Song of Dragons The Complete Trilogy - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,142

to utter.

She had not laughed in so long.

When the bottle was empty, and Marcus had taught her several more songs, she finally fell silent. She gazed into the sea, wrapped her cloak around her, and whispered.

"The sun is setting."

Marcus's eyes darkened. "Would nightshades fly this far out to sea?"

Lacrimosa clutched the hilt of her sword, remembering Marcus's advice. Fall upon it. She shivered. "I don't know."

Soon they sailed in darkness. It was a quiet night. Lacrimosa heard nothing but the water, gently lapping against Leo, and the creaking of wood and rope. The breeze was soft, and the stars shone above. She saw the Draco constellation in the north, and smiled sadly. Requiem lay beneath those stars.

Marcus stood beside her, hand on his sword's hilt. For a long time he was silent. Finally he spoke, voice soft.

"My wife's name was Aula." He stared into the night. "I buried her at sea with my unborn child. I loved her. I don't know why I tell you this. I want to tell someone before...."

He froze.

He spun around.

Lacrimosa followed his gaze and felt her insides wilt.

Two stars moved toward them from the night. Eyes. Nightshade eyes.

The creature screeched, and the ship rocked, and Lacrimosa bit down on a scream.

"Did it see us?" she whispered.

Ten more pairs of eyes opened in the dark. Screeches jostled the boat, and this time Lacrimosa did scream. Marcus drew his sword, grabbed her arm, and pulled her.

"Into the hull!" he whispered, pulling her downstairs. "We hide."

They raced into the shadows, and leaped behind caskets and a roll of canvas. A lamp hung from the ceiling, swaying madly. Lacrimosa's heart pounded and cold sweat drenched her. The shrieks grew louder, and the ship rocked, nearly capsizing. Barrels, rope, and jugs rolled across the floor.

Marcus gripped his sword. "I won't let them take us alive." His eyes were dark, his jaw tight.

The ship jolted.

Splinters flew.

Lacrimosa screamed, and the ship swayed, and something slammed into it again. More splinters flew. The lamp fell and shattered, and the floor began to burn. A third time, something crashed into the ship, and wood shattered. The head of a nightshade burst into the hull, screaming, eyes blazing. Water followed it, crashing into the ship. A second nightshade slammed into the hull, and the world became fire, water, and smoke.

The nightshades began tugging her soul, and Lacrimosa howled and fought them. Through the fire and darkness, she saw Marcus draw his sword. He was burning.

"You will not take us alive!" he shouted.

He thrust his sword into his chest.

Lacrimosa screamed.

Tears filled her eyes.

With a howl, she shifted.

Her body ballooned, until she was forty feet long, and the ship shattered around her. Tears in her eyes, anguish in her chest, she dived into darkness. She swam into the black water, seeing nothing, trembling, Marcus's cry echoing in her mind. Her tail flapped behind her, driving her deeper and deeper.

The nightshades screamed behind her.

Lacrimosa swam until her lungs ached, and she hit the seabed. She would need to breathe soon. When she looked above, she saw nightshade eyes scanning the darkness, a dozen pairs.

Do I die here, at the bottom of the sea? Do I die alongside Marcus?

Her lungs screamed. She trembled. The nightshades swarmed above, and in the light of their eyes, Lacrimosa saw Marcus's sword. It sank slowly, hit the sand beside her, and was still.

AGNUS DEI

"Father, please, will you stop doing that?" Agnus Dei said. She snorted, blowing back a curl of her hair.

Father growled. "Doing what?"

"Humming. You've been humming for days."

He scowled at her, the legendary scowl of King Benedictus. "I do not sing. I do not dance. And I definitely do not hum."

Agnus Dei shook her fist. "Stars, are you stubborn!"

They walked in silence for long moments. Their boots rustled weeds that grew from the road. A stream gurgled at their side, and oaks swayed around them, their leaves red and yellow. Blue mountains soared to the east.

"There!" she suddenly said, wheeling toward Father. "What was that?"

Benedictus raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"That sound! That sound that left your throat. That hum."

He snorted. "That was no hum. That was just me clearing my throat."

"You clear your throat to the tune of Old Requiem Woods?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Agnus Dei, do you have something against Old Requiem Woods?"

She jumped up and down in rage and kicked a rock. "Oh, it is a lovely tune... if you're eighty years old. And you have a lovely humming voice... that is, if you're a toad. But since