Page 1 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
Chapter One
The scream tore through her head, jerking her awake immediately. Her gut clenched with dread as fear pooled in her belly. Before she could fully register the first one, a second scream filled her mind, the echo making her clutch her head as her lungs seized.
Not again.
Tamlyn didn’t hesitate to jump to her feet and make her way through the winding hallways until she burst outside. She tripped, caught herself, and ran as fast as she could, letting her connection guide her up the canyon wall and across the field to Ferdon Woods.
The killings have to stop.
Tamlyn wasn’t sure that day would ever come, but she couldn’t think about that now. She had to focus all her energy on the connection. A sound above caused her to glance up. For just a second, she thought it was a dragon, though dragons never crossed onto their land. She tripped and stumbled again but managed to right herself before she went down. She didn’t dare look up again. If a dragon found her, so be it. She had more important matters to worry about tonight.
Her lungs burned as she pumped her arms and legs, forcing herself to keep going when all she wanted to do was collapse. Time wasn’t on her side. It never was, but there was a particular urgency in the scream that night. She didn’t allow herself to think what would happen if she didn’t get there in time.
The forest was just ahead. She knew Ferdon Woods all too well. It would hide her approach, but it held many dangers—some traps and…other things she would rather not think about.
Yet, she didn’t have time to go around. If she was going to succeed, then she had to go through the woods. She pursed her lips and continued. The quarter moon offered little light. Not that Tamlyn needed it. She had used this path so many times she could walk it blindfolded.
At the last moment, she diverted her course. Something within urged her to use a different route, even as a rational part of her warned that it was suicide to walk through the brush.
Once inside the forest, the thick canopy of trees refused to permit any light to slip through their foliage. Tamlyn halted, her breaths harsh as her lungs sought to fill with air. Her gaze scanned the area with trepidation for the things that lurked in the night.
The trees were massive. Not just in height but also girth. Her gaze swung to the right. Dense growth that hid most of the gnarled tree roots covered the ground. One wrong step would be all it would take for her to find herself wounded…or worse. A look to the left gave her a glimpse of the road. It was likely safer, but not by much. Especially if someone were waiting for her. Forward was more of the same impenetrable brush.
Tamlyn swallowed and squared her shoulders as she started forward. She wanted to run through the woods. Instead, she would have to carefully pick and choose her path. Her boots gave her traction to keep from sliding over the roots. Twice, her ankle rolled, but her boots were thick and sturdy, keeping her from becoming severely injured.
Her palm scraped against the bark of a tree when she reached out to right herself. She kept her attention on where she placed her feet, but she made sure to look around often. It would be foolish to forget what lived within the forest.
She jumped when she heard a sound to her right. Tamlyn froze, listening. After several tense minutes, she spotted the wings of an owl flying away. She hated that she had to traipse through these woods, hated what forced her to put herself in danger time and again. She couldn’t let herself linger on those thoughts, though. She had tried to ignore the call, attempted to ignore who she was.
That hadn’t turned out so well. She still carried that guilt, and she probably always would. She had to be in these woods just as the owl had to hunt. It was her destiny, no matter how much she wished otherwise.
The longer it took her to get through the forest, the more anxious she became. Time wasn’t on her side. Just as she was about to throw caution to the wind, she heard it. The whisper. Tamlyn hurried to the next tree and hunkered down as she tried to determine which direction it had come from. Her lips flattened when she heard two human males talking. She had to lean to the side to find them, but then she spotted the soldiers hidden near the main path through the forest. Was this what her intuition had warned her about? It wasn’t normal for anyone to be out in the woods, especially not soldiers.
They didn’t know who she was, but that didn’t matter. They knew they were after someone who’d escaped the city. That meant they would capture anyone they saw and sort out the details later. Bastards. Every damn one of them.
The snap of a twig behind her made her heart jump into her throat. She heard the heavy breathing. Tamlyn began to shake. Every fiber of her being told her to turn and see where the beast was so she could get away. The breathing was a dead giveaway that it was a brineling. The four-legged beasts were twice the height of a human, covered with thick, green skin, and had two curved horns jutting from their foreheads. The animals were huge, but they moved with a speed that defied their size.
If the brineling had seen her, it would’ve already attacked. Her only hope was to not draw its attention. If she avoided that, she might survive the night. It took all her willpower to remain still when she wanted to run and hide. Sweat dripped from her forehead and into her eye. She blinked against the sting, but she didn’t move.
The beast’s breathing grew slower, deeper. It sounded as if it were right on top of her.
Her attention had been on the men. A mistake since there were more dangerous things in the forest than the soldiers. The ground trembled slightly beneath her at the brineling’s approach. The bush beside her rubbed against her neck, making it itch.
Tamlyn bit back a yelp at how close the brineling was. She could’ve reached out and touched it. She didn’t know how it had missed her, and she didn’t care. Only once before had she seen a brineling, but that had been from a distance. And she didn’t dare tilt her head back to get a better look at the creature when it was this close.
Its breathing suddenly hushed as it lowered itself, readying for attack. Tense seconds stretched on for an eternity as the animal grew still and quiet. Then it leapt forward with a roar. The great horned creature rarely lost its prey, and it had its sights set on the two soldiers.
At its roar, the men screamed and turned to attack with spears and swords. Tamlyn started running at the sound of their bellows of pain amid the brineling’s noises. She prayed her feet found solid ground as she put distance between herself and the hungry animal. Limbs ripped at her face and body as she ran, and roots fought to trip her, but she kept upright. The last thing she wanted was a brineling on her tail. She’d never outrun it.
One minute, she was racing through the forest. The next, she was flat on her face. She gasped, pain radiating through her body at the air having been knocked out of her. Even that didn’t stop her. She pushed herself up and started running again.
When her lungs finally unseized and she was able to take a full breath again, she felt lightheaded. Tamlyn had to force herself to slow to a walk. If soldiers had been stationed that far into the woods, there could be more.
She was nearly out of the forest. As much as that pleased her, it didn’t mean that things would be easier. Because she was looking, she found two more soldiers hiding near the road. They were intent on the brineling. That was likely the only reason they hadn’t heard her barging through the forest so recklessly. Tamlyn skirted them and hurried from the woods. She sighed in relief at the same time a chill ran down her spine. She was leaving one lethal environment for another.
Tall, stone gates with soldiers stationed along the battlements stood before her. Beyond the gate was the city of Stonemore and the Tunris Mountains. The city had been built into the tallest peak of the mountain range, rising from the ground to the very top where the ruler of Stonemore lived and reigned. The mountains on either side of the city curved inward. And that, along with the wall, created an impenetrable fortress.
Tamlyn had been in the city far more than she wanted to admit, but she knew very little about it, other than where to sneak in and out, and what level the temple was on. Stonemore looked pretty in the night with the moonlight reflecting off its reddish stones. Except she knew what kind of wickedness lived within the thick walls.
She remained close to the woods and ignored the closed gates. Another hundred yards, and she glanced up to make sure the soldiers weren’t looking her way, then dashed across the empty expanse and right to the storm drain. Tamlyn plastered her back against the wall and listened to hear if anyone raised an alarm at spotting her. When all remained quiet, she gripped the lock and pulled. The metal came undone easily in her hand. Every time she took this route, she was surprised that no one had checked the storm drains or the locks. She lifted the heavy metal grate overhead so she could slip inside. Her muscles screamed in protest when she slowly lowered the cover back into place so it didn’t bang. She turned to look around the four-foot, arched drain.
