Fallione had explained the expected traditions the day before, but I was still grateful when it was Nereus at my door, not her.
He wasn’t always easy to like, a pain in my side more often than not, but that morning, he clapped my shoulder and gave a solemn nod. “It’s time.”
Greaves stayed behind. The trials—a Draconis wedding tradition—had to be faced alone.
The first: securing a sacrifice for the dragons.
I chose the simplest route—fish. No shame in that, though some might scoff. I lacked both the knowledge and preparation for these challenges. I’d only just learned what they were. Nereus offered quiet guidance, and I took it.
The Draconis revered their dragons, near worshiped. Equal parts divine and deadly. To win their favor, I had to catch a fish, present it, and hope they’d help me survive the next test. Most grooms had already bonded a beast, making them more inclined to assist. I was not so lucky.
As it was, Argos loathed me. And Gyrak would sooner toy with me than lend any aid.
In the dawn’s rays, dressed in a tunic and underbreeches, I stepped into the ocean’s shallows. Pale morning light caught on the low swells as I carried my golden spear—the same one that pierced mammoth hide. Now, it hunted scaled, twitching bait.
I hunted a small, flat fish. It had a vicious bite—or so I was told—but I was willing to risk it over diving into the waves or trying my hand at a bow or slingshot.
Nereus lounged nearby on the beach, biting into a Radaanian apple. Beside him, Argos dozed, massive and still.
Warm water swirled around my calves. Sand sucked at my heels as the tide retreated, dragging grit between my toes. Every pull of the surf urged me to flee. But this was for Nienna. Just once. I’d never have to do it again.
A flicker. Unnatural brown against the rocky floor. I stilled, watching as another wave passed over the shape. It stirred. A fin shifted slightly, enough to reveal itself.
I braced, lifted the spear, and threw. The blade struck clean through, slicing flesh in one brutal arc. Water frothed. Tentacles shot out—long and whip-fast, each tipped with barbed ends. One touch could take a foot. Nereus had warned me.
I kept my distance, waiting until the creature stopped thrashing. Inch by inch, I edged forward and yanked my weapon free from the ocean floor. A grotesque fish clung to the blade, one side flattened, a single black eye staring up at me. Starfish-like. But wrong. Bulging. Predatory.
As I turned for Argos, a trill split the sky.
Tsunami dropped from the clouds, crashing onto the beach in a burst of earth and sound. Nereus cursed, while his dragon snapped upright, bellowing a roar that rocked through my chest. He surged forward, massive form bearing down, trying to push her off the shore. She clicked and hissed, skimming backward but keeping her head low, gaze locked on me. Sparks flared from Argos’ jaws. She spun on him with a shriek, claws tearing shallow ruts in the sand.
I flinched, eyes darting between them, searching for Nereus in the chaos. He’d vanished behind his dragon’s thrashing limbs.
Tsunami lunged like a playful pup facing a wolf, jaws snapping at Argos’ face. He reared, dodging, then slammed his head down with a warning growl. She curled her neck low, teeth bared. Her body writhed in a herding motion—an instinctual push trying to drive him back, away from me.
Argos snorted, casting a single glance my way before lumbering off and settling where he’d started. A fierce sound rumbled in his throat as he curled his tail around Nereus. The king only shrugged and gestured toward Tsunami.
She tilted her head, unimpressed. With a piercing trill, she dropped to the sand, shoulders hunched, muscles coiled tight. Like a cat ready to pounce, her wide pupils fixed on the fish skewered to my spear.
This was supposed to be my offering. My leverage. A gift to win a dragon’s aid in the next challenge. And Nereus wanted me to give it to her? A wild, riderless dragon who had no sense of communication—no tether to a human mind?
She clicked deep in her throat, rank breath wafting over me. It reeked of brine and blood. Impatient, but waiting. Barely.
I clenched my jaw, shaking my head. I would find Nienna, whatever it took. But if this didn’t work, I’d be wading back into the sea for another withering fish.
Jamming the spearhead into the ground, I flung the carcass from the blade. With a throaty coo, she lunged forward, and swallowed it whole—no chewing, no gratitude. Then she turned her gaze skyward, sucking in a long breath.
“Elohios, let me dress,” I muttered, breaking into a jog across the beach.
My trousers waited near Nereus. He tilted his head, eyes flicking between me and Tsunami with a faint smirk.
“She won’t wait,” he warned as I tugged my clothes into place.
“Does she even know what she’s supposed to be doing?” I fumbled with my belt, grabbed my boots and spear. She had no one to explain the rules. How would she recognize the traditions?
“She knows,” he said. “Now run.”
I took off toward the city.
