Page 17 of Ava’s Legacy of the Dragons (Of Dragons, Love, and Destiny #1)

Its scales gleamed red, its huge head was crowned with two horns, and there were several meter-high spikes lined up like combs along its long neck and forming notches on its back, growing close together again on its tail.

Ava swallowed and automatically took a step backward. Lilly, on the other hand, widened her eyes in disbelief. "Can we ride with you? Me too?" There was no question that for her this was a dream come true, while for Ava the idea was more like a nightmare.

Kilian turned to the dragon's head, which was no less than one meter high, and patted its cheek. "What do you say, my beauty? Shall we take these two and the egg with us?"

The dragon looked at Ava suspiciously, narrowed its eyes, and two clouds of smoke streamed out of its nostrils. This was a fire dragon. Hadn't Lilly said they were considered aggressive? Ava expected a burst of flame, but much to her surprise, the dragon nodded.

It nodded?

"Hooray!" Lilly laughed and threw her hands in the air, while Ava didn't even move her little toe. Ride on a dragon? Her? Never! When she said nothing, Kilian and Lilly looked at her expectantly.

She immediately made a dismissive hand gesture.

"I can stay. You don't have to take me with you.

The king won't find out anything. I'm absolutely inconspicuous.

Just Ava, that's all." She wanted to step out of the cave, but the dragon quickly moved its head to the other side of the entrance so she couldn't escape, blowing clouds of smoke from its nostrils.

Kilian kept an eye on her as well. She couldn't tell if his expression was suspicious because he feared she might run off with the egg, or amused. "As you can see, she doesn't allow it. If you don't want to have problems with the strongest living fire dragon, you'd better get on."

"Of course she's flying with us. Come on, Ava!" Lilly jumped behind her and pushed her directly towards the dragon. Heavens, how had it come to this?

"She won't harm us," whispered the voice in her heart, causing Ava to pause in surprise. She looked at the egg, which didn't escape Lilly and Kilian's notice.

The girl bounced excitedly. "It spoke again, didn't it? What did it say?"

"That she..." Ava looked at the fire dragon, her voice more of a question than a statement, "...won't harm us?"

The huge eyes narrowed, but then the dragon slowly moved its head up and down. Was that a nod? Was a gigantic dragon actually nodding at her?

Kilian had stepped behind her, so the night air carried his voice to her from behind. "We shouldn't waste any time. The king's guards are looking for you everywhere. The owner of the garden you came out of has ratted you out. It won't be long before the area is crawling with soldiers."

"Are you sure?" called Lilly, who had already positioned herself in front of the dragon and was considering where she wanted to sit.

"Of course, because your jump, just Ava..." he turned to her, his gaze inscrutable, "...apparently impressed him."

She looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know about that?"

"I have eyes and ears everywhere." Regardless of her hesitation, his hand landed on her lower back and he pushed her towards his dragon, which was lying down on the ground in front of the grotto entrance so they could mount.

Damn, it looked huge! She braced herself against Kilian's hand and stood still.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"You're not from around here, so our destination won't mean anything to you anyway."

"But it's the principle of the thing. You can't just push me towards your dragon and take me somewhere."

"Interesting. That's what most women dream of."

Ava snorted. "Certainly not me. So?"

"No way!" Lilly laughed loudly. "I saw very clearly how red your cheeks were after the ball."

"That was from the escape."

Kilian chuckled softly behind her. "We're flying to Talus, a city northwest of the old forest."

Ava nodded. "I really can't make anything of that information."

"We'll be far enough away from the king there, and I know some people I trust. They'll bring you to safety."

"Sounds quite nice."

"Could it be that you're trying to stall for time?"

Lilly poked her in the hip with her finger. "She is, which is really mean, because I can't wait to finally ride on a dragon. I've dreamed of this my whole life!" She smiled at the fire dragon, got a running start, then swung up onto its back.

Kilian leaned forward so that his breath brushed her neck. "Your turn now, or are there any other important questions burning in your soul?"

"Actually, yes." Her voice sounded far too shaky.

But he shouldn't think that she was about to faint just because he was standing behind her.

Because she wasn't. It was the excitement that made her nervous, and, above all, the prospect of flying high through the sky on this monstrous dragon. What if she fell?

"Then you should save your remaining questions for later, because the king's soldiers will be here soon."

What could she say to that? Nothing. Damn, damn, damn! She had no choice. As she looked at the scaly skin, her heart pounded harder than when she'd escaped the dogs.

"Is there anything I need to watch out for?"

"Don't step on the spikes on her side, she doesn't like that."

"Spikes on the side?" Why couldn't she see them?

But Kilian pushed her towards the dragon, so she had no choice but to tuck the egg under her arm and climb the massive body with her free hand.

The scaly skin felt hard and rough. By the soft shimmer of the dragon egg, she could search the surface for spikes, but didn't discover any.

Kilian had probably just been teasing her.

She sat down behind Lilly, one arm tightly wrapped around the egg, the other around the girl's waist.

With a grin so wide it seemed to reach past her face, Lilly turned to her. "You don't need to hold onto me."

"I can see that, but I need support."

Kilian swung himself up onto the dragon's back behind her as if the creature were a horse.

His immediate proximity intensified her nervousness, distracting her for a moment, making her fear recede into the background.

He was significantly taller than her and his body emanated a heat that enveloped her. For a moment, she forgot where she was.

That changed when the dragon launched itself into the air with a quick leap.

She screamed loudly. She held onto Lilly as the sensation of being on a roller coaster rushed through her stomach.

The ground beneath her grew smaller and smaller, the mountains shrank to a tiny pile of rocks, and the vast night transformed into a boundless landscape bathed in the silver light of the celestial bodies.

The firmament looked endless and all the stars seemed within reach, as if anything was possible up there. The cool wind brushed against their noses. Every tiny movement of the dragon's body was full of energy and power. It was indescribable!

A feeling of happiness shot through her body and she burst out laughing. Lilly joined in and waved her arms through the air. "This is absolutely insane!"

Kilian moved closer, his chest touching her back as he placed a hand on her side. She'd be damned if she'd admit it to him or Lilly, but she enjoyed the feeling and closed her eyes blissfully.