Destiny Written

Chapter 13

In the dead silence, the window splintered open, glass flying everywhere. Fire, a deep ochre, filled the room. Scooping Corvera, Arden shielded her from the flames. Sprinting, he threw the door open, unaware if Ten and Jalen were following, but all that was on his mind was taking Corvera away from here.

Petals followed their wake, springing up as he ran. Arden dashed through the hall. He couldn't turn the corner fast enough, and slammed his shoulder into the wall. Corvera yelped, but Arden regained his footing and hopped three steps at a time down the stairs.

Doors were swinging open, people shouting, yelling, but they didn't touch him. He reached the ground floor and burst through the doors.

Shadows cast over him. A roar shook the world. His steps faltered.

Above them, a dragon of deep forest and midnight black scales hovered. His tail fell to the ground, heavy, but slender. Barbed spikes lined the tail in rows.

Corvera shrieked in Arden's ear.

Glancing up at the eyes of the beast, Arden recognized the green fire in them. Tallis. The name appeared like lightning. He remembered the soldier from before. Deadly, dangerous, and calculating, he was a favorite of his grandfather's.

Pivoting on his heel, Arden's feet nearly slipped, but he caught his footing. Corvera gripped onto his clothing to stay close. He would not outrun the dragon.

"Arden!"

Snapping his head and between his stray hair, Arden saw Ten in a skinny alleyway, waving them over. He had no time to wonder how Ten had gotten there and out of the fire. Arden veered toward Ten. Tallis was getting closer.

Arden nearly threw Corvera into Ten's arms. "Go, I'll try to slow him down," he said.

"But-"

"I'll find you!" Arden shoved Ten in the opposite direction.

Over his shoulder, Tallis had reduced himself from a dragon into a man. Wearing the fireproof armor of Everrainian, Tallis was like a demon with every inch covered in glossy metal. He always preferred a mask over the bottom half of his face. His narrow green eyes were like a viper's, rings of black around them.

"Give us the girl," said Tallis. His voice reminded Arden of a snake's, soft yet shivery. "And the city will be spared. As will your life."

Arden shook his head stubbornly. Did he have a plan? No. He was to distract Tallis to give Ten some time to run.

Tallis took a step toward Arden. The first instinct was to retreat back a little, keep his distance, but Arden didn't want to show fear, even the slightest sliver of it.

"You're brave," hissed Tallis. "Are you willing to die for a little girl?"

"Why do you want her?" asked Arden immediately to catch Tallis off guard.

The cloth on the mask pulled, a sinister smile underneath. His eyes turned predatory. "For the empire."

Something flashed past the corner of Arden's eye. Tallis hissed as a knife dug into his shoulder.

"Move!" Hanging on the side of the wall, Jalen slipped out another knife. Her wrist snapped forward, three more daggers thrown from between her fingers.

Arden turned and ran. He bounced off a wall, pushing to his left. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jalen, lithe and graceful, leap to the adjacent wall. She slid down the pole, landing on a metal balcony.

"Run to the bridge!" she instructed him with a yell. The bridge where authorized people were sanctioned to cross. The bridge that would bring them to a new country, a new land.