Page 132 of Courting the Dragon King

Then he lifted his head. “Break!” he shouted. And in his mind, he imagined tearing the bindings. He gritted his teeth as he focused with all his might. His skull throbbed. He yelled. He threw his hands apart. Suddenly he felt the bond snap.

The dead dragon king’s head flung back. His bony mouth opened wide. His roar shook the walls. Stones and dirt crumbled.

Shouts and cries sounded all around Wraith. He looked to the grand monk, who stumbled and flailed. Then the man gripped his skull and screamed. Did the breaking bond hurt the grand monk? There was no time to ponder that.

Wraith sprinted forward to the bone dragon. “King Alaric!”

The dragon’s skull swivelled towards him. Balls of orange-and-gold flame flickered where eyes should have been.

Wraith had to force himself not to flee.

“The monks are controlling us through the scrolls we all signed. They are in the East Tower.” Wraith pointed in its direction. “You have to fly there and burn the East Tower down. Otherwise, we are all dead!”

Wraith really hoped burning the scrolls with dragonfire would be enough to release them from the binding blood magic. If not, they were doomed.

Then Wraith remembered what King Alaric cared about the most. “If you do not do this, your children will all die. Your bloodline will be ruined beyond salvation. Draconia will fall.”

The bone dragon turned towards the open window. He clomped forward. King Alaric opened his wings and took flight.

Gods of the beyond. Please let him be successful. And please let this work.

As a bone dragon, King Alaric would have more awareness and ability to encode new details than as a ghost. He shouldn’t get confused. He should be able to follow Wraith’s instructions. At least Wraith hoped that to be true.

The bone dragon flew, dodging past his children. One of them shot dragonfire after him but missed. Then two dragons flew off in pursuit of King Alaric.

Konrad ran towards the window. “Leon, Senta, stop! He’s on our side now!” But Leon and Senta could not hear him and flew off to attack their father.

Wraith really hoped Leon and Senta failed to stop King Alaric. Their lives depended completely on the dead dragon king.

The other dragons flew in through the window and landed. Wraith and Konrad ran backwards, making space for them. Although the front of the crypt was tall and wide enough to fit a dragon, fitting this number of dragons was another matter.

Konrad shouted at his dragon siblings, “Do not attack the monks! If you do, you will immediately die! Leave all the monks alone!”

Then Konrad’s eyes lit up as if a sudden realisation hit him. “Actually, go help our fath— Go help the bone dragon!” He waved his arms to the window. “All of you. Now! Quickly. Get away from here!”

But it was too late.

“Kneel before me,” the grand monk yelled.

No one obeyed.

“I said kneel!” the grand monk shouted.

Wraith screamed as agony scorched his blood. Konrad gripped his head. The dragons roared. Cries of pain filled the crypt. Wraith and Konrad dropped to their knees.

So did everyone else, including the dragons. Everyone except the monks and the reanimated. Had everyone here really signed a contract with the monks?

Umbra barked as she circled Wraith. “What is wrong? What is happening? Why are you in pain?” Then her eyes fixed on the monks. She growled and sprinted towards them.

“No! No! Do not attack the monks!” Wraith shouted, pouring his will into his words to make it an order.

She stopped immediately, unable to disobey him. Whilst Umbra had not signed anything, Wraith had. She was not in pain, but she was still an extension of him, so he did not know how attacking the monks would affect Umbra or himself.

Ears flattened and tail hanging, Umbra returned to him. She pressed her body against Wraith’s. She whined.

“You stole my bone dragon from me!” the grand monk yelled.

And for the first time that day, he seemed actually angry. He stormed forward until he loomed over Wraith. “No matter. I will create a new one with your husband.” He looked at the warrior monks. “Drag King Konrad back to the altar. Let’s kill him quick.”