Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

~ Theron ~A faint gasp cut through the sound of the howling mountain gale behind me.I stopped on the steep stone stairs, my heavy boots crushing the ice beneath my soles. When I turned around, I saw the pale girl tilting backward. Her knees had given out completely. Her silver hair flew around her face like a cloud of spiderwebs, and her blue-gray eyes were wide with pure terror. Below her lay sixty feet of jagged, frozen rock edges.I did not think. My arm shot out like a striking viper.My dark leather gauntlet clamped around her thin wrist just inches before her skull hit the step.The sharp impact jerked her body to a sudden stop. She let out a small, breathless squeak. I pulled her upward in one swift motion, yanking her off the edge of the drop.She felt like nothing. It was like catching a handful of dry autumn leaves or a bundle of light straw. I had lifted war hammers that weighed twenty times more than this girl. Her skin was so icy against my bare fingers that it felt lik

~ Nerrissa ~I sat on the edge of the hard narrow mattress, pulling my feet up onto the wooden frame. The air in the tall room felt like iced water. Stone walls curved around me, dark and cold, rising high up to a single narrow window. Outside, the dark clouds of Drakoria tumbled over sharp black mountain peaks.My knees burned. I pulled up the hem of my heavy wool skirt to look at them. Red and blue bruises were already rising on the pale skin where I had hit the ice-hard floor of the banquet hall.I touched my chest through my linen shift. The deep cough was still there, sitting heavy behind my ribs like a wet stone, but I kept my breathing shallow. I kept it quiet. The guard outside the heavy iron door had boots that clattered every time he shifted his feet. If I coughed too loud, he would hear.I looked at the small tray left on the low table near the door. A stale piece of black bread sat beside a cup of cold water. No blanket lay on the bed, only a thin straw mat."They want you

~ Nerrissa ~He was gone.My legs gave out instantly. I sank down onto the hard mattress, my chest heaving as I tried to pull air back into my lungs. My whole body shook so hard that my teeth clicked together. For five long minutes, I sat there in the dark, unable to move a single muscle.A single wet tear slid down my cheek. It felt hot against my freezing skin. I wiped it away quickly with the back of my hand, angry at myself for letting it fall."Do not cry," I whispered into the quiet room. My voice was just a small scratch in the big room. "If you start crying now, you will never stop."I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms tight around them. The smell of smoke and hot metal still hung heavy in the air. It was his smell. Theron Drakhar did not smell like a normal person. He smelled like a mountain on fire, like sharp steel and burning wood.He was a monster. There was no other word for him. He was huge, over six feet tall, with skin dark like bronze and eyes that g

~ Theron Drakhar ~The air in the Obsidian Throne Room smelled of burnt parchment, old steel, and fear. It was a good smell. It kept my court silent.I sat on the high throne, carved from a single block of jagged black glass that tore at the silk of my heavy cloak. Below me, three border lords from the southern reaches knelt on the icy stone floor. Their thick leather armor creaked as they shivered, though the room was not cold. My dragon heat radiated off the walls, hot enough to make the air shimmer above the iron braziers."You took three hundred gold pieces from the local grain stores," I said. My voice did not need to be loud. It bounced off the high, vaulted ceiling like grinding rocks. "You told the villagers it was an imperial tax for the coming war."The lead lord, a thick-necked dragon warrior named Lord Vane, lifted his head. Sweat ran down his temple, glistening against his bronze skin. "My King... the northern snows came early. Our troops needed rations. We intended to re

~ Nerrissa ~The cold wind on the high balcony felt like tiny needles pressing into my skin. It blew hard against my face, tangling my long silver hair across my eyes. I reached up with a shivering hand, tucking the loose strands behind my ear so I could see.Below us, the realm of Drakoria stretched out endlessly. It was a terrifying place made of sharp black mountains, jagged stone towers, and deep chasms filled with glowing, orange lava. There were no green trees or quiet fields like the ones back in Ashvale. Everything here looked hard, sharp, and deadly. Large, dark creatures with massive wings circled the distant, snowy peaks, their roars echoing faintly against the stone walls.My legs trembled beneath my skirt. Standing so close to the edge made my head spin, but I forced my feet to stay planted on the icy floor. I refused to look weak. I refused to let him see me break.A thick, broad shadow fell over me, blocking out the bitter mountain wind.Theron stepped onto the balcony