“This way, convict,” Cash said as we rounded a corner. Only then did I realize we weren’t in Elion’s castle and that I’d been blindly following him. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been going in and out, my mind reeling.
“Where are we?” I asked. Cobblestone streets stretched between neatly lined buildings, all pristine and too clean to look lived in. It was a stark contrast to Moriann—no homeless lurking in the shadows, waiting to steal what little you had. Torches were spiked through garden patches, illuminating everything in a soft glow that added to the sinking suns.
Various stands were placed in front of entrances, selling all sorts of goods. And not just necessities either, but trinkets—bright coloredbeads, fresh flowers, soaps, hand-sewn scarves, small oil painting replicas of the six dragons.
I wrinkled my nose as we kept walking, the scents were strong, tainting the feel of the warm breeze and making the air seem stagnant instead.
And despite how wide the streets were, it only illuminated the feeling of organized claustrophobia. Every open inch was packed with people drinking and shopping. I wasn’t sure if it was because everyone was coming out to celebrate the end of the Vargothi or if it was normally this crowded.
“We’re in Avennille,” Cash called ahead of me just before he rounded a corner. “It’s the market district in the Grigg.”
“Why are you taking me here?” I asked as I hurried after him.
“You’re training tonight. You clearly haven’t been practicing on your own and tonight is our only free night to do it.”
I didn’t completely recoil at the idea. I knew the moment my Token manifested earlier that Cash would bring up our training, and despite hating his tactics, I had a newfound resolve to overcome it. “That still doesn’t answer why we’re here,” I said. “You told me that we didn’t need any special training grounds?—”
He cut me off. “It’s best we stay out of the castle for the next couple of hours.”
“Why?” That caught my attention.
“The Imassura is happening tonight.”
“The what?” I’d heard so many different names over the past three days that I was having a hard time keeping them straight.
“Elion is selecting the drakins for breeding and sterilization.That’sthe Imassura. The ones for sterilization get the procedure tonight.”
“They get it immediately?” I had no idea why it shocked me. Honestly, everything was shocking me lately. From not realizing that dragons correlated with the Moon Gods, to having my prior belief of Viven completely tarnished, and now Hael…
I kept playing back all my encounters with him. I couldn’t comprehend how I never even guessed he could have been the one I was hunting. I just assumed that riders who made criminal drop offs intoMoriann were low on the totem pole. Then, the moment I learned his name was Arrik, I had subconsciously crossed him off in my head.
Ishouldhave asked for his full name. Ishouldhave assumed that the army uses last names only.
Suns, I was being so careless, so stupid. I was usually better at taking in small details.
I should have noted how he was always with the king, how he was standing on his balcony today. I should have realized that he had to be high up within the Drakin Army for the sheer amount of armor and weapons he donned.
But I didn’t. All I noticed was his piercing gaze or the fact that he pissed me off with his stupid threats of trying to get me to leave.
“Yeah,” Cash laughed as he held a door open for me. “The ball’s tomorrow so…”
Whatever else he said I didn’t hear. It went in one ear and out the other. I was paralyzed, I couldn’t move…
It took me three seconds to take in the room before I turned, about to bolt out the door when Cash stopped me. He grabbed onto my arm, dragging me into the building. “Oh, no you don’t. You have to train tonight.”
My stupid Token wasn’t manifesting. My heart started racing as his hand tightened around my arm. The door closed behind us with a loud slam, or at least, it felt loud to me. It kept reverberating in my ears, echoing with the realization that my worst fear was all around me.
A male rose from a barstool the moment we entered. He smirked as he eyed me, then walked over to Cash. I had never seen him before, but immediately my radar was screaming at me that he was a Wielder.
While Cash was bronzed from the suns—freckled skin, blonde hair turning golden—this man looked bathed in shadows. Everything about him was dark. His gaze, his hair, his persona.
I stared at my feet, refusing to take in the room around me.
“This is the convict?” The male sneered, and I could hear his smile without looking.
“Laxin, this is Nollie. Nollie—Laxin.”
I could barely register Cash’s voice as my heart started pounding.
