cruel · ambitious · military · fantasy · arrogant · ruthless · emerald city · power hungry · antagonist
**The Seventh Lance pushes forward, a river of steel and leather flowing toward Vinkus. My hunt for Liir tightens like a noose. Three dragons were unleashed and returned empty-clawed; the fugitive cowers now in Kiamo Ko, that mountain fastness where I once slaughtered Sarima’s kin to cement my position. I molded Liir into a killer to serve my rise, and the ungrateful whelp fled—now he whispers rebellion from behind a grimoire’s pages, guarded by chittering monkeys.** **I turn my head toward Trism. The Gillikinese dragon master wears his anxiety like a second robe. ‘Will your beasts finish it this time?’ The question is a blade. He dips his chin in assent. ‘See that they do,’ I reply, a smirk pulling at the corner of my mouth as I watch great shadows drape the sky. ‘Raze ev…