She felt at once paralyzed and weightless; the movements of her body utterly beyond her control.
Would this dark magic float her up to the moon? Would it drown her in a lake? Impale her on a sword?
All she could do was scream.
She was nearing the rafters now, rising up to the ceiling. The people below were hard to distinguish, their voices inaudible—
And then, a crash.
A massive beast broke through the palace wall, its leathery body bright with iridescent scales, its wingspan as wide as the room. The crowd shrieked and hollered, dove for cover. Alizeh, meanwhile, could not look away.
She’d never seen a dragon before.
It swooped low and roared; its long, studded tail whipping along the wall, leaving gashes in the marble.
And then, like a shot, Alizeh was released.
She plummeted to the ground with terrifying speed, the sounds of her own screams filling her ears, drowning out all else. She hardly had time to process that she was about to die, that she would snap in half when she hit the floor—
The dragon dove and caught her, hard, on its back.
She fell forward with superlative force, nearly losing her seat before she caught the studded nape of the beast thattook flight without delay. Alizeh was knocked back as it launched upward, her head spinning, heart hammering in her chest. It was all she could do to hold on and keep her wits about her. The dragon gave another roar before flapping its massive wings, propelling them out the destroyed palace wall and into the night sky.
For a long time, Alizeh did not move.
She felt paralyzed by fear and disbelief; her mind assaulted by a tumult of uncertainty. Slowly, sensation returned to her limbs, to the tips of her fingers. She soon felt the wind against her face, saw the night sky drape itself around her, a midnight sheet studded with stars.
By degrees, she began to relax.
The beast was heavy and solid, and seemed to know where it was going. She took deep lungfuls of air, trying to clear the dregs of her panic, to convince herself that she would be safe for at least as long as she clung to this wild creature. She shifted, suddenly, at the feel of soft fibers grazing her skin through what was left of her thin gown, and looked down to examine it. She hadn’t realized she was in fact sitting on a small carpet, which—
Alizeh nearly screamed again.
The dragon had disappeared. It was stillthere—she felt the beast beneath her, could feel the leathery texture of its skin—but the creature had gone invisible in the sky, leaving her floating on a patterned rug.
It was deeply disorienting.
Still, she understood then why the creature had disappeared; without its bulk to blind her, she could see the worldbelow, could see the world beyond.
Alizeh didn’t know where she was going, but for the moment, she forced herself not to panic. There was, after all, a strange peace in this, in the quiet that surrounded her.
As her nerves relaxed, her mind sharpened. Quickly, she yanked off her boots and chucked them into the night. It gave her great satisfaction to watch them disappear into the dark.
Relief.
A sudden thud shifted the weight of the rug, startling her upright. Alizeh spun around, her heart racing once again in her chest; and when she saw the face of her unwelcome companion, she thought she might fling herself into the sky with the boots.
“No,” she whispered.
“This ismydragon,” said the Tulanian king. “You are not allowed to steal my dragon.”
“I didn’t steal it, the creature took— Wait, how did you get here? Can you fly?”
He laughed at that. “Is the mighty empire of Ardunia really so poor in magic that these small tricks impress you?”
“Yes,” she said, blinking. Then, “What is your name?”
“Of all the non sequiturs. Why do you need to know my name?”
