Page 23 of The Last Syphon

It was one of the dragons from Venerable Cias’s book.

Tydus.

That was its name.

It was One of the Three, making it easily as old as Fraener and just as powerful. According to what she had read in the book, Tydus was an ice-breathing dragon. Instead of breathing burning hot, unrelenting flames, Tydus breathed bone-chilling shards of ice sharp enough to cut through one’s body like paper.

It landed on four powerful legs in front of the Arelian Army, flared out its enormous wings, and released a devastating roar that shook the realm.

It was nothing short of a warning.

It petrified the villagers, and this feeling of overprotectiveness drummed through Inara. Fraener growled, bent his body into an aggressive stance, digging his talons into the dirt, and roared back.

Tydus moved forward with the Arelian Army at its back, both coming closer with each step.

“Rememeber, everyone, stay close!” Inara called out. “The less I have to expand my shield, the longer I can make it last.”

She couldn’t hold a shield indefinitely. Not unless she tapped into her syphon power, which she absolutely could not do, especially in the presence of the Crowned Prince. To do so would instantly bring certain death and destruction down upon them. But Inara could hold it for a while if she didn’t have to expand it too far.

“You should get out of here while you can,” Felix said, eyes fixated on the impending army, fury on his face. “We’ll hold them off for as long as we can.”

“Since when do you speak for the rest of us?” Ralf barked. “It’s her fault they’re here. She stays.”

As if Inara would leave anyway. Ralf was right. This was her mess. And she was damn sure going to stay to fix it.

Inara glimpsed a figure perched on Tydus’s back as it slithered forward like a snake. Huge, broad shoulders encased in the red-scaled armour of the Arelian Army. The hilt of two giant swords peeked out from behind his back. Short dark hair. Violet eyes. Hard, cold expression.

Fear consumed her. Fraener’s anger rose, pounding down their soul-link like the heavy beat of war drums. Tension built to unimaginable levels as Tydus came to a stop a short distance away, the Arelian Army standing as one solid unit behind it.

Fraener shifted, the muscles in his back contracting each time he moved his weight from one leg to the other. The two Guardians of Arelia growled and snarled at one another. More rage pounded in her veins. Tydus shook his head and bared his teeth in a gut-wrenching display. Fraener bit the air, completely unafraid. It made Inara wonder if the two of them were communicating, talking in some beastly language only they could understand.

Then, a deep, masculine voice hit the air, brimming with authority. “Dismount and step away from the Guardian.”

His voice matched him. Cold and unrelenting.

Every bone in her body demanded she follow his order. Not because of some power or ability he might possess, but because his voice alone demanded obedience. The power behind it…He might have been the Crowned Prince, but he spoke as though he was the King himself.

The fear firmly lodged in her throat wouldn’t leave. Wouldn’t abate. So, Inara did what she always did when someone backed her into a corner.

Piss them off.

“What?!” she yelled, cupping her ear as if pretending she could not hear him. “You’re so far away. I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that. Would you like to repeat it? Or maybe just…I don’t know…fuck off?”

Audible gasps rang through the air.

“Inara.” Venerable Cias and Felix groaned at the same time.

She didn’t have time to respond because the Crowned Prince suddenly rose into the air, his arms out wide at his sides, palms facing up. He stayed there, hovering in place above his dragon for a moment, and then zoomed forward, stopping just outside of Fraener’s reach.

Magic rushed to her fingertips with the urge to protect. Defend. She only just managed to hold it back in time so he didn’t run facefirst into her shield.

“Shall this distance suffice?” he asked darkly, floating in the air with seemingly no effort at all.

He was much taller than she’d originally thought. Felix was 6’6, and from what she could see he was taller.

“You need to take it about a thousand miles that way.” She pointed back towards the Arelian Kingdom. “That should suffice.”

He was as handsome as all the rumours said. A face as if sculpted from stone. Eyes a mesmerising layer of purple and blue. Hair short and midnight black. Couple that with the red-scaled armour perfectly moulded to his muscular frame, and it was easy to see why the prince was considered the beauty of the realm.