AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pushing off me, he turned, and I turned too, lifting my weapon to collide with his again, and again. He lunged for me with a fierceness that only his true enemy deserved. There were no signs that he was holding back for my benefit, and I had no fucking idea what I was doing. Still, by some miracle, my spear began to block his every move.
Kingston’s steps became faster with each blow, and there was no denying it, I was only defending myself, desperately, frantically trying not to die. That was about it, there was no hope of me landing an actual hit towards him.
My back crashed on the ground when I lost my footing, the raw edge digging against my side as I fell with only half my body on the platform. My heart jumped to my throat. Fuck! I looked at the small rocks that rolled off the precipice, all while my hands pushed against Kingston’s spear, stopping it from breaking my neck. Lifting my back, I tried to move off the edge, but he didn’t ease off me.
Wild breaths left my lungs when our eyes locked, and as I watched the merciless warrior stand over me, something clicked inside me. My right foot lifted, slamming against his gut and pushing him off me. I rolled off the edge, jumping to my feet and stared at a shocked Kingston.
Pleasantly surprised, he lunged forwards, and I noticed the way his left heel slightly twisted before he attacked right.
“Don’t miss any of his actions. His movements will speak to you louder than his voice…”
With Asher’s advice, I jumped left, successfully evading Kingston’s attack for the first time. The hint of a challenge illuminated his features and he smirked, leaping again.
“Follow your instincts, he’ll appreciate that most of all.”
Turning on my heel like he normally did, I thrust my spear down, hitting his before he could lift it. His smile widened, but it only fueled him to come at me harder. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn’t even think. Just react.
“Let your body learn before your mind does.”
Blow by blow, we met each other around the platform, and I arched back just in time to see his blade sweep the air above me.
“Yes!” Kingston shouted excitedly, but relentless in his fighting. “Keep going!”
Adrenaline rushed through me with his words. Driven by his approval, I straightened, going after him and landing the first attack of my own. The instant my arms lifted the weapon, swinging it above my head like a sword, a memory blasted into my mind. There was no other way to describe it…
The image of my father replaced Kingston’s, and our toy Lightsabers crashed against each other. My boyish laughter mixed with my father’s when he jumped from one sofa to the other, escaping, and I went after him—careful not to touch the fiery ground. When he faced me again, his weapon spun expertly with a flick of his wrist. Dad’s form blurred in front of my eyes, bringing the Lightsaber down in a series of assaults, but mine met his at every turn.
Dad’s kind eyes gleamed proudly during our imaginary Jedi fight, but his brilliant smile vanished the next moment, replaced by Kingston’s fierce expression as he lunged for me.
With the drastic jump from my memory to reality, I lost my grasp on the fight, and the handle of Kingston’s spear slammed against my side, making me lose my footing.
I flew back from the hit, tripping off the platform.
“Braxton!” Kingston shouted as he threw himself on the edge, trying to grasp my arm before I was out of his reach, but our fingers missed each other by an inch.
My legs and arms flayed as I fell to my death, and part of me wondered if the absolute horror slicing Kingston’s face would be the last thing I saw in this life.
A giant shadow suddenly blurred above me, passing so swiftly that I thought I had imagined it. Ribbed fingers wrapped around my torso the next second, yanking me back up before I could hit the ground. Frantically searching for the face of my savior, I found flaming red eyes focused on me, and I suddenly wasn’t so sure that dying hadn’t been better.
It looked like a fire monster.
My stomach lodged in my throat while he flew us up, passing the platform where Kingston stood. The look in his eyes didn’t exactly ease my dread. Fear shone in them and he whirled around, beginning to run up the stairs towards the honeycombs.
The Dragon was taking me to his lair.
I dropped on the ground of a cave a moment later, rolling to a stop while he landed several feet away. The shadows overwhelmed him until only his eyes were visible, not allowing me to fully get a look at him. However, I vaguely remembered what seemed like flames dancing under his scales somehow, still I couldn’t truly describe it.
Heart thundering in my ears, I dragged myself away from him until my back hit the rocky wall. For the first time since arriving here, I was deathly afraid of a Dragon. From the little my eyes grasped through the ordeal, he was far larger than any other of the adult creatures I’d seen so far. Although, to be fair, I hadn’t really seen the others out of their lairs or flying.
His fiery gaze remained locked on my form, and he huffed through his nose, sending embers swirling in front of him. I remained rooted in place while his eyes bore into my soul, not daring to move for fear of what he would do.
Would I be able to run out of the cave? Would he grab me again before I could reach the stairs?
A few minutes later, his head began to inch out of the darkness. Breath stalling in my lungs, I watched his scales glimmer with the fleeting sunset light that filtered from the skylights above—announcing nightfall would soon graceCaelisium. From the little I could grasp, he appeared dark as night, but a silver sheen spread over his forehead, almost giving it a metallic quality. It reminded me of smoked steel.
Curved like a demon’s, a horn protruded from the center of his forehead, accompanied by several others in different lengths that extended from his temples. Except, they weren’t smooth like bone, they were comprised of what seemed like panels, layer after layer reducing in size all the way to the pointy ends. The same paneled effect was visible on the sides of his face. His nose and mouth were the hard, beak style ones, but his transformed from the smooth surfaces along his mouth to sharp fang-like teeth that locked his jaws together.
Something in me was grateful that was the only part of him I could see through the shadows.
