Semua Bab The Dragon's Precious Gem: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Caelia thrashed against the enormous scaly claws before he could properly set her down. Her heart pounded, the sheer size of him still something she struggled to fully accept, no matter how many times she had seen his monstrous form. His black talons curled around her like an iron cage, but she knew better than to believe he would ever hurt her. Still, it didn’t stop her from squirming.As if she were made of glass, he carefully set her down on the wide stone rooftop that stretched over the grand hallway below. For a moment, she hesitated, worried about whether the structure could handle the sheer weight of a dragon.“It was built for monsters far larger than I,” he reassured her.Below, in the bustling square, a chorus of cheers erupted. The people looked up in admiration, their fear of war momentarily eclipsed by the spectacle of their Draken and his bride standing above them. Caelia glanced down at the sea of faces, realizing Rhyzar had likely planned this—giving them hope, remindi

The entire city was on its knees.Not a single voice rose above the whispering wind, no shuffling of feet or murmured prayers—only silence.The people bowed in the streets of glass, in the alleyways and beneath the towering archways, their heads lowered in absolute reverence. Even the battlefield beyond the Mirava lay eerily still, abandoned in haste, scattered with discarded weapons and forgotten shields. The enemy army had vanished, dissolved into the horizon at the sight of the behemoth that had risen from the sand.The colossal white dragon hovered over the city, its mountainous body eclipsing the morning light. The sunlit silver of its scales gleamed so brightly it was blinding, casting strange, rippling reflections across the rooftops.It breathed—a sound like a hurricane, a deep and primordial force pouring from its cavernous nostrils, sweeping over the people like a storm.A slow blink—one massive silver eye narrowed, scanning the Mirava with an unfathomable intelligence.Then

The night before the army arrived, Caelia lay in the vast bedchamber, waiting. The steady rise and fall of Rhyzar’s breathing had finally deepened, signaling the first true rest he had taken in days.She had barely managed to keep herself awake, her body aching and spent from his insatiable attentions over the past two days. Thankfully, she had napped earlier, wrapped in his arms while he had remained restless and awake, but now, at last, sleep had claimed him.Carefully, she slipped from his grasp, his body heat vanishing like a stolen sunbeam as she tiptoed toward the door. Her bare feet made no sound on the polished stone as she slipped into the corridor, quiet as a ghost.Her guards had turned in for the night, and she hurried down the winding halls, her heart racing with each turn.She nearly collided with a young servant dusting an empty sitting room, the girl startling so badly that she almost knocked over a vase. Caelia raised a soothing hand, whispering reassurances before qu

It would have been excessively easy to kill her on the spot. The head maid, a woman who had tormented Caelia and countless others, stood mere steps away. She had locked the young king in his chambers, stripped him of his dignity, and aided the monsters who had sought to destroy Caelia’s life.But a far better idea crept into Caelia’s mind.In a split-second decision, she concealed both herself and Rhyzar, cloaking them with magic. Then, directing the flow of power between her and Rhyzar, she crafted an illusion—golden shackles snapping back onto the king’s wrists. The young ruler flinched, his eyes widening, but Caelia pressed a finger to her lips in warning.Just as the head maid reached him, Caelia focused, pushing her will outward into the old woman’s mind.The king has finished his bath. Return to your master.The hag froze mid-step. Her dull, beady eyes flickered as if caught between two realities, confusion flashing across her face. For a long, dreadful second, Caelia worried it

The sands burned red beneath the setting sun as Rhyzar suddenly descended in the middle of the desert, the wind from his wings sending rippling waves across the dunes.Behind them, the colossal white dragon followed, a mountain come to life, its sheer enormity displacing the sand where it landed like an incoming tide.Caelia remained perched on Rhyzar’s scaled back as he strode forward, the whirlwind of disturbed sand curling around them but never reaching her through their shield.The storm of sand settled, revealing the behemoth in full, its wing stretched high into the sky, blotting out the low sun, creating a shady respite for Caelia. The monstrous dragon had curled itself into the dunes, its massive head—larger than the entire Mariswyn estate—resting upon the golden sands as it watched her with an eye the color of a frozen moon.Before Rhyzar could shift back into his usual form, Caelia made a sudden decision. She slid off his back, pushing herself forward in an awkward jump, bar