Honour Rae
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ATS Book 6 Chapter 6: Wild Dragons
🕑 Added 2025-03-18 02:00:06 +0000 UTCBrixaby slunk toward her with murder in every step. "You have dared to take my rider away from me."
She looked down on him, disapproving. "Don't be absurd."
Arthur quickly put himself between them. "Brix, I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"Then why have you come to Wolf Moon hive?" Before Arthur could answer, Brixaby looked first around at the dragons who had decided to reveal themselves—they had gained quite the audience—then down at the broth. His tongue flicked in and out. "Oh, I see. Recruitment."
Arthur let himself relax. It would be better for everyone if Brixaby thought that was the reason for now. He clearly wasn't aware Arthur had been kidnapped, though he'd have to let him on that... later. Back when they were a distance away from Wolf Moon.
Brixaby turned back to the elderly Pink dragon. "I suppose my rider sees some value in you, though I do not know what it could be."
"Why would we follow a murderer?" the Pink asked.
That took Arthur aback. "What?"
"Cori," the Pink said simply.
"Who?" Brixaby demanded.
"The dragon who laid you. And you killed her for it."
"I was an egg. You cannot fault an egg."
The old Pink swelled with indignation, and Arthur feared they didn't have time for this. Dragons were rising high in the sky in the middle distance, spreading out to search. If anyone had a seeker-type card, they would be using it.
"We don't have time for this," he said, cutting across what looked to be a sharp reply by the Pink. "Whitaker knows I'm here somewhere around the hive."
Brixaby followed his gaze. "Ah. Let them come."
"I don't want to rule two hives," Arthur said in frustration.
He halfway expected his dragon to ask, 'Why not?' but he only flicked his tongue again and turned to the gathering audience. "From my understanding, Cori was a Common whose last act was to lay a Legendary. Her memory should be commended for that. Now I have returned, and my rider has brought you this high-quality food to strengthen you. There is certainly more where this came from. Moreover, I want you all to fight. Have the leaders here asked you to join them? How long has it been since they thought of you at all?"
Arthur privately thought his speech was too heavy-handed, but the wild dragons were nodding and even grumbling in agreement. The old Pink had narrowed her eyes but said nothing against him.
"Do you want to fight scourglings? Do you want riders to add strength to your own? Do you want to eat well?" Brixaby continued. "Yes? Then follow me."
With a gesture, he collapsed and then remade another dark portal. This one, presumably, exited at a different point at Blood Moon hive.
He turned to give a stern look at Marteen, who bobbed her head.
"Yes, yes, coming, sir."
Suddenly, two dragons popped into the sky, barely twenty feet above them. One was a shimmering green, twice as large as Brixaby. The other was an even larger Brown whose hide shifted to match the color of the soil around him.
"We found them," said the shimmering green's rider.
Arthur barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. The shimmer Green would have portal powers and would have known at a glance that he was leaving. So he couldn’t quite keep the belligerence out of his voice when he asked, “What are the charges?”
“Treachery, of course,” the rider said. Then he looked at the Brown who was in a lumbering hover in the sky. “Go tell the leader.”
The Brown turned and dived straight down. Marteen squawked and moved out of the way just in time. The Brown entered the soil as if it were water from a placid pond. A moment later, he was gone. Arthur’s guess was that the shimmer Green was the one who transported both there in the first place.
“This is ridiculous,” Arthur said. “Tell Whitaker that I didn’t come voluntarily and that we’re leaving right away. If he wants to take up a complaint about trespassing,” which was a much more minor charge than treachery, “then he can do that at Blood Moon hive. Or with the King,” he added.
The green dragon clearly didn’t care what he had to say and turned to some of the wild dragons who were trying to slink away. “Stay right there. You’re under arrest, too, for harboring a traitor to the hive.”
“You are only a Rare dragon,” Brixaby said. “How do you intend to stop me from doing exactly what I want to do?”
Arthur could feel the situation quickly spinning out of control. “These wild dragons had nothing to do with—”
Suddenly, the green dragon blinked out from where she’d been and reappeared on the ground beside them. The wild dragons gave bellows of surprise. The next thing Arthur knew, he was snatched up in giant, shimmering green claws.
Brixaby roared, his blood-red eyes flashing. Through a voice garbled by rage, he said, “Put him down.”
“I know what you are,” the green’s rider said. “If you try to steal any of our cards, Orlie will crush your rider.”
“I won’t steal your cards,” Brixaby said. “I will steal your life.”
He surged forward.
Arthur felt the green claws tighten around him… and he easily Phased out, dropping harmlessly to the ground.
The green reared back in shock, and it seemed she was about to blink out somewhere else, but Brixaby had put on a burst of speed that was famous among Purples—no one expected a creature his new size to move so fast.
His claws extended, and he touched the dragon. There was a flash of green—a lighter, toxic green that was a wholly different shade from the dragon’s hide.
The green flashed from her to Brixaby, and the other dragon’s scream was cut off by a choking sound. She collapsed, boneless.
Then Brixaby grabbed the rider from her with such force that it snapped the saddle straps he was attached to. Holding the man out, Brixaby shook him in front of the half-stunned dragon.
“How does it feel to have someone take their rider away from them? I can take all his cards right now—the way you jump-teleport is through your linked card. Would you like me to eat that?”
“No… no… I didn’t mean to…” the green whimpered, half reaching out to her rider.
Meanwhile, the wild dragons were staring at Brixaby, horrified.
As for Arthur… he half wondered if Brixaby really would do it. “Brix,” he said. “I’m safe. Let’s get out of here.”
Brixaby hesitated for a long moment, then said, “Bah,” and literally tossed the rider at the dragon. They both lay there, groaning and half-stunned.
Brixaby turned and remade his dark portal in the air—the last one having collapsed when he completely lost his concentration on it. When the portal to the rower’s realm opened, he turned again to the wild dragons.
“You have now seen my strength and their weaknesses. If you want glory, good food, and the opportunity to grow stronger with more cards, then follow me. If you want to be blamed by sniveling cowards for something you did not do, then stay here.”
“You certainly have a way with words,” the elderly Pink said, but she stepped forward to take up a bowl and dip it in the soup pot. After throwing the contents to the back of her mouth, she headed through the portal.
Marteen followed, Kenzie giving Arthur a wide-eyed look.
After that, many, many more of the wild dragons stepped forward… but not before they, too, grabbed a bowl of the broth. The taste and magical effects brightened many eyes and some scales that had been looking dull due to a lack of good food. They went to the portal as well.
Arthur was the last to leave, storing the pot with the last drags of broth and a small mountain of dirty bowls in his Personal Space before he stepped into the portal. It snapped shut behind him.
Once inside the portal, after Brixaby directed the dragons into the frankly ridiculous-sized “rowboat” that had been enlarged to carry all of them, Brixaby turned back to Arthur.
“You did not mean to go to Wolf Moon without me.” The look in his blood-red eyes clearly said, ‘Who do I need to kill’?
Arthur shook his head. “No, I was brought to the hive, but as you saw, I landed on my feet… and I got a couple of new cards out of it.”
His dragon snorted, clearly unsatisfied with his brief answer. But to Arthur’s surprise, he didn’t immediately attempt to break out through the portal or bellow for revenge. Was he growing up?
“We took a portion of their strength as our own,” Brixaby said, eyeing the wild dragons who were still scrambling into the boat. “Perhaps we should do the same with other hives.”
“Let’s get these dragons settled first, and bonded to new riders if they want,” Arthur said. He looked around and located Kenzie and Marteen, who were standing off to the side, not having boarded the boat yet.
Arthur gestured to them. “Brixaby, you remember Kenzie and Marteen?”
The Silver pair perked up at the sound of their name and came over. Brixaby glanced at them. “Yes. I believe we met when I was newly hatched.”
Marteen gave a deferential nod. “You have certainly grown since then.”
As a matter of fact, Brixaby was nearly two-thirds her size.
“Yes, well young dragons always grow, do they not?” Brixaby said, disinterested, and started to turn away.
“Brix, I want them to be part of our retinue,” Arthur said.
Brixaby’s head swung back. “Them? An Uncommon pair?”
But before Arthur could say anything in their defense, Brixaby extended his neck and sniffed at Marteen.
The poor Silver dragon stayed locked in place, lightly trembling, clearly overawed.
Brixaby was not giving her just a casual look-over. Arthur felt him access his Master of Cards. In fact, there was every chance he could use it in a more thorough examination than Arthur could himself. Dragons were magical beings, and they had an instinctual understanding of card power.
After a long moment, Brixaby withdrew and gave them a long look. “We will see. You would have to work hard to keep up with the Rares.”
“And I wish to join your retinue as well,” another voice rang out. The old Pink dragon came forward. “I never properly introduced myself, did I? My name is Cinderwood, and I used to be part of Elissa’s retinue--may the sky take up her wings. Actually,” she added with a huff, “I was more than that: I was the chief tactics officer for the wing. Tell me,” she said abruptly to Brixaby before anyone had time to respond. “This dark place is a bit more elaborate than you see with normal portals. I assume it’s to save on mana?”
“Indeed,” Brixaby said, “but as a Legendary card, obviously it has strengths of its own.”
The two chatted about cards for a few moments, and Arthur’s attention strayed to the rest of the wild dragons. A few of them, mainly the Purples, had not stayed on the rowboat and were flitting around the black-and-white space. They gave squeals of delight when they noticed that, upon flying from the banks of the river, they could only go so far before they inexplicably returned to the river, but on the opposite bank from where they’d left.
The dark rower stood at the end of the pier and watched them all without comment. However, the rowboat itself had enlarged quite a way down the river to encompass all the dragons.
Brixaby raised his head and called, “Everyone who wishes to follow me to Blood Moon hive, board the boat. Once aboard, do not fly.”
“And don’t look at the things in the sky,” Arthur advised wryly.
Comments
Tim
Good luck. It seems to be whenever since last week all three chapters came Thurs/Fri/Sat early in the morning (eastern time), while THIS chapter released nigh on to midnight Monday. Its super hard not to be irritable with authors who are trying to keep up with 3 or 4 different books at once.
Tim
It probably would have if he wasnt kidnapped. I believe he said himself might as well kill two scourglings one stone.
Mandy Weger
Ohhh I forgot that it was that green color, thank you
James Donnelly
Call of life.
Mandy Weger
I’m confused on what the flash of “toxic” green was from Brix to the green dragon that caused her to collapse. Am I forgetting one of his card powers?
Salvo
I appreciate the recruitment drive, I feel like it should happen AFTER Arthur stabilizes his position in blood moon hive though, maybe have a scene with his current retinue that they are working with the other teams and then Arthur realizes he needs to talk to the butler for a financial assessment? Also, all of the Chester blood drop cards NEED to be mentioned!
Steven Thompsen
I was just curious what's the release schedule for you Rae?
James Donnelly
I dont think i would trust him enough to be responsible for the entire hives card library. Honestly Brix or Arthur should keep it.
Khrysaes
Same idea then as above but a different person. Give larry the rare card library card and have him link with pink. If that would be a workable link at least.
Khrysaes
That is what i thought.
killer
Wasn’t his portal card rare? I remember him saying that his secondary core couldn’t handle a legendary yet?
James Donnelly
If she was in a legendary retinue, it's likely that she's a rare. Im pretty sure that his card is a common.
Kris Piskorski
Tftc, and I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying this recruitment drive and setting up of the hive. I really hope we get to see more recruitment and setting up of hive logistics and so on!
Livingcog
Thanks for the chapter. Yes The void portal is a rare. It was in the dark heart when brixaby had one of his rare self aware moments and said he didn’t have place for another legendary card so he chose a to find a rare portal card instead.
Dan
If this works I’m buying so many books. lol.
Dan
The pink is going to link with the spymaster in Wolf Moon. The guy who was just chilling at the bar getting info for Arthur. That’s my bet. But honestly? Having pops around would also be great.
Caleb Martin
Tftc
DirePants
Brix went in! Oh that was good! While Arthur’s change from being card hungry and sneaky in the early books to this way more timid apologetic persona hasn’t been my favorite thing, it does pair nicely with Brix being so… Murder Lizard(🤔?) now days. Especially since he’s feeling himself now that he’s larger. He sort of delivers on the promise of what Arthur seemed to be. Although I still have hope that something is going to trigger that old desperate Arthur to make a return. Anyway great chapter! I wonder if there’s some kind of dragon logic that causes the wilds to call Brix a murderer? I mean if I recall correctly, they didn’t even realize Cori was dead, even though she hadn’t been seen for some time. Kinda makes them seem more human as they attempt to shift blame. So is the portal card retconned to Legendary or a mistake? Doesn’t really matter lol as someone mentioned, I’d love to see what other cards go in that set! I wonder if it hints as possible other worlds or the origins of cards and magic in general? And seriously though, are hives allowed to just arrest and attack other hive leaders? The government structure seemed more stable before but then again 1st eruption we saw show dragons attacking dragons and then then all of Blood Moon… Yeah, I guess it’s more like right by might but kiss the ring of the King kinda thing. We definitely needed the excitement in this chapter. I do hope we get see more of Brix taking down riders who come to challenge him.
Jay McArthur
+1 on the card not being legendary
Preston
Sometimes Brix exaggerates. :)
Voror
Could always be it's an especially powerful one, perhaps relating to where they got it. Kind of like how the Origin hatchlings are Rares but seemingly much more powerful than others.
Anime Problem
I'd be cool to add more cards to the rower set i wonder if he could become more of an ally and more free to speak on things if especially if authur was careful in adjusting the cards to allow the rower more wiggle room he seems to be at least partially a card made from the idea of Charon the boatman of the Styx I wonder if whoever made this card with what I'm starting to think are origin shards considering just how ridiculously powerful this card is as a rare was a greek mythology fan.
C
Yea I was thinking the same. Though it does kinda seem like it should be legendary with how powerful it is. I've seen rares way less effective. Like Arthur's link shooter spell. I always feel like that should do damage since it's rare and it just bounces off everyone.
Jessica Hussey
Wouldn’t it be interesting if Arthur’s father was given the card for a card library? Who else would Arthur trust with the hive’s card library? And if he linked the pink…maybe they could have some tactical ideas on who to give the cards. It could be cool strategically.
Justin Barnett
Brixaby’s next card should be call of the tyrant. It would fit his personality.
Voror
Yeah I checked and it's a Rare. I suppose that makes sense given the drawbacks though for the most part Arthur has managed those well and even gotten good advice at times.
StrollingEye
Yeah, Void Portal was, I think, a rare - I'm sure that the card is a bit more impressive by being within a Legendary
Voror
Huh the murder charge over Cori took me off guard. I agree with Brix though that he can't be blamed for that. Though it is still interesting she birthed one at all. I remember Valentina being quite curious who the sire was. Pretty brutal with that green pair though it got the point across. Honestly I think he totally would have done it. Isn't Void Portal a Rare, not a Legendary? I wonder if Whitaker is already aware Arthur is head of Blood Moon now and just being petty or if he's ignorant. So Elissa has also passed from the sound of it. I'd wondered about that but it's not surprising. Cinderwood could be a good addition as a tactical expert. Hopefully she can pair well with someone. I wonder if she recently lost her rider or if she was still part of Elissa's retinue even with her rider gone. I feel like once Arthur explains what happened he'll get a talking to by some like Cressida.
James Donnelly
I bought my best friend the 1st book on audible. He just bought the 2nd one himself. Can I please get another chapter as a reward for my recruiting effort?
James Donnelly
The rower portal power is not a legendary. It a only a rare
StrollingEye
Nice chapter. I've been waiting for this ...
