A Dragon's Redemption [Book 2 in Rising Dragons]

Chapter XXII: Kendov

I opened one eye, saw a pale face with green eyes complete with a twisted expression, and closed my eyes. I wondered how long Mark had waited there. I wondered what he wanted. I was too tired to deal with this.

I was sore and my injuries weren't looking too good. I was starting to worry that they would get infected. If they did get infected, there was nothing I could do about it. I was also starting to question why – whyhedidit whatIdidtodeservethis – the worst of my injuries had been cauterised. I wondered if Mark still cared somewhere deep in his mind, but I refused to entertain that thought. It would only hurt me.

I shrugged off my thoughts and noted that Mark wasn't leaving. I would have to deal with this then. I stood up, scabs cracking and sending rivulets of blood running down my body. I stood up on sore and tired legs. Chains clattered, but I had fewer chains now and they were longer. I was more comfortable – comfortable! As if I could ever be comfortable in a cage.

I laid down at the very front of the cage and snorted smoke at Mark. Mark waved his hand through the smoke and glared at me, like I cared, like I would flinch. I stared at him but didn't move. He wanted to speak, so I would give him an audience. I wouldn't care, though. He was nothing to me.

"What the hell was that all about?" Mark shouted suddenly, and I tensed my muscles instinctively, before forcing myself to relax. I yawned instead, the action done out of spite and to rile Mark up further – probably a bad idea, but the only thing I could do. "You just stopped fighting! And then the other dragon stopped fighting! There was no warning or anything! And then you just collapsed and the other dragon just stood opposite you and didn't move. You probably would've bled out if I hadn't called an end to the match because it was so boring."

I grinned because I knew something Mark didn't. Mark glared at me. "I can promise you this won't happen again," he said, before marching away like he had some important business to attend to. I let my laughter follow him out, chuckling at how he had come here for no reason and he had gained nothing.

He had gained nothing and I had. Mark knew nothing of the planning that had happened. He didn't know that there was hope again. He didn't know that Seeryath was alive. He didn't know that I was working against him. He didn't know, and that thought filled me with a giddy feeling.

He didn't know!

***

I shuffled forward, each paw testing the ground beneath it before I put down my full weight. I walked like it was something new, and it was, to a degree. The loss of my wings – whereweretheywhereweretheywherewerethey – had changed my balance. Upset it. I had never noticed how much my wings had helped me walk, had acted as a tool for balance. My wings were to me what arms were to humans.

That was a thought... human... arms... weapons. I let the thought fade, not wanting to review it and think about it for fear of what it would mean. I leapt up, chains rattling against the cool stone, and felt the air rush over me like the wind had once done when I had flown, when I could still fly.

I landed heavily, bitterness waging war in my heart and my mind. I didn't want this! I let the rage well within me and then overflow, fire bathing my cell in light and encompassing me. Fire flickered along my back, along my scales, clinging for a moment before fading.

I paused, interested in how the fire had clung to me. I twisted and let fire flare to existence, washing myself in a stream of fire that seemed alive. I watched as it climbed over my scales, sparking and flaring and flickering, but there. The dirt and mud and dried blood that had stuck to my scales was falling off, turning to ash beneath the might of my own fire. The fire grew lower before dying and I was stuck in darkness again.