Kozu stopped circling. Asha’s heart beat loud and sluggish in her ears. Kozu hissed again, but didn’t strike.
Three steps. That’s all it would take to plunge her axe into his chest. Three steps.
This was her chance.
Asha lunged.
Right before impact, a shadow darted between them, intercepting Asha’s killing blow. Her axe edge hit horns instead of flesh and something growled low—but it wasn’t Kozu. Asha found herself staring up into pale slitted eyes. Two of them.
She stumbled away.
A second dragon?
The shadow hissed and forced her backward, keeping her from Kozu. Through the darkness, Asha saw its forked tail lashing angrily back and forth.
Red-hot rage flowed through her veins. How dare it come between her and her prey!
Her grip tightened on her axe, but she felt light-headed. Theground dipped and rose. Asha looked down. The right side of her body glistened in the darkness.
The quick, chattering sound of dragon speech echoed through the night. They were talking to each other, Kozu and this shadow dragon. Planning their next move.
Quickly, Asha found her sleeping roll and tore off a wide strip. Gritting her teeth, she wound it around her torso, wrapping that hideous gash in her side. She tied it so tight, the pain made breathing difficult.
A roar made Asha look up, expecting to find both dragons bearing down on her.
Instead, she found them... fighting.
Each other.
The shadow dragon was smaller and younger than Kozu, but twice as fast. When Kozu lunged, the younger dragon dodged, circling back to keep itself between the First Dragon and the Iskari. Kozu’s tail dripped blood. He swatted and made himself vulnerable. The younger dragon ducked and charged, running circles around the bigger dragon, as if it were a game, as if its plan was to tire the First Dragon out.
If she weren’t weak from the blood loss, Asha would have taken advantage of this. She would have struck while the two dragons were occupied.
But she could feel herself losing consciousness. She wanted to put her head down. Needed to close her eyes....
No. Stay awake.
If she didn’t get back to the city, if she collapsed right here in the Rift, she would bleed out and die.
Unless a dragon got her first.
Her hands shook as she buckled on her slayers. She left everything she didn’t need, including her axe. Asha had plenty of other axes.
Kozu kept charging, trying to get at her, trying to finish what he’d started all those years ago. The shadow dragon blocked, gaining ground, driving Kozu into the trees. Clicking and chattering. Teasing and taunting. It wore the First Dragon down.
Finally, Kozu stopped advancing. Asha felt his slitted gaze on her as she stumbled through the darkness, moving farther away.
A low keening sound split the night, surprising Asha.A mourning call.Usually reserved for a dead mate or slain young, the sound was an expression of sadness or grief.
It made Asha shiver. She looked back, following the direction of the sound, but Kozu had disappeared.
The shadow dragon had not.
“Come near me,” she growled at it, “and I’ll carve out your heart.”
The dragon watched her, head cocked, tail thrashing. When she walked, it walked. When she stopped, it stopped. Like a stray pup following her home.
Asha saw Kozu’s scar in her mind. Heard the beat of his horrible heart. A moment more and Asha would have dealt a killing blow. This dragon prevented her. The moment it came close enough, she was going to kill it.
