Dragonscales - Chapter 3

Blistered fingers clawed for handholds on the crimson-splattered wall. His eyes were half-shut against the sweat and blood trickling down his forehead, head wounds stinging at his every attempt to merely think about the goal.

Climb the wall. Retrieve the key. Unlock the collar.

Unlock the damn ki-sapping collar around his neck—his one imperative, the raging desire sunken into his dreams for each day of the past month.

Another directed beam of ki sliced into his side before he could dodge, and he lost the precious handholds he had gained, slipping further down the hundred-foot wall, the key hanging at the top of it taunting him as it grew smaller in his hazy vision.

The hated voice from the viewing window tittered in amusement. Without looking he knew those dark red lips were smiling at the scene of torture and humiliation masquerading as “endurance training.”

The timer ticked to zero and announced his defeat.

“Not fast enough, I'm afraid, dear Prince. Perhaps try again tomorrow?”

Tomorrow.

He gritted his teeth and cursed the disgusting creature his father had given him over to.

Tomorrow. There was no choice but tomorrow.