“She can hear you, dummy,”Frid added.
“Guys, what do we do about the crawler?”Sol asked.
“We can't kill him in the air,”I said, avoiding the next round of attacks.
“How long can that thing fly?”Frid asked.
“Probably longer than us,”I said, eyeing the shape that was preparing to launch at me again.
“Should we land and hide? There are some buildings below. I think those will work,”Alina said and I searched the ground below.
The remains of the dragon temples. No one, at least none that I knew, had ever gone this far into the wastelands.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”Victor muttered to himself.
“Ty?”Sol asked.
“Let’s do it! Get inside. I’ll follow.”I descended lower, keeping my eyes on my pursuer.
I executed a wide circle, making sure that the group had landed safely. They shifted and quickly opened the thick weather-beaten door. Alina stood in the doorway watching me descend before Sol pushed her in and looked up at me. I built up some speed, coming in quickly, straight toward him. When I was close, he stepped to the side, leaving me space. I burst into the building at full speed, sliding on the floor while simultaneously trying to slow down. Finally, I stopped when I hit the wall, after crashing through furniture items and peeling off the skin on my arm. The collision stunned me, and when I turned to look at the front door, it was already shut. When the buzzing in my ears subsided, I could distinguish the sounds of the crawler dragon behind the heavy steel door, trying to claw its way in.
“What the fuck was that?” Victor repeated.
I got up from the floor, inspecting my injuries. My shoulder was bleeding. When I started shifting back, every cut, every bruise burned and I clenched my teeth.
“Are you alright?” Alina stepped closer.
“Fine,” I said.
“What’s going on here? Who is she?” Victor chimed in.
I looked at Alina, who froze, watching him. Her eyes darted from Victor to Frid, and when she glanced at me, I saw confusion written all over her face. Either she did notknow what her color meant, or she was really good at concealing the truth.
“I have to agree with Victor,” Frid said slowly.
“I don’t understand,” Alina responded.
“You’rered!” Victor strongly emphasized the last word.
“Yes, I know that. What’s wrong with being red?” Alina glanced at me.
“There’s only one other dragon from your clan in existence, and she sits on the throne,” Frid said.
I watched Alina’s eyes widen, she shook her head.
“Is that somehow related to the fact they wanted her in a high-security prison?” Victor gave me a hard look.
I crossed my arms on my chest, my eyes landed on the intricate decor of the mosaic floors.
It was all connected. We were being used to keep someone’s secret hidden. I had no doubt about it. We were set up. If I could take a guess, I would expect the council to be uncomfortable finding a descendant of the Red Queen somewhere in existence. Because finding her meant that the queen would have an heiress. The council, who had been in power for as long as I lived due to the Queen’s frail health, would feel threatened. The Red Queen was rarely seen by the others, and the rumor that she had died long ago was constantly circulating in the cities of Talman. Finding another red dragon would mean that the reign of the council would come to an end. The remaining four clans would lose their powers, although a representative from the black clan has not been allowed in the council since the attempt tooverthrow the government more than ten years ago. Only the houses of gold, blue, and white have ruled over Talman.
“Ty?” Frid’s voice returned me back to reality.
“It’s possible,” I said at last.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Victor dragged his hand through his hair.
“What does that mean? What do we do?” Frid asked.
