rin

mly on her side, acting as her physical shield, her well-maintained face twisted

vaulted ceiling. "You are a Dragonless parasite living under our roof, eating o

rd, raising her hand high to swing it

ife-or-death vanguard knight training flared to life. I shifted my weight effortlessl

ieve, completely enraged that she had missed her target

and get out of my house!" she s

gled in the thick, unforgiving fibers of the Persian rug. The heavy obsidian urn in my a

y body inward, pulling the urn tight against my chest, bracing

h

out of my lungs in a sharp, painful gasp. The violent jolt

seemed to slow to an ago

in a horrific arc, heading straight for the

roat. I scrambled on my hands and knees,

ac

ll. The urn struck the marble edge with sickening force.

or this ungrateful kingdom-spilled out from the crack. The ashes fluttered through the air like sn

d spinning. It

ruel smile touched her lips. She didn't care about desecrating a hero's re

with her hand. "Gods, it's so dirty! It's going to ruin the rug! Get

nt and anger. "Corrin, look what you've done! I know these are your parents' ashes, but why do you always have to provoke my mo

d dragon core, fueled by pure, unadulterated hatred and bottomless grief, pulsed violently. A fain

to gather the

mbat training combined with the explosive, uncontrollable power o

iolently against the marble wall. Her smug smile vanished instantly, replaced by sheer, suffocating t

lf-Blood aura flared around him as he rushed at me, raising h

nneling the golden fire from my core into my leg, and deliv

ac

and sent him flying across the room. He crashed heavily into an expensive glass display cabinet, shattering it into a thousand pieces, and collapsed in a heap on the floor. He

, shrinking into a corner, covering

rified soul. "If my parents are cannon fodder, then you people are worse than the maggots craw

ge. She collapsed next to her bleeding s

I began to scrape the ashes out of the rug fibers with my bare hands. I moved slowly, carefully scooping the gray dust bac

raight upstairs, leaving the bleeding Lord and his mother on the floor. I packed my weapon blueprints into

d. But first, I needed a temporary, sacred resting place for my parents

ensation washed over me. I realized that my violent emotional outburst and the bone-crushing kick I

this time, but in response to an instinctual, primal terror. I stopped

he ambient magic of the city. It felt as though a massive, slumbering apex predator had just opened its eyes

med that I had just drawn the attention of a monster far more dangerous than the Davidson family.