The explosion bloomed beneath them.
Heat rolled upward in a violent surge, flames clawing at the Night Fury's belly as it roared not in pain, but fury. Lucian barely had time to brace before the dragon snapped its wings inward and dove.
"Whoa—HEY—!"
The world flipped.
Wind tore the breath from Lucian's lungs as the Night Fury plunged straight back toward the arena. His fingers clenched instinctively into warm, living scale, legs locking tight around the dragon's neck as stone and fire rushed up to meet them.
Lucian felt it clearly, the dragon's emotions crashing through him in sharp, violent waves. Rage that had nowhere to go while it was caged. Humiliation and pain remembered in muscle and instinct.
The Night Fury wasn't listening because it was told to fire a while ago, it was listening because it wanted the same thing. The men who had trapped it, caged it and watched it like a prize.
Now they were below, they were burning.
"Easy—easy!" Lucian shouted, more to himself than the dragon.
The Night Fury didn't slow.
It slammed through the smoke like a living missile, talons snapping outward at the last second. Pirates scattered as claws smashed into bodies, sending men flying across stone like broken dolls. A Dragon Hunter raised his spear—
CRACK.
The Night Fury's wing clipped him mid-charge, hurling him into a pillar hard enough to leave a crater.
Lucian's teeth rattled as he clung on.
The dragon banked sharply and dove again, faster, angrier.
Plasma flared in its throat.
FWOOOM!
A shot of blue-white energy screamed downward, detonating near the stage. Stone shattered, fire erupted. Lucian caught a glimpse of crimson and black spinning away from the blast as Hook was rolling clear just in time and farther back, Viggo was thrown to the ground, armor scorched, blood streaking down his arm.
The Night Fury roared in savage triumph and looped back around.
That is when Lucian's grip slipped.
The sudden drop and violent turn were too much. His fingers skidded against smooth, heated scale.
"Shi—!"
The force ripped him free.
For a single, weightless heartbeat, Lucian was falling.
The auction hall rushed up beneath him, fire and steel and screaming faces spinning together into one violent blur. His stomach lurched, instincts screaming too late to save him.
Then—
A shadow surged past.
The Night Fury snapped out of its dive, wings screaming in protest as it twisted midair. Claws shot downward and caught him.
Lucian slammed into its grasp hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs, fingers curling reflexively into talon as he dangled there, boots kicking uselessly over open air.
He sucked in a ragged breath and looked up.
The Night Fury craned its head back. It looked down. Its massive amber eye fixed on him, unblinking.
For a moment, there was nothing but wind and firelight.
Lucian lifted one trembling hand and gave a weak thumbs-up.
"…nice catch."
The dragon snorted. A very real, very smug snort.
Then it smirked.
With a powerful beat of its wings, the Night Fury leveled out and carried him smoothly now, lowering him toward the shattered floor. It released him with surprising care before surging back into the air, already hunting its next target.
Lucian hit the ground on one knee, breathing hard.
He barely had time to stand—
BANG!
The gunshot cracked through the chaos.
Lucian's senses flared instantly as the Howlbound Mantle reacted with him. He spun, cloak snapping outward as the bullet struck—
THUD.
The force slammed into the mantle's fabric, rippling through it like a struck drumhead. The impact still staggered him back a step, but the bullet fell uselessly to the stone as smoke curled.
Lucian lowered the cloak slowly.
Across the hall, Captain Hook stood with his flintlock still raised, barrel smoking faintly. His coat was ruined, hat charred, but his posture remained immaculate.
He smiled.
"Hm," Hook said thoughtfully. "Quite a strong cloak you have there."
He lowered the pistol, examining it with mild disappointment.
"I really must inform Rourke," he continued calmly, "that the guns he sells are becoming rather… outdated."
His eyes lifted.
Locked onto Lucian.
And this time, the smile didn't reach them.
Hook adjusted his grip on the rapier, the blade catching torchlight as he angled it forward. His flintlock rested loosely in his other hand, finger nowhere near the trigger.
"You know," Hook said mildly, eyes flicking once toward the sky where the Night Fury circled, "it's rather presumptuous of you to take my dragon."
Lucian straightened, cloak settling around his shoulders as the Howlbound Mantle shimmered faintly before going still. His gaze never left Hook.
"You bought a cage," Lucian replied evenly. "Not a life."
Hook chuckled. "Ah, Morality. How refreshing."
He lunged.
The rapier flashed forward, quick and precise, aimed straight for Lucian's throat.
Lucian twisted aside as steel skimmed past his jaw. In the same motion, he drew his sword, the blade sliding free with a low whisper as sparks burst where the two swords met.
CLANG!
Hook flowed backward, boots gliding across stone as he parried, the rapier dancing in tight, elegant arcs.
"Your quite strong" Hook noted, circling.
Lucian didn't answer.
He vanished.
The air shimmered as his cloak rippled then he was gone.
Hook's eyes narrowed.
A split second later—
SHINK!
Lucian reappeared at Hook's flank, blade cutting for his ribs. Hook spun sharply, rapier snapping up just in time, sparks exploding between steel as the blow was deflected.
Hook laughed softly. "Oh, that is a useful trick."
BANG!
The flintlock barked.
Lucian's mantle flared as the bullet struck, force slamming into him and driving him back several steps. The cloak absorbed the impact but the shock still rattled his bones.
Hook advanced immediately, blade thrusting in a flurry of precise strikes.
Lucian parried once, twice then let the third slide past as he ducked under it, cloak blurring as he faded again.
Steel cut empty air.
Hook turned just as Lucian appeared behind him as his slashed downward.
Hook twisted, the blade carving a shallow line across his shoulder instead of his spine. He hissed softly, more annoyed than pained, and retaliated with a savage kick that sent Lucian skidding across broken stone.
"Rude," Hook muttered.
Lucian rolled, came up on one knee, and the mantle wrapped around him again.
Gone.
Hook's smile thinned.
"Assassins" Hook said. "Always hiding."
He raised his flintlock and fired blindly.
BANG!
BANG!
The bullets punched into stone where Lucian had been a heartbeat earlier.
Then—
A whisper behind him.
"Too slow."
Hook spun—
CLANG!!
Hook stumbled back, barely keeping his footing as Lucian pressed the advantage, strikes coming fast now, efficient, brutal, nothing wasted.
Hook disengaged with a sharp kick and fired point-blank.
Lucian threw his mantle up just in time.
THUD!
The impact staggered him.
Hook exhaled slowly, smoke curling from the barrel. "You know where the word 'assassin' comes from?"
Hook continued lightly, lunging. "Nasty little fellows. Slipped into palaces, hid in privies. Waited until kings were most vulnerable—trousers down, dignity gone then stab."
Their blades locked.
Hook leaned close, breath hot with smoke. "Killed through the arse, as history remembers it."
Lucian's knee came up hard.
Hook barely twisted aside as the strike clipped his thigh, forcing him back with a hiss.
Lucian followed immediately, blade flashing in a tight, brutal arc that tore fabric and sent Hook scrambling.
"I don't kill men on toilets," Lucian said evenly. "I kill them when they won't see it coming."
Hook laughed, adjusting his grip. "Oh, semantics."
Lucian vanished again.
Lucian appeared to his left, cloak snapping aside as his sword carved through the air. Hook blocked just in time, sparks spraying between them.
Hook didn't let him breathe. The rapier thrust in a rapid sequence three, four, five strikes—each precise, forcing Lucian to retreat toward a collapsed section of seating.
Lucian ducked under a thrust, grabbed a fallen spear shaft from the ground, and snapped it upward.
CRACK!
The improvised strike knocked Hook's rapier aside just long enough for Lucian to slash.
The blade cut fabric this time. Hook hissed as the edge bit into his coat.
"That was custom-made," Hook snapped.
He lunged, not elegant this time, but vicious then fired point-blank.
Lucian threw his mantle up.
THUD!
The impact staggered him, pain blooming through his arm despite the protection.
Hook pressed the advantage immediately, blade flashing, forcing Lucian back toward a fallen pillar.
"You think yourself superior," Hook said sharply. "Because you skulk in shadows?"
Lucian let himself stumble.
Hook followed and Lucian dropped.
He slid under the rapier, swept Hook's leg, and rolled behind him in the same motion.
Hook barely twisted in time as Lucian's sword slashed past his ribs.
They separated, both breathing hard now.
Around them, dragons screamed and fire lit the sky. The Night Fury roared overhead, its shadow passing over the hall like a living omen.
"This ends," Lucian said evenly.
Hook straightened, eyes sharp again despite the chaos. He adjusted his grip on both weapons.
"Oh, I doubt that," Hook replied. "But I am enjoying myself."