Slowly, painfully, Valia pushed herself to her feet. She had killed them all. Every last one.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, feeling the weight of her mother's hatred once more, the knowledge that she would never truly belong. She wondered what other life awaited her outside the four corners of the dragon's abode in this world.

When Valia was brought back to the arena, she could barely stand. Her body was streaked with blood and soot, her hair hanging in wet ropes. She ...