“Don’t tell us what to do, you uppity bitch,” he hissed, and this time, her eyes widened.
“Pollux,” Adrissu repeated, standing and putting a hand on his shoulder. “We really should—”
“I said don’t fucking touch me!” he shouted, and when he shoved Adrissu’s hand away from him, sharp claws dug into his skin.
For an instant, they were both motionless. Adrissu looked down at his hand, blood quickly welling up and spilling over down his wrist from the four gashes Pollux’s claws had left. His eyes flickered back up to Pollux, whose face was frozen in a look of horror, mouth open and eyes wide. His eyes, normally a brown so soft they were nearly gold, were quickly becoming too gold, too yellow—
“By the gods,” he heard Willow murmur across from him. The guard was now focused on Adrissu more than Pollux, looking aghast at the sudden deep wound in his hand.
“What in the hells is this?” the guard said, reaching for Adrissu’s hand—he pulled away, but Pollux had already snapped with possessive rage.
“Stay away!” he roared, and this time embers sparked from his mouth with each word. Dawning terror spread across the guard’s face as he reached for his weapon, too late now.
“Pollux!” Adrissu exclaimed, grabbing at Pollux’s glowing form, but he was helpless to stop his transformation.
The red dragon burst forth, breaking through the ceiling and shattering the nearby window, as his towering form filled the space. The guard was instantly crushed, a guttural sound escaping him—just before the steam canister at his side exploded with a thunderous crack. At first, there were only screams of terror and shock, then the panic was drowned out as half the restaurant broke apart, rubble raining down on them. Dazed, Adrissu pushed himself up from where he had been knocked back, but the first coherent cry he could make out snapped him back into the moment with a sickening awareness.
“Dragon!”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Pollux!”Adrissushouted,shovingall the rubble around him away with a forceful burst of magic. He leapt up to his feet, just in time to spot Willow staggering upright out of the corner of his eye. They locked eyes across the destroyed room for a moment—her face was ashen, her expression full of dread—before a draconic roar above them caught their attention again.
“Dragon!” came another scream, this one a woman’s voice from the street.
“He’s—he’s—” Willow gasped, stammering and pointing to the open sky through the ruined ceiling.
“Pollux!” Adrissu called out again, ignoring her. He shoved through the hole in the wall that Pollux had created, out into the chaos of the street. Pollux had leapt up onto the roof of the building across from him, prowling and snarling down at the people fleeing. “Pollux, you have to stop this now. You need to calm down and change back.”
His eyes were narrow, yellow slits that glanced down at Adrissu with some measure of recognition; but still all his teeth remained bared, and he did not seem to hear or understand Adrissu’s words. The tiles of the roof beneath his heavy claws splintered and clattered to the ground as he stalked along their lengths, watching the streets as they emptied.
Far behind him, a horn blared a long high note. Adrissu whirled around to see one of the city guard with a gleaming metal horn pressed to his lips—warning the others, perhaps readying the Dragonslayer cannon. He swore and chased after Pollux as the red dragon stomped down the street.
“Turn back!” he shouted, this time reaching out with his magic to try to subdue him. He felt the tendril of it connect even at this distance, and he tried to send calming feelings through the connection that flared to life. Pollux paused, peering down at him with renewed interest.
“Pollux,” he said, softer now, but even he could hear the panicked urgency underneath his words. “Listen to me, Pollux, you need to change back now, or they’re going to hurt you. They’re going to get the cannon—”
“What are you waiting for?” Willow’s shrill cry broke through the chaos, and Adrissu swore, as he turned back again to see her stumbling through the rubble, pointing up at the red dragon. An Elafaer guard he did not recognize followed her, the Blackthorn weapon raised. “Shoot it!”
“Don’t!” Adrissu shouted desperately. “You’ll only anger him!”
But the ear-piercing hiss of steam sounded through anyway, and the weapon fired with an explosive burst. Pollux shrieked, a tiny red pinprick appearing where the weapon had hit him—it had barely cracked the scale, but it was enough to enrage him again. Fury darkened the dragon’s eyes as his long neck swung in the direction of Willow and the guard, his teeth flashing as embers gathered in his mouth. Adrissu swore again and blindly threw a layer of force behind him. The stream of fire rushed toward Willow and the guard, but just in time, hit the invisible wall and flowed aside to the crumbled building instead, setting it ablaze in an instant.
He had to get Pollux away from the chaos, somewhere he could calm him down enough that he would change back, then they could—hide? Run? He couldn’t think that far ahead. Fifteen minutes ago, they had been chatting with the owner of the pastry stand that was burned to ashes now. How had everything fallen apart so quickly?
“Fly!” he shouted at Pollux, this time striking him with a heavy burst of wind. “Fly!”
Pollux snarled, but the wind against his scales seemed to encourage him, and he lifted off the roof with a few heavy flaps of his wings.
“What are you doing?” he heard Willow shouting at him, but he was already sprinting down the street. Pollux was heading eastward, in the direction of their home—and the school, Adrissu realized with a cold shock. He couldn’t teleport that far and still have the strength to help Pollux, however that would look. But he could fly in this form, fast enough at least to match Pollux’s speed and hopefully mitigate whatever damage he might cause.
The decision made in a split second, Adrissu suffused himself with wind and fire, launching himself over the burning building, carrying him faster than any human or elf could naturally move. It was slower than a dragon’s flight, but enough that he could keep his eyes on Pollux as they soared over the city, which had descended into chaos around him.
By the time the tower came into view in the distance, he could tell Pollux was making a beeline for it, seemingly undisturbed by the pandemonium going on below. But Adrissu could not bank on that for long, so he veered toward the school. There were no classes today, but many students lived on-campus; he knew at least some instructors would be around, either working on their own projects or leading informal study sessions. He landed in the yard and ran straight for the old lecture hall, bursting in to find Shima, who had that year started teaching an introductory alchemy course in addition to her illusion courses. She was struggling to get all the glassware and tools packed away as students milled about in obvious disarray, having heard some sort of commotion, but not knowing what was happening outside.
“Uncle!” Shima exclaimed, fright and relief on her face all at once before she seemed to remember herself. “H-Headmaster. What’s going on?”
“Dragon attack,” he panted, ignoring the frightened cries that rose up around him. “Listen to me. In the sewers beneath the school, there are shelter rooms. You can get to them from a trap door behind the old well on the walking path nearest my office. Evacuate all the dormitories and get the students there.”
