Secrets And Sacrifice

Chapter 4

"No" Siya said simply. "I dont remember giving you a choice" said agent Shallows. "We are taking these beasts whether we have to deal with you two or not" he added. Siya turned to look back at seth who still had a gun to his head. He shook his head.

Siya turned back to agent shallows. "No" she said again. "Thalor Burn" she commanded and thalor let out a breath of fire in front of the agent forcing him to back up. "Take them and run" Seth yelled and Siya climbed on Valkyras back. "Please dont kill me" she whispered as both dragons took off into the air.

Siya made sure to hold onto Valkyras spikes so she didn't fall but even that wasn't simple.

"I dont care what you have to do, bring those dragons down alive before their seen!" Agent shallows snapped.

Before their seen? Seth questioned. But then it made sense. "If people find out about their existence you cant use them for whatever you want, can you?" Seth asked. Agent shallows turned to him.

"If the world finds out they exist i wont be the only one wanting them" shallows replied.

"Your girlfriend cant fly up there forever. Sooner or later they will have to la d and when they do those dragons will be mine" he added. "What do you want them for anyway?" Seth asked lowering his brow.

"Who wouldn't want something that can burn a whole city down in one breath?" Shallows asked.

The wind tore at Siya’s face as Valkyra surged upward, wings beating hard enough to rattle her bones. Siya pressed herself low against the dragon’s neck, fingers locked around the ridge of spikes running down her spine. Thalor flew beside them, black wings cutting through the sky like blades.

Below, Agent Shallows stood in the clearing, one hand raised to the radio at his shoulder.

“Eyes on all three. Do not fire to kill. Repeat, non‑lethal only.”

Siya didn’t hear the words, but she felt the shift in the air, the sudden hum of engines rising from every direction. When she looked down, her stomach dropped.

Two helicopters.

A surveillance drone.

Something larger circling behind them, its lights blinking like a warning.

They couldn’t stay up here. Valkyra’s wingbeats were already slowing, her muscles straining under Siya’s weight and the altitude. Thalor wasn’t faring much better; his breaths came out in short bursts of flame, more panic than power.

A bright flare shot past them, not a missile, but a deterrent. A warning.

Then another.

Then something smaller, faster.

Siya didn’t see the dart until it hit.

A sharp thwip cut through the wind, and Valkyra jerked mid‑flight. The blue dragon’s wings faltered, one dipping lower than the other. Siya felt the sudden sag in her body, the way Valkyra’s strength seemed to drain all at once.

“No... no, no, stay with me,” Siya whispered, gripping tighter.

Another thwip.

Thalor roared as a dart buried itself in the membrane of his wing. His flight path wavered, spiraling slightly before he forced himself level again.

They weren’t falling yet.

But they were losing altitude fast.

The forest rose up beneath them, treetops rushing closer. Valkyra fought it, wings straining, tail whipping for balance, but her movements were sluggish, drugged. Thalor tried to position himself under her, as if he could catch her, but he was just as weak.

“Hold on!” Siya shouted, though she wasn’t sure if she meant it for herself or the dragons.

The last twenty feet happened too fast to process.

Valkyra’s wings collapsed inward.

Thalor’s momentum carried him past her.

Siya felt the world tilt sideways...

And then she was airborne, thrown clear of Valkyra’s back.

She hit the ground hard, rolling through leaves and dirt until her body finally skidded to a stop. Pain flared in her shoulder, her hip, her palms, but nothing felt broken. She sucked in a breath, coughing on dust.

“Valkyra! Thalor!” she cried, scrambling to her feet.

Both dragons lay tangled in the underbrush, groggy but alive. Valkyra tried to lift her head, but it drooped again. Thalor’s wings twitched uselessly.

Siya took one step toward them,

And the forest lit up.

Headlights.

Dozens of them.

White beams cutting through the trees as military vehicles rolled into the clearing, engines rumbling like thunder.

Soldiers poured out, forming a tightening ring around her and the dragons.

Rifles raised.

Non‑lethal rounds chambered.

Orders shouted.

Siya froze, breath shaking, dirt streaked across her face.

The dragons were down.

She was surrounded.

And Agent Shallows stepped forward through the lights, expression unreadable.

“Siyera,” he said calmly, “don’t run.”

"I wont let you take them" she said. "You dont have a choice" he replied gesturing for her to be detained. Two agents came and grabbed her arms. Siya fought to get out of their grasp. "LET ME GO!" she cried "LET ME GO I WONT LET YOU TAKE THEM!" she cried as multiple men worked to load the dragons in the large trucks they had for them.

"Please dont do this" she cried.

But it was over as fast as it began. The trucks began to leave one by one and the agents that once held her let her go. Agent shallows walked up to her and stared at her as she stared at the ground. "You knew deep down this was always going to happen" he told her as the back door to his suv opened and seth got out. Agent shallows made his way to the suv and seth who was in handcuffs was now free as the remaining agents left.

Seth looked at Siya who almost seemed broken beyond compare.

But somehow almost as if he predicted it, Siya fell to her knees and seth caught her. "Why" she cried. "Why did this have to happen?" She asked crying into his chested hitting it as he hugged her. "Im sorry" Seth said. "Im so sorry"

But siya continued to cry.

And in the distance not to far from them, stood an old man, a hunter, watching, observing, and now knowing.

TO BE CONTINUED