Page 34 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
And she would be the last god left to walk the world, so that no one would ever have to fear them again.
Mal ignored the creature’s laughter, though some part of her knew it rang with bitter truth. As if it understood that this vow was a lie she told herself.
That her sacrifice was not what it pretended to be.
Not selfless.
But selfish.
That, in the end, the creature knew what her husband had always known.
She was never meant to be the hero of this tale.
If the desert isn’t trying to kill you, it means you are already dead.
Tabitha Wysteria
One of Alina’s dragons began to falter. She had driven them all relentlessly—people and beasts alike—but the instant one broke from the formation and descended to the ground, she knew she had gone too far. Alina guided her own dragon down beside it and leapt to the earth, rushing to the creature’s side. Its eyes were shut, its great chest heaving with laboured breaths.
‘It needs rest,’ Mareena said gently, laying a steadying hand against the dragon’s flank as she examined it. Seeing that they would be halted for a while, the two Dunayans—Arena and Isla—unsheathed their weapons and moved off at once to survey the surrounding terrain.
‘Alina!’
She ignored the sharp edge in Kai’s voice and fixed him with the coldest look she could summon. The witch hurried to his side, her hand closing around his arm in a quiet plea for restraint. He must have felt it, because his posture eased. He exhaled, then turned his attention back to thedragon.
‘We should make camp,’ he said, choosing his words carefully over whatever he had first intended to shout.
Alina nodded, teeth catching briefly on her lower lip as irritation rushed through her. She stared towards the horizon, measuring the distance still left between them and the king.
‘We’ll reach him sooner or later,’ Kai added, stepping closer and giving her arm a light, playful pinch. The simple gesture loosened something tight in her chest.
She nodded again.
They were right. She could not keep driving them all so hard. The king would still be there whether it took another day or two. She needed to still her racing thoughts, to temper her hunger for vengeance. Her revenge would come. It would be answered, one day.
She only needed to learn patience.
The ground shuddered beneath their feet.
Alina saw Arena and Isla sprinting back towards them, desert blades raised, their movements sharp with urgency. She did not hesitate. Snatching her own dagger, she stilled herself and listened. Not with her ears, but with her body, as the tremors rolled through the sand.
‘What is that?’ Kai demanded.
‘Raise a barrier to protect my dragon!’ Alina commanded. She glanced skyward, where several of her dragons wheeled above them, circling in tight, frantic arcs, their roars heavy with distress.
She did not know what to expect, but the instant she caught the flash of fear in the Dunayans’ pale eyes, she understood it would be nothing good.
The dune before them erupted.
Sand exploded outward as something hauled itself free from the depths—a creature Alina had never seen before. Somethingso grotesque and abhorrent that even nightmares would have recoiled from shaping it. It was long and sinuous like a colossal worm, but its maw was a gaping circle lined with countless jagged teeth, yawning wide in hunger. Spikes studded its body, and as it moved, sections of it rotated independently, grinding and twisting in a lethal dance that could shear a person in two.
‘Sandwyrm!’ Arena shouted.
The beast surged towards them.
Alina retreated instinctively, placing herself between it and her exhausted dragon, which still lay panting on the ground. Her grip tightened around her dagger, the blade suddenly feeling pitifully small. She had no idea how she was meant to defend her beast with nothing but a desert knife when the creature before them towered like the great desert serpents she had once ridden with Hessa.
And yet, she would try.
