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There are half a dozenwhompsounds that I suspect are more dragons landing in the clearing, and snarling roars erupt all around us.
The High Priest shrieks, “Demon! How dare you desecrate King Alaster’s funeral? His bride was about to join him on the pyre.”
Demon?
There’s a sliding sound from atop the black dragon, and two armored feet hit the ground an arm’s length from where I lay. I crane my head up, and I can tell I’m looking at the biggest man I’ve ever seen. This giant stands head and shoulders taller than the guards and Brethren, plate armor gleaming on his broad body and a cloak swirling around his shoulders. A curtain of black hair cascades down his back.
His left hand lazily holds the hilt of his sheathed sword, and he glances toward the High Priest and inquires, “Bride?”
The High Priest points to me lying beneath the dragon.
The invader glances over his shoulder, and if he’s surprised to see me there, I can’t tell because of my veil. He hunkers down on his heels, one hand braced against the dragon’s flank, and there’s a smirk in his voice as he says, “Hello, little queen. I apologize. What’s left of your bridegroom has been ground into dust.”
He’s not sorry at all. The man’s deep baritone is tinged with amusement. I can’t make out much of his face, but there are dark smudges on his jaw that look like blood or mud. The inside of his black cloak is lined with crimson.
“You can be burned alive another day if you wish it. Come out from beneath Scourge.” He holds out a gauntleted hand that’s bigger than my head, but I can’t take it with my arms tied behind my back.
When I don’t reach for his hand, he growls, “I haven’t got time for this,” before grasping me under the arm and pulling me to my feet. I stumble and he grabs me, and when he feels my bound arms beneath the veil, his impatience changes to surprise. “Blood and dragon piss. You’re tied up?”
Did he think I was eager to be flung atop a burning pyre?
I’ve always been short, but next to this giant of a man and his hulking black dragon, I feel like an ant. The top of my head just clears the invader’s elbows.
Whatever the stranger was about to say is drowned out by a battle cry and shouts of “Kill the demon!” The Brethren Guard are attacking the invaders, and the clash of steel rings out across the clearing. Plumes of fire and smoke erupt left and right, and men scream in pain.
The invader draws an enormous broadsword and parries a blow from one of the attacking guards. He raises his armored foot and shoves the man toward the black dragon’s snout. The monster opens its jaws and bites the guard in two with a sickening crunch of bones.
The High Priest appears at my side and tries to grab hold of me, snarling, “You’re coming with me.”
I’ve had enough of men pulling me around, and I dash in the other direction, past the dragon’s foreleg, and toward the cloaked invader. I’m not running to him for protection. I’m trying to get past him and flee the clearing, but just then the wind changes. The edge of my veil whips into the air and brushes his armor. His long, dark hair dances in the gust.
The invader turns toward me, his sword lowering as if he’s in a trance. I can’t make out the expression on his face, but the nape of my neck prickles.
“Sha’len,” he says in a husky, intense voice.
He steps toward me. The gag is so tight around my lips that I can’t make one peep of protest, but I shake my head emphatically, and I twist my bound wrists back and forth as I back away from him.
Don’t pay attention to me.
I’m not important.
I’m no one.
A guard runs toward him with his sword raised, but the invader is staring at me and doesn’t turn to defend himself. The black dragon snatches the attacker up with its jaws and tosses him out of the clearing like he’s a rag doll, and his scream fades on the wind.
I keep backing away, but the invader follows me, breathing hard and walking like he’s in a dream. Fire erupts to my right, lighting his face, and I can make out the slash of his dark brows and eyes that seem to burn like red coals, though that must be a trick of the firelight.
Does he mean to kill me? Have I angered him somehow?
Behind him, the massive dragon is watching the battle, its teeth snapping left and right as it defends its master.
A scream comes from atop a nearby hill. “Kill the invaders.Kill the demon.” Reinforcements have arrived, and Brethren Guard race down the hill toward us, hollering their battle cries. The black dragon snarls, and the invader’s attention is finally drawn away from me.
I turn and run, but I’m not fast enough. The invader reaches out and grasps my wrist through the veil. I squeal in the back of my throat, wrenching against his grip.
“Fuck,” the invader growls, and looks left and right as if trying to decide something. A moment later, the invader loops an arm around my waist and pulls me against him. Every ridge of his steel plate armor digs into my scored flesh. He lifts me off the ground and carries us upward until he swings his leg over something and settles me in front of him. There’s a lot more light up here without the enormous black dragon blocking out the sun. Then I realize why.
We’re sittingonthe enormous black dragon.
