When It Reigns (Cursed Reigns, #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Hyrule dove into the water, causing a wave to crash over my head and dunk me under the water. I pushed off the sandy ground and resurfaced with a gasp, lungs burning. Treading water, I panicked as Hyrule swam up to me and I hurried to say, "What do you mean? My mother's dead. Your bond died with her. You've just been choosing to remain without a summoner."

I cannot bond with another as long as the bond is still intact. You have three of my children, two of which are because their bonds have been cut with the death of their summoners and you are unbonded with an essence, albeit a weak one, but an essence, nonetheless.

Hyrule dove back under the water and my heart drummed in my chest as I searched for his golden body.

My body was lifted out of the water and my thighs strained as my legs were separated on either side of the dragon's neck. I grappled with his horns as I slid down the slippery scales and pulled myself back up to a seated position, staring down his forehead. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my lips as I focused on the faint outline of my mother's substance-manipulating Insignia; a vial of bubbling liquid pouring down the sides of the glass among shards of minerals. The faded Insignia reminded me of the ones on Rays' and Tanwen's foreheads after their summoners were killed.

Tears pricked my eyes as I touched my fingertips to the symbol and whispered, "My mother's Insignia."

The scale beneath my fingers glowed a blinding yellow and Trainer Reishell's amplified voice announced, "Aeryn has found the scale!"

"Oh great, now everyone and their dragon is going to zoom over here to take it from me."

They're going to try to kill you for it. Give me one reason I should give it to you and I won't let anyone touch you.

"I'm going to use it to join the Force and avenge my mother's death. I will kill every last one of those Ravos demons, or die trying," I vowed. "And I will bring back Armaeda."

Hyrule was silent for several moments before he obliged. Very well. Do not make me regret choosing you as the winner.

I wrapped my fingers over the raised scale and plucked it free. Shoving it in the air, I shouted to Misty, "We did it! We get to pick our-!"

Trainer Reishell swooped down on her red dragon, interrupting, "Only one partner may take the scale. You must face off against each other to determine the ultimate winner."

I met Misty's shocked expression from where she stood with Blythe at the shoreline and looked down at her as I bit my lip, head whirring with the additional rule. The sound of distant wings flapping drew my attention to the sky, but the thick throng of clouds prohibited me from seeing beyond them.

Hyrule growled in my head and stretched his neck out to Misty, permitting me to jump off and stand next to her as he swam back to his original spot of leisure.

Misty stared at the gold scale in my hand with such longing that I instinctively tightened my hand into a fist to cover the glimmering scale. Her eyes swung to mine and her pupils enlarged, expanding into her hazel irises as she backed up with jerky movements. Red veins spindled in the whites of her eyes and her dark veins protruded from her ashen skin. Her skin appeared to be stretched thin across her high cheekbones and the bones in her hands were too prominent as she unsheathed a dagger and raised her other hand, emitting a green light.

The wet droplets on my hair evaporated in a mist of suffocating gas as she altered the state of the water's matter.

"Since this challenge is meant to be a real representation of war, this battle will be a fight to the death," Reishell added. "You do not have to remain in the air to win. Take out your opponent or get taken out. The fate of the scale is in your hands. Literally."