She was about halfway down the corridor when she heard ponderous footfalls and the scraping of the dragon’s belly and tail along the floor. Sorrow risked glancing behind her, fearful that the dragon had heard her and was chasing after her.

There came a blast of flame so fierce that it flared through the darkness, lighting it bright as day. After that a roar and a wave of heat and a low rumbling sound that built into a horrific crash, shaking the ground and walls of the underground passage and sending clouds of dust rolling through the corridor and cascading down from the ceiling.

Crouched in the shelter of the mountain fastness, Maristara breathed devastating magic on the Abbey. The magic blew apart the walls and brought the building down on top of what was left of Grald. Sorrow kept flying, though flight was now perilous. Dragon-sight could not pierce the clouds of dust, and she was having difficulty seeing where she was going.

She forced herself to slow down. It would take the human, Leopold, some time to make his way into the palace. Once there, he would have to wake and arm his soldiers, and prepare them for what they must do.

That part, Sorrow thought bitterly, will not be difficult. They have been waiting for this opportunity, it seems.

Waiting to kill us—the monsters.

28

SORROW REACHED THE PART OF THE CORRIDOR THAT BRANCHED off into the palace living quarters, and here she had to end her flight and take to her feet. She felt a vast sense of relief when she had solid ground beneath her claws, and also a tiny sliver of regret. Although her stomach had remained clenched in terror the whole time she was in flight, she had enjoyed the rush of air past her face and beneath her wings. She looked forward to flying again. If she lived that long.

She burst into her brother’s room and found him with Ven, who was lying on the bed, his eyes closed.

Lucien looked up. “Oh, Sorrow! I was worried! What was that blast—”

“Never mind that now!” Sorrow gasped for breath. Terror and the exertion of flight had stolen the air from her lungs. “The warriors are coming to kill us!”

“To kill me,” Ven corrected.

“No,” said Sorrow. “To kill us.”

Ven opened his eyes and sat up.

Lucien stared at her, confused and dismayed. “But . . . why?”

“Because Ven was able to slay Grald, Maristara fears that we are a threat to all dragons. The humans think we are a threat to them. It was Leopold, one of the human dragon warriors, who talked the dragon into it.” Sorrow was bitter. “The dragon gave orders that all Grald’s children must die. And the humans are eager to carry out her command.”

“Kill us? But . . . what do we do?” Lucien asked, dismayed.