Niyx Samantha Kroese (i am malala young readers edition .TXT) 📖

had been, he set to attacking with reckless abandon the chains and machines hooked to the dragon.

Callistra tackled him with an enraged cry, tumbling him to the floor. They struggled for dominance, rolling over and over each other, slamming into machines that were bleeding magic into the air around them. “What are you doing?” Callistra demanded, breathless, as they fought. “You can’t let the dragon loose! It’s here for a reason! Are you mad?”

“It’s here because they’re feeding off its magic!” Onyx threw her off and scrambled away, backing up so he was in front of the large dragon’s snout that was chained to the floor.

“Because it’s evil and deserves to be here!” Callistra snarled as she charged at him.

“You’re wrong,” Onyx muttered. He sidestepped her and grabbed her wrist and squeezed so hard she dropped her sword with a yelp, then he whipped her hand around to touch the dragon’s snout.

She jerked in place as though electrified when she touched the dragon’s scales. Then she stood completely still, barely breathing as she stared into the giant eyes before her. She stood there so long that Onyx thought perhaps she’d been entranced by the dragon’s magic. Then tears streamed down her face and she yanked her hand back. With a horrified cry, she picked up her sword and started to cut the dragon free. “Help me!” she demanded, glaring at Onyx when he continued staring at her.

Onyx helped cut the dragon loose. It was a massive beast, even larger than Ice at full size. How had they gotten this beast in here in the first place?

A shot rang out and the bullet whizzed past Onyx’s ear before it buried itself in the wall. He whirled around with a warning hiss, fangs bared and daggers now facing the door.

“Stop. Come out of there. That’s not a request. I will shoot you. Both of you.” Isakael stood at the door with a pistol in each hand, both aimed directly at them.

“What?” Callistra said, her voice trembling with shock. “Step-father, you don’t understand. Touch the dragon. This is a horrible mistake!”

“I do understand. You do not. Come out of there, Callistra. Please don’t make me hurt you,” Isakael pleaded. “The dragon has entranced you, that is all. Trust me. It is a deceitful creature.”

“You’re wrong. It’s the elves that are deceitful. Our people used these creatures to save our world, then enslaved them!” Onyx spat as he edged closer. “Now you idiots are bleeding the world dry through them for your own selfish gains.”

“I warned you to stay out of this, my friend,” Isakael said, sounding remorseful. “You should’ve stuck to bedding and killing women.”

Isakael fired. Onyx dodged, too fast for even a bullet to land. He dove out of the path of the projectile then leapt forward. His daggers found their mark and sank deep into Isakael’s chest. With a bloody gurgle the Lord fell limp, dead almost instantly.

Callistra shrieked in horror. Onyx ignored her and left the body behind as he returned to trying to free the dragon. “We have to get the dragon loose. Help me or get out of my way!” he growled. Part of him regretted killing Isakael. He had genuinely liked the man, but Isakael had made his choice when he threatened them.

Callistra regained control of her emotions. With tears in her eyes, she gritted her teeth, and started chopping away at chains and tubes once more. As the final shackle fell free, the dragon heaved to its feet with a roar that shook the entire building, raining dust and debris from the ceiling. Giant wings spread to shield Onyx and Callistra. As the dragon rose to its full height, the manor fell around it like a house made of matchsticks.

Onyx grabbed onto the scales of the dragon’s enormous leg and climbed up onto its back. “I know somewhere safe for you if you can fly,” he told the dragon its giant head turned to study him. It unfurled its immense wings, flattening the rest of the building. Callistra scrambled up to sit behind Onyx. Then with a mighty leap the dragon was airborne and leaving Aderaan far behind. They made it back to the tunnels safely and swiftly. Onyx and Callistra slid off of the dragon’s back just before it shimmered and shrunk down to whelping size.

Onyx took a step back in shock when he landed face to face with Callistra. To his surprise, the now tiny and exhausted dragon chose the woman’s arms to collapse into, curling against her chest.

Callistra shivered in the cool night air as she stared at him. “I guess I’m staying with you. I’m a criminal in Aderaan for helping you.” Then she shifted the dragon to one arm and punched Onyx hard in the shoulder. “You killed Isakael!”

Onyx grunted and rubbed his offended shoulder as he turned toward the tunnels. “He was going to shoot both of us. He made his choice. You made yours. The dragon has made its choice. It is what it is.”

Callistra hugged the dragon close, her eyes full of tears again, but her expression determined. “Where are we?”

“My domain,” Niyx’s cold voice announced as he and Kiril emerged from the tunnel entrance. His icy gaze swept to Onyx with disapproval. “You brought her here?”

“It’s a long story,” Onyx said. He was tired and he wanted out of the forest, even though the tunnels weren’t any warmer. “She helped free the dragon. It likes her. It might be hurt. We should get it inside with the other one.”

Niyx growled, but he stepped aside so Onyx could lead Callistra down to the dragon roost. Niyx and Kiril followed silently. It took some convincing to finally get Callistra to leave the dragon in the warm bed of straw to rest.

“She’s your responsibility. If she makes any trouble, I will kill her,” Niyx warned with a glare at Callistra before he and Kiril moved past to tend to the new dragon.

“He looks just like you,” Callistra muttered to Onyx,