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 meant to protect him from both the dragon and the small woman who’d just stolen his prized possession.
“I do think that I can,” Nya replied. “I think that I have. It’s in my hand now. It belongs to me, and I command the magic.” Even as she spoke, she could feel the magic coursing through her veins.
The king laughed. “It doesn’t work that way, girl.”
Despite his bluff, she knew otherwise. The power coursing through her hand was enough for her to understand that there was nothing he could do to demand she return the stolen item.
“Let him go, now!” Nya ordered, the Heart of Magic beginning to glow a bright red.
Every soldier in the room gasped and stepped back. The king didn’t seem nearly as bothered by the threat as everyone else, but he still recoiled slightly. “You don’t have any idea what you’re doing!” he shouted, his dark eyes narrowed. He had to be about the age of Nya’s father, but not nearly in as good a shape physically. He had a large stomach that showed he’d taken some time off from marauding and battle once he had the gem in his possession. “If you do not return that stone to me, you will unleash the power of hell on all of the lands! Do you want to be responsible for bringing terror to the skies again? For knowing that thousands of innocents will die at the hand of these monsters because you were deceived by a dragon with a handsome human face?”
Nya’s eyes went to Slate. He was holding his breath. Even though the soldiers were no longer threatening to hurt him, he hadn’t moved away from them as all eyes were on her. What if the king’s warning were something to heed? What if she had been deceived by Slate and unleashing the dragons would bring an even worse situation about than the one she’d known her whole life?
“Nya, will you give my brother permission to shift?” Slate asked, his voice calm and even.
Her eyes went to the dragon next to her. He was still in a defensive stance, but he had stopped blowing fire at the crowd in front of him. Nya’s eyes went from the dragon and back to Slate as she let his words sink in. He wasn’t speaking metaphorically. This dragon was actually his brother. Why he had not mentioned the fact that the king was holding his brother prisoner to her before, she couldn’t say. Perhaps he hadn’t known. Nevertheless, she held the stone now, so she was the only one who could allow the dragons, other than Slate, to shift.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “You can change to your human form whenever you like. All dragons are free to shift as they choose.”
The king of Beelzanborg’s eyes widened in horror. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done!”
The man standing next to Nya, wearing the same black and red outfit as Slate, looked similar to his brother, though not quite as tall or muscular. He looked both exhausted and relieved at the same time. While it seemed it would be easier for them to escape with the dragon’s in their nonhuman form, there was no way either of the brothers could get out the narrow door in their larger forms.
Even though she had the power of all the magic in the universe on her side, it was clear the king of Beelzanborg was not about to sit down and roll over. They were going to have to fight their way out of the castle and all of the way back home. Then, the king would most certainly come after what he believed to be his. While Nya could use the power of the stone to help them, she needed to be careful. She had no idea how much to use in order to subdue these troops and not inadvertently destroy the entire land of Beelzanborg, which would end thousands of innocent lives.
It became clear to her that she needed to give the gem to Slate, someone who knew how to wield its power. “All of you soldiers of Beelzanborg, drop to your knees!” she commanded, hoping that was a benign enough command that it wouldn’t hurt anyone not in the room. Instantly, everyone but her two allies and the king fell to the floor. Nya’s eyebrows shot up as she recognized just how good it felt to have such power at her command. She needed to focus, though. “You, too, Your Highness.”
The king growled as he also fell to the ground, against his will. She didn’t know how long she could keep them there, but she assumed it wasn’t indefinite unless she made that a command, too, and at the moment, she didn’t have time to stand around and find out. Nya ran through the soldiers, several of which reached out and tried to trip her up, meeting Slate at the door. His brother came as well. “I think you should take this,” she said to the dragon king, even though she wasn’t extending her hand and trying to give it to him. It seemed impossible to part with.
“You should keep it for now,” he said. Nya’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t been expecting him to deny her, which would make it all the harder to offer it again. “We need to get out of here.” Turning to his brother, he clapped his shoulder. “Flint, it’s good to see you, brother.”
“Likewise,” the smaller of the two said, with a quick slap on the back. “Now, please, let’s get out of here!”
Nya didn’t know how long he’d been held prisoner here, but she couldn’t blame the fellow for wanting to leave. She quickly dropped the Heart of Magic into her bag, and then the three of them headed out into the hallway.
The entire hall was lined with soldiers, but all of them were on their knees. Nya’s eyes met Slate’s as he laughed. “It won’t last forever,” he assured her. “And it’s probably just those who were in earshot of your command. But it’s enough for us to get out of here. Come on!”
The three of them ran down the corridor, back the way they came. Nya didn’t know if they were going to be headed back through the same stairwells as they’d used to access this part of the castle the first time or if Slate had another plan, but when she saw the large stained glass window ahead of them, she thought she knew what he intended to do. Around them, off in the distance, she heard the thumping of boots and the shouts of soldiers moving their direction. She could still them for a bit if she needed to, but it was clear to her what Slate had in mind.
As they ran toward the window, both of the men shifted into nearly identical dragons, Flint’s slightly smaller than Slate’s. The younger brother broke through the window, darting out into the sky while Slate paused a moment, waiting for Nya. With no hesitation, she mounted him, running up his tail and wrapping her legs around his neck. His great wings began to pump as he followed his brother through the shards of colored glass and out into the sky.
Beneath them, in the hazy glow of the rising sun, Nya could see troops falling into position, their leaders shouting at them to fire at the dragons. Arrows shot up into the sky, but the two dragons were flying far too high for the measly projectiles to reach them. Nya also saw a catapult being wheeled out, followed by another, and another. Whatever was held in the shoot was lit on fire and thrown up into the air, and while these larger projectiles came closer to hitting the dragons, they also missed the mark. Nya hoped that wherever the fiery masses landed, they didn’t kill any innocent villagers.
Before too long, Slate and Flint had flown far enough away from the castle that the troops could do nothing but shout curses and reorganize. Even though they no longer had the magic of the stone at their disposal, something told Nya they wouldn’t give up easily. She had a feeling this would be a battle to the end, and if she gave the stone to Slate as she intended, he would have no trouble defeating the evil king once and for all.
But in the back of her mind, she had to wonder... what would happen if she kept it?