Nine Dragon Eggs

During the Blood Warlock's reign, this had been his private kingdom, a place full of secrets.

They climbed the spiral staircase. Liu Qian's Dragonfire had almost completely destroyed the tower's outer wall, exposing the charred structure within.

The sisters were shaken by the sight. They could imagine how brutal the battle had been.

They reached the second floor.

The space here was relatively intact. Numerous niches lined the walls, each holding black candles about a foot long.

The candles were made of a strange material, resembling polished black glass or deep, dark crystal. In the dim light, they gave off a shadowy sheen that seemed to absorb light.

"Glass Candles," Liu Qian said, recognizing them. "Magical objects the Warlocks of Valyria used to send messages over great distances, glimpse distant places, and even enter other people's dreams."

He breathed Dragonfire onto one. Golden-red flames licked steadily at its black wick, but the candle remained cold and unresponsive. Not even a wisp of smoke rose from it.

"Since the Doom, no one has managed to light a Glass Candle."

Janice shook her head as she spoke.

"Perhaps lighting them requires a specific Blood Magic ritual, or..." Liu Qian mused. "The uncontrolled eruption of Blood Magic in Valyria completely corrupted the source of these magical creations."

They continued upward.

The third floor was an enormous storeroom, its air filled with the dusty smell of dried plants.

Inside, bundles of ghost grass were piled into small mountains, neatly bound with tough vines. Clearly, the Blood Warlock had ordered the soldiers of Tyria to keep gathering it from the dangerous ruins.

The fourth floor resembled a sealed darkroom. Only a few narrow vents high above admitted faint daylight, making torches necessary.

Several heavy stone tables were covered with glass bottles and jars of various sizes. They held strangely colored liquids that fizzed with tiny bubbles-some dark red as blood, some cloudy as mud, and others glowing green.

A faint but persistent, rustlike smell of blood hung in the air. This was clearly another place dedicated to casting Blood Magic and conducting horrifying experiments.

Fragments of bone from unidentifiable sources were even scattered in a corner.

The next few floors housed the Warlock's apprentices. They gave them a quick look and moved on.

Then they reached the tenth floor.

A noticeably heavier door, cast from black iron, stood firmly locked across the entrance to a room.

Its lock was a complex mechanical device, with faint traces of magical energy still lingering around it.

The three exchanged a glance. There had to be something inside that the Blood Warlock wanted no one else to touch.

Liu Qian could not be bothered to work out how to unlock it.

He motioned for the sisters to step back, then opened his mouth and breathed Dragonfire.

Scorching golden flames burned precisely against the lock. Under the terrifying heat, the black iron rapidly reddened, softened, and began to run molten.

Soon, the heavy bolt fell to the floor with a clang.

Liu Qian kicked the door, sending it crashing open amid billowing smoke and dust.

Inside was a cramped study.

Books, ink, and paper lay scattered across the desk.

A glass-fronted bookcase against the wall displayed nine silver trays, each intricately engraved with a flying dragon. All were empty.

Liu Qian picked up a tray, his brow furrowing.

If his guess was right, it should have held...

"Come look! This is the Warlock's diary!" Janice picked up a thick book and read aloud:

Experiment 313: Sacrificed one resident of Tyria and one Warlock's apprentice in an attempt to awaken a black Dragon Egg fossil. The Dragon Egg split open, revealing a dead, scaly, monstrous maggot. Failure. Suspected cause: the resident's bloodline was contaminated by the curse...

Experiment 314: Sacrificed one outsider and one Warlock's apprentice in an attempt to awaken a green Dragon Egg fossil. The Dragon Egg shattered in the fire. Failure. Suspected cause: the outsider's bloodline was impure...

As she read those cold, brutal records, shock was all that remained on their faces.

The Blood Warlock had sacrificed living people to hatch Dragon Eggs!

Not just outsiders, but residents of Tyria as well!

His claim that he captured people to clear the ruins had been a lie. He had only wanted sacrifices!

"No wonder he had us bring outsiders who entered the ruins back to Tyria..." Jelena's voice trembled with rage. "They would work for a few days, then 'disappear.' We thought they had been infected by Fire Dragon Worms and burned up... but he had taken them away to sacrifice them! And worse still, he didn't even spare our own people!"

She felt utterly betrayed.

Liu Qian stared at the blood-soaked experiment notes, his heart bleeding.

That madman had been wasting Dragon Eggs! Hundreds of experiments had nearly exhausted the stockpile.

Just then, Janice pointed to a later page. "Look here!"

Liu Qian and Jelena looked over. In the Blood Warlock's handwriting, it read:

Nine high-quality Dragon Egg fossils have been set aside as reserves and will not be used in experiments for the time being.

Joy surged through Liu Qian's heart. There were still nine! He immediately looked toward the nine empty silver trays in the bookcase.

Had those trays held them? But where were the Dragon Eggs?

As though a flame of hope had been kindled within them, the three immediately began searching every inch of the cramped study.

They flipped through books, checked beneath the desk, and tapped the walls in search of hidden compartments.

Time slipped by, but they found nothing except dust and scattered papers.

"It's not that simple."

Liu Qian spoke.

He stared at the notes, then inspiration struck. "This passage was written after experiment 314. The next number is 315... This tower is three thousand feet tall. Could they be on the 315th floor?"

Jelena and Janice exchanged a glance. "The 315th floor? Wouldn't that be the top of the tower?"

Liu Qian smiled. "Don't forget, I'm a dragon!"

Without further hesitation, he turned and left the room, leaped through the damaged outer wall, transformed into a dragon in midair, and shot toward the clouds.

He had replenished a considerable amount of magic power in the ghost grass storeroom earlier, enough to transform into a dragon again.

One hundred floors... two hundred... three hundred...

He reached the top of the tower-the 315th floor!

This Wizard Tower had exactly 315 floors, no more and no less!

Hope flared in his heart.

He glanced at the Chimera's charred remains on the rooftop platform, then returned to human form and entered the room at the top of the tower.

There was no lock here.

Only a single large chest stood in the middle of the room.

Liu Qian approached and lifted its lid.

As fast as lightning, a

black shadow suddenly shot out of the chest, lunging straight at his face.

Alarm flashed through Liu Qian. The dragon blood within him instinctively surged, and he opened his mouth to breathe Dragonfire.

A concentrated stream of golden Dragonfire blasted out like a high-pressure jet of water, instantly engulfing the lunging shadow.

From within the flames came a piercing, agonized shriek unlike the cry of any living creature, accompanied by the sizzling of burning flesh.

Wrapped in flames, the black shadow struck the stone wall behind it, then fell to the floor with a thud, reduced to a curled, charred carcass trailing bluish smoke.

Still shaken, Liu Qian panted and stared at his charcoal-black attacker.

The creature was about a foot long, with a body shaped like a scorpion's. But instead of a venomous stinger, its tail ended in a human face. Though burned beyond recognition, it still bore an expression of utter malice and agony. The sight was so grotesque and evil that it made his scalp prickle.

It was a Scorpion-Tailed Beast.

Liu Qian silently cursed his own carelessness.

That Blood Warlock was still laying traps for people even after death.

Still rattled, he looked into the open chest. There were no more traps inside.

At the bottom, resting quietly and securely on a thick lining of black velvet, lay nine oval objects.

Nine Dragon Eggs.

Or rather, nine Dragon Egg fossils.

Their shells were covered in fine, hard, scalelike ridges, but they had completely lost the sheen of life and taken on the texture of stone.

Even in the dim light, nine distinct colors remained clearly visible: silver, blood red, purple, bronze, black and red, sea blue, pale green, grayish brown, and yellowish brown.