Into the Dark

Chapter 26

I couldn't believe the size of it. It was nowhere near the size of Kiki's dragons that could easily sit on your shoulder. It was far greater than a whale, maybe two put together or more.

I stared open mouthed as it drew nearer, gliding on enormous black, reptilian wings. More fury was melted into its eyes as they locked onto the castle. I looked back at Kade who was even closer to the ground and groaning louder than before. He was in serious pain and I was unsure why. Salazar had mentioned something about his senses; could they possibly be affecting him? If so, why was it so bad? How could senses cause someone such internal pain?

I hastened towards him and put a comforting hand on his back. His eyes, blacker than the dragon, stayed staring at the ground as he breathed heavily and cried angrily. He pushed at me and kept his hand raised to prevent me from coming back. "Stop, Bella. Leave me alone," he growled.

"Ha, ha! Apparently he hasn't forgotten!" Salazar exclaimed with delight as I stood confused and a bit hurt. "He's right, Bella. You might wanna leave him alone. You see, the reason he's in this condition is because he's fighting off that pesky dark side of his. Being around so much darkness and evil is driving him crazy. He's losing control of himself!" The demon added. His sadistic and crooked smile showed his true intentions. He wanted Kade to break. The thing is... what if Kade didn't join his side once he did? He surely didn't last time.

The dragon started to dip towards the ground once it drew near enough to do some serious damage. The trees and houses out below became crushed by its weight as it landed with a rumbling thud and halted right in front of us. It was far more frightening up so close, and when it lowered its enormous head to the balcony, I almost screamed. Its red beady eyes and black narrowed pupils focused only on me. Goosebumps spread across my skin as my limbs started to shake.

It had a pointed snout, almost like a stereotypical dragon would have, horn-like tuffs protruding from its head, and some kind of spikes that formed an outer spine down its back. Its nostrils flared and oozed with slow streams of smoke, like two horizontal chimneys with fires burning steadily at the ends. My only thought at that moment was: one wrong move and this thing will burn me alive. If Salazar and Xur weren't fast enough, they'd go down with me and Kade and possibly the whole rest of the castle.

"Bella, meet Rahul. He's a very loyal companion of mine," Salazar stated proudly. "But he has a very bad temper, I suggest you don't piss him off." Rahul snorted a cloud of smoke as if to agree and narrowed his eyes, radiating an aura of aggression. I swallowed hard and took a step back.

"Nice pet," I mumbled. Almost instantly Rahul released a low hiss... or growl. It was hard to tell. "Sorry," I whispered.

"He understands English. Impressive, right?" Salazar said. He approached the beast and stroked his snout. "I've tried teaching him Latin. It's kind of a slow process."

"Latin?" I questioned.

"Yes, Latin is connected tightly with the supernatural world. A lot of sacred documents are in Latin, as a matter of fact. It would do you better to know it," Salazar answered. Pointless to know at the moment, but I noted that for later.

"What are you planning to do anyway? Bring down an elf castle with a whole gargoyle army and a beastly dragon?" I huffed without much humor. My hands instinctively rose protectively in front of me when Rahul did his little hiss-growl thing. "No offense. I meant beastly in a respectful way." He then backed down a bit.

"The army's on wait. They have this place surrounded. The doors are on lockdown with a powerful dark magic, so no supernatural is getting out of here unless I say so. And Rahul here will scorch it in seconds if I give him the word. The only way for me and my minions to back down would be for you to agree and submit to me," Salazar inputted without a single stumble in his words and no hesitation to hint at a bluff. I was silent and so was he. Xur and Rahul had a bit of a growl as they breathed but overall it was pretty quiet, except for Kade's continuous groans. "Your lover boy will also be in a better condition once we're gone. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The demon added with a victorious smile.

"Bella... don't...," Kade coughed. He gritted his teeth and tried to look up at me, but his head fell back down limply.

Why was I in this situation? Why did I have to make such a big decision? I didn't want to leave with Salazar and marry him, if that was the case. But at the same time, I couldn't let Kade and all those people inside die because of my stubbornness. My head was spinning and starting to hurt as my brain wrestled between the outcomes of both decisions. There had to be some way out of this... even if it wasn't easy. I thought long, hard, and silently for what felt like hours until something sparked. It was dumb and had a slim to no chance of working, but I was desperate at this point.

My eyes locked with the red ones of Rahul and focused. "Salazar?" I whispered.

"Yes, dear?"

"Can I pet your dragon?" The question sounded odd and made me feel like a child asking to pet a dog. I tried not to look away from Rahul as silence followed. I was sure the demon was questioning what the hell I was trying to do. Obviously he couldn't think of an explanation.

"Uh, s-sure," he stuttered, which was the first time I'd heard him do that I think. Then he said something to Rahul in what could only be Latin, and the dragon's eyes softened as he stared at me. I carefully approached him, my heart pounding heavily with fear in my chest, and touched a gentle hand to his snout. As I stroked it and focused harder on his eyes, the familiar feeling I was hoping for finally came. My hand tingled and I snatched it back as the dragon started to grunt and pull away. He wasn't showing any aggression anymore but twitched as if a pesky flea had gotten under his fur... scales. His red eyes stayed wide open and started to swirl with a color I was beginning to like after all this time... purple. Soon they became completely swallowed by it and turned as gentle as a puppy's. I laughed with disbelief.

It actually worked. I tamed a dragon. And not just any dragon... Hell's dragon!

Rahul pulled his head back and raised it into the chilly night air as Salazar ignited with fury. "What the hell did you do to my dragon?!" he yelled.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and smiled as I admired probably the most weirdest and magnificent thing I'd ever done. "He isn't your dragon anymore," I said.

Salazar clenched his fist and took a step towards me. The doors to the balcony burst open before he could do anything, and through them came Odis and Maeve. The witch didn't take long to notice the situation and raised a hand towards him. She started to chant something in Latin, I presumed, then she too was cut off by the doors. They slammed shut with a louder bang than before, and when I looked back at Salazar, he seemed just as confused as us. My eyes searched for a face that wasn't alarmed until they landed on Kade. He slowly stood to his feet and turned to Maeve with a snarling expression.

Obviously Maeve hadn't thought much of it or his black eyes and quickly continued on with her chant. She was eyeing Salazar pretty harshly when out of nowhere she was thrown against the balcony doors and a hand clamped around her throat. I was unable to hold back my gasp when Kade lifted her off the ground and suspended her like she was a rag doll. She started to scratch at his hand with a look so hurt, I felt my heart break for her.

Salazar started to laugh triumphantly, Xur joining in after awhile. Odis and I were too stunned to say or do anything.

"It's official!" Salazar shouted. "Kayden has finally broke! Welcome back, my boy."