But I am flying away.
My stomach burns as the claw snatches me, yanking my body up into the air.
I desperately beat against it, catching sight of the dark, onyx scales, lava rippling underneath it and realize, it’s a damn dragon from the Darklands.
My breath hitches, eyes frantically searching up the enormous chest, noticing a few arrows that have pierced the dragon's neck. But it doesn’t phase the beast.
I watch the scales ripple like waves before fire explodes out into the clouds above us. Scorching the air and creating clouds of thick smoke.
The Royals must have never fixed the wall after the dragon escaped. Such fools.
I throw my fists into the beast's claw, knowing I am unable to wield any of my powers. But as I glance back up, I see blonde hair whipping in the wind.
You have got to be kidding me.
She leans over, grinning a wicked smirk. “Hello, sister.”
“What the hell are you doing!” I scream, feeling my head pulse.
She shrugs. “I suppose, saving you?”
Her brow raises before her body lifts back up to ride the dragon and soar us out of here.
I know this is no saving, she is taking me back to the Darklands to destroy me herself.
My body squirms, kicking and beating against the scales of its body. But it’s useless, and as if the beast gets annoyed with mefighting against it, the grip tightens, slamming one of its claws into my thigh.
I let out a gut-wrenching cry, feeling the blood drip down my leg and watching it fall into the air.
My eyes blur, fading to black as I notice Florian climbing over the ledge of the railings. Skie desperately clutches at him, her cheeks flushing red as she tries to reel him back, but he leaps, and in that heart-stopping moment, he shifts easily into a dragon.
In front of everyone.
No bones cracking in the air. No cries for help. But transitions, without hesitating.
Without fear of the Royals coming for his head.
Arrows rain down upon him, slicing through the air as he weaves left and right, missing them all.
Below him, Koen rushes to the chosen, taking his dagger and ripping the ropes apart. Within seconds, his hands are plunging into the sand, his screams echoing from the clouds where I drift off to.
And just before the clouds take my view away from them, I watch him transform into a dragon.
Now all of the Realms will know what they are.
Who they are.
And the Royals will stop at nothing to kill us.
The breeze shifts from a warmth to an ice cold, making goosebumps along my body rise.
Unsure if I am fading away to my death by the blood loss, or if the cold will freeze me, pausing my heart at last.
I can feel my heart slow down, and I go limp. The bones in my ribs are on the edge of breaking and crumbling as the dragon tightens its grip on me. My midnight hair is swaying in front of me as I continue to hit against the beast, but I get slower and weaker with every effort.
Through my eyes that fade to darkness, a crimson-red fire breaks through the water-filled clouds. A crack of lightning whips past us, flashing a shadow of two dragons flying behind us.
A strong gust of wind, mixed with the mist of the clouds, beats at my skin.
