“It’s a shame you’re stuck in there. I’m sure you would have enjoyed watching the sea battle that took place not far from our shore last night,” Shinobu drawled. His brother paused, his tongue poking at the side of his cheek as he likely waited to make sure he had Drayce’s full attention.
“Who?” Drayce attempted to demand, but it came out as a guttural snarl. He couldn’t speak in this form. As a dragon, he was limited to growls, roars, and bellowing out long blasts of fire.
But his brother guessed his question easy enough. “Looks like the ships were from New Rosanthe and Eyra. I wonder if your Guardian of the Godstone was on board.”
Drayce struggled to uncoil his body in the cramped space. Muscles were tight and bones ached. He banged painfully against walls, floor, and ceiling as he tried to face his brother better. Shinobu’s smile grew in the face of Drayce’s discomfort.
“In case you were wondering, several of the ships did sink.”
A roar of pain escaped Drayce before he could hold it back. There was no telling if Shinobu was speaking the truth about the sinking ships. And if there had been a battle between New Rosanthe and Erya, there was no reason to believe that Caelan and his friends were on one of those ships, but he needed to know. He was supposed to be with Caelan. He was supposed to be keeping him safe. Who was protecting his Cael if he wasn’t there?
Shinobu groaned. “There’s no talking to you when you’re like this.”
Drayce roared. Shinobu couldn’t leave. He needed to know what had happened. Were there really Empire and Erya ships so close? Which had sunk? Was there any sign of Caelan being on the Erya ships?
But Shinobu wasn’t done tormenting his little brother yet. Instead of leaving, the man reached into his pocket. He must have pushed a button on the remote for Drayce’s collar, because in the next second, the stretched feeling that tingled along every nerve ending abruptly disappeared. He was free from the collar’s hold.
Not wasting a single second, Drayce shifted into his human form. His legs wobbled and gave out, dumping him on his ass. The warmth he got from being in his dragon form vanished and the frigid chill of the prison bit through his thin clothes and dug into his bones. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Caelan, Rayne, and Eno were the only ones who mattered to him.
“Which boat sank? New Rosanthe or Erya?” Drayce demanded. His voice was rough from lack of use. It took two tries to get to his feet and even then, it was a shaky stagger over to the bars. He clung to them with both hands to hold himself upright. Shinobu’s smile grew even wider, his eyes sweeping over Drayce’s filthy, ragged appearance.
“Does it matter?” Shinobu taunted.
“Yes! Tell me, please. Do you know which boat sank?” Drayce was willing to beg his brother for information. It didn’t matter if he was utterly untrustworthy.
Shinobu made a show of scratching his clean-shaven jaw. “I believe it was a New Rosanthe ship, but I can’t be sure. All those flags look the same to me.” He paused and his smile shifted to an evil smirk. “I did hear whisper that someone from one of those ships made landfall on our beach.”
Drayce’s legs gave out and he dropped to the cold, stone floor, but he barely even noticed. Had Caelan been on the Erya ship? Was he on the Isle of Stone now? Drayce shook his head. He couldn’t believe that Cael would come here searching for him.
No, he was seeking the Goddess of Fire and the godstone that must be hidden on the Isle of Stone.
If Caelan had returned from Zastrad, the Dead God had to have sent him on to the next god for bonding. The Erya ship must have come to the Isle of Stone to drop off her king so he could meet with the goddess.
Scrambling on his hands and knees, Drayce crossed to the bars again and pulled himself upright. “Get father. I need to speak to father immediately.”
Shinobu took a step back, disgust clear on his face. “Father has no wish to see you or hear what nonsense you have to say. Your job was to die in Erya, and you couldn’t even do that right.”
“If the King of Erya is here, Father needs to meet with him. He needs to help him to save all of Thia. It’s the will of the gods.”
A low, scoffing noise escaped Shinobu and he smiled like he thought Drayce had lost his mind. “There are no gods left, Souta. The only ones left with godlike powers are the dragons, and one day, we’ll remind the humans of their place.”
A chill stole Drayce’s voice away as he watched his brother walk away, heading toward the entrance to the holding cells. It had been years since he’d heard anyone call him that. Souta. Takahashi Souta.