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 this were a good thing. While she would be more than happy to have the opportunity to see her best friend every day again, she certainly wasn’t planning on staying here.
Flashes of her future came to mind. She saw herself living in a tiny hut with other women, training under the leadership of former dragons who could no longer shift, taking her meals in a giant mess hall like the military did back home in Frindom. She would never be able to handle such a life. She was used to having her own servants, doing as she pleased, training when she wanted to, not when she was made to do so. Not to mention she had a feeling her skills were already far superior to anyone else’s here in this mountain retreat.
“You’re delusional,” she said to Slate, pushing up off of the couch she’d been sitting on and heading for the door. Gavin was up, too, following her.
“Where are you going, Nya?” he asked her. “You can’t go far, you realize.”
“Away from him!” she said, meaning Slate. Gavin walked along beside her as she headed for the exit, the door they’d come through. Where she’d go after that, she wasn’t sure, but there had to be a way out of this place. The idea of making her way back down the side of the mountain on foot sounded treacherous, but if that’s what it took for her to get home, she’d do it.
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked, his hand clamping on to her elbow. Nya pulled away from him. They were almost to the door. She remembered there were guards posted there but didn’t think it would be too difficult for her to take out only two of them. “Nya, you had to know what you were doing by agreeing to come here.”
“No, I didn’t!” she shouted. “He only told me he’d show me I didn’t have to be worried about you or the others. He didn’t say I’d be forced to stay here!”
“But… I thought this is what you wanted, Nya, what you’ve always wanted. To bring the Dragon Moon to an end,” Gavin said, spinning her to look at him as they stopped in front of the door.
Nya’s eyes went back down the hallway. Slate hadn’t followed them, or if he had, he hadn’t used this hall. She shook her head. “I do want to end it. But my plan was to kill the dragon, not to work for him. How does me being here end the Dragon Moon?”
“You’re a warrior, Nya! You can fight like no one I’ve ever seen before, and if you’ve been training every day since I’ve left, like I assume you have, you must be even stronger now than you were before. How else would you have managed to distract the dragon and climb on his back? With your help, we can win back the Heart of Magic, set the dragons free, and end the Dragon Moon forever!”
“That’s not what I was training for!” Nya argued. Never in a million years had she considered fighting alongside the dragon--for anything. “Besides, I need to go home. I’m meant to rule Frindom, you know? And your mother--your father--everyone. They need to know you’re alive and that the other sacrifices--donations--are alive. I can’t stay here!” She pulled free of his grip again and pushed through the doors. The soldiers didn’t make a move to stop her, and Nya had to assume that was because there wasn’t anywhere for her to go. She had to imagine that the reason the only one who ever left this place was the dragon was because one had to be able to fly to get out.
She made her way across the rocky surface of the town, wishing there was a forest or at least a copes of trees where she could sink down and hide. There was nothing like that, not a single plant. Instead, she headed for a group of small dwellings near the outskirts of the village, near the rocky wall that surrounded them. Angry tears stung her eyes, but she swiped them away. She didn’t want to cry about any of this. It wasn’t as if she missed her family. They weren’t exactly kind to her. She had few friends left in her kingdom. Still, she couldn’t imagine staying here for more than a night. She had her own work to do. Slate was on his own.
Nya sank down behind what seemed to be an old abandoned house and hugged her knees to her chest. She dropped her head and took in a few deep breaths as more visions danced before her eyes. Normally, she got these flickers of the future only seconds before they unfolded, but these seemed to be far off in the future. She saw herself and Slate sneaking into a castle, a dark one, large and menacing, one she’d never seen before. She saw a beautiful shimmering gem the size of her fist in her open palm. She saw Slate in his dragon form in chains…. Did that mean, if she were to help him, he’d be captured by the enemy?
If that was the case, he’d be better off to let her go.
But then, if she saw herself holding the Heart of Magic, did that mean she could find it and take possession of it? Everyone knew who ever possessed the Heart of Magic was the most powerful person on earth. The dragons needed it to shift and fly, but any other kingdom could use it to command wealth and power.
If she had it in her grasp, would she use it to free Slate and rescue his people, or would she use it for her own gain?
Nya always tried to do what was right, and in this instance, it seemed that giving the Heart of Magic to Slate would be the right thing to do.
But if it meant her kingdom could rule all others and never have to worry about another war or toiling away in the dust to feed themselves, perhaps she should consider keeping it for herself.
Footsteps crunched over the rock, and she knew that someone was coming to speak to her. It wasn’t Gavin, though. He didn’t walk so heavily. No, she knew who it was before he slumped down across from her, leaning on the solid rock wall of the mountain, his large hands limp over his folded legs as he took her in, waiting for her to say something.
Should she tell him what she’d seen, refuse to help and beg to go home, or go along with him so that she could find the Heart of Magic for herself?
Nya wasn’t sure what she should do, but when she looked into Slate’s dark eyes, she knew it would be difficult to walk away.