An arrow-shaped skull rose on a long, snaking neck, spines bristling down her back to the slender, lashing tail. Slitted eyes glared down at us, eager and merciless, as twenty feet of full grown, venomous green adult dragon screamed a terrifying battle cry and pounced.

Cobalt lunged in front of me, already in dragon form, snarling a challenge as the adult twice his size bore down on him. Sand flew as Lilith’s arrow-shaped skull darted forward, terrifyingly quick, snapping at Cobalt’s neck. The rogue twisted aside, wings and tail beating the air, and struck out with his claws. His talons raked along the poison green scales of his enemy but didn’t pierce through, and Lilith spun, hissing like a furious snake. Moving insanely fast, she came at him again, lashing out with a flurry of claws and fangs, giving him no time to recover. Snarling, Cobalt was driven back toward the ocean, trying to avoid the savage whirlwind of strikes, but he couldn’t dodge them all. Her talons scored a nasty hit along his shoulder, the blow almost too quick to see. Blood spattered the sand in vivid red drops, and Cobalt howled in pain.

But she had forgotten about me.

Sprinting through the sand, I leaped at my former trainer, Shifting in mid-air, intending to land on her back in full dragon form and sink my claws into her neck. But as I left the ground, her tail came up, whipping through the air and smashing me aside. I hit the sand, and she immediately turned and pounced, sinking curved claws into my side, pinning my wings down. She was so fast. It was like battling a snake, a huge, intelligent snake with claws and wings and lashing tail. I shrieked as her weight crushed my wings and her talons pierced through my scales, drawing blood.

With a roar, Cobalt hit her from the side, golden eyes blazing and furious. Claws flashing, he would’ve raked her open from spine to belly if she hadn’t moved, releasing me in an instant and leaping back. Growling, the blue dragon placed himself between me and the Viper, wings partially open, muzzle pulled back to show his fangs.

I struggled to my feet, wincing, as the Viper chuckled, the sibilant noise making my skin crawl. “Well, well,” she hissed in Draconic, circling us in the sand. She moved like a shark, lithe and graceful, and we circled with her warily. “A bit overprotective, aren’t we, Cobalt?

Aren’t you even the slightest concerned my student is going to stab you in the back? After all, she was handpicked by the Elder Wyrm to become a Viper.”

“Don’t listen to her,” I snarled, glaring as Lilith continued to stalk.

“She’s just trying to throw you off balance, get you to lower your guard. She does that.” Facing my former trainer, I curled my lip in a sneer. “You already showed me that trick, remember? I’m not falling for it again.”

The Viper laughed. “Well, it’s good to know my lessons haven’t completely gone to waste,” she said, regarding us coolly. “But I think I’m done toying with you now.” Her acid-like gaze fastened on me.

“Hatchling, this is your final chance. You would be an amazing Viper—it’s in your blood. You and your brother were destined for greatness from the beginning. But you’re throwing it all away if you stay with this traitor.” Her voice dropped, becoming low and soothing.

“Return with me, and all is forgiven. You can come back to Talon, and everything will be as it should. You and your brother will never be separated, I can promise you that.”

Dante. I hesitated, and Lilith smiled. “Yes, hatchling. He’s waiting for you at home. Forget this insanity and come back to us. You can’t fight Talon. Dante knows this. It’s time you accepted that, as well.”

I curled a lip. “And all the dragons who didn’t fit Talon’s standards? The female breeders and the undesirables? Have they accepted it, too?”

“That is no concern of yours.” Her eyes narrowed, and her voice changed, becoming ugly as she lowered her head. “I am growing impatient, hatchling,” she hissed. “Continue this fight and you will die.

I will destroy you, Cobalt, and those pathetic hatchlings hiding in that cave.” Cobalt jerked up at this, and the Viper smiled. “Did you think I was unaware of those disgusting weaklings? No, I will show no mercy to traitors, hatchlings or not. They will die, and you will share their fate as I tear them limb from limb, making certain they suffer every moment of it. I will skin them alive, crush them in my jaws, and bring their shattered bones back to the organization as a reminder of what will happen to those who betray us.”

Cobalt roared, baring his fangs. “Heartless bitch!” he snarled, flames licking at his teeth in rage. “You won’t touch them. I’ll kill you first!”

He lunged at the Viper with his jaws gaping wide, going for that long, graceful neck, now temptingly close to the ground. Lilith grinned, and I realized too late that’s what she wanted. As Cobalt went for her throat, her head darted back, quick as a snake, and his jaws snapped shut on empty air. Lilith half-reared, wings snapping out for balance, and drove the full weight of her body onto the smaller rogue, crushing him to the sand. I saw Cobalt’s head and neck snap up, a breathless cry escaping him, before he dropped motionless to the ground. His wings flapped once and went still.

With a shriek, I hurled myself at the Viper, not knowing what I would do, only wanting her away from Cobalt. Lilith stepped over the fallen rogue to meet me, fangs bared in an eager, bloodthirsty smile.

Snarling, I raked at her; she dodged aside, smirking. I went for her again, snapping at a foreleg, hoping a broken bone would slow her down. She whipped it out of my reach and flung a stinging backclaw across my muzzle, making my eyes water. My temper snapped, and I leaped at her with a scream, intending to claw and shred and bite until there was nothing left but a pile of bones and scales.

The Viper met me mid-spring, driving her horned head into my stomach and chest. It felt like I’d been hit by a speeding Mac truck, and without my chest plates and armor, probably would’ve snapped every rib in my body. Nevertheless, the air left my lungs in a painful explosion, and I was flung backward, hitting the sand at the water’s edge and rolling several feet in a tangle of wings and tail. Dazed, gasping for breath, I felt a stinging pain in my hind leg, as the Viper’s talons closed around my ankle. Snarling, I tried getting up, but fell back as she dragged me through the sand, turned, and hurled me away a second time. The world went upside down for a dizzying moment, just before I slammed into the lone rock with enough force to nearly knock me out.