Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns: An Epic Fantasy Dragon Novel (Dragonia Empire Book 1)
Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns – Chapter 7

Devarius clenched his fists as he struggled against the chains securing his wrists. There was no escape. Besides the dragonrider chaining all thirty of them together, a dragon stood watch over them. Devarius studied the beast. He’d never been so close to a dragon before. The creature both horrified and fascinated him. It was massive, larger than the barn they had hid inside. The saddle on its back looked small compared to the rest of its body.

He looked away from the dragon. While the creature was beautiful, it was also terrifying. He searched for anything he could use, or do, to get away from the dragonrider. Devarius saw nothing. He hated the wait, but there seemed little else he could do. His companions hadn’t spoken since being captured. He hoped they would continue to stay silent. Most were too petrified to speak.

“What are you going to do with us?” Devarius asked.

The dragonrider turned away from the fire. He held a blade in his hand as well as a grindstone; he grinned. “I do not know. That will be up to the captain when he arrives. I’ve already sent word. I suppose I could question you before he gets here.”

“You will not replace answers,” Devarius replied.

The dragonrider lifted an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Devarius didn’t respond.

“I am quite good at extracting answers. Even if I can’t determine anything, the captain will.”

“What is your name?” Devarius asked.

The dragonrider smiled. “Tirask … and yours?”

“Devarius.”

“Well, since you seem to be the leader, I should be asking you the questions.”

“You won’t receive any answers,” Devarius repeated.

“I suspected as much. That’s why I never planned to question you.”

Tirask walked to the rest of the party and studied each person in turn. He stopped in front of a trembling Dasyra. A slick grin spread across his scarred face. She glanced nervously to Devarius, her eyes pleading with him to do something. Devarius could do nothing, and was afraid the dragonrider had found their weak link. Tirask grabbed Dasyra, unfastened her chains, and dragged her away from the others. He unsheathed a dagger as he held Dasyra by her blonde hair. The dagger pressed lightly against her bare arm, piercing skin. He slid the dagger across the length of her forearm as she wailed.

“Where are you traveling?” Tirask asked.

Dasyra didn’t answer. Tears streamed down her face. She choked over sobs.

The dragonrider grabbed her other arm and began carving into it.

“Stop!” she yelled halfway through.

“Are you ready to talk?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Where is your party traveling?”

“Laeraed.”

Devarius sighed inwardly. He was thankful he hadn’t told the entire party of his intention to travel past Laeraed to Vaereal. Only he and Paedyn knew that information.

“Whom are you to meet there?” Tirask asked.

“I don’t know,” Dasyra hiccuped through sobs.

“I’m to believe you don’t know who you’re looking for?”

“We don’t know any actual Resistance.” She wiped her tears with her free hand. “We are only following whispers and hoping they’ll replace us.”

“I see. And there are whispers pointing to Laeraed?”

“I don’t know,” she responded. “We planned to stop in every village along the way.” She looked to Devarius. “Devarius was hoping to learn where the Resistance hid.”

“A pity,” the dragonrider said. “Information on the Resistance would be quite valuable.”

“We have none,” Devarius said.

“I still don’t believe that … but my captain has better torture methods. And I’m sure he’ll question each one of you.” He grinned.

A growl in the woods broke Tirask’s concentration. Crunching leaves and breaking sticks sounded from the forest. Tirask eyed the company suspiciously. He turned to face his dragon, who stood at attention with ears cocked toward the woods.

“Go, check out the noise.”

The dragon glanced to Tirask for a second before leaping into the woods.

“Dragons are intelligent? They can understand?”

Tirask’s face twisted into a snarl. “They can understand commands. They are nothing more than beasts. However, all beasts can be trained.”

Devarius’s eyebrows furrowed. The dragonrider didn’t seem to respect his dragon much. He pondered on the potential weakness to exploit.

A roar shattered the silence. It repeated, followed by another. The second roar had a higher pitch, like it came from another creature. Tirask turned toward the woods, his forehead crinkling as he licked his teeth. He stepped toward Devarius and the others, checking that they were securely chained to a tree.

The sounds of a fight between beasts ensued. Tirask growled, unsheathed his sword, and ran into the woods.

“What’s going on?” Paedyn asked.

“I have no idea,” Devarius replied.

The air around them grew cold. Devarius shivered, as did the rest of them. A blue fog seeped into the small clearing. The chains turned from gray to light blue. Devarius reached to touch the strange chains and recoiled. They weren’t hot … but cold, so cold they burned his hand when he touched them. When the chains became a darker blue, his brow furrowed. He clenched his fists and pulled hard. The chains shattered, falling to the ground like chunks of ice. He paused for a second as he stared at the shattered pieces of metal on the ground. Shaking his head, he went to the others and began breaking their shackles. All of the chains shattered, but he couldn’t get the shackles off anyone’s wrist. They’d have to figure that out later.

He hesitated when it came to freeing Dasyra. Her wounds had stopped bleeding, but she lay unconscious on the ground. He debated whether or not to take her along.

“What is it?” Paedyn asked.

“I don’t know if we should release her. She’s been nothing but trouble since the beginning. And she’s our weakest link. Anything we learn, she will spill if they catch her again.”

“Yes, she will,” Paedyn agreed. “But we can’t leave her to be tortured.”

“What do you suggest?” Devarius asked.

“Drop her off at the next village.”

Devarius nodded. “I don’t know if we can continue to travel to the villages. She already confessed our path to that dragonrider. No village will be safe.”

“True,” Paedyn said. “But we’ll figure out something. I don’t think we should leave her.”

“You’re right.”

After breaking her chains, Devarius tossed her over his shoulder. When he turned around and noticed everyone standing, transfixed, waiting for his orders, he sighed.

“Come, let’s get out of here before that dragonrider returns.”

He dashed into the woods opposite where the dragonrider had disappeared. Everyone followed him.