The Draykon Series (1-3)

Lokant: Chapter Thirty-Nine

'Unusually direct, but effective,' murmured one of the women.

'Lacked finesse, sir,' panted the wounded man.

'Grab him,' Limbane directed. But Krays wasn't entirely unconscious. As Limbane's team went to secure him, he muttered something and vanished.

'Crap,' said the wounded man.

Limbane shrugged. 'He's slippery. Right, we're out of time. We'll have to come back for the boy. For now, let's get out of here.'

Watching Griel heal his own arm was almost as chilling as watching him slash it open in the first place. He had all the ability that Eva lacked, conducting the operation with the careless lack of concern that came with supreme confidence. He gritted his teeth as his muscles slowly knitted themselves closed and the torn edges of his skin merged into a whole once more. It took some time, and by the end of it Griel sagged in his chair, exhausted.

He noticed Eva's close scrutiny. He looked again at her white hair, the same as his own. Questions formed in his eyes, but he didn't speak them. He remained grimly silent.

Eva wasn't willing to let him close up, not yet. They needed to know more.

'How long has this been going on?'

No answer.

'If you weren't meant to be waking the draykon, what were you supposed to be doing?'

Still nothing. Griel had descended into a morose, stubborn silence from which he refused to rouse himself.

Eva spoke more gently. 'Griel, please. There are some very wrong things occurring and I need more information in order to make them right.'

He looked up at that. 'You? What can you do against Krays's organisation?'

'Not just us. We have help.'

'Oh?' Griel straightened, the suspicious look back in his eyes.

'I'll gladly share, but first I need more from you.'

Griel let out a sigh. 'We were tasked with retrieving all the bone from the Glinnery source. It was to be conveyed to Krays's factory, here.'

Tren interrupted him. 'Here? In this city?'

Griel shook his head. 'Not in Wirllen. Out in the sticks. Krays spent most of his time at the factory, I believe. He was building his machines already, and he thought that the bone could revolutionise the design. In that, he was right.

'My wife disliked being kept on the edges of Krays's project. She had other ideas and resented being used as a lackey. She conceived a different plan. I knew it couldn't end well, but what could I do? She was always so headstrong. I supported her in it because I had no other option. I certainly couldn't betray her to Krays.

'I was right, of course. Even with your fortuitous arrival and interference, nothing could dissuade or stop her. Nothing could control that draykon, either. I took the creature's bite for her. When I woke up, I was like this.' His face darkened. 'The first thing Krays told me was that my wife was dead. She was killed for her complete betrayal of her orders. And me, I was put in charge of a new workshop. It's been difficult, finding ways to undermine that bastard, but I've done it. I give him false reports on the workshop's useage of the bone, and I find unobtrusive ways to distribute the surplus.' He smiled savagely. 'It's pitiful, as rebellion goes, but it feels good.'

Eva mulled that over. 'This workshop. Where was it? Wynn Street, Wirllen South?'

Griel's brows rose. 'How did you... oh, the light-globe manufactory. Yes, that was the last one. They're only kept open for a moon or so, then they're moved to new sites. I suppose he's afraid of prying eyes making inconvenient discoveries.'