To Tame a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,2

chin up. “I am not yet your bride.”

Dian’s eyes darkened. “I have chosen.”

“But your declaration must wait,” Telani said in a firm tone that held all the authority of a high priestess. “This is no longer the night of choosing. This is the night of the Crimson Hunt. We will perform the choosing ceremony when the Red Star no longer colors the waters of Cetolea.”

“You cannot do this,” Dian growled. “Elliya is mine!”

Elliya stepped forward, brimming with rage. “I belong to no one!”

He clenched his jaw and reached for her.

Telani inserted herself between them. “You may be a male, Dian, but you are not the leader of our people. I am the high priestess, and I speak for Cetolea. You will wait until after the Crimson Hunt. And now you must leave so I may anoint our huntresses for their sacred task.”

“Fine. I will wait.” Dian leaned to the side and met Elliya’s gaze. “Go hunt these imaginary dragons. But when you return here, you will be mine, Elliya, and my seed will fill your womb.”

Elliya gritted her teeth as she watched him disappear into the crowd of huntresses. Dian might not have believed that dragons existed, but she did. She’d loved those old stories for her entire life. And now, when dragons were said to be most vulnerable—thrown into heat by the Red Star like all wild creatures—she would join the Crimson Hunt to find a dragon and claim it as her own.

“Come, my huntresses,” Telani called. “Let us prepare.”

Elliya and the tribe’s other young, strong huntresses gathered close around Cetolea, their excitement charging the air as Telani and the priestesses used the pool’s glowing red water to trace ancient symbols on the huntresses’ bare skin.

“May Cetolea and our ancestors watch over you, our sisters and daughters, as you embark upon your sacred hunt,” intoned Telani. “May you succeed in bringing new strength to our tribe and honor us with your courage and prowess.”

Telani stepped back and slowly ran her gaze over the anointed huntresses. “You are the heart of our people, and we ask much of you now. The world under the Red Star is different from the one we know. Our ancestors spoke of great danger. But there is opportunity, too. A dragon in heat can be claimed by a female with a touch, and dragon blood will bolster our people for many, many generations. Our hopes of reversing this slow decline lies in all of you now. Go forth on the Hunt and know that we take pride in each of you.”

The huntresses dispersed, heading toward the stone steps that would lead them to their cliff dwellings above the canyon. Elliya turned to follow.

“Elliya, hold a moment,” Telani said.

Though Elliya yearned to leave, to run and gather her things so she could begin her journey, she stopped and faced her mother.

Telani reached out and took Elliya’s hands, gently squeezing them. “You have always longed for something more, my daughter. Even if you have not said so aloud, I have seen it in your eyes since you were a child. The Crimson Hunt will be the most dangerous undertaking of your young life, and it pains me to send my only beloved child out under the Red Star, but this is your chance. Go forth and seize the destiny for which you have always longed.”

Warmth filled Elliya’s chest, and she tightened her fingers around her mother’s hands. “Thank you, Mother.”

“Return to me safely, Elliya. That is all that matters to me.”

“I will.”

But I refuse to return alone.

2

Crimson stained Falthyris’s dreams. In them he saw the sea—which he’d not glimpsed in centuries—turn to blood and crash across the Forsaken Sands. He saw a red moon in the night sky, radiating heat that made the sea boil. He saw the mountains melt as though made of wax, and saw that flood pour into his lair.

His slumber shattered.

Falthyris opened his eyes. His lair was dark, and the bed of sand beneath him was dry, but his heart was beating thunderously all the same. He lifted his head and shook it, shedding the sand that had clung to scales.

There was a stifling, unsettlingly familiar energy in the air. It brushed across his scales, seeking even the slightest weaknesses to exploit, penetrating natural armor that the weapons, teeth, and claws of mortal creatures could scarce pierce.

He extended his tongue to taste the air. His lair’s usual scents of sand and stone were layered with something else, something as familiar as that energy.