Chapter Twenty-Eight #3
Nienna moved to my side. Argos huffed, then stepped off the edge, vanishing in a sweep of scales. The female glided down to take his place, landing hard enough to rattle the stone beneath us. Slightly smaller, but no less imposing.
Her tail swept side to side. Pupils expanded, locked on Nienna, then narrowed with precision on me. I wasn’t sure which was worse—riding in the claws of a dragon who loathed me, or climbing onto one who answered to no rider at all.
Nienna stepped forward and placed a hand against Kalepsi’s shoulder. Her gaze lifted to the beast’s face, which chuffed, breath huffing from flared nostrils larger than my skull. After a long, tense moment, she lowered herself to the stone.
Without hesitation, she climbed onto her back with practiced grace.
I shifted my stance, eyes tracking the huge claws tipped with golden blades.
She settled between the dragon’s neck and shoulder, her form tucked neatly in the curve of muscle.
The beast turned to me, lips curled in an open snarl.
I didn’t move. Every second with these creatures felt like a test I hadn’t studied for. Dragons bowed to no human expectations.
With an abrupt jerk of her head, Kalepsi growled—an impatient hatchling daring me to hesitate.
“Kallias,” Nienna called from above.
My stomach dropped. She expected me to join her.
I trusted her. That would have to be enough. If she believed I belonged up there, then I’d follow her into the sky.
For her, a Radaanian King—born to walk the earth—climbed onto the back of a dragon.
“Dragons and their meddling,” I muttered, hauling myself up. It wasn’t graceful. Draconis made it look easy. Only years of battle-trained agility saved me from slipping as I found the space beside her. I settled in behind, wrapping my arms around her waist.
“She’s letting you ride,” Nienna breathed. The wonder in her voice drifted away in the wind.
My thighs bracketed hers. I held her close, my chest pressed against her back. One hand braced against a smooth scale, its surface slick beneath my palm.
“Like a horse?” I muttered.
The dragon jerked, jostling us both. My boots slid, struggling for grip.
“A flying one.”
Kalepsi dipped her head, and the motion pulled us with her. My stomach heaved as gravity yanked us into a plunge.
Instinct screamed to lean back. Nienna’s hand shot out, dragging me forward. Strands of her hair whipped free from the braided crown, stinging my face. My chest slammed into her spine. Together, we flattened against a wall of muscle and gleaming violet scale.
Wings snapped wide—massive, sun-drenched sails cracking open. The rush of air howled past. In an instant, Kalepsi leveled out, and my insides lagged behind, still plummeting.
Then came the beat—one colossal wingstroke that heaved us higher. Wind roared. The rooftops below shrank, the city falling away in a blur of black and stone.
Nienna’s hand closed around my thigh in a firm squeeze. My heart lodged in my throat as I rocked with the dragon’s movements, each shift like riding a myth given muscle and bone.
Terror gripped me, an iron fist snaring my windpipe, but even through the dread, I sensed her restraint.
The dragon moved steady, wings spread wide over the city.
She banked lightly, letting the updrafts carry us instead of forcing the air.
Nereus followed on Argos, a dark shadow flying close—our skybound escort.
Kalepsi’s gaze never left the Nest. She kept it always within sight.
Nienna’s warmth pressed into my chest. Our mantles tangled, chain links catching and clinking with every shift. She flattened herself against the dragon as we passed the last stretch of Draconia. Argos peeled away when Kalepsi veered, banking toward the Nest.
As she approached the ledge, Kalepsi flared her wings.
Her hind legs stretched out, aligning her massive body with the side of the Spire.
I grunted, sliding down Nienna’s back as the dragon adjusted midair.
Violet wings snapped taut, catching the lift.
Her forelegs dropped hard onto the bone-covered floor, claws thudding like thunder.
Two steps in and her head twisted sharply. Her eyes locked on me—murder gleaming in them.
“Down. Make for the door,” Nienna hissed, hand pressed to the dragon’s neck.
I grit my teeth and stared down the snarling maw that hovered far too close. Kalepsi had reached her threshold, the calm stripped away, the wild rage returned.
A burst of sparks ricocheted off my mantle as she spat over my head. Her body coiled between me and the pile of dragonlings, still sluggish but stirring—one by one, lifting heads and narrowing eyes at the intruder.
As soon as my boots touched stone, she lunged.
Her screech split the air. She turned on me as if I’d betrayed her, as though even she couldn’t believe she’d allowed me on her back. I stumbled a step, boot crunching over old bones. She threw her head skyward, rearing up—then slammed down again, her roar like a cannon blast in my skull.
I hadn’t moved fast enough.
I spun on my heel, stalking toward the Spire’s entrance. This was her Nest. I was a Radaanian king, uninvited and unwelcome, a stranger too close to her young.
The place between my shoulder blades burned, instinct roaring to turn and face her. A childhood lesson screamed beneath my skin—never show your back to something that can kill you.
From the threshold, I paused and let my shoulders ease. Nienna had dismounted. Calm, always calm, her hand brushed down the beast’s snout with reverent care. Kalepsi had folded into a regal perch before her, head lowered to meet her touch.
Majestic—but volatile creatures.
With a final huff, the dragon turned away, lumbering back to her dragonlings. She left Nienna standing alone in her wake.
My chest tightened.
Nienna walked toward me, her mantle catching the light. The gold shimmered over a dress so white it nearly glowed. She belonged in the clouds. Graceful, delicate—but with her chin high and steps sure. Feminine, yes, but untouchable.
The silver tiara still nestled in her gilded hair. Loose strands drifted down to kiss her neck. A sapphire teardrop hung in the hollow of her throat, set on a fine chain that begged for my attention.
Heat spiked through me. My shoulders locked as the familiar ache hit—sharp and hot.
I swallowed, hand bracing at my belt buckle. Nothing separated us but air, yet panic crept in with its cold fingers. She hadn’t turned me away—but neither had she claimed me.
Elohios, I’d tear myself in two if that’s what it took to make her happy. But tonight still lingered—unknown. She didn’t know my body. Not fully.
She had not seen all of me.
“You look pale,” she said with a soft smile, slipping her hand through my arm. “Your first dragonflight will do that.”
If only she knew where my mind had gone.