon next to her.
“Who are you?” she asked again through clenched teeth as a muscle ticked in her jaw. Her body was beginning to go into fatigue from the amount of adrenaline it had pumped into her all night. One thing after another. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could fight.
“I told you, that’s none of your concern,” the mage countered. Pulling a second dagger from his side, he bounced one in each hand. “Your only concern is to die.”
He flung the dagger in his left hand as Ambrose shifted her weight and it flew past her shoulder, slicing the top of her skin. His movement so fast she only saw a blur of metal as she trusted her instincts and honed reflexes. However, her heart jumped into her throat as the sting on her shoulder trickled blood. The dagger embedded itself in the tree for only a moment before it went flying back to its owner.
“Kill the dragon,” he ordered the rest of them over his shoulder as he stared at her with murderous intensity. “I’ll take care of this one. That bounty is ours.”
How could she possibly have a bounty on her head? She was sanctioned by a First King to be there and was a Trial Champion. She could go where she pleased, she wasn’t committing any crimes.
“You have the wrong person.” She leveled a look on her attacker.
“White hair…” he taunted. “Amber eyes, early to mid twenties…and a servant mark that doesn’t look like a servant mark.” He pointed a dagger at her again, this time directly at the mark on her neck. “Sound familiar?”
“I’m a Trial Champion!” she demanded.
“I admit, that is a conflict, and though they gave us your description, they never did give a name.” He shrugged.
“Because you have the wrong person,” she finished for him.
Something lit up in his face. “I’d say that mark is a dead giveaway. But to be honest, I don’t really care. Right person. Wrong person. It doesn’t matter. Either way I’ll kill you and make it quick. If you’re not the one we’re looking for then I’ll just dump your body at sea and watch the sea dragons pick you clean regardless. No one will ever know the difference.” His eyes darkened. “Though, something tells me I’ve found exactly who I’m looking for.”
The dragon raged as the hunters closed in on it. The archer in the trees let arrow after arrow fly to keep it distracted while the others worked on trapping it. The roar that came from the creature was more of fury than pain as it pulled each one out of its body, spraying fire as it did so.
Ambrose realized why it hated her kind so much.
These men werevile.
“Protect the dragon! He must not fall!”Their plea filled her head the same time a dagger lodged itself into her arm. Searing pain shot down her fingers, up her arm and into her throat as she pulled it from its fleshy home.
“I’d pay attention if I were you,” the metal mage taunted her as he flung another dagger straight for her head. She ducked in time to miss it but the sting on her cheek told her just barely.
“Protect the dragon, he must not die!”the voices rang in her head and she tried to shake them from her mind.
How was she supposed to save herselfandthe dragon?
“How?”she asked. What did they expect her to do?
