“Fuck, I feel like a maul has hit me.” Sila groaned. He tried to sit up but winced. His ribs and sternum were heavily bruised at least, some of them probably broken. It was the result of the heart-saver technique Peevan had taught me. After all, it’s better to have a few broken bones than die.

  “Take it easy, Sila, you’ve been through a lot,” I said, my voice soft. I felt terrible for him as I looked at the faint marks of lightning tracing across his skin.

  “You saved my life, Tullen, thank you.”

  “What in the Hunter’s arse happened, Tullen? You did something with lightning, then both the Raithon and Sila are struck?” Gertha’s voice was even, measured. I’ll be honest with you, it put me more on edge than when she was in a mood.

  I paused. What exactly had I done? I just thought, and my armour acted of its own accord.

  “I don’t know. I just wanted the Raithon off me, then suddenly. It was.”

  “You need to take the armour off, Tullen. You could have killed Sila.” Sayo said, putting her arm under Sila’s and helping him shakily to his feet. He seethed as his hand clasped his side, and he shook his head at Sayo, who then released him.

  “It wasn’t Tullen’s fault.” Sila croaked.

  “No, but we do need to understand this armour, as much for Tullen’s safety as for ours,” Gertha said.

  I couldn’t help but agree with them. This armour was convenient and had saved my life more than once, but there was a magic to it, and it’d be irresponsible not to understand its capabilities.

  “I do agree, but maybe we should wait until we find Eggs, who knows what’s out there right now, and this armour has already proven it can protect me against Lizards.”

  Sayo and Gertha looked at each other, but Sila raised his hand.

  “Look. I didn’t want to be hit by lightning and have my body racked with pain. But Tullen did save me, and like it or not, we need every advantage. Especially as I’m not going to be much use in the front line now.” Sila nodded at me, his smile thin. I’ve seen many men mask their own pain and fear over the years. Sila reminded me of them in that moment, but at least his was to try and inspire unity.

  “Fine, we find Eggs, then we figure out how we’ll get to the Hold. I might be able to do something about the pain when we make camp.” Gertha said.

  “It’s settled then,” I said.

  “So how do we track down Eggs?” Sayo asked.

  I shrugged. “I guess we start where they ran after that deer.” I pointed in the direction of the bushes Eggs had disappeared through.

  Sayo walked, linking Sila’s arm as he moved after her, wincing as he breathed. I followed after them and noticed that Gertha knelt by the smears of green blood, which showed where the Raithon she’d battled had met its end. I watched as her fingers trailed through the blood. I looked away when she sucked her fingertips one by one.

  Fizzmouths were weird. I was sure she had a good reason for what she did, but I was glad she didn’t see me witness her. I’d have to keep an eye on things.

  We pushed through the treeline, and our search for my wayward child began.

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  This forest was dense, dark and old, and the dying light of the sun did its best to penetrate the branches, leaving spots of golden light on the forest floor. Eggs’ trail was easy enough to pick up, while other Lizards could move effortlessly through undergrowth by means I still didn’t quite understand. My wyvern was young and still finding its feet.

  It was those same feet we tracked, they’d broken branches, blundered through bushes and clawed tree trunks. We followed the trail for a good fifteen minutes; clearly, the deer Eggs was chasing knew the area, or had been chased before. I almost felt sorry for it.

  “Hold on, I need to stop.” Sila grimaced as Sayo helped lower him to the ground.

  I looked toward the trail then back to Sila, it was frustrating, I was anxious to find Eggs but I couldn’t help but feel responsible for his injuries, even if they had been sustained saving his life.

  I knelt by his side, gently placing my hand on his shoulder.

  “Take your time, my friend,” I said, squeezing his shoulder gently.

  Sayo stroked his hair as Gertha joined us, she hovered her hand over his, he was clutching his side and I could see the tension in his jaw.

  “Your ribs are either bruised or broken. It’ll be a few weeks before you start feeling yourself.” I said, I gave no outward sign, but I was worried he’d slow us down and get us killed, and it wasn’t like we could send him back to the nomads. He’d never get back across the river, and they would have broken camp and left by now.

  “Thank you, Sergeant-Teller Obvious, I’d never have guessed his ribs were broken.” Gertha chided.

  “Mother, please.” Sila waved her away.

  “At least that’s all he has,” I added.

  “That and the marks on his skin.” Gertha frowned, rubbing the back of her neck.

  “Us men love to compare the scars; it’ll make me more interesting.” Sila chuckled before wincing.

  “Do you feel ready to move now?” Sayo asked, standing up.

  “Let’s go,” Sila said, gritting his teeth as he stood once more.

  So we carried on in silence for another twenty minutes or so, the light fading as the sun set and dusk took hold of our surroundings. I raised my hand when we reached a small clearing, halting the others.

  “We’re going to lose light soon; we should make camp,” I said.

  A loud screech knifed through the air, sounding nearby. It was without a doubt Eggs.

  Looks like they’d finally caught their dinner.

  I glanced at the others. Sila was leaning heavily on Sayo, sweat beading on his brow.

  “What are you waiting for? Go get them!” Gertha urged me, and I immediately sprinted toward the noise.

  I clattered through bushes, not caring about the noise I made, a mistake which usually got people killed, but for once I was lucky; it seemed the only large lizard in the area was my own. Eggs screeched again, the noise seemed to echo, and I couldn’t quite place the direction from which the noise came. I sprang out of the treeline like a man possessed and was immediately stopped in my tracks by an incredible sight.

  A vine covered, mossy stone wall ran up at least nine metres and was about one hundred metres long, what amazed me was that these walls were not enclosed. Instead, there were taller parts at least chest or neck height for someone guarding them, and running in intervals were shorter parts that could be the equivalent of loosing gaps. It was hard to make out the exact details, but I could see a tower behind it, at least twenty metres tall. It was jagged and uneven near the top, as if the top had been bitten off.

  There was a vine covered gap in the wall a little further down than me, as I got closer I could make out broken stone and rubble. Something had broken through, but a long time ago. Freshly broken vines and claw marks in the stone told me that this was likely Eggs’ entry point into the structure, and I was rewarded with yet another screech.

  I now entered a courtyard, where there was rubble everywhere and big chunks of stone as tall as I was; they matched the tower's stone, so I was reasonably confident it had collapsed into here. I saw the telltale shape of Eggs gnawing on something in the far corner of the tower. There was a massive opening in the rock, and Eggs was half inside it. I approached them slowly.

  “Eggs! What are you doing? Get over here!”

  They chirruped and looked up at me, head tilted.

  As I got closer, I noticed two things that caused my arse to seize up and my heart to start pounding.

  Inside the tower, illuminated by embers of Eggs' breath fire still burning a four-legged body, was the telltale glint of gold, jewels and diamonds, while in Eggs’ mouth was a small, winged, juvenile Dragon, no bigger than a dog, missing its head.

  I readied my spear.

  Eggs had found a bloody Dragon’s lair, and I’d blundered right into it.