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Bonus Chapter

PART 1
ZANDYR

The shudder before a battle was unmistakable.The roads trembled underneath my warriors’ precise stride, eagerness in each step. The rustle of the leaves as the spears’ sharp tips grazed them, disturbing the few birds which hadn’t already flown for cover. Even the sky darkened, furious clouds gathering as my army and warriors breached the top of the hill and stared at the lush valley separating our Clan from the Defector Lands, the most heinous stretch of terrain in all of Malhaven, where every foul creature gathered. A lawless, wild land that not even Adara had wanted to breach. The magic there was wrong.I dismounted from Madrya and patted her mane, our usual ritual before battle. She gave me a long, hard look too ancient to belong to any normal mortal. How some of the sages still had doubts about her being a nazdran was beyond me. She gave her usual neigh; along the years, I’d come to understand it was her way of wishing me good luck. The flick of her tail as she trotted to safety to the back of the army was more of a warning.Come back alive or else.“The Serpents are bold to cross the Defector Lands,” Ryker said as he came to stand next to me, in front of the thousands of souls I was responsible for today. All well-armed, well-trained, and ready to defend our Clan. For them, at this moment, it didn’t matter why the Blood Brotherhood was in danger. They just wanted to protect it. Adara had trained them well.“They’re idiots.” I turned to look at the deserted valley. The side closest to us was a lush dream of swaying grass, tall enough for a child to hide in without crouching. The other side was scorched at the edges, the few blades of grass which had managed to grow in that red, parched soil tainted yellow at the tips. “They probably lost a quarter of their forces marching through that miserable forest.”Which meant they had forces to spare. I narrowed my eyes at the opposite hill, barren and peppered with jagged rocks. No movement, no sound, only the morning wind disturbing the bone-dry dirt.“The other Clans must have not let them pass through their territories.” Ryker said.Cowards. This wasn’t some magnanimous show of support. I’d seen enough to know every Clan foamed at the mouth at the idea of kneeling the great Blood Brotherhood. As long as I had breath in my lungs and blood in my veins, that would not happen. “Wouldn’t want us finding out about them helping our direct enemies, would they?”“The Northern Clans also declined the Serpents’ request. Perhaps Banu and Valuta aren’t so far gone in their madness.”“They’re protecting their investment.” They hadn’t spent so much time scheming and rising up in the Blood Brotherhood ranks only to have the Clan decimated by the Serpents. And if they had gotten involved and the information had leaked, well, not even the sages or my parents could ignore a slight like that. Hopefully.I stepped right to the edge of the hill, eyes narrowing on the arid horizon. The legends said that the Desertor Lands had once been the richest and most abundant in all of Malhaven. A wasteland, that’s what it had become. Uncontrolled magic distorted. Infected. Shattered.I clenched my jaw. Who was I to judge when I’d lost control three nights ago? I shouldn’t have even gone to Evie’s home. I could have asked Adara to give her the armor and stayed as far away from her as I had to. But no. I’d walked inside her home. At night. I told myself it was the safest way to deliver her new armor, which had vials of my blood; gods above, I bled myself to keep her safe and I was ready to do it again.That had been an obvious lie. I wanted to see Evie. Then we’d played that game where I hunted her. A relief before battle, that’s what I’d told myself it was. When I’d finally caught her and she’d been in my arms…I flexed my tense palms. There had been so many things I’d wanted to do in that moment, as her lithe body molded to mine. At least I’d had the restraint to only kiss her forehead.Then I’d vanished into the night like a coward. I hadn’t wanted to see her eyes after that simple touch–what if they’d reflected my own wants and desires? Not as sinful as the ones flitting through my mind, certainly.If I convinced myself that whatever this madness coursing through me wasy hadn’t infected Evie as well, then it was easier to stay away. If I read disdain in each of her smirks. If I pretended she avoided me. If I ignored the sweet scent of her hair.If I wanted her, but she didn’t want me, we were safe. Or safer.And yet…with the unavoidable battle on the horizon and the inescapable odds of being called into the mountains to receive my powers soon, I’d wanted to see Evie. Perhaps for the last time.Godsdammit, I should not have been thinking about her smiles right before a battle.My soul had been so closed and content before Evie had burst into my life, swinging around that pitiful switchblade of hers at me. Now here I was, pining like some pitiful schoolboy who’d finally met his first love.I needed to stay away from Evie, body, soul, and mind. I had thousands of lives to defend behind me.“Something on your mind?” Ryker chuckled from beside me.I slashed a look his way. “Apart from a battle with one of the richest Clans in all of Malhaven?”Riches bought mercenaries and fearsome creatures aching to slash through my warriors and soldiers.“You’re grimacing. You never grimace at the enemy, you throw those icy smirks of yours their way.”“We’ve spent too much time together.”Ryker’s chuckle reverberated around us. Good. The troops needed to know their prince and their Commander were in high spirits before combat. “That doesn’t answer my question.”I raised my brow his way. “I’d rather discuss that hickey on your neck. The Huntress is a biter, is she?”Ryker’s hand flew to the side of his neck. “No, she–”I huffed a laugh and Ryker narrowed his eyes on me.“There’s no hickey, is there?” he grunted.“Judging from your reaction, not yet. Still want to talk about our Protectorate fiancees?”Ryker remained silent and furious, an uncharacteristic tinge of red blooming in his ghostly cheeks.The wind blew harder, a malicious crispness in the air. I tightened my hold on my sword, the mighty Spiritblade, passed down from the grandfathers who had built my Clan.“Something’s wrong,” I muttered, eyes sweeping over the valley. “Where are the spies?”“Perhaps they had to flee back directly to Phoenix Peak.”Unfortunately, I doubted it. Our spies had been trained too well to be forced to flee. Unless they couldn’t even do that. A sickening weight nestled on my shoulders. “Not ours. The Serpents’.”If they didn’t feel the compulsion to watch our every move, they must’ve had a good reason. An ominous one.Ryker’s eyes widened. He gave an almost imperceptible twist of his fingers, unflinching gaze racing over every blade of grass. I watched his hand with a strange mix of envy and unease at the invisible magic he was weaving. Through training, I’d broken and reformed my bones and muscles to be faster, stronger, more alert. But the kind of magic the Blood Brotherhood Clan promised…it would give me an even bigger edge on the battlefield. A greater chance of winning and protecting my Clan.Right now, Ryker was looking for those elusive heartbeats belonging to the Serpents’ spies. That was a valuable detection ability I could not train in myself, no matter how many hours I devoted to it. Despite how hard the people from my Clan pretended and hoped otherwise, despite all the advantages my dynasty had instilled in us, I was still mortal.Ryker was the only one of the Blood Brotherhood Elite who had gotten his power. No surprise, given his background, yet I had wondered why I hadn’t received The Calling yet. I had a Clan to lead and defend–why wasn’t that enough?I knew it was coming, though. My blood didn’t feel right, roiling and blistering my control. It was the only explanation.Riker’s fingers stilled.“What did you find?” I asked urgently.His hand fell to his side. “Not spies.”I cursed under my breath. No spies meant–The ground thumped. A current passed through my warriors as we all tensed, eyes trained on the opposite hill. The horizon darkened as the first of the Serpents’ jade helmets came into view.“Gods above,” Ryker muttered from beside me.“Don’t bother.” I clenched my jaw. “The gods aren’t listening today.”Thousands of Serpents marched to face us, all of them armed to the teeth with mighty spears, spiked shields, and glistening daggers.“What is it with Serpents and small weapons?” I hissed under my breath to keep from cursing and losing my composure at the sight in front of me.I’d anticipated droves of them coming to face us. What I hadn’t foreseen were the dozen gigantic snakes slithering their way between the troops.“Cheaters,” Ryker rumbled. “The Clan Council has forbidden magicked creatures in Clan battles. Soryn oversaw the negotiations himself.”“They have and he did.” And it hadn’t mattered. “You want to go and tell those reptiles that their presence is forbidden?”Even the Serpent soldiers seemed terrified of the massive beasts, shirking away from them as they slithered between the battalions, forked tongues flicking menacingly. Their heads were as big as carriages, their front fangs as tall as men, and gods knew how far their colossal bodies extended past the hill.A murmur of unease passed through my own troops, but not one of them moved.“I don’t think even Xamor himself can’t reason with them,” Ryker said. “Look at their eyes.”They were green and vacant. No sign of the dark slits that should have been there. They were fully and utterly controlled–and trained on us.The Serpents were risking a lot–too much–by bringing their war snakes to this battle. Either they truly believed they could wipe out my entire army…or there was something more devious slinking through their ranks.The Serpent army parted in the center. I expected their general to come galloping through on his horse, as he always did. He was a pompous louse, but his mind was dangerous, his tactics bloody and surprising.Instead of the general, a trebuchet creeped up to the top of the hill.“Steady,” I called out to my army as the clinks of their spears against the ground intensified. There were no rocks behind the machinery, no burning pitches, and no horse carcasses the Serpents could fling at us. If they hadn’t lugged the trebuchet all the way here to attack us…Apprehension settled deep in every muscle of my body as the siege machinery tightened and slung.I knew what the dark, spinning ball was before it landed right at my feet.A severed head from one of my Clan members.

PART 2
ZANDYR

Lythar’s glassy, bloodied eyes stared back at me accusingly as his head stopped rolling at my feet. His face was marred with the resilient frown which had made him an excellent spy. His jaw was still clenched; he hadn’t given them any information, his final act of bravery.After so many battles, my stomach shouldn’t have turned at the sight. Yet I couldn’t stop the wave of pure hatred coursing through my veins.“Monsters.” Ryker spit on the ground.I shrugged off my scarlet ceremonial robe, which I always wore before battle, in case the confrontation ended in nothing but a bloodless negotiation. I knew better than to believe Edrion would ever avoid bloodshed; the only thing bigger than the Serpent general’s horse was his ego. He’d been foaming at the mouth for the chance to defeat the Blood Brotherhood, and Edrion did not care about his troops.It didn’t matter now, anyway. Lythar’s savage death needed to be avenged. My army rumbled with the hunger for combat. The Blood Brotherhood protected or avenged its own.“Murderers,” Rucyan, one of my best warriors, rumbled from behind.I crouched and gently closed Lythar’s eyes, muttering a soft prayer for whatever gods were listening. He’d been one of the best spies in the Blood Brotherhood, but he’d been an even better uncle, taking care of his sister’s three young ones. He’d been a good man.Suffocating my guilt, I gently cocooned Lythar’s severed head in my sacred robe, giving it to Rucyan. Lythar would be burned next to his ancestors back in the Capital, a funeral befitting a great warrior.I let my anger wash away all other emotions. The Blood Brotherhood needed to quiet down. The Dragon needed to come out and protect my Clan.I steeled myself and turned back to face Edrion, who grinned in the middle of his army and giant snakes. The man was short and stubby, if he hadn’t sat astride his horse, he would’ve gotten lost in the horde.“I never pegged you for a fool, Edrion,” I said, voice calm as my blood raged. Curious. It usually simmered before a battle, now my veins boiled. I needed to be careful. “Prideful, yes. Rash, always. But not foolish.”The grin vanished from Edrion’s wrinkled face; so many years in this world, so little learned. “I’d measure my words carefully, Dragon. I have numbers and creatures on my side.”My army rumbled harder, feet stomping the ground. I held up a hand to quiet them and the ruckus died down instantly. On the other end of the valley, the Serpents remained silent and petrified of the snakes, slowly inching away from the reptiles and trying so hard not to break rank. The Serpents hadn’t used giant snakes in battle for a long time. Long enough that their troops had not only forgotten how to ride them, but were actively frightened. Perhaps the Serpents’ magic also had been affected by whatever was infecting the Protectorate ranks.“Creatures which are frightening your own soldiers,” I said, voice booming. On cue, one of the first rank soldiers dropped his shield. Beautiful. “And which are against the Council’s rules of Clan combat.”Edrion gave an infuriating shrug. “You’ll all be dead before a whisper of this reaches the Council.”Ryker scoffed. “I can’t wait to rip his head with my bare hands,” he whispered.“I would reconsider that plan, Edrion. You also killed a spy.” My spy. There was an unmistakable bite to my voice. Clan spies, if discovered, were always captured and traded. Many battles had been avoided by ruthless negotiations. It wasn’t a mere Council rule. It was a Clan tradition. “You Serpents really don’t bother with Clan laws, do you?”“Says the man who murdered our heir. On his wedding day.”My veins pulsed as I remembered how Fabrian had hid behind Evie’s skirts and held a knife to her throat. Useless coward. “You’re welcome.”Edrion’s face contorted with rage. “Fabrian was the hope of the Bazin dynasty, our future king, and–”“And he would have been the reason your Clan would have disintegrated in petty squabbles, rebellions, and hardship because of your heir’s mismanagement,” I said. “Let’s not pretend anyone has shed a tear over Fabrian’s death. You let whatever was left of his body to rot and be picked away by the eagles on Sanctua Sirena.”“We have a duty to avenge his death.”“You’re here because of pride, nothing else. Track down one of Fabrian’s bastards who have managed to survive the cleansing and put them on the throne, you’d be better off.” My fingers wrapped around the hilt of my sword, digging harder into it than usual. The hectic energy brewing inside of me grew. “I’m going to give you one chance. Back down now.”Edrion’s bark of a laughter reverberated through the valley.“You’re still young, Dragon,” he said. “You and I both know this battle can be avoided in only one way.”The wind hissed louder as Edrion paused, beady eyes narrowing with malice.“Give us back what was stolen, and we leave you alone,” Edrion finished triumphantly.My entire body froze from the intensity of my anger. “What did you say?” I said in a deadly murmur.Out of the corner of his sparking eyes, Ryker gave me a concerned look. He didn’t recognize my dark voice. I didn’t either. It was as if all the shadows I kept so carefully caged inside of me had been unleashed.“The girl. The Lost Daughter.” Edrion’s gaze sparked with spite. “You might have killed Fabrian, but she’s the reason he’s dead. A life for a life. Give her to us to deal with her and we’ll consider the debt repaid.”“Why are you blaming her? I gave the killing blow.”Edrion shrugged. “The way I heard it, she distracted him. You know how women are. And Fabrian would have never been there that day if it hadn’t been for that worthless little wench that–”Serpents truly didn’t know when to shut the fuck up.This waste of a wretched soul that was Edrion would not say one more unkind word about my Evie. He would never see her again, let alone harm her in any way.All the frenzied energy which had been building inside of me sharpened into a deadly point, traveling down my right arm as my rage burst. There was a distant echo of a heartbeat beyond the wrath suddenly clouding all logic.I turned into a creature only guided by instinct. And that instinct roared for blood. As if guided by a force greater than me, my fingers unwrapped from the hilt of my sword. My open palm rose in the air, toward Edrion, under Ryker’s panicked gaze.As another word formed on Edrion’s lips, I curled my fingers. Edrion stilled. His body gave a single lurch. As his eyes bulged and his arms flew to clutch at his throat, I fisted my palm with all my might.Edrion didn’t get to utter one more word or even draw another breath. His body combusted in a rain of blood, sinew, and bones. His steed neighed, horrified, kicking his hooves into the air, and galloping away from the Serpents army. The snakes hissed, bodies undulating as their eyes tried to track the source of the commotion. The soldiers closest to Edrion yelled as their general’s blood dripped from their faces.The Blood Brotherhood side of the valley was solemnly silent, a wave of shock reverberating through my entire army.I looked at my palm, as surprised as the rest of them. In the back of my mind, an ominous chant began.“Come,” a million ancient voices beckoned.I lowered my arm slowly, unsure for once. “What in Xamor’s name just happened?” I whispered only for Ryker’s ears.The Commander shook the stupor off his face, as a slow, proud smile bloomed on his face. “Your power has awakened, Dragon.”