Dragon Kiss

The Sacred Animals of Wintervale

But it was time to move on with the battle. I make my intentions clear through our link.

Kiris glared at me when the he realized he had to leave the girl. My dragon was smart and an excellent judge of character, not only that the dragon had never been drawn to anyone before unless he wanted to eat them. There was something about this girl her skin was almost as white as snow. Her hair was black, which was quite unusual, the people from Dragos were not pale skinned at all we are all cinnamon skinned as if we spent our lives in the sun. But this girl looked nothing of the sort.

Wait I think I know where this girl if from. If I am right she shouldn't be in there.

After some growling Kiris landed on the outer ring of the Arena his eyes were on the girl. Most of the audience was surprised to see that Kiris had let the girl live but killed the two guards. The sound of the gong rang through the Arena. A cage was opened and a Snow Leopard was forced out of a cage.

"There is that stupid nasty beast. It's a shame they paired it with such a weak slave I was hoping to see it get slaughtered that thing almost took my arm off" I glared at my younger brother.

Lukirs shut his mouth when he saw the death glare I was giving him. I turned my eyes back to the slave. She seemed frozen as she looked at The Leopard. What was wrong with her? Was she afraid of the beast or was it something else. For a moment I could have sworn she bowed her head to the beast. Or maybe it was just how she was starting to sit up. No it was definitely a bow. I got up from his chair and left the stands. That girl is from Wintervale she is not supposed to be in the arena at all.

Tessa's POV

No, no, no. This can't be happening. I look at the Sacred Animal walking towards me and growling. It's hungry they have starved it so it would be more than ready to kill during the battle. Its icy blue eyes lock on mine and it stops moving. Or should I say she stops. The Snow Leopard is a female. I haven't seen a Snow Leopard in a long time but this one can't be more than a year old, two at the most. The Snow Leopard sits down and looks at me. The crowd boo's and jeers at us. They came to see blood but they weren't getting it and they didn't like it. They can boo all they want I will not fight a sacred creature not now, not ever, not even to save my own life.

I throw my sword away from me so she knows I'm not a threat to her. The crowds boo's again but I ignore them. I manage to get to my knees and bow to her; I must show respect she is sacred. My ribs still hurt from where the guard hit me. Once on my knees I look at the Snow Leopard in front of me. I have to wait for her to make the first move. She may be younger than me but I was raised to be respectful of the Sacred Animals and that I should always allow them to make the first move no matter what. It shows them I mean them no harm.

I've only felt a connection to my father's Snow Leopard but he was family so it was natural. I may be able to speak to both but I have always had a stronger bond with dragons. The animal keeps her eyes on me as it slowly makes its way to me. She growls. I understand what she says and I answer in the same yet with a respectful growl.

"Tessa" it has been a very long time since I said my name.

Slave owners and merchants don't care what your name is, just how high they can sell you and if you can work. The Culling that happened before I got into the Arena was to rid Dragos of slaves who couldn't work anymore. However that's not what really happened.

The Leopard slowly walks around me. She must be studying me, so I stay as still as I can.

"Fight back slave bitch" yelled someone from behind me.

I have no intention of fighting a Sacred Animal. I can still see the golden dragon and his eyes are on the Snow Leopard he must be waiting for it to attack me. I'm sure she won't, they will not attack their own kind without a reason to. It's the same for Ice Dragons. I suddenly look up to the golden dragon and it looks at me, my sudden movement caught its attention. Ice dragons don't attack their own kind unless they have a reason to. Could it be that this Golden Dragon knows I am similar to it somehow? No he claimed me as his and I can feel his claim echo with myself as if a perfect reflection directed back at him but it's from me not him.

The dragon looks at me curiosity in his eyes. I now realize I won't be dying today. He is mine and he won't allow it. I clear my throat and growl the words.

"Are we kin?"

It responds with a short growl.

"You are of ice."

"I am" I return his growl.

"You are still mine" he growls at me again.

"Are we kin? Are we the same? Are we blood?" I ask I can't help it.

"You are mine, Ice Blood."

His head snaps up to look at something behind me. He growls angrily at it and then breaths fire. I didn't have time to turn around and see what or who the dragon had attacked. I can now feel fur on my back. The Snow Leopard is rubbing against me as if it weren't a giant house cat. She puts her head on my shoulder and purrs. The crowd is silent as they watch, they are completely baffled at what they are witnessing. Maybe they have realized I'm not here to entertain them, these kinds of people make me sick.

I pet the Snow Leopard and she moves around in front of me and licks my face once and then she looks deep into my eyes. Her blue eyes mirror my own I feel her strength coming to me and I'm not cold like I was before even though I am from Wintervale and cold shouldn't bother me I am no longer used to it. Is she bonding with me right here, right now? I do as she does and look deep into her eyes and a name comes to me, Nala. I growl the name and she growls mine. I feel different and not just my body but my mind as well. Is this Nala I feel now? It has to be.

The crowd around me starts to boo and jeer again. I look around me quickly and I see the royal family looking down on me and from what I can see none of them look to happy and two seats are empty. The King looks completely shocked, he looks from the Gold Dragon to me and then to Nala. He looks confused but I'm not surprised, the gifts of my people are not widely known. I hear a door slam open and armed guards enter the area. They are ready to attack and have their swords drawn. Nala growls furiously as if she's ready to attack. The ground shakes as the gold dragon lands right behind me. He's growling viscously at the guards who have all now stopped dead in their tracks. Their eyes on the dragon and all of them look completely terrified. The Gold Dragon has claimed me as his and will let no harm come to me.

The door bangs open again I hear someone saying something but I can't make it out. Nala can hear just fine though and through our new connection she leads me her ears.

"Bring her to me."

But that is all the person says. The guards sheathed there weapons.

"Don't just sit there slave move now."

It takes me a moment to get to my feet pain shoots through my ribs every time I move and it makes it difficult for me to move quickly. I'm not sure I want to turn my back on these guards they don't look happy at all. They glare at me but a growl from behind me causes them to back away from me as I make my way to the door. Nala is right next to me. She is on guard and she watches the guards as we go through the door. I can hear people in the cells. One of the guards glares at me his hand is on his weapon. Nala growls at him ready to attack. He points to the area opposite of the cells with his chin.

Authors Note: I hope you are all enjoying Dragon Kiss so far. This chapter is very long and I'm sorry about that but none of you seem to mind longer chapters. If you are enjoying this story let me know by leaving a like or a comment and if you are really enjoying this story share it with everyone you know.

This chapter used to be called No Ordinary Slave. This chapter has been edited and extended quite a bit. In the future I may cut some things out so I don't go 1,000+ words over the word limit. Don't worry anything I cut out will be in the book when it is released in EBook form so you won't be losing anything.

Make sure you all check out My Facebook page Author Megan Hultz there are announcements regarding my stories on there.