In just a few minutes, they were the only dragons remaining on the slopes of the Peak Circle, apart from one Subil. Fresto still remained, and as Coquina watched, he picked his way carefully down the slope and called to the closest Secundux, Frigus. Leaving Latriis and Scella in muttered conversation at the cave’s mouth, Frigus approached him and tilted his head to catch Fresto’s words. There could only have been a sentence or two, but it was enough. The Secundux nodded and returned to the Dux and her other advisor.
It remained that way for a time longer than Coquina could count. She and Tidi remained on their ledge, not daring to move. Fresto finally spread his wings and arced out of the Peak Circle, only for the thud of his landing to be heard only on the other side of the nearest mountain. Latriis, Scella and Frigus talked more, voices too low to make out and faces twisted out of sight.
Finally, Scella flicked out her dark wings and sliced through the air towards them, touching down beneath them on the slope. She jerked her head to the side. “Come into the Circle, white dragon.” Her voice was rougher than Latriis’ smooth hiss, not unlike rocks scraping against one another.
With a silent nod, Coquina lifted her wings to maintain her balance and began stepping down the slope. She feared her wings would fail her if she attempted to fly the distance. Tidi made to follow, but Scella blocked her path. “Not you, Medicor,” she rasped.
Tidi hesitated. She and Coquina met eyes briefly. “Go on,” Coquina said, her voice a little quieter than she meant it. “I’ll be fine.”
For a moment more, Tidi remained, shifting her claws. Then she nodded reluctantly and took off, a pale brown streak amongst clouded blue.
Coquina watched her go until Scella flicked out a wing and whacked her. Wincing, Coquina dipped her head in apology and hurried down the slope, crossing the last sloping section with a controlled leap.
Latriis waited in the centre of the circle of mountains. On the ground, she felt all the more intimidating, her size making her tower over Coquina’s unusually small form. Focusing on keeping her breathing steady, Coquina fixed her gaze on the base of her Dux’s wings. She had no wish to even glance at those eyes again.
“Thank you for so generously volunteering your services, white dragon,” Latriis said from above, voice flowing easily. “What is your name?”
“Coquina,” Coquina managed. “Humil Proeliar. My Mator is Evin.” She wasn’t sure why she blurted the final statement, but even saying her Mator’s name kept her somewhat grounded. She’ll be proud when she hears I was brave enough to do this. She won’t care that it’s murder. She’ll see it as a service, like Tidi.
There were times when even Coquina recognised how different her thoughts could be. Tidi liked to joke that her scales made her soft.
Evin, she repeated to herself, forcing her eyes to lift higher. Latriis’ snow-dappled scales, thinning at her neck. For Evin.
“Good,” said Latriis, almost a little bored. She may well have been seen to forget the name instantly, had she not immediately spoken it. “You will be having a rather late night tonight, Coquina. Scella will escort you to the clan border. After that, we trust you to find our subject.”
“I’m doing it tonight?” Coquina exclaimed, eyes snapping up before she could consider the action. Dark eyes instantly cooled her shock.
It seemed silly of her now, and yet somehow she’d thought that the meeting was pre-emptive. Perhaps tomorrow, or even in a few days, the plan would begin, after they could scout out the area and prepare. But of course the Dux would not waste time and let her dragons wait with the knowledge of what was to come. She was already prepared.
“Yes,” Latriis said with a dim spark in her eye. “I will see you tomorrow, Coquina.”
With that, she lifted her huge wings, and with a gust of her own she was gone.
Scella and Frigus remained, watching their Dux fly off from Coquina’s sides. Though she was sure they didn’t mean to, her scales felt tightly compressed, as if the Secunduc were hemming her in from either side. She was trapped, both by these two advisors and her own stupid promise.
Why was she doing this?
For Evin, she snapped back at herself. And for me. For the good of white scales. For the clan. For Tidi, and her unceasing wish for adventure.
There were so many reasons to do this. Yet still something weaved beneath her scales, stinging the soft skin beneath, making her squirm where she stood.
Ice hissed in her mind, but it was melting away now, thawed by a different heat. Not raging fire, but the red dragon, Teffré spines and scarlet wings. Waiting for her. Amber eyes unwavering.
Frigus was moving away, stepping towards the cave, and still she was trapped. There was no getting out of this now. Flaring her dark wings impatiently, Scella snatched Coquina’s attention.
“Coming?”
“Yes,” Coquina breathed, and yanked her own wings open. Before she knew it, they were airborne, and banking southwards. She averted her eyes from Scella, staring instead to the west, where the first of the suns was brushing the earth between the mountains. It bled into the sky, leaving crimson pools in its wake as it faded to nothing. Night slowly ate away the sunlight, swallowing the hope of the day and leaving only bleak darkness behind.
The sky was bleeding, and soon, another body would bleed. Right beneath Coquina’s claws.
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