A Dawn of Dragonfire - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,103

silver beam, a dragon swooped. Bayrin's scales blazed under the light, a bright white tinged with silver. His claws outstretched. His maw opened. A stream of fire shot from his maw, spinning and crackling, and crashed against the naked phoenix.

Acribus howled. The fire engulfed him. His flew back, wings pounding the air. He clawed and burned.

Growling, Mori dived forward, the Moondisk clutched in her claws. She swooped. Rage filled her. Keeping the Moondisk's light upon him, she showered Acribus with fire.

Her flames cascaded against the naked bird. Acribus howled. His wrinkled skin burned, burst, and peeled off. Welts rose across his flesh, swollen like rotten fruit. His eyes melted. Soon he looked like a phoenix again, covered in burning flames—but this fire burned him.

He mewled, a high sound that chilled Mori, and she realized: This is the sound I made when he hurt me. She blasted him with fire again, tears in her eyes, a howl in her throat.

Her fire burst against him, and Acribus fell from the sky.

He tumbled, a burning bird, his skin crackling. Mori swooped above him, Moondisk in her claws, keeping the beam upon him. Wind and smoke stung her eyes. Acribus tumbled through clouds, a comet crashing toward the earth. Mori followed, screaming, holding him in the beam lest he became a phoenix again. Forests rushed up toward them. The earth spun. Mori screamed and dived.

The naked, burning bird crashed through the treetops and hit the ground.

His magic vanished. He shrank like a piece of meat crumbling under fire. Soon he lay upon the earth as a broken, charred man. Smoke rose from him.

Mori landed beside him and tossed the Moondisk aside. It thumped into dry leaves, its light dimmed, and its hum faded. Once more, it was nothing but a shield of bronze inlaid with gold. Mori turned her eyes toward Acribus, who lay at her feet.

He moaned and twitched, still alive. Burns covered him. His clothes stuck to his soft, red body, melted into his flesh. He gasped for breath and whimpered.

Mori shifted into a human, drew her sword, and held it above him.

She wanted to slay him, but her hand shook, and tears filled her eyes. She could only stand above this ruin of a man, this living piece of burnt meat. In the old books she read, stories of epic adventure, dragons always slew their enemies with fire and glory. But the books never told of this. They never told of flesh melting over bones and the stink of it.

This is what Orin looked like, she remembered. It's how he looked when you raped me by his body.

With the flap of wings, Bayrin landed beside her in smoke and fire. He shifted into a human too, came to stand beside her, and blanched. Shock and disgust suffused his face, and he gritted his teeth. When he drew his sword, his hand shook.

"Stars, Mori," he whispered. "Look away. I'll finish this."

He tried to turn her aside, but she would not move.

"No," she whispered. "I… I want to see him die. I have to."

She looked up at Bayrin. Ash and dirt covered his face. Blood still stained his clothes from the lamprey wounds. His red hair was now black with soot. Mori wanted to tell him, needed to tell him, to tell somebody the secret that burned inside her.

"Bayrin, he…" Tears caught in her throat, and her body trembled, but she had to do this, she had to speak now before her courage left her. "Bayrin, at Castellum Luna, after they killed Orin, he… Acribus, he grabbed me and…"

Bayrin winced. "Mori, it's all right. You don't have to speak of it. I think I know what happened. You don't have to tell me… if you don't want to."

A sob fled her lips, but she tightened her jaw and clutched her sword. Stay strong.

"I have to tell you," she said, "I have to, I have to speak to somebody. He raped me, Bayrin. He raped me by the body of my brother, and… I didn't even fight him. I let him do it. I'm sorry." Tears filled her eyes.

Bayrin shook his head, eyes damp and narrowed. "For what, Mori? Sorry for what?" He blew out a shaky breath. "Stars, Mori, it wasn't your fault. You didn't let him do anything."

Mori closed her eyes, sword wavering in her hand. She still felt so dirty, so ashamed, so impure. But a sliver of relief filled her, a dim ray of hope. She had told Bayrin, and