Nya’s eyes flashed from Slate’s face to Gavin’s and then back again as she tried to process what the dragon shifter had just told her. “I’m… what?” she asked, her mind not quite wrapping around what he’d said. “The donation?”
“Yes, of course,” Slate said, as if he had just told her she was a girl or a princess or a human and not that he was planning on keeping her in his mountaintop fortress for the foreseeable future. “You are the donation, Princess. You took the place of the angry prisoner left for me at the rocks.” He shrugged, far too nonchalant for the discussion they were having. “Now, you must take his place.”Nya’s eyes were wide as she gazed around the room. Her focus landed on Gavin who was smiling widely, as if t
The silence between them was deafening, but Nya didn’t want to be the first to speak. She wanted Slate to say something first, to tell her that she was right to be upset, that she was right to feel tricked into coming there, not realizing that he intended to keep her in his mountain kingdom until he was able to get the Heart of Magic back from the king who had stolen it from him. But Slate wasn’t talking either, so the two of them sat there, awkwardly, not looking at one another, until Nya could hardly stand it anymore.She turned her head and looked at him, studying him for a moment. He was probably the most attractive man she’d ever laid eyes on, but she couldn’t let that affect her. After all, he wasn’t really a man, was he? He was a shifter. Part dragon, part man, all deceitful. How could someone who could conceal such a huge beast within himself not be deceptive in one wa
A bowl of steaming stew sat before Nya, a goblet of some sort of wine within reach. The dining room was crude, lit by a candelabra in the middle of the ruggedly hewn table. She poked around in the bowl with her spoon for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not she should eat it. Slate was sitting at the far end of the table, a good ten yards away from her, already nearly finished with his own portion, which had to be twice what she’d been served. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that it had been a while since she’d eaten a meal, but since she had no idea what kind of meat this was, where it had come from, or where the vegetables that floated around as she stirred the brown broth might’ve come from, she was leery of putting any of it into her mouth.“It’s beef,” he assured her. “The vegetables come from the farm fields of our old territory. There are humans th
The warm water soaked into her aching muscles as Nya sank deeper and deeper into the heat of the tub. The servants had graciously filled the basin with steaming hot water that smelled of lilacs and rose petals, and when Nya had climbed in, she’d sank up to her chin. It was delightful to be so completely consumed by the warmth of the floral scented water. Not only did her muscles feel soothed, she felt her mind clearing as well.She hadn’t been completely honest with Slate about what she’d seen. But then… this newfound ability of hers, to see the future. It wasn’t necessarily one hundred percent accurate. After all, she’d just realized she had it a few months ago. Even then, she wasn’t sure she was actually seeing the future. The only times it had really served her had been when she’d been fighting those idiots in the military barracks and when she’d ta
Breakfast was hardier than what Nya was used to eating. Rather than just some buttered bread and fruit, the table was spread with meat and thick rolls, as well as the normal fruit and cereals made of grain.She got her fill of bacon and rolls, as well as a few strawberries and grapes, and washed it down with some of the sweetest, coolest water she’d ever tasted, which Slate had told her had come directly from the ice caps on the mountainside. It was refreshing and woke her up more than even the sweetness of the berries or the savory flavor of the bacon.Once she was finished, she wiped her hands on the cloth napkin supplied by the servants and waited for her host to finish. He took his time, putting away more calories than even the top four of her father’s warriors combined might do at any given meal. She watched in awe, not sure where all of
“Gator, this is Nya,” Slate, the dragon king, said as Nya followed him over to where the others were training. The fellow in question, a ginormous man, only an inch or so shorter than Slate himself, with massive, bulging muscles, was dressed all in black, a similar outfit to the one Slate always wore, except there were no red accents.Gator eyed Nya for a moment, his eyes traveling from her head to her toes and then back again. He nodded, his dark, shoulder-length hair swaying slightly with the movement of his head. “Nya?” he questioned.“Yes. That’s me,” she said, taking a deep breath and brushing her own hair over her shoulder. She was dressed in the same outfit she’d worn when she arrived but it had been cleaned. She knew she could move in it well since it was what she’d worn to ambush Slate. Still, fight
“Well, that was not at all what I was expecting,” Slate said, standing inside of one of the buildings near the training field. He had his arms folded across his massive chest, and Nya stood a few feet away from him, trying to figure out what this building was used for while still paying attention to what the dragon king had to say.From the looks of it, they were in some sort of a lounge. There were a lot of seats in this large room, a bookshelf with a few hundred titles, and a large container sitting on a counter with a bunch of glasses next to it. She wondered if this is where the people came to take a break from their training, but she wasn’t in a position to ask at the moment.Returning her attention to Slate, she asked, “What were you expecting?”“I don’t know,” h
The library had a large map spread on a table over by the window where there was more light, even though the red glow from outside didn’t help illuminate the parchment drawing much. Slate lit several lanterns, including a low chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He would have to be careful not to hit his head on it as he leaned over the table, he was so tall, and it was so low over the map spread out for them to look at, but then, Nya had the feeling he had maneuvered in this position many times before. At her height, there was no risk of her hitting her head or catching her hair on fire from the multiple candles, the melted sides showing they’d been used for many years.Slate hovered above the map, looking down at it for several minutes while Nya’s eyes oscillated between the map and the man staring at it. It was clear to her that the map showed all of the surrounding kingdoms from the m
Flying on the back of a dragon would never get old. Even though Nya was slightly nervous at being so high up in the sky, with very little to hold on to, by the time she’d been situated on Slate’s dragon’s back for a few hours, she’d gotten used to the thrilling feel of soaring over the forest and mountains below her. She squeezed her legs tightly around his neck, usually holding on with her hands as well, pressed against his slick scales, but from time to time, she couldn’t help but let go with one hand at a time and feel the air moving around her. Long blonde braids billowed out behind her, and the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair was invigorating like nothing she’d ever experienced before.The stars above her seemed even brighter this close to them than they ever had from her bedroom window at the castle. The moon was low in the sky, and she had a feeling S
A wedding ceremony was the official way to mark the coming together of Nya Gould and Slate, the Dragon King, the joining of the two kingdoms, and the uniting of two people who loved each other more than anything, but for Nya, all of that was declared long before she walked down the aisle to take Slate’s hand beneath an azure sky and a trellis full of roses.Transferring the power of the Heart of Magic to him hadn’t been something she’d had to think about, once they’d left Frindom the day that the dragons had defeated Beelzanborg once for all. As soon as the magic had gone back to its rightful owner, the entire mountain-bound kingdom had shifted. The mountain itself had split open from the top, the rock tumbling away from the town inside, and the dark black rock and red glow transformed as the city was exposed to the light and the sun. Velvety green trees and grass grew up all around
The flight from Beelzanborg to Frinwood didn’t take nearly as long as it had taken to get back to the dragons’ lair, and this time, as Nya rode on Slate’s back, her thoughts were of seeing her family again. While she still harbored some ill feelings toward her father for not being completely honest with her about the Dragon Moon Festival, she did look forward to seeing her mother and her sister.More importantly than that, several of the young people who had been chosen as sacrifices over the years were flying back to Frindom with her, most notably Gavin and Alsys. Nya couldn’t help but smile at her friend as he sat atop the back of a blue and yellow dragon, a huge grin on his face. He was excited about seeing his parents again after more than a year. While Alsys hadn’t been gone nearly as long, she was crying tears of joy atop the purple and silver dragon that took her home.
“Slate!” Nya shouted, helping lower the dragon king to the ground. She bent down next to him, not sure what to do. The arrow still protruded from his chest, near his heart, and the blood was spreading quickly. Staring into his eyes, she thought about the Heart of Magic. “Can’t the stone save you?” she asked. “Can’t you call upon the power from the Heart of Magic to heal you?”Slate looked at the arrow like it was a pesky insect only there to annoy him. He grabbed the shaft of the arrow and pulled it straight out with a grunt, letting it go as even more blood gushed from the wound. Shaking his head, he said, “I cannot do that, Nya.”Her eyes widened as the last chance she could think of to save him began to slip from her fingers. “What do you mean? It contains all of the power in the universe! Sur
It was no surprise that Ruby was a bright red, shiny dragon with no black on her as Slate had, which seemed to make her scales even shinier and brighter the closer they flew to the sun. She was also smaller and more nimble. Nya kept her head down, near Ruby’s neck, as the dragon was going at full speed, in a rush to get Nya back to the battlefield, and it seemed evident Ruby had been wanting to fly for a while. Nya wondered how it had been determined who would stay behind before and who would go, but then, it appeared that Ruby was a maid, not warrior. She flew like someone who would be good to have in battle, though, and Nya was glad that she was in such a rush to get where they were going.Sounds of the battle unfolding met her ears before any of the dragons came into view. It was clear that Beelzanborg was still launching their massive fireballs at the dragons. As they neared the border of B
“You can’t really be thinking of drawing that sword on me, can you?” Nya asked Gator as his hand hovered above the hilt of his sword.An awkward grin spread across his face. “Of course not,” he said. He pulled his hand away. “That’s just… reflex.”Her eyes went to the weapon and then back at him. His hands were away from the weapon now, but he was still standing uneasy. “I have all the magic in the universe at my disposal. It wouldn’t be smart for you to try and fight me. Besides, I already beat you when I had no magic.”Gator laughed. “You can’t actually think you beat me, can you? I mean, honestly, you know that I let you defeat me so that you would feel strong enough to go after the stone, so that Slate would be convinced that no
The ride back to the lair took hours, but without having to stop and lay low as she had with Slate on the way to Beelzanborg, it wasn’t nearly as long as it had been going. As Nya flew on Gator’s back, she looked down at the ground and saw a slew of people pointing up at them, some waving, others gazing curiously. How long had it been since anyone had seen dragons flying in the daytime? How long had it been since a dragon, other than Slate, had flown over these villages? None of these people could’ve possibly been alive the last time the dragons were able to fly. To the people staring up at them, she imagined it was both terrifying and awe inspiring.She wondered what they had thought when the enormous thunder had flown over earlier, especially if they had seen the people on their backs. Did they begin to realize that the people who had been taken by the dragon during the festival w
The two dragons glided along for a few hours before Slate began to descend over a field in the territory of a kingdom closer to his own lair and far enough away from Beelzanborg that the soldiers who were clearly rallying to come after the Heart of Magic couldn’t reach them--yet. He touched down in a field of golden wheat, catching the sunbeams and sparkling like each stalk was made of a precious metal.Nya climbed off, the dragon, her blood still pumping hard through her veins as she considered all that had just happened. The Heart of Magic was safe in her bag, which meant she controlled all of the magic in the universe. It was both a hefty burden to bear and a tantalizing bundle of possibilities. If Nya stopped to think about all that she could do with that sort of power, she would never be able to hand it over to Slate, and he’d certainly regret not having taken it the first time she o
The look on Slate’s face said it all as Nya stood there with the Heart of Magic tight in her fist. The soldiers’ faces told her that they recognized that it was too late, that they had let the magical gem fall into enemy hands. One of the soldiers held a sword to Slate’s throat, his hands trembling. Nya hadn’t even realized that he was under their control until the tip of the sword pierced his skin, and a tiny droplet of blood rolled down the edge.“That belongs to me!” An angry voice growled from the crush of troops near the doorway. “Do you honestly think you can just waltz in here and take it from me?”It was clear, despite his disheveled appearance that the angry man with bedhead shouting at her from across the room was the king of Beelzanborg. He was in the middle of an array of troops who were obviously mean
Visions flashed in front of Nya’s eyes as she tried to rectify what she’d been seeing for the last several days with the scene before her now. All along, she’d thought she’d been seeing Slate in his dragon form in chains, but that wasn’t what she’d been seeing at all. It was this other dragon, the one rising up in front of her now. He looked anything but happy as his nostrils began to flare, and it was quite obvious this dragon’s duty was to protect the Heart of Magic, which Nya could no longer see as it was hidden behind the dragon’s large back.“Hi there,” Nya said, her voice quivering as she moved slowly in front of the door. She’d planned to bare it, but now she felt it would be better to leave it open. Something told her anyone who knew exactly what was guarding the gem would think twice before coming into the room. “Take it easy