WREN Book Three Prince of Dragons

Timelessness

Scott broke off from his battle to swing around. He joined his mother’s side. I saw Po guiding the dragons with the shifter children on their backs. Two other’s broke away from Olympia’s group to surround him as well. The hell fire squad came up under Po in support. I turned.

The Nuare pair Scott had been dealing with were now engaged in a deadly twisting fight with Karshden and Jacquien. It looked as if this was becoming personal. Just as I debated about going to offer them aid, I was shocked to see another fire dragon spring up behind the one Karshden was fighting. The air knight on its back whipped out the sword my other father made for him. I watched in utter fascination at Wynlin’s skill with the blade. He dispatched the dragon as he curled under Jacquien to engage another knight coming for the traitorous general.

‘It appears they have set aside their differences.’ The cool voice of Micah caught my attention. The rest of Yuri’s ice riders were flying around in a torrent of snow not too far off. They were keeping a band of fire knights away from the main part of the fight. I blinked back at the general.

It was apparent he was protecting his queen's daughter. I nodded to him. I needed to watch my own dragon, not everyone else’s.

“PRINCE OF DRAGONS!” A voice bellowed out. I heard cursing coming from my left.

Glancing over, I saw Ammedidon holding a bleeding arm. His weapon was gone, but so was the red dragon and their rider. I arched an eyebrow at the boy.

“General in command Artitus Armound.” He told me through our link.

“Father’s most trusted advisor, in the field.” It was how he said theist that got my attention. It was as if this man were the real king, while our father hid behind his shadows in the castle holding that title.

I brought Tanwen around. She rose up, the majestic queen that she was. Her head arched out before me as she held us aloft. The general came around, his dragon was easily twice the size of Tanwen. Which meant it had seen many battles. My eyes took it in. It’s left eye was white, clouded over from some previous fight. It looked worn, older than it should. There was definitely something wrong with it. My mind reached out.

I felt a shock hit me. It zapped along the connection. Before it reached any part of my nervous system, the queen I stood upon blocked it. She wasn’t alone. I felt many other minds suddenly protecting me. Minds I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. At least four were fire dragons. I wrapped my consciousness around them, tuning out the fight that surrounded us. Yuri’s knights were trained well.

The four fire dragons flew up behind the general. He turned chuckling at them. They weren’t too old, most hatched within the last ten or so years that I lived at the school. Their knights were bullies mostly, of mine. Yet their dragons had been some of my closest friends at one time. To fight them…

I shook my head as one thought slipped past the guard in my mind. “We come to you in peace, Prince of us!”

I smirked, understanding what it was they were doing. “Do your riders come in peace as well?” I demanded.

“We have seen too much of the evil that is within this kingdom.” A voice I didn’t recognize stated. There was something cold, detached about it. I raised my shields back up.

The dragons may not understand fully what was going on, but I did. As the dragons wished to come to me, to end their rein of destruction on their own kind, their riders saw the chance to infest our home with spies for the man whose blood brought me to life.

‘Break your bonds! You are being manipulated.’ I told the dragons.

My attention went back to the general that seemed to strike such anger, fear, and loathing in the boy whose dragon had shifted to be protected by Tanwen’s bulk. This General Artitus Armound stood upon his beast, for that was all that was left of the dragon beneath him. It’s life had been beaten out of him long ago.