The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Tiny Teeth, Fierce Light

EIRLYS’ POV

I clutched Nibbles tighter against my chest as panic roared through me.

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Before either of them could move, I spun on my heel and lunged for the shop door. My fingers fumbled at the handle, twisting desperately. I shoved against the wood with all my strength.

It wouldn’t budge.

A strangled gasp escaped me as dread clawed up my spine. I rattled the handle harder, slamming my palm against the door again and again. “Help!” I screamed, my voice cracking with terror.”

Please-someone, help me!”

Behind me, I heard Morwenna’s soft, mocking cackle.

“It won’t open, girl,” she sang softly. “My wards are strong. No one gets in… or out.”

I turned just as she began to approach, her steps slow and unhurried. Her velvet scarlet robes

pooled around her feet like liquid poison, her long dark hair rippling behind her.

“Look at you,” she cooed, reaching out to touch my face. My skin crawled at the nearness of her

fingers. “All grown up… healthy… wearing such a pretty dress.”

Her gaze swept over me from head to toe, dark eyes gleaming with cruel delight. Then her lips

curved into a smile that froze my blood.

“It’s going to be fun,” she whispered, “when I break every bone in your body again.”

Dread surged through me so violently I thought I might collapse. But before I could speak or move, Nibbles suddenly squirmed in my arms. With a furious squeak, he tore free from my grip and lunged straight at Morwenna.

“Nibbles!” I screamed. “No!”

But Nibbles was already on her. With a furious squeal, his small, sharp teeth sank deep into her wrist, drawing blood.

Morwenna shrieked, the sound sharp and furious. Her hand lashed out, glowing with venomous green light. “You filthy rodent!” she hissed.

She hurled a blast of magic at him, but Nibbles twisted away with startling speed. Another bolt

flew, then another. He dodged them all, zigzagging between shattered pottery and spilled trinkets,

his ears pinned flat against his head.

The final blast missed him by a hair’s breadth and exploded against the window behind him.

Glass shattered outward in a glittering rain.

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“Nibbles-run!” I screamed, my voice cracking as tears blurred my vision. I stumbled forward, reaching for him desperately. “Find Kierygan! Go!”

For a heartbeat, his bright black eyes met mine, sharp and unblinking, as if he understood exactly what I was asking. Then, without hesitation, he turned and bounded towards the broken window. With one powerful leap, he disappeared through the jagged hole into the street beyond.

“No!” Morwenna screamed, turning towards the window, her hair whipping around her face in fury.

But it was too late.

He was gone.

A sob tore from my chest, equal parts terror and relief. I pressed my back against the sealed door,

clutching the empty space where Nibbles had been moments before, my heart thundering with a single desperate hope: That Nibbles would find him.

Malric rushed to Morwenna’s side. “Are you alright, my love?”

She clutched her wrist, teeth bared as blood dripped between her fingers. “That vermin bit me,”

she hissed, her face twisted with murderous rage.

He took her hand gently, inspecting the deep bite marks. His eyes darkened, lips curling back into a

snarl. Slowly, he turned to me, his gaze molten with fury.

“That pesky little pet of yours may have escaped,” he growled, his voice trembling with barely

contained rage, “but you won’t.”

Bile burned at the back of my throat as fear coiled around my ribs. My hands trembled behind me, pressed against the unyielding door. Still, I forced myself to lift my chin and meet his eyes.

“Kierygan is coming for me,” I said hoarsely, my voice shaking but steady. “He’s going to burn you,

Malric. Burn you to ash.”

For a heartbeat, silence fell.

Then his eyes blazed with feral violence. His arm lashed out without warning, the back of his hand

cracking across my face.

Stars burst across my vision, the world tilting sideways. Agonizing pain erupted through my

cheekbone and nose as my head snapped to the side. I stumbled and collapsed onto the cold

floor, tasting blood-hot and metallic-spilling down from my nose and across my lips.

Through the ringing in my ears, I heard his heavy breaths. Felt his shadow looming over me.

“Think you’re so brave now?” he hissed, his voice curling around me like a serpent. “Calling me by

my name? I am your master.”

I forced my eyes open despite the throbbing pain behind them. My pulse roared in my skull, but I

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drew in a ragged, trembling breath.

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“No…” I whispered, my voice shaking but unbreakable. Tears and blood blurred my vision as I glared up at him. “You’re not my master anymore. I don’t belong to you.”

I swallowed, tasting iron, but I pressed on, each word cutting from somewhere deep inside. “I

belong to Kierygan.”

His face twisted, monstrous with rage. Before I could even brace myself, his boot slammed into

my stomach.

Pain ripped through me like lightning. My breath fled in a silent scream as I folded over, curling around the agony. My forehead pressed against the cold, dusty floorboards, the taste of blood thick in my mouth.

I hadn’t even recovered when Malric’s hand fisted in my hair, yanking me upright. My scalp burned as he hauled me to my feet and slammed my back against the cold stone wall. The impact rattled through my spine, forcing a strangled gasp from my lips. My legs dangled uselessly, too weak to hold me up.

Somewhere beyond the pounding in my head, I heard voices.

“Eirlys!”

Kierygan. His voice cut through the haze like sunlight through storm clouds.

Then another, furious and snarling. “Move aside, you flea-ridden mutts!”

Evander.

A flicker of hope bloomed in my chest. They had come for me. I couldn’t stop the tears that welled up, blurring my vision.

But Morwenna’s cold laugh cut through it all like shards of ice. “By the time they get here, it will be too late,” she sneered. “You’ll already be back where you belong. With us.”

A whimper escaped me-a protest, a plea, anything to keep them away.

Malric’s grip tightened cruelly as he leaned close, his breath foul and hot against my ear. “When I harvest your light this time,” he whispered, his voice a jagged blade, “I’ll make sure your beloved dragon doesn’t survive it.”

He pulled back just enough to look into my face, his black eyes burning with twisted certainty. “It will be just the three of us again,” he crooned softly “You will never escape, girl. Never again.”

Hearing him threaten Kierygan ignited something deep within me. A small, furious flame that burned away the fog of pain and fear.

Slowly, trembling, I lifted my head to meet his gaze My voice came out cracked and broken, but

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unwavering.

“I have a name,” I whispered, tasting blood and tears on my lips. “My name… is Eirlys.”

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In that moment, something snapped loose. Power surged up from the marrow of my bones, from

the depths of my being. Light crackled across my skin in angry, searing sparks.

Malric’s eyes widened. He tried to pull back, but I caught his wrist in both my hands, gripping with

all the strength that pulsed through me.

He screamed. The smell of burning flesh filled the shop as the light coursed through him. His

knees buckled, and his grip loosened. His screams echoed until he finally collapsed, unconscious

at my feet, his wrist charred and smoking.

“Malric!” Morwenna shrieked, her eyes widening with disbelief.

Then her gaze snapped to me, blazing with hatred. “What did you do to him?” she snarled, her

voice trembling with fury. “You will pay for this.”

She raised her hands, magic coiling and sparking in sickly swirls of green and black at her fingertips.

But before she could release it, the world around us exploded.

The walls of the shop blew outward in a deafening roar. The roof split apart and blasted skyward in

a rain of splinters. Doors tore from their hinges as dust and shattered stone filled the air like a

storm of ash and glass.

When the debris and dust cleared, a figure stood framed against the blazing afternoon sun. Her

long hair whipped in the rising wind, eyes glowing with raw, ancient power.

“I don’t think so, you wretched wench,” Ulyanna said her voice ringing through the wreckage like

thunder. Her gaze locked onto Morwenna, cold and unyielding.

One hand pulsed with white light so bright it burned to look at. Beside her stood Evander, fangs

bared, eyes blazing crimson. Kierygan stood silent, his eyes silver and blue with wrath.

And just by his left boot was Nibbles, perched proudly on his hind legs-ears twitching, as if declaring that he had saved the day.

For the first time in my life, I saw fear flicker across Morwenna’s face. Her skin turned waxen, her

mouth falling open in silent horror.

Ulyanna hurled a massive sphere of searing light at her. The witch’s eyes widened in terror. At the last instant, she dove down, grabbing Malric by his burnt wrist.

In a swirl of green-black magic, they vanished-disappearing just before the light consumed them.

“Damn it,” Ulyanna spat, her magic striking empty air.

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Teeth, Fierce Light

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Silence fell. Dust drifted through the golden beams streaming into the ruined shop. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the rubble-strewn floor, trembling with exhaustion and pain.

Nibbles hopped toward me, his little paws crunching over broken wood and stone. He climbed onto my lap, nuzzling into my shaking arms. Despite everything, I managed a weak smile and tapped his nose gently.

“You’re a good boy,” I whispered.

Then Kierygan’s voice cut through the silence. “Eirlys,” he called softly, his tone tight with worry as

he made his way to me. “Are you alright?”

I lifted my tear-filled gaze to him, then to Evander and Ulyanna, my eyes brimming with silent

gratitude. Finally, I looked back at him, and a sob broke free from my chest.

“I am now,” I whispered.

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