Page 53 of The Dragon King's Curse
Our eyes locked. I saw the defeat in Noxx’s golden orbs. He’d taken so much abuse. He was close to giving up.
The fae holding my hair used it to viciously jerk my head around. “Look at your Dragon King now, princess. Did you really think he would be able to protect you from us? Now you can watch us kill him. Then you’ll be returned to Prince Lyre to be his bride.”
That remark had me thrashing in his grasp. I lashed out with a fist, punching him right between the legs. He released me with a curse, shoving me down face first onto the ground. I caught myself with both hands. I wasn’t afraid of anything they might do to me. If Lyre wanted me back, then surely they wouldn’t hurt me much. They would leave that for him to do.
“No.” Noxx’s shout rang throughout the night. The dragon was thick in his voice, like it desperately wanted to break free. To protect him. “You’re not taking her back to him. I’ll never let you do that.”
A warrior with a feather tattooed on the side of his face walked a slow circle around Noxx. “You speak as if you have a choice. The order has been given. You won’t be alive to see it anyway.”
Using the hilt of his sword, the warrior smashed Noxx in the skull. His eyes rolled back in his head as he struggled to remain conscious.
“No,” he said again, quieter now.
The tattooed warrior studied Noxx, his pale blue eyes darting to me next. “Have the two of you formed a bond? How incredibly precious. You do remember that you’re sworn enemies, don’t you? Why do either of you care what happens to the other?”
Why indeed. A tightness in my chest made it hard to breathe. I watched a rivulet of blood roll down Noxx’s cheek, dripping onto the grass. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Not for him.
Neither of us answered the fae’s question. We weren’t here to confess our innermost feelings to him. I looked at nobody but Noxx. Every blink seemed to pain him. Every breath.
Growing irritated, the feather marked fae hit Noxx again. This time he also grabbed him by the throat, dragging him to his feet while he viciously shook him. I wanted to beg them to stop. That would only make matters worse.
On my knees, I watched as Noxx was slammed back to the ground. Warriors surrounded him. They kicked him and hit him, slashing at him with their swords while using magick to inflict even more pain.
He was barely conscious when one of them said, “Let’s take off his wings.”
The removal of a fae or dragon’s wings was a great insult. Many who wronged their throne suffered the removal of their wings before they were banished from their realm. The thought of something so sickening happening to Noxx made me ill.
“No, please don’t,” I begged. “You’re going to kill him anyway. Isn’t that enough?”
The tattooed leader looked at me as if I were an absolute idiot. “Death is never enough when it comes to someone like Noxx Drakoth. He must suffer for all he has done to offend our king.”
Noxx was surrounded by warriors. Two on each side to hold him up by his arms. Two behind, one to hold his wings spread and another to wield the sword.
Sweat broke out on my brow. I thought surely I would vomit. Despite my efforts to command the woods, there was little that could be done to help us now. I would watch as thedragon who saved me suffered the worst of offences before his untimely death.
A lump formed in my throat. I choked on the swell of emotion that filled me to overflowing. Watching them stretch out one of his wings, raising the sword, pushed me to a place I didn’t know existed. To a place of absolute pain and heartbreak.
Noxx raised his head, his eyes finding mine. His voice was ragged and broken when he said, “I’m sorry, princess.”
Tears filled my eyes, spilling down my cheeks. I shook my head, unable to speak.
The moment the first tear slid down my face, the entire atmosphere shook. Trembling with an age old magick. Vast and deep.
Noxx’s curse broke as my tears set him free. Something neither of us had believed would ever happen before this night.
Before the sword could fall, his beast broke free from within, and he exploded into a dragon. Huge beyond all measure. Absolute black with shimmers of green dancing through his scales in the firelight.
Most of the fae were flung aside. Some of them were crushed beneath his massive weight. Noxx shot up into the sky, hovering overhead as he blasted the warriors with a wild stream of fire.
Shoving to my feet, I ran swiftly to escape the heat of the flames. I stopped safely out of reach, turning back to watch the destruction as he swiftly obliterated every fae warrior where they stood.
My hand covered my mouth. My jaw dropped in awe. He was absolutely magnificent. The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Noxx roasted every last warrior. He flew in a wide circle overhead before dropping back down to the ground, shiftingback into the form of a man. Then he collapsed face down in the grass at my feet.
CHAPTER THIRTY
FERYN
