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

Callistra muttered, but her tears started again despite the way she shook with anger. “You ruined my life.”

“I didn’t ruin anything,” Onyx growled, then let her go and shoved her down the hall. “Fine. Go find your own way. I don’t care anymore. Stupid girl.” He turned away from her and stalked back toward his room.

Callistra did not move or say anything until he was almost out of the room, then she ran after him. “Wait! I do want to help you free the dragons. If I do that will Niyx let my father go?”

“How should I know?” Onyx waved her away, irritated.

“If I give you what you want, will you help me free my father? He doesn’t deserve to be here. This is a misunderstanding. He thought he was saving the city. To him Night Creatures are monsters. You don’t understand. They killed my mother and my little brother. He’s only trying to avenge what he’s lost.”

Onyx stopped to face her, raising a brow at the desperate revelation. Or more so at the desperate offer.

She crossed her arms, looking away from his questioning glance. “Well? What? You don’t believe me? I’ll give you anything you want if you help me get him out of here.”

Onyx snarled at her. He stormed past her then stopped at the cell door that held Raijin. He ripped it from its hinges and glared at the now pathetic Templar curled inside. Raijin didn’t look so dangerous without his weapon and armor. He just looked like a broken old man. “Get out. Both of you. If I see you again, you’re dead.”

Raijin scrambled to his feet and joined Callistra in the hallway. Then he grabbed Callistra’s arm to tug her with him. “Come, Callistra. We must go.”

Callistra just stared at Onyx, speechless, as her father dragged her away down the tunnel.

Onyx watched them go until he couldn’t see them any longer. Then he rubbed his head at a headache. He should have just taken her and killed her like he did the other women. But he’d never taken one by force. He told himself that’s what it was, as he retreated to his room. He knew deep down he was lying to himself. Part of him desperately wanted her to want to be with him. She was getting to him. Not just lust and hunger this time he actually cared what happened to her. When she was upset it upset him.

“The Master will be greatly displeased that you allowed his most hated enemy to escape,” Riven chided as he drifted out of a nearby doorway. “Why would you do such a foolish thing?”

“I don’t need a lecture from a ghost,” Onyx snapped. “Where is Niyx?”

Riven just smirked, the tight skin on his face looking even more ghoulish. “Oh, Lord Niyx has left the Den.”

“Where did he go?” Onyx asked, surprised.

“To expedite negotiations with House Lisaen,” Riven waved dismissively as he started to float down the hall. “My Lord does not take well to being trifled with. You would do well to remember that. Oh, it might be too late for that advice.”

“He went to free the dragon? Alone?” Onyx shook his head. Surely Niyx wasn’t that reckless. House Lisaen was the most powerful in Aderaan. When Riven just continued without a word Onyx stormed the opposite way down the hall. Now he knew why Niyx did not like Riven. Onyx decided to find Kiril.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

House Lisean was less than agreeable to Niyx’s terms. The allotted week had passed and the powerful noble House was still in negotiations with Ruel. As long as they held, out the other Houses would not release their dragons. Niyx was tired of waiting and being reasonable. If he released this dragon the other Houses would concede. So while the leaders of the House visited Ruel’s manor to plead their case, Niyx entered their manor. He clutched the grip of his blade tightly in his right hand as his eyes adjusted to the darkness around him. House Lisean’s basement was unremarkable in appearance but a chill hung in the deathly still air that was not of Niyx’s doing.

Niyx strained his long ears for any sound, but all he heard were his heavy plate boots against the stone floor as he wound his way through the tunnels. Magical wards tingled against his skin, but they could not stop him from passing through. He tore them down as he went, each one angering him just a little more. This experience felt far more dangerous than it had to free the tiny green dragon. This was a prison built to house something that the elves clearly feared. He wished he could have brought Ice with him, but he did not dare summon his dragon in case the magic in here would bind Ice as well. He could not bear it if something happened to his friend. Bringing Kiril might have been a good idea, though.

He shook himself and frowned at those thoughts. He had never been afraid to be alone before. He feared nothing. Nothing on this world was more powerful than he.

As he stepped into the large chamber, he expected to find a dragon. However, what he found was a pale male elf suspended from magical chains holding him spread-eagled in the middle of the room. Niyx titled his head, confused. He could feel the powerful magic thrumming through the chains and being drained to fuel the House’s magic. It felt like dragon magic. But this was clearly an elf.

As he got closer, he could see that the elf’s skin was covered in fine white iridescent scales. When the prisoner’s eyes opened, they were brilliant blue and painful to look at, but they were definitely reptilian.

Niyx tilted his head as the creature looked at him. “You don’t look like a dragon.” The prisoner frowned at Niyx then looked down at himself and sighed, his voice deeper and more powerful than a normal elf. “They have trapped me in this form to