Page 8 of The Queen of Ash and Magic

“Yes sir?” a man asks as he comes up behind us.

“Take this woman to the neutral zone,” the man says.

“Uh… Okay,” Keril says. “Is this the oldest?”

“No. She’s dead, apparently,” he replies.

“When?” Keril asks me.

“When I was six,” I say. “My dad killed her.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Petra says.

“This one is annoying, but she fits the type,” the man says. “Come on, witch.”

“Go, Miss Lysa,” Petra says, hugging me again. The man pulls me away after a moment and I walk with him.

“When are you going to kill me?” I ask.

“I’m not,” he says as we step out to the front courtyard.

“What?” I ask. “What the fuck?”

“Do you want me to kill you, little witch?” he asks, turning to face me.

“Uh… I don’t know,” I say.

“If you do anything but get on my back, I’ll cremate you where you stand. Is that understood?” he asks. I nod rapidly again and he steps back.

I watch as scales start to develop on his skin and his entire body grows. I am completely stunned as I watch him shift in front of me into a massive dragon but bust out laughing when I see that his scales are black with an iridescent purple hue. “I told you that you were a purple dragon,” I say as I look him over. He huffs smoke at me and I involuntarily yelp, understanding that he meant it when he said he’d burn me alive. How the fuck do I do this? I look around and he is visibly pissed as he stomps closer to me. I spot another giant man and yell at him. “Hey. You. Muscle man.”

“What?” he asks, turning to me. He looks at the dragon and it’s almost like they are talking to each other. I have heard that shifters can talk in their minds. Is that what this is?

“How do I… What the fuck am I doing?”

“He told you to get on his back,” he says, slightly annoyed. “Are you going to be difficult? I hope you understand what happens to witches who piss us off.”

“Calm down, muscle man. How do I get on his back? He’s huge and I’m tiny,” I say. “You guys are terrible kidnappers.”

“Come here,” he laughs. I step closer to the dragon and the man lifts me up to set me on the dragon’s back. “Hold on tight. He won’t let you fall.”

“How kind,” I say, rolling my eyes. “What’s his name? I don’t think he likes HamHock.”

I scream when the dragon bucks and nearly throws me off him. “Eyrx,” the man laughs. “And no. He does not like Ham Hock.”

“Thanks,” I say. “I think.”

Eyrx takes a few steps forward and I whine as I hold on to the spikes on his back. When he leaps, his wings move, and we are lifted into the air. I lay myself down on his back and wrap my arms around him as best as I can as we soar through the air. I am in a constant state of feeling like I’m going to fall, so I am tense. Over time, I relax, but I don’t dare move.

After a few minutes, I quickly lose strength. I am still sore from the beating I took, and I haven’t eaten in days. I try to readjust my hold, but I start to slip. I desperately try and grab a hold of him as he flies, but I lose my grip and fall.

I scream as I start to plummet toward the ground, but Eyrx swiftly catches me in his claws and keeps a tight hold on my body. I am too stunned to cry, but I feel safer like this. We descend toward the ground for a bit longer before he levels out and continues on.

I snap my eyesopen when I am gently placed on the ground. As I jump up, Eyrx lands in front of me. He slowly walks closer before dropping his head a bit and opens his mouth. I squeal when I see my small teddy bear fall out of his mouth. “Oh, my Gods! Thankyou!” I pick it up as he shifts back, and I scrunch my face up when it’s dripping with saliva. “Ew.”

“I noticed you dropped it,” he remarks simply.

“I appreciate this… really,” I say. I know this is a serious situation and these people are dangerous, but he’s not as scary as he thinks he is. He just saved a tiny teddy bear for his captive. Assholes don’t do that.

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