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2020-10-25 23:55:44
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Called by the Dragon 29
“This is where the understudies train the apprentices,” said Abelard. “There aren’t enough masters in the Magisien body, so we delegate what we can.” So many explanations. After the latest long-winded speech from Abelard in front of several dozen adolescents, by now, Kai must have mastered the art of tuning him out, a vital skill Anzi too possessed. She believed in the great strength and glory of the Imperial City—even now despite recent doubts—but she didn’t put on performances for its sake. The elderly mage, on the other hand, had waxed poetic about the storied history of the Empire’s mage class and its renown throughout the land for the last half-hour. No one liked his speeches. Anzi was an outsider, but the practiced, dead-eyed stares of all the students at their desks were proof enough. Oza hadn’t liked him either. At least, he hadn’t…the last time they had spoken. “And for the chieftain’s pleasure, we will be going down and doing some demonstrations. Up, everyone.” Kai looked
Last Updated : 2020-10-26Called by the Dragon 30
@Editor - please delete this chapter. Duplicate chapter. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DO NOT UNLOCK THIS CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER. DUPLICATE CHAPTER.
Last Updated : 2020-10-27Called by the Dragon 31
He was so much taller now than when she had last seen him. Anzi’s stomach lurched for the hundredth time since she had come to the Tower, but this one was the final one, the real one. She was here, looking Oza in the eye and coming face to face with the boy she had left to fend for himself in a world she had known would be too cruel to him. And yet he looked healthy, or as healthy as he could ever be with his frailty. Still as skinny as she remembered, though. He positively swam in his robe. “You’re not wearing initiate’s garb anymore,” she said, partly because she was proud of him but mostly because she didn’t know what else to say. “Congratulations.” He raised one shoulder and made a twitching gesture with his opposite hand, but made not a sound. He blinked, long lashes somehow making his eyes look even darker than they were. Did she look like that, she wondered. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d looked at herself, and fringers didn’t often pause to examine each other’s ap
Last Updated : 2020-10-28Called by the Dragon 32
“I’m not wearing that.” Anzi pointed at the door with a commanding finger. “The thought’s appreciated. But no, thank you.” “You don’t mean that.” “Yes, I do.” “I’m talking about you saying you appreciate it. You don’t.” Letti planted her hands on her hips, eyebrows furrowed hard like two swords on the verge of a violent clash. “Why don’t you like it!” “Because.” “Give me a reason. A real one!” “The list is so long you could make new dresses and wraps out of it for every girl in the harem. Take it as it is. I’m not wearing something that clumsy to the gala.” Letti looked like she was going to explode. Her fabulous blonde ringlets bounced along her bared shoulders as if they had a life—and anger—of their own. “But I saw it! That man, the one with the wonderful back and beautiful chest, him—he said, he said he was looking forward to escorting you there!” She hated how fate had arranged things. The woman had apparently been hiding around the corner when Kai had walked her to her ro
Last Updated : 2020-10-29Called by the Dragon 33
Anzi couldn’t believe the one time she wanted to see Bastien, she couldn’t. Did he know? Did he know about the possibility of surviving wild dragons yet? It would send him into a raving-mad, delirious fit of ecstasy, but she had to ask him how it could even be possible. He had been there during the Purge, hadn’t he? Despite his looks and his immature, irritating personality, he was an old, old man who could shed more light on the subject than nearly anyone else in the entire Empire. And yet tonight she couldn’t go to see him. No egg-searching, not when she had to accompany Kai all night and entertain him. Entertain. Had the Emperor meant it? Had Kai really told him he intended to couple with her tonight? Maybe he had changed his mind after everything that happened during their afternoon together; he hadn’t told her a thing about it. But wait, he had dragged her to his room and put her in his bed this morning, had even slept beside—around her—for hours. Maybe that was supposed to be th
Last Updated : 2020-10-30Called by the Dragon 34
They were in the throne room, and evidently, his Excellency was in grand spirits. The faint laughter filtering faintly through the doors made her pause. Had she ever heard the man laugh like that? It startled her to think that Kai—because he was in there too, as confirmed by the Emperor’s personal guards before her—would be the reason for such joy. Ah. Because of dragons. Of course. Kai was perhaps the only person in all the Empire who could make His Excellency so joyous now. Ironic, considering that Kai blamed the Emperor for the massacre of the dragons in the Purge. How surreal to think that Kai would now offer to bring back those dragons as a gift for the man he had scorned before. Then again, it was hard to defy the will of the most powerful monarch in the land. “I need to go in,” she said. “They’re waiting for me.” The guard looked her up and down with a skeptical eye. “You?” She ref
Last Updated : 2020-10-31Called by the Dragon 35
She wasn’t mistaken. This was Noemi, the woman who had slapped Violetta that day in the market district. Her black hair was done up in elegant style with delicate silver links decorating her tresses, but there was no mistaking the poison-green eyes and the beauty mark by her mouth, nor the sour, sharp expression creeping into her gaze. Evening darkness had fallen, but the torch light was plenty enough to see by. Anzi knew. This was her. And for some reason, she had the emerald brooch in her hair that Violetta had bought for her and held onto. Anzi could believe that young harem girls were forced to lend pretty baubles over to their senior sisters on demand, but something was wrong. Not only was Letti nowhere to be seen, but she had disappeared from the harem quarters altogether. After another fight—or more abuse, rather—had she run off somewhere so no one could find her? If Noemi had slapped her again and left another mark, Letti would hardly show herse
Last Updated : 2020-10-31Called by the Dragon 36
“Anzi?” She looked up. “Yes.” “I’d like to sit with you.” “It’s not comfortable.” “I’m not looking to be comfortable.” She scooted to the side and made space for Kai on the stone steps that led out to the rear of the palace grounds. This area wouldn’t open up to the milling citizens just yet, not until the gala was truly underway and all the wealthy elite decided they wanted to admire the beautiful scenery here. But she had bullied her way past the guards with a cold look, and surprisingly, they had let her go on through. She wondered if they knew who she was somehow. Kai settled down next to her, but she said nothing to him as the silence stretched on. It was dark now, so she could pretend she didn’t see him staring at the side of her face as if she had the map of the world on it. She didn’t want to talk. He should know that just by looking at her. And he did, it seemed. He remained quiet too, until finally she began to wonder if perhaps she did want him to speak after all. It
Last Updated : 2020-10-31
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Called by the Dragon 102
She was exhausted but unable to sleep as Ash transported her and Kai back to camp. Qing had implored him not to go, but there was no dissuading him now that his men were stable and those who could be saved had been saved. After all, those were his men back at camp, too, the ones who had had to remain behind. No one said a thing as the Oasis slithered through the sands. Kai, despite how exhausted he must be and fearing for his defenseless men on top of that, took Anzi to the spring and bathed her gently. Her wounds refused to close, and even when he slid his hands over them to try to impart healing power through their mate bond, they remained angry and red and gushed blood anew anytime she shifted too much. “It’ll be all right,” he murmured as he kissed her wounds while she sat numbly in the water. “We’ll be there soon.” Soon wasn’t enough. Night was already falling, and it had been that long since she heard Netra’s
Called by the Dragon 101
Was there nothing else she could do? Nothing at all? Anzi took a deep and angled slash to her midriff that tore the tattered remains of her uniform almost completely in two while at the same time, beheading Benhad at last in exchange, and yet it wasn’t triumph she felt but stunned disbelief. She had thrown her faith into Ash’s words because she had no choice but to fight on anyway, but here that faith proved futile as ever. Five newcomer dragons in the fight, some of them rivaling Kai’s generals in size, and the five First Guards riding atop them as well. Outnumbered, outpowered, fighting like this would mean everyone died. No path to victory, no opening, no vulnerability to exploit. And for every one she might find if she looked hard enough, the shifter tribe had a dozen more. Please, she begged the gods, the spirits, even herself. The fate and destiny Ash insisted would meet her here, where were they? Please, let there be something I can do, she screa
Called by the Dragon 100
Anzi had no time for a poetic entry into battle. She had no time for battle either while she was at it and hoped desperately she could be more assassin instead, striking at vulnerable heart and tearing apart the enemy before they could fight back and resist. But that was impossible. She was faster than any ordinary man, stronger and more agile even in this battered state she’d earned from the night of the great battle, but these men were riders too. First Guards, men of the Premier just like her. Of course she never made it to a killing stroke on the first try and in the first moments of what could only end in the bloodiest ways. “Get her down!” Benhad shouted from her right, so she went to the left with deadly slices of her sword, aiming for whatever part of the closest man she could reach. When she found only air, she didn’t stop: she pressed on, dashing after her target who backed up into his motionless dragon as he drew his own weapon. She had to br
Called by the Dragon 99
Please, take him back, she begged as she struggled to keep her face stone-solemn and unaffected. It’s not too late. Ash, you know what the plan was. Take him back! All of them! This was the plan all along, and it’s time you learn to put your faith in fate. This is your destiny. Not just yours, but everyone’s, and you have to rise to meet it. This is what you were born into the world to do, to be. If you believe nothing else, then believe in that. What do you mean, this was the plan? Ash! Last night when you begged me to lie to Kaizat, did you think I’d done it? I didn’t. What I told him was to trust me just as I’m telling you to trust me now, and he did. Do you know it? I’ve guided the half-dragons since before he was born, for the last two hundred years since they dispersed and wandered and gathered together at last, one by one. I was there when their grandfathers’ grandfathe
Called by the Dragon 98 - Deception
“It’s impossible.” “Obviously, it’s not,” Anzi snarled, and she shoved Ash’s shoulder in a vain attempt to send her away. But the old woman only stumbled to the side and continued staring into the distance at the unmistakable shape of dragons in flight. “Go! Do you realize what they’ll do if they catch you with me? They’ll drag you along no matter what I say!” “This makes no sense. There’s not a Druid among them. They can’t sense you. Can’t sense us.” “If you had listened to me—” No. This wasn’t the time to argue. It would solve nothing. Ash was here and they would take her prisoner if she didn’t get away in time, assuming they hadn’t seen her yet from the sky, but worse, they were too close. Too close! It hadn’t been but a few hours since they had left Kai’s camp, and a dragon in flight could cross the distance they’d traveled in a tenth of that time. She knew better than to hope Bisset wasn’t among them, too, and
Called by the Dragon 97 - Proof
“You’re running away. I never thought you could be so timid.” “It’s not about being timid. I knew he would try to stop me. Doesn’t matter what you told him, he would have changed his mind in the end and gotten in my way.” “Oho, what a chill I feel in the middle of all this heat. Tell me, how do you think he will feel when he wakes up to see you gone?” “Don’t try to guilt me.” Anzi straightened her uniform. It was in tatters, missing a forearm bracer, a shoulder guard, waist split, half of one pant leg missing. That night in the Imperial City had torn a hole or burst seams in just about everything, especially after the fight with Doufan and the collapse of the dungeon. Even the flight in Shu-Amunet’s massive claws had done their share of damage. But all the better. It would make her story of forced kidnapping more plausible. “No guilt, then,” Ash snickered. “But some regret? You must be wishing you
Called by the Dragon 96 - Shadows
Anzi didn’t want to know how Ash had managed to convince him. All she knew was that Kai was in a towering mood, terrible and brooding, and she could feel it from across the camp. It was fainter here in Qinglong’s tent that had somehow become extremely crowded within the last day—Oza and Letti as well as all three of her dragons along with Rania, too—but she could sense Kai’s anger nonetheless. Something had changed between them without her even noticing, something beyond simple attraction and other mundane feelings. Maybe it had been back when he first kissed her on the bridge, or maybe it had been that day when she had sat by him, watching the healers labor to save his life before the basilisk poison could kill him. Or maybe it had been during the flight here, when she had first tasted real freedom away from the shadow of the Empire. But things were different now, and the part of her that used to be afraid of defining those very changes—wasn’t so afrai
Called by the Dragon 95 - Deaden
Her leg ached, badly, even though Anzi had done nothing at all to strain it. Her only labor since morning after leaving Ash’s dominion was to perform the crudest half-surgeries known to man on a handful of Kai’s warriors, and she had been kneeling for most of that. Her body couldn’t be so weak, could it? Or was she imagining it all because of the fatigue and the haunting sensations of feeling warm flesh pull apart under her fingers as she searched for poison no one else could touch? What was this strange new world she had plummeted into with no preparation, no wisdom, nothing at all? No—she had Kai, who pulled her close and kissed her on the brow before letting her go so she could walk to meet Ash. She had Letti and Oza here in the camp on the other end of it, safe and sound. Netra and Serqet were here too, thank to Kai’s tribesmen who had brought them here instead of abandoning them. Had Anzi remembered to thank anyone for that? Maybe she didn’t have t
Called by the Dragon 94 - Sight
Five. There were five others who had been infected out of the roughly dozen and a half who made up Kai’s warrior troupe, and of them, only one had begun to show signs of the living poison that had burrowed into their veins. It was a grueling three hours of inspection and labor, far more difficult than it had been with Masal because these slivers were so much smaller and that much harder to see. Anzi had checked and rechecked every man, woman, and beast in the camp and Oza, too, fueled by growing paranoia and fear whenever she found the damnable silver threads hiding in their bodies. But what made it truly difficult was the exhaustion that set in. Not only when she extracted the poison through fresh, deep incisions she had been forced to make because there was no other way to draw it out, but even the expansion of her very senses to search for it in the first place. This unknown, unfamiliar power she had discovered had come with a price. It came from wit
