Niyx by Samantha Kroese (websites to read books for free TXT) 📕

choking off any replies. Niyx glanced at Onyx first. “Are you all right, Onyx?”

Onyx nodded as he hurried over to help Ruel to his feet. “Ruel? What happened?”

Ruel stumbled and leaned into Onyx, breathless and rubbing his neck. “I don’t know! Demi just came storming in here and attacked me! He said something about the shadow magic.”

Niyx hissed in displeasure. Demi wrapped his clawed hands around the chains and looked slowly up at Niyx. Magic exploded, shattering the chains and throwing Niyx out the doors to the manor to land hard on his back in the courtyard.

“Lover, this is not the time for a quarrel,” Demi scolded, then flung out his hand to pull the doors shut before Niyx could get to them. He sealed them closed against Niyx’s wintery assaults then turned with narrow eyes to Onyx and Ruel.

Onyx snarled, baring his fangs, daggers drawn as he stood in front of Ruel. Floof crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce, howling a warning like a demon.

“You are just making this more inconvenient for everyone. That magic is evil and corrupt. Let me take it from Ruel, I will become a dragon once more, and everyone will be happy.” Demi sighed at them, clacking his claws. “I’d rather not anger Niyx any more than I already have.”

“No! If he takes my magic, Floof will die!” Ruel said, as he scooped up the cat. To everyone but Ruel he was hugging a giant lion to his chest. Floof made an exasperated face as he hung there and let Ruel hug him.

“Does he realize that’s not really a cat?” Demi hissed to Onyx.

Onyx narrowed his eyes, crouching, his fangs still bared. “You don’t touch Ruel’s cat. You can’t have Ruel’s magic; he needs it.”

“He needs it? It is poison! Evil, darkness. Already it twists the light inside of him. He will become just as corrupt as his grandsire who made the pact. They are bound to the dragon Rathias. He was the most evil of our kind. He is dead because your own grandsire, the Dragonslayer, killed him to free the world of his tyranny. He tricked these elves into a pact with him. Let me drain his magic and destroy it,” Demi insisted, taking a step closer. “I don’t want to harm those dear to Niyx, but I will if I have to.”

“You just want the power so you can change back into a dragon! My grandsire didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of you either,” Onyx commented, as he motioned for Ruel to back up.

“You can’t stop me. You don’t have the power. You are an insect playing with a god, Night Creature,” Demi said in disgust, then with a wave of his hand, Onyx flew into the wall again. Ruel let Floof go and blasted Demi with a wave of his light magic as Floof leapt to attack. Demi waved them both away like flies, then yanked Ruel closer to him to start draining him again. “Stop fighting, child. You’re making it worse.”

Ruel’s blue eyes darkened and the shadows around the room encroached. “You will not defeat my chosen, Deimios. Begone,” a voice that was decidedly not Ruel spoke from his lips as the shadows freed him. Ruel floated in the air on the shadows until he used his magic to yank the doors open and blast Demi outside.

Demi sprawled on the ground in disbelief, then cringed when Niyx stabbed his massive blade into the ground only an inch from Demi’s neck.

Niyx leaned on the hilt of the sword, looking unamused. “Will you stop now?”

Demi looked from Niyx to Ruel still hovering covered in shadows as Onyx and Rebekah both got up as well. Then he growled at Niyx. “You don’t understand. I was trying to help him.”

“You were trying to help yourself,” Niyx corrected. “You would ruin everything just to be a dragon again.”

Demi sat up and shoved Niyx’s blade away, causing Niyx to stumble. “Wouldn’t you do anything to be what you are again if they changed you?”

Niyx shook his head. With a smooth motion, he brought the tip of his blade to Demi’s neck, hoarfrost bleeding off the edge of it. “Behave and come back with me, or die here, dragon. I care not which.”

“Kill him! He’s too unpredictable. If you let him live, we’ll always worry he’s going to try again,” Onyx hissed as he stormed out to join them.

Demi jerked away from the tip of the blade when Niyx brought it closer. “Wait, I yield. I don’t wish to die today.”

Niyx reached down and hauled Demi up by his arm. He frowned at Onyx. “I will make sure he does not cross us again, brother.”

As Niyx turned away and whistled sharply, Ice descended from the sky and landed in the courtyard. Niyx threw Demi onto Ice’s back and climbed up behind him. Ice rose into the air with a keening cry, then flew past the city and into the forest.

The shadows faded away as Onyx walked back inside. Ruel picked Floof up and hugged the cat close as Rebekah ran over to throw her arms around both of them. Onyx caught Floof’s golden-eyed gaze and sighed. That magic cat was going to be the end of all of them; he knew it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Niyx stood on top of his fortress with Ice lying behind him. He looked out into the forest that separated his new home from Aderaan. So little space, but it still seemed like worlds between him and the elves, even though he had been born one of them. Niyx turned when he heard the scrape of leather against the ice, and watched with displeasure as Demi approached. He should have killed Demi. The power the dragon-creature had over him was disturbing, but he wouldn’t allow anything more than that. Niyx was still in control, even if Demi considered himself a god among dragons. Demi looked even less an elf now that he had kept the wings, tail,