“But for this plan to work,” Latriis said, “I need a volunteer.” Her words sounded far away, as if she spoke them underwater. But her eyes were gone, and Coquina could breathe again.
Tidi must have felt her grow cold, because she tugged on Coquina's wing, eyes wide with worry. “You alright?”
Coquina’s throat seemed to have seized up. She nodded, a part of her wishing the fire from her mind would roar back to life and chase away the gripping chill.
Pressing her fangs together, she fixed her eyes on her claws at the edge of their perch. She needs a volunteer. Listen. She could focus on Latriis’ words, but she had no wish to meet those eyes again. The freezing pain was too intense.
“Our first goal will be the Teffré clans of Conupium and Viridium,” Latriis said, her words still sharp as icicles even if their location went unseen to Coquina. “I need someone to enter their borders unseen and slay a watching guard. One clan is bound to think it the work of the other.”
Though she kept her head bowed, Coquina dared a glance up. Latriis’ gaze was sweeping the mountains opposite, her smile twitching with pride.
“Anyone?” she asked. Yet everyone seemed too afraid to answer.
“You’ve got to admit, that’s genius,” Tidi whispered, making Coquina jump. She curled her tail more tightly, strangling a nearby shrub. “Divide and conquer. They’ll never see us coming.”
Once again, Coquina only nodded. She agreed with her friend, but the logic didn’t prevent the chills still snaking her scales. Latriis planned to deceive the other clans. She wanted to kill an innocent dragon to start a fight. A part of Coquina had always hoped that Hiedium didn’t fight because they’d decided to be peaceful, unlike the squabbling of other clans, but now she saw different. They’d merely been biding their time so that when they did strike, it would be all the more destructive.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice when Latriis’ eyes found her again. Not until it was too late to pull away.
“How about you?” The Dux’s voice was a soft hiss, the slow slither of a stream. “White dragon? I’m sure you’d be proud to offer this service to your clan.”
Somewhere deep in Coquina’s mind, she knew she should be angered by the accusing nature of Latriis’ tone. Though she was too afraid to speak back, her limbs pinned in place, she couldn’t deny the insult. Latriis expected her to decline, just like the unfaithful, slippery demon dragon she was.
A claw nudged her side. Tidi. “Say yes,” she said, quiet enough so that the Dux wouldn’t hear but sharply loud in Coquina’s ear. “They’ll promote you. And respect you. They might stop being so mean.”
The point was there, yet Coquina’s jaw still wouldn’t form words. Murder. Latriis was asking her to commit murder.
Dragons killed one another fairly often. Though recently rare for Hiedium, fights between clans were common, and with that came casualties. But this was different. This wasn’t a fair fight.
“Say yes,” Tidi repeated, a little louder, more desperately. “Just do it. Coquina--”
“Yes,” Coquina said, the word spilling from her mouth before she could doubt it any more. “I’ll do it. I volunteer.”
It was murder. But it was also a job. Doing that job, at the very least, showcased her commitment. For how could she be born of the moon when she did as the dragon of the sun had once said: to serve her clan unconditionally?
But also, she stared back into the dark depths of Latriis’ eyes, she knew it would be a mistake to say no.
A glow sparked to life within Latriis’ gaze. “Good.” She stepped backwards, finally releasing Coquina from her stare. When she spoke again, it was to address the entire crowd. “When the guard falls, there will be retaliation. The clans will fight. That will be when we strike.”
One flick of her tail marked the meeting as over. She turned her back on the gathered dragons and slunk towards her cave, where her two Secundux awaited. All across the mountains, dragons lifted their wings and leaped into the sky with lightning urgency, all eager to escape the icy threats of their Dux. Their silhouettes were marked against the remaining light of the sky, scattered in all directions like blackened stars.
Though the meeting’s visitors had been few, Coquina expected that before the night was out, every dragon in Hiedium would know of their clan’s new plan. And of the volunteer who had stepped up to be the first piece of the puzzle: the white dragon they all hated so much.
A web of unease itched beneath Coquina’s scales. She shivered.
Unfolding her wings, she made to take off after them, eager to return to the safety of her Mator’s cave, but Tidi forced her to stay put. “Wait,” she hissed. “You’ve got a job to do.”
As if to confirm the words, Latriis glanced back, the fleeting look pinning Coquina’s wings to her sides.
A job. The web crawled down her back.
Comments (0)
See all