Claimed by the Dragon King Read Online Free PDF Page B

starts to deflate.
    “It’s not charged up enough to work,” I say sadly.
    “Oh it will miss, it will indeed! I is going to charge it!” he says taking back the gem from me.
    “You can charge it?”
    “Oh yes! Gnomesses can give their life force to another, they can. It’s a secret so don’t tell, no please do not.”
    “Your life force? Like, you would die?”
    “I will put mine in here,” he says nodding his head and pointing to the gem. “And then yes! You can escape. Escape before the Dragon King is trapped again. Then we is all doomed, doomed for sure.”
    “But…but,” I stammer. “I can’t let you die just for me to escape!”
    “You must miss! It is a choice, yes a big choice but Billius has made it. Only he can choose who he gives his life force for and I chooses you, I does.” He smiles up at me with his weird goofy grin and holds out his hand. The gem glows brightly and so does Billius.
    “No!” I scream. Another person sacrificing themselves for me is too much for me to handle. Fee gave up her wings and probably her life. And now this strange little man too! He goes oddly still. Frozen, unblinking like a statue.
    “Billius?” I whisper, knowing that he’s already gone. The green gem is glowing strongly now in his still outstretched hand. I tentatively reach out and take it. The minute the gem lifts from his palm, he crumbles into dust. My heart lurches but I know I’ve got to hurry. I can’t let this precious life gift go to waste.
    I find my magic, ignoring the instant splitting headache, and reach into the gem. It’s not going to get me far but it should get me out of the castle at the very least. A portal opens up in front of me and as I step through it, my last little bit of energy drains away. The portal closes behind me and I collapse onto hot sand. The gem falls from my hand and rests against my bare leg. The mark on my thigh glows again, this time more brilliantly than before.
    I lay my head against the sand and close my eyes. I faintly hear a roar in the distance and glance towards the horizon to see a tiny outline of Asher in his dragon form. Turning my head, I realize that I’m still far too close to the castle, the portal was only strong enough to take me just outside the walls. Arralt will surely notice that I’m gone soon, so I rise to my elbows and try to stand, but the best I can do is start crawling.
    I stifle a cry of pain as my arms give out and I collapse. My eyes flutter open at the sound of a large thud and I see the massive black dragon landing, his body erupting in fire as he shifts.
    “Lindy?” Ash whispers, kneeling beside me. I manage to groan in response when he brushes my hair out of my face and our eyes meet.
    “Hi,” I croak, attempting to link my fingers into his, but he pulls his hand away and drags it across the brand on my thigh. The mark on his chest flares and his dark eyes burn red.
    “Did he…” Asher trails off. Aw crap. I’m still not wearing pants, God knows what he’s imagining happened. “This ends now!” he roars, backing away from me.
    “Ash, wait!” I plead when I see that he’s about to shift.
    “No,” he replies before flames consume his body. The dragon lifts off the ground right as Arralt’s bell starts ringing loudly, probably signalling my escape.
    “Ash, you can’t burn the castle!” I yell into the night as he ascends. “There’s probably a hundred kids in there, that’s where Arralt converts the Fae children!”
    “What?” The dragon swallows the fiery breath he was about to release as he sinks lower to the ground.
    “And the spell… the curse…. it’s…” My ears start ringing as my head starts to spin.
    “Lindy?” the dragon bellows, landing on the ground. I can’t answer him. “Melinda!”
    I vaguely feel his clawed hand wrap around my waist and warmth of his chest on my cheek before everything fades away.

 
    Chapter Six
     
    “You can’t be serious! It won’t solve our problem, it will