I Raised A Black Dragon

“Right… We’re going to be okay.” Noah sighed, and slumped against Kyle. She looked out the corner of her eyes to see his other arm pointing straight down at Adrian's head.

“Noah, are you alright? Did he hurt you at all?”

Hearing her own name coming through his lips cleared her troubled mind a little. But with the tension now fading away, there was the terrible pain in her chest and shoulder that had hit the railing. Because of the tingling pain, when she couldn’t reply right away, the hand around her shoulder calmly slid down her back.

“Did he hurt you?” Contrary to his soft touch, his voice was rough as if he was holding back his anger. Noah sniffled and shook her head.

“No, he didn’t. He only threatened to blow the place up if I…” Noah cut herself off. “I tripped and fell as he was chasing me, but he didn’t actually lay a finger on me.” She was lying, of course. The number of times he had grabbed her by the shoulders and arms were too numerous to mention, not to mention the fact that he planted his boot on her chest to stop her from running away. But given how close Kyle looked to blowing Adrian’s head off, she decided to keep that little tidbit to herself.

Kyle slowly lowered his gun from Adrian’s head to his shoulders. Adrian himself was now sprawled out on the ground, completely paralyzed by the poison. Blood was pouring from his many wounds, and within a few minutes he would bleed out and die.

“We can’t let him die, Kyle.” Noah crawled out of Kyle’s grasp and over towards Adrian. She reached down to his neck, where she could feel his pulse beating weakly against her fingers. “We need to bring him in so he can face a proper trial.”

“Alright, I’ll… I’ll deal with him. Are you able to climb down that ladder?” Kyle said, gesturing over to the ladder running along the outer wall. Noah nodded, even though the pain in her collarbone and shoulder was radiating throughout her body. But she didn’t want to let Kyle know until she was safe on the ground.

As Noah climbed over the railing to the ladder, she looked up and saw Muell in his dragon form, sheltering her from the rain with his wings. She smiled at him as she began her descent. Pain shot through her arm with every step she took downwards, and it only got worse the longer she climbed. By the time she was halfway down, she had to hold onto the ladder one armed to give her poor shoulder a break. She would have cried with relief when her feet hit the solid ground, were it not for the fact she was already crying in agony.

On the ground, the people who had been watching her all gathered around her to check she was okay, with tissues being thrust into her hands so she could wipe her eyes. She dabbed her eyes as saw Kyle climbing down the ladder, Adrian draped over his shoulders. When he reached the ground, Noah hurriedly scrubbed her tears away and ran over to him.

“Adrian was threatening to blow the place up if I didn’t hand over Muell. He said he needed the magic to bring Eleonora back from the dead. She died trying to…” Noah was cut off when Kyle spun round and embraced her tightly. The sheer force of the hug sent another wave of pain down her nerves, causing her to let out an involuntary scream.

“Noah?!” Kyle pulled back instantly and flinched away from her. Blinking back her tears, Noah let out a fake laugh.

“Just banged my shoulder a little bit, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.” She said as a wave of nausea overcame her. She barely managed to land in Kyle’s arms because her knees gave out.

He helped her to the ground, stroking her hair and whispering soft words of encouragement to her. She slumped against him, focusing on steadying her breathing as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. After a few minutes passed, the sensation that she was about to be sick passed, and she heaved herself upright.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Noah? Why did you lie to me if you were clearly in pain?”

Noah put on a brave face and turned her to face Kyle. There was definite worry in his face, but there were bigger things to worry about. Namely: Adrain.

“I’m fine, Kyle. I didn’t want you to worry too much until we were on the ground, that’s all.” She just wanted him to stay there for a little longer, because for the first time she arrived at the town, she felt safe.