Page 77 of Blood of Dragons

Then I’m not coming with you.

I turned quiet when I heard the threat.Now you turn your back on me?

I would never turn my back on you, Talon. But you’re pursuing this for the wrong reasons. We must continue to look for the dragons?—

I’ve looked everywhere, Khazmuda. We’ve looked over every inch of this land and have found nothing. Not a damn clue.

They must be north of the White Mountains.

We’ve already looked, Khazmuda. You searched the world for twenty years and found nothing. We can look again, but it’ll just yield the same results. These dragons must be underground or made invisible by magic because they’re nowhere to be found. I will not waste more time.

We look one more time?—

You’re fucking killing me…I smashed the cigar I’d just lit directly into the desk.

One more time—and then I’ll come with you.

I sank back into the armchair and looked to the sky.

What happened between you?

We’re done. That’s what happened.

What did she say?

What does it fucking matter? She said she never wanted to see me again, that our interests no longer aligned, that she would never betray her father’s dying wish by telling me anything about where she is…who’s she with…or what she knows about the dragons. I tried three times, Khazmuda. She won’t budge.

Then let’s go look for her.

I don’t even know where to begin.

Where she is, the dragons will be close by.

I don’t want to look for someone who doesn’t want to be found…

He was quiet for a while.Let’s hunt. I want to see your face.

I don’t feel like hunting.

Then let’s fly. I want to see your face.

I ignored him.

Talon, I’ve felt your pain for three solid days. Your pain is my pain.

Commander Navarrese quietly knocked on the open door before he stepped inside. “I have a letter from the scouts.”

“The scouts?” I asked, having no idea what he was talking about.

“That are following General Titan.” He placed the opened scroll on my desk.

Talon?

I’d forgotten all about him, forgotten about everything because all I thought about was Calista. “What did they say?” I was in no mood to read the scroll when I could get the information from him much quicker.

“He’s gone to the east, to a swampland that looks dead—that was how they described it.”

I remembered the area from when Khazmuda and I searched for the dragons. It was home to orcs and monsters. If we weren’t protected by the mountains, our land would be a vastly different place. “Sounds like he has a death wish.”