Page 16 of The Death King

Arrogant human.

I flinched when I heard the powerful baritone in my mind, a voice deeper than any other I’d ever heard. My hands gripped the sides of the saddle as I felt my mind prickle from the intrusion. I sucked in a deep breath between my clenched teeth, somehow frozen with the threat of fire right in front of me. I’m not arrogant…just desperate.

His mouth closed abruptly, the light in his throat snuffed out. He drew closer, his black eyes regarding me with a greater degree of scrutiny.

I earned my freedom by finding a black diamond in the pits, but General Titan still won’t let me go. If I don’t run for it, I’m going to die here. So, please…just give me a ride. You’ll be back before anyone notices you’re gone.

Khazmuda only stared, each of his eyes the size of my head. Never mount a dragon without permission.

Okay…can I mount you?

No. His mouth parted again, the light visible between his jagged teeth.

Disappointment burst through me like a ball from a cannon. So desperate to leave this horrible place, I wanted to scream to get my way, but that wouldn’t work with a dragon. I had no power in the situation, so I bowed my head, left the saddle, and began the long climb down to the sand. I stepped away from the beast, hearing his heavy breaths behind me, the hair on the back of my neck standing straight up because I knew my life could end at any moment.

I turned around and looked at Khazmuda, whose head was slightly lowered to regard me.

“Thank you for not eating me.” I could sneak back into the bedchambers and tell General Titan that a bird had flown into the window and smashed it. He might not believe me, and there would be repercussions for that. But it was better than trying to make it across the desert on my own, without food or water.

Khazmuda turned his head, looking in a different direction.

I felt him before I saw him, felt the tension in the desert sand, a presence that was solid and ethereal at the same time.

It took me a second to look, to meet the gaze of my nightmares, to meet the look of the man who had taken everything from me. I swallowed before I found the strength to meet his gaze, to see those black eyes that were so similar to Khazmuda’s.

He stood there, his black cape billowing in the breeze that came over one of the hills. His vambraces were black with jagged ends, and the armor over his large shoulders looked like dragon scales. His chest plate was black and textured, a gray outline of a dragon in the center. His hair was as dark as his eyes—as dark as his soul. It’d been ten years since I’d seen him at the castle, in my home, and somehow, he looked exactly the same…like he hadn’t aged a day.

His sword was out of his scabbard, the hilt grasped in his hand. There were several feet between us, and he didn’t cross the distance to slice my head off my shoulders, although it looked like he wanted to. Then he slowly turned to look up at Khazmuda, as if the dragon had spoken to him.

When the Death King looked at me again, his angry stare was tempered with interest.

Khazmuda’s voice returned to my mind, so loud it dulled the sound of the world around me. You have the gift.

“What—what gift?”

The king’s eyes narrowed further when I spoke. He sheathed his heavy blade across his back, his eyes on me all the while. “Let’s go.” He moved to Khazmuda’s side then looked at me, silently asking me to climb up the scales and drop into the saddle.

“Uh…” This was what I wanted, to escape this prison and return to the mainland, but it had always been my plan to do it alone…and definitely not with the Death King. “Go where?”

His only answer was that callous stare.

We were joined a second later by guards with torches—and General Titan. He expertly slid down the hill of sand with the others and joined us. His eyes came to me first, venomous with rage. They lingered for seconds, the promise of retribution written all over his angry face. But then he turned to look at the Death King. “Your Majesty, I apologize that your dragon has been harassed by one of our prisoners. I’ll make sure she’s punished.”

The Death King didn’t look at him once. His eyes were locked on mine like he hadn’t even heard the general speak. “You’re dismissed.” He nodded slightly to the saddle, silently commanding me to climb up Khazmuda’s side.

I actually had a way out. A way to leave General Titan. But I feared the Death King would be far worse than General Titan ever was, in ways I couldn’t anticipate.

General Titan remained, his look flicking back and forth between the Death King and me. His visage grew panicked when he realized the Death King intended to take me with him.

When the Death King lost his patience, he walked toward me across the sand, growing taller the closer he came, his irritated eyes boring into mine.

I instinctively took a step back and sucked in a breath between my teeth.

“You wanted to leave.” His voice was deep like his dragon’s, just quieter, like a gentle breeze. “Here’s your chance.”

“What—what are you going to do with me?”

“That’s my business.”

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