A Pet for the Dragons

76.

ZORGE

I'd been assigned the duty of keeping an eye on Callath after Radrox beat the shit out of him for hurting Arika. I was concerned about her and wanted to know if she was doing alright, but I couldn't leave Callath alone.

He needed to be watched because he was a pretty dangerous dragon. I wasn't exactly aware of all his powers, but he could teleport. It was why he'd been tied up in enchanted bonds so that he couldn't move.

I tapped into his emotions to read him and got nothing cohesive. He was still passed out after being beaten. One of his eyes was starting to turn black.

Knowing that he hurt Arika made me want to turn his other eye black as well, but I contained myself. I was waiting for him to wake up so I could beat him into a pulp again for pulling a stunt like that.

Meanwhile, I worried about Arika. I wanted to see her to ensure she was alright, but I couldn't leave Callath alone.

As I continued to monitor him, I sensed him becoming more and more aware of his pain. He seemed to be slowly stirring awake gradually.

"Zorge," He muttered my name when he finally woke up and saw me. "It's been a while since I've seen you,"

He was trying to make small talk to figure out what I felt about the situation and if he could somehow use me to escape. But that wasn't going to happen.

"Remind me, have the Cardinal protocols evolved into the nobles sneaking into people's houses?" I asked, and immediately, he clenched his jaw and glared at me. I clenched my fists, wanting to hit him terribly. My dragon was still scathing, knowing that he had hurt Arika, who had no involvement in these matters.

She merely happened to have stumbled upon him sneaking inside the castle. If I were him, I'd have killed myself before getting caught sneaking into someone else's house. It seemed like the nobles lacked more shame than I'd have thought earlier.

"You talk to me as if the Empress hasn't summoned you along with your human pet," Callath spoke darkly.

"Tell me why she summed us," I asked. We'd been wondering this for so long. We had all had sleepless nights because of this, and the fact that Arika was involved gave me more angst.

"You'll find out once you're there," Callath shrugged. "I can't wait to see you back at the Court," He added darkly, and I could already imagine what he meant by that.

That bastard!

I wanted to rain punches on him and make him speak, but I knew that would work against me later. Callath was one of the Empress' bonds. We'd already hurt him enough for our good. This was the only thing that was holding me back from beating him into a pulp again.

"What makes you think you're going back?" I taunted him, and for a second, he looked surprised.

"What do you—"

"No one will ever find out what we did to you," I told him darkly, and he instantly understood what I was referring to.

"You dare threaten one of the Empress' bonds? She knows I'm here," Callath gritted at me.

"But would she admit to the Court that she sent you here to sneak around?" I shot back and instantly saw a hint of panic in his eyes. Empress Mavie would die before admitting to the court that she sent one of her bonds to spy on some dragons personally. She was too prideful.

"She wouldn't bother too much about you. You were always an afterthought anyway," I reminded him and instantly saw fire blazing into his eyes.

The Empress had seven bonds. Callath was one of them, but unfortunately, he wasn't one of her main ones. She only had three main bonds, one ceremonial bond, which happened to be her guard of honour, and the other three merely political alliances. She had quite a big household, and such big royal households often bred the most envy, deceit and competition.

After years spent here, I could finally understand why Ivret decided to walk out of the Cardinal House. I'd have done the same had it been me in his place.

"You underestimate this situation," Callath said.

"Or maybe I'm right," I suggested. Callath tugged any of his restraints and bared his fangs at me in threat. I glared back at him.

"You'll soon know who's right," Callath said coldly. "And the Empress would make you pay for this in her way," His warning sent a shiver down my spine. My dragon instantly grew more worried about Arika. This wasn't a good thing.

We were already in huge trouble, and Callath seemed to be in the mood to create more trouble for us. But this might all be nothing but talk, I tried to convince myself.

"What will she do?" I asked.

"You have no idea," Callath said coldly.

"Enlighten m—" A flash of night light blinded me, and before I could make sense of what was happening, I was thrown back against the wall with such force that I heard a bone snap in my chest, shooting a stabbing pain in that region.

I was still blinded due to the sudden brightness, but I heard the almost deafening noise of stones shattering and the prison wall caving inwards, followed by the screeches of dragons.

It got me acting instantly and without thinking much, I lunged towards Callath and caught hold of his chains before he could leave. I felt another burning sensation around my throat, but I ignored it and tugged Callath back. He groaned out loud, but it drowned among the noises of the dragons screeching.

I tried to withstand the pain, but it got too much until my muscles started tingling, and I couldn't feel anything but burning pain all over my body.

I roared and did my best to hold onto Callath, but there was another screeching noise, and the burning intensified until I couldn't take it anymore. As I struggled to grasp Callath, I felt a force knocking me back, making me let go of anything.

In the next moment, I was falling and had nothing to hold on to. I couldn't phase into my dragon due to the pain. It had somehow stunned my dragon as well. So I fell and fell until I finally hit the ground and felt my skull crack open. However, I didn't feel any more pain because I was already in enough pain. I couldn't feel anything anymore, and neither could I move. I couldn't even open my eyes to see where I was and what was happening around me.

"He's escaping!" I heard someone scream. The voice sounded like Ivret's.

I wanted to get up and go after Callath, too, but the pain was debilitating, and I couldn't even move. It felt like I was burning alive. I was in too much agony to think or do anything. I was waiting for it to pass, but it took forever. My dragon was still stunned by whatever spell had been cast over me, not allowing him to take over and heal me.

"Zorge," A voice called for me. "Answer me! Why isn't he moving and breathing? IS HE DEAD! ZORGE WAKE UP!" 

~

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