Page 22 of Lies That Blemish
The red dragon snarled down at me, seemingly disgusted with my weakness. My whole life I’d been second place—second to Aisling, too small, too young, too immature, never good enough. I realized now that it had built a well of rage inside of me. I had a deep desire to prove myself to everyone: Elaine, my little sisters, Aisling, my country, this dragon. She was looking at me like I was a pile of excrement.
I held out my hand to her, sobbing. “Please, just let me go.”
Her nostrils smoked, and I watched her like any prey watched a predator. The second I saw her muscles twitch, I burst from my position just as she lunged for me, mouth open, and we collided in the air.
I drove my dagger into her open mouth, pinning her tongue to the bottom of her jaw like it had been pierced.
She roared in anger as smoke billowed out of her so thickly I couldn’t see my hand in front of me. Trying to remember where she was, I leaped forward, grasping out blindly, and felt her cold scales. Digging my fingers into them, I climbed onto her back and bent down into her ear.
“Don’teverunderestimate me,” I growled, and colors exploded out of her, filtering through the smoke and throwingrainbows all over the forest. The lasers sliced through the swirling smoke like threads of molten color, each beam igniting the haze, and I heard a whoop of excitement that I thought was Arjun.
I felt it then. What they told us about in books, but Aisling said could never truly be described—a squeeze in my heart so tight I thought it might burst.The bond. Then, all at once, I was imprinted with information about her. She was one of three sisters, but they weren’t triplets. She was the youngest. She and her sisters longed to leave the Wilds but had never found anyone worthy and didn’t want to break up and leave each other. She instantly knew everything about me as well. That I was Aisling’s heir to the empire, never feeling good enough or strong enough, but that I had a strong desire to prove myself.
Reaching down, I pulled the dagger from her mouth.
‘Thank you,’she said. I hoped she had self-healing powers because that had to hurt.
The smoke cleared, and when I peered over, a grin pulled at my lips.
Arjun and Tej were both mounted on the other dragons. They were slightly bloodied, but nothing life-threatening.
‘My eldest sister, Elvria, the green dragon, is the wise and quiet one of us.’She nodded to Elvria.‘Siara is the lively comedic relief.’She then flicked her head to the dragon Arjun was riding.
She already knew I was a triplet, and that I was the younger sister of Aisling.‘What does that make you?’I asked her.
‘The sassy, rebellious one,’she snickered.
Elvria stiffened, cocking her head to the side.‘We must go now. I smell humans.’I heard her rich, husky tones in my head, and my eyes widened.
‘We can mentally communicate with anyone, bonded or not. It’s a power we all share,’Zara told me.
Wow, that was incredible.
‘Hold on,’she added, and I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around her neck.
I peered at Tej, who also clung to his dragon, looking slightly nervous, and then at Arjun, who looked absolutely green in the face and ready to vomit. Then Zara kicked off the ground, and I was pinned to her back with the inertia.
“Weeee!” Tej screamed.
“I’m gonna puke!” Arjun called out.
I just laughed. I’d always wanted to fly, and never in a million years did I think I’d have the chance. I had hoped to one day beg Liana to take me for a ride, but now I wouldn’t have to.
We hit the top of the tree canopy and I could see the Wall beyond, about a hundred yards away.
There was a freeness to flying, the cold wind through my hair. My clothes were still damp, so I was actually freezing at this speed, but I didn’t care! It was the greatest?—
I suddenly couldn’t breathe, like the air had been pulled from my lungs. In a panic, I peered behind me to see a blond female rider on a large red dragon. The red rider. My sister had told me about her.
She was grinning ear to ear as I struggled to breathe, and from the look on Tej’s and Arjun’s faces, they were feeling the same.
‘I can’t breathe!’I told Zara.
She dive-bombed, and I slid forward two feet, nearly falling off her. All three dragon sisters split up then, flying in different directions. When Zara had put some distance between us and the red rider, oxygen came back to my lungs, and I gasped for air.
‘That’s Oryana and her bonded. She’s our mother.’
Oh great.
