Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy #1)(3)

As the carriage came to a stop, Ilina emerged from one of the blocky buildings that made up the department facilities.

“Did you feel the earthquake?” she asked as Hristo and I walked toward her. “The drakarium residents were shrieking for an hour this morning before it hit. They knew it was coming.”

“Are they all right now?” I lifted the hem of my hunting dress off the ground as we headed toward the drakarium, where LaLa and Crystal waited.

“It’s like they’ve already forgotten about it.” Ilina wore the uniform of a sanctuary apprentice: a linen shirt and pants, dyed in gradients of browns and greens. Gold thread glittered on the high collar and cuffs, embroidered to look like dragons bellowing flame. She’d strapped a small pack over her shoulders, filled with all the necessary supplies an apprentice might need when making the rounds.

It was a nice uniform. Practical. One I’d be proud to wear. Unfortunately, Mira Minkoba did not wear practical clothes, though the hunting gear Seamstress Nadya had designed for me was at least somewhat better suited to the terrain of the dragon sanctuary. Rather than silk, I wore fine Idrisi cotton. Always a dress, but with matching leggings and calf-high boots. Different colors every day, of course; today was peach with green accents. And though it was hot and uncomfortable, a reinforced collar went high up my neck.

A roar of draconic voices sounded as we crested a small hill, and the drakarium came into view.

I’d always thought the drakarium had to be one of the most impressive structures ever created, its slender bones built from darkened noorestones. Seven different habitats grew along a spiral path, with a natural spring bubbling in the center. There were no walls, exactly; the building wasn’t meant to keep dragons in, but to provide a safe place for smaller species to live and get the social interaction they needed.

Ten dragons soared above and around the drakarium, squawking and calling as they played a complicated game of chase, made even more incredible by the fact that there were three different species in the game. Drakontos quintus, mons, and aquis, identifiable by the shapes of their wings, the size of their scales, and the width of their jaws.

Scales of every color flashed in the sunshine, a marvelous sight that only a few people would ever be able to see.

LaLa and Crystal were Drakontos raptuses, the smallest species, which lived on the rocky cliffs of eastern Damina. I knew the way to their nest in the drakarium, but Ilina’s parents didn’t like for humans to go in there often. It was rude, they said, to enter another creature’s habitat without permission.

So as the three of us approached, Ilina and I both gave sharp whistles and clicks, and by the time we put on our protective gauntlets, the pair of Drakontos raptuses circled above us: one silver, one gold. Sisters, like the moons.

I lifted my gloved fingers. The golden dragon flipped and dived at me, spreading her bright wings wide at the last moment as she landed on my hand with a thump. Her talons dug in as I drew her toward me. “Good afternoon, little lizard.” I kissed the top of her head.

She lifted her face, bumping her nose against mine.

I laughed and stroked the bony ridge down her head and neck, careful to move with the scales. Like cats, dragons didn’t like to be petted the wrong way. And Drakontos raptuses had sharp-tipped scales that could slice open tender human skin. Mother had worried that I’d cut myself on her, or that she’d hurt me on purpose. But Mother didn’t understand that LaLa wasn’t a pet; she was a friend, and I was born for being with dragons.

“I love you, sweet dragon,” I whispered.

Hristo strode toward us to greet LaLa, who immediately straightened her spine and gave a throaty purr. He rewarded her with a small bite of dried meat, which she devoured instantly.

Besides Ilina and me, Hristo was their favorite person. Probably because he said hello with food.

This moment. Right here. I had my two best friends and my two favorite dragons, and everything was perfect.

But I should have known better than to get comfortable. The next disaster was about to begin.





PART ONE


UNITY IN DARKNESS





CHAPTER ONE





Sarai 29, 2204 FG


FIVE WARRIORS LED ME INTO THE PIT, DOWN A NARROW, spiraling staircase. Deeper, deeper into the ground. Closer to Khulan.

Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven. I counted each step as I descended. Mother would be so disappointed.

Forty-three. Forty-four. Forty-five.

I kept my eyes down, deliberately placing my slippered toes on the stair below before committing my weight. With the endless spiral drilling deeper, and my wrists shackled tightly behind my back, it’d be too easy to lose my balance.

Fifty-seven. Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine.

Down, down we went. The air grew cooler and sharper with the scent of sweat and mildew and waste. Tears flooded my eyes.

Ninety-nine. One hundred. One hundred one.

My head spun with the slow descent, but even if I’d wanted to move faster, the guards’ pace would have prevented me. They weren’t in a hurry. Probably happy to keep me in this claustrophobic stairwell, surrounded by stone walls and enemies. Any excuse to torment a new prisoner was a good excuse.

“Aren’t we lucky?” muttered one of the warriors. “The real Mira Minkoba. I wonder what she did.”

My neck and cheeks burned with humiliation.