Free Master of Dragons by Angela Knight

jaws and breathed out a spell, sending another cloud of mystical energy rolling over them. The Sidhe warrior threw up a shield that sparked and glittered as it warred with Kel’s magic.
    Kel ignored him, his attention focused on Nineva. Around her, the bands of crimson energy began to thin as the warrior diverted more and more power to fending off Kel’s attack.
    But the bonds didn’t break. Not yet.
    Spreading his wings to break his fall, Kel drew harder on the magic of the Mageverse, intensifying his efforts, blowing more and more power over the girl.
    He had to get her out of there.
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    The dragon knight had arrived at last. Nineva stared up at him with a blend of hope and dread as his magical breath rolled over her. She could feel her bonds weakening, eroding in the face of his power. Arralt’s spell gave…
    Brutal hands snatched the Sword of Semira from her grasp.
    â€œNo!” Jolted from her paralysis, Nineva conjured another weapon and leaped at the warlord. “Give her back!”
    Steel rang on steel as he parried with an insulting, offhand strength. She snarled and circled him, probing his defenses with a series of thrusts he casually deflected. Her heart sank as she realized he was stronger than she was, more skilled, more experienced. She didn’t have a prayer against him.
    Frustrated, Nineva conjured a fireball with her free hand and watched for an opening to throw it.
    Semira! Where are you? The link had thinned, now that she no longer held the sword.
    The dragon! Semira’s voice was painfully faint. You must ally yourself with the dragon…
    Nineva dared a glance upward. The great beast hovered over them, his huge wings beating, an expression of what might have been frustration on his alien face. He can’t fire at Arralt without hitting me, she realized. So much for help from that quarter. With a growl, she hurled her fireball, then ducked as Arralt sent one of his own whizzing for her head.
    â€œYou can’t win, Princess. You know that.” He bared his teeth. “You might as well surrender and save yourself the pain.”
    â€œNot as long as I’m still breathing, asshole.” Using every skill she’d ever learned from her father, she danced around him, alternately pelting him with blasts and attacking him with her blade. He met every attempt with infuriating ease.
    She had to kill the son of a bitch before he destroyed them all. Semira, please! I can’t handle this guy on my own!
    I have not the strength. I have been dormant too long—I need an infusion of magic to reach my full power again.
    Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it! Nineva sidestepped the warlord’s slice at her leg, then lunged. He parried and spun away.
    The dragon, Semira whispered. The dragon is the key…
    Cold, stark fear rolled across Nineva’s mind. Remembering the nightmare, she could almost feel herself begin to burn.

FOUR
    Nineva dragged her thoughts away from the dream. She didn’t have time for panic. She had to put Arralt down first.
    Her battle skills might not be sufficient by themselves, but maybe she could distract him into making a fatal mistake.
    â€œSemira’s general, my ass! Do your men know you’re really Ansgar’s bastard?”
    â€œOh, they know.” Arralt knocked her blade away with an expression of contemptuous amusement. “They’ve followed me for centuries while he tried to kill me.”
    â€œThe way you killed your mother?” She drove her sword at his heart.
    His mouth twisted as he parried, then tried to catch her blade with his and jerk it from her hand. She barely disengaged in time and retreated from a ferocious swipe of his weapon. “You saw that, did you?”
    â€œOh, yeah. Just like I saw your alliance with the Dark Ones, traitor!”
    â€œIt’s you who are the traitor. Afraid of the goddess. Afraid of the dragon.” Arralt laughed in her face as he deflected