When It Reigns (Cursed Reigns, #1)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Surprise widened my eyes and lifted my eyebrows as I stared at Zoran, wondering if I'd heard him right.

"The Draconian who killed sixty-two demons needs my help? Mine."

"Yes. Don't make me regret asking. You owe me."

"For what? I thought you didn't tap out to give me the advantage?"

Zoran exhaled and stood. "Forget it," he grumbled, staggering away on his stiff leg with his hand balled into a fist by his side.

Shaking my head, I got off the bench and reprimanded my smart mouth for aggravating the shifter as I walked around the room, plucking each of Racquel's knives from the splintering floorboards marred with dried spots of blood. I carried the topaz weapons in my hands as I left the room and ambled down the wide halls until I exited through the back doors of the academy.

The sun was dipping behind the mountain, casting vibrant orange and pink tints to the clouds as it set. I stepped out onto the balcony perched over the cliff of the mountain and leaned against the black railing as I looked down at the expansive lake sparkling hundreds of feet below. Beneath the town of Latovia was Clear Water where the dragons went to drink the special water in the lake to replenish their health and strengthen their essence. I stood in awe as I saw a large gathering of dragons laying around the lake, perched upside down on the sturdy branches of the surrounding Yurich Forest, dunking themselves in the water, flying in low arcs above the surface of the lake, and diving off the docks into the water.

The dragons' colors ranged from a few rare poisonous purples, multiple gaseous yellows, a decent number of magma spewing reds, some more fire breathing grays, a spattering of boiling slime spitting blacks, a couple ice breathing blues, and one enormous, lethal gold; Armaeda's mate, Hyrule. The two of them parented all our empire's dragons and they channeled their essences into their offspring.

The dragons' essences gave Draconians special powers and allowed summoners to bond with a dragon, strengthening our powers as well as giving shifters the ability to breathe fire. Their essences flowed in whimsical, glittering drafts around the walls of our empire, but the silver tone was a muted gray without Armaeda's essence flowing through it.

Hyrule had been my mother's summon, but he'd refused to give up his scale ever since her death, opting to remain without a summoner. He never left Clear Water and tried to make up for Armaeda's absence with only his essence which was draining and exhausting to do on his own. It forced him to always stay close to the lake so he could quench his thirst and give him enough strength to fuel his essence into all his offspring and our shifters.

The longer Armaeda was trapped in the Ravos Kingdom, the more frequently larger numbers of dragons visited Clear Water. Our powers, well every Draconian who had a power, were weakening without Armaeda's essence to amplify them. Her dragon descendants all suffered from her absence, as well.

I caught sight of a small dragon whose iridescent scales reflected orange and pink in the waning sunlight and smiled as she pounced at the edge of the lake, dipping her talons into the water. Serene was the youngest of the herd and was the reason I'd been handed her scale upon entering Insignia Academy. She'd been born just five years prior and was still growing. It only made sense the powerless Draconian was given the dragon without much experience, but Trainer Reishell had also figured we could learn and figure it out together.

Serene wouldn't have bonded with me, and even Rays wouldn't try to, if I didn't have an essence. We needed a power to aid in the likelihood of our dragon's survival. Without an essence of power, a dragon would find me weak, thus making both of us vulnerable.

It didn't make sense. My essence had bonded with Serene to grant me the ability to summon her, but the demon prince had said he wasn't able to sense it and the appearance of my Insignia was over two years late. I wondered if the abduction of Armaeda had anything to do with it.