The Order of the Scales Read Online Free PDF Page A

slave, when all was said and done.
    But then slavery was still life and life meant being not dead, and anyway they were about to bring down a whole skyful of pain on some dragon-knights, and he hated dragon-knights. It was a dull hate, shorn of its old sharpness, but it was still there. He settled on Snow’s back. For a moment he thought he caught a flash of some other thought from her, something far more laden with purpose than vague musings on what might happen if they failed. Only a flash, though; then Snow lunged forward and spread her wings, and the other dragons were moving beside her, kicking themselves off the mountainside, gliding across the open space of the valley, straight towards the eyrie with the setting sun somewhere behind the cloud. For a moment, suspended high over the valley, Kemir could see nothing at all. Nothing except whiteness, everywhere. Snow powered through the sky as fast as she could fly, the wind howling in Kemir’s face. Then he caught a glimpse of a dark shape and then another. If anyone from the eyrie had seen them coming, Kemir wouldn’t have known anything about it. He supposed they must have though, since he felt the familiar sharp spike of Snow’s anger that came as a scorpion bolt found its mark. She’d taken enough of those with Kemir on her back that he knew the sensation exactly. The flash of fury, the desire to turn at once and lash towards whatever it was that had caused the pain.
    He pressed himself down and clung on, gripping even tighter, turning his head away from the wind and closing his eyes as he felt the familiar tension in her shoulders. He was used to that now, a shudder just a moment before the flames would come. He hunched into himself and let the scorching air flood over him. At least this time he had proper dragon-scale armour and a helm to protect his face. Then Snow landed. She lurched and and staggered and shrieked and spat fire over and over again. Pieces of something – loose stones – showered down around them.
    Slowly Kemir opened his eyes. They were on the burning roof of some building. Beams cracked and split and stones crumbled with Snow’s every move. She lunged forward, jumping down, lumbering across the ground. Clouds of snow flew up from the wind of her wings while Kemir bounced up and down like a rag doll on a string. He caught a fleeting glimpse of panicked men before Snow lashed her tail and smashed one end of the building to bits. He wrapped his arms around his head and cringed as pieces of stone, burning wood and charred tiles rained around him. They bounced and thumped off his armour, stolen from knights Snow had killed weeks ago. That would be a thing to do when they were done here, he decided. Look for some better armour. Preferably a suit that fitted properly. Preferably a suit that didn’t have any parts missing. It would be nice too if it didn’t have any gaping holes that were an exact match for Snow’s teeth.
    The dragon lunged forward into the guts of the building and doused its innards with fire. More stonework clattered around Kemir’s head.
    ‘Do you mind?’
    You have metal and dragon-scale to protect you.
    ‘Not much bloody good if the whole roof falls on top of me, is it? Even you might notice that. Some of these beams are bigger than I am.’ Bugger this. I could be down in some valley somewhere, cosy and warm. Why did I stay with these monsters? Right now we could have been . . . It was a ritual now, thinking these things. They both knew it. He flew with the dragons because he had nowhere else to go. Because everyone else was dead. Because of . . . Oh, what was the point? Nadira, Sollos, they were pricks on his conscience, faces to remind him of what happened to those who trusted themselves to him. He put his mind elsewhere. To the eyrie outside, to the mountain, covered in a thick coat of soft white snow, glowing gently in the fading light and about to be set on fire.
    Snow backed out of the wreckage. The other three