Come on. Come on. Come on.

Ajax waited in the tree, crouched fifteen or so feet off the ground. His calves screamed from the pain of his position, and sweat studded his hairline and the band of his pants. Grunting, he shifted his weight to hold the spear against his left arm. He scratched his chin, then plucked at the rope tied about his waist. He tugged on it, and in the trees above him Dog gawped in reply.

“Stay there. Good boy,” Ajax muttered. If all went well, Dog was going to get a jaw rub tonight, his favorite thing. As if anticipating it, the dragon began to puff in enthusiasm. Ajax wrinkled his nose at the acrid smell of smoke. “Stop blowing embers! You’ll give us away.”

“Gawp.” Dog sounded chastened. Good.

Ajax chewed the inside of his cheek as he scanned the dense forest, waiting for Vespir and that tiny dragon of hers to come careening around the bend with the basilisk in tow. Maybe Ajax had been stupid, and she’d run off laughing to herself about the good trick she’d played on the bastard. Oh sure, she’d be deferential and doe-eyed around the legitimate contenders, all yes, my lord-ing and no, my lady-ing. But Ajax? What’d a bastard piece of trash like him matter?

He felt that low, familiar hunger. His nose twitched, and his sweaty grip tightened on the spear.

Wouldn’t they all gape to find him the victor? Wouldn’t they all realize what a mistake it’d been to write him off?

Ajax would be the youngest emperor ever crowned in the Etrusian Empire’s glorious history, and he would wear that gold circlet with pride. Lysander would kiss his boots if he asked. Soon. All he had to do was hold his arm steady and not piss himself with fear.

Ajax perked up as he heard the high call of a dragon echo off the trees. Then, soon after, the soft, dull thud of footsteps. Heavy, monster-size footsteps.

“Don’t get scared,” Ajax whispered to Dog, gritting his teeth against his own tremors. “You hear me? You get scared, I’ll never forgive you.”

Dog whined. Vespir didn’t expect Ajax to be tied to his dragon. Once he stabbed the basilisk’s eye out, he’d scurry up the rope and jump into Dog’s saddle. One quick dive and a slice of his blade, and the head would be off before Vespir could turn around on dragonback. Nice girl, to help him like this. Too bad there could be only one winner.

Another squeal, this time nearer in the forest. The footsteps were growing louder now, and a deep, booming roar shivered the leaves and the branches around him. Ajax pressed a hand to the trunk and breathed. This was fine. Fine.

Karina and Vespir burst into view, the girl tucked against her dragon’s back as they barrel-rolled through the trees. Brilliant. Partly it came down to the dragon being small, but Ajax had never seen handling like this. Vespir seemed more dragon than girl, insanely impressive when you realized she didn’t saddle her mount. Ajax let out an involuntary whistle of appreciation. Genius. Sheer genius.

Ajax didn’t have the talent, but he knew how to make use of it.

He’d calculated perfectly. The basilisk’s bobbing head would come right up next to him. His stomach swirled as he hefted the spear to his shoulder. He would have half a second to blind the thing before its gaze met his. He could try closing his eyes when he thrust, but if he missed, he’d get eaten. Bad alternative.

Thud. Thud. The beast drew nearer, and Karina sailed right past his nose. Vespir’s triumphant eyes met his for half a second. Yes, she’d done it. Couldn’t be better.

The world around him seemed to hold its breath as the basilisk stepped into his space. The creature’s eye would be level with his arm. Two steps more. Just one.

Ajax swallowed, clenched his jaw, steadied his nerves. A single thrust, and no one would call him bastard again.

He’d show his pig of a father what he’d squirted out.

Ajax brought back the spear as the venomous yellow disc of the monster’s eye hove into view and—

“Stop!”

Someone screamed below, and Ajax froze. The basilisk came to a grinding halt. Ajax felt the spear tumble out of his grip.

Oh. Shit.

Before he could move, the basilisk’s eye pierced him straight through. His vision began to melt; it felt like a swarm of bees was stinging his blood and bones. A buzzing scream reverberated in his ears. He opened his mouth, but no sound emerged. Ajax mercifully broke eye contact with the thing when it turned, interested more in whatever had shouted on the ground. He fumbled for the rope and tugged repeatedly, his grasp becoming clumsy. Hot tears streamed from his damaged eyes. He lost feeling in his right arm, which collapsed at his side.

Ajax screamed, the poison boiling through his system and slowing his tongue. He felt his brain start to burn.

Above him, sounding a hundred miles away, Dog made horrible noises. Ajax wavered on his feet and fell backward off the branch, saved from the fall by the rope tied around his waist. Dog swooped up into the sky, Ajax’s limp body bashing into branch after branch until finally he was pulled up into the world above, the sun screaming across his skull. Ajax’s tongue swelled, filling his mouth.

He could only see flashes of images. The treetops beneath.

The sea and the sky.

Vespir, circling underneath on dragonback.

Vespir’s concerned face.

The back of Dog’s head, while hands tied him tight to the saddle horn.

No. No.

Unable to form words, Ajax howled as his dragon swung toward the horizon. Even dying, hatred swelled within him. Hatred for the basilisk, for the damn fool on the ground who’d screamed. Hatred for the servant girl with her dark, worried eyes and her damn helping hands. Ajax had been robbed of his victory, and now even his damn life.

He couldn’t decide which was worse.