Arkar

This city is the rotting heart of humanity. Skyscrapers smash into the sky with glass and steel, and beneath them, in the dank dungeons of abandoned stations and concrete tombs, an ancient evil thrives: the Black Market. Here they trade in what cannot be bought legally—magic, artifacts, lives.

My name is Arkar. I am of the Fire Wings clan—a dragon who has lived among humans for too long. I usually don't descend into these cesspools, preferring the penthouse at the top of a glass spike overlooking the city's hell. But that day, I felt it —a faint, almost strangled trace of magic, pure yet poisoned by despair.

I saw her in the dirtiest corner of the market. On a platform, like a cheap commodity. A dirty dress, a downcast face, a sign around her neck: "Infertile. Cheap ." Her "husband"—a skinny, rat-like fellow in a shabby suit—shouted, "Submissive! Trained! "—and then tossed her: "I don't need you anymore, trash! "

She didn't cry. She clenched her fists, her gaze fixed on the void, filled with gray ash. Readiness for death, but not for submission. And then a buyer approached her—an old man with greasy hands and a predatory gleam in his eyes.

I stepped forward. The crowd parted. In human form, I stood almost two meters tall, my skin a dark bronze tint, my body covered in scars and a shimmering dragon-scale tattoo that flared when I was angry. My eyes were golden, with vertical pupils. My voice was quieter than a whisper, but it crackled with embers:

• How many?

The little man began to babble. I threw the bag of ingots at his feet.

• She's mine.

He turned pale when he saw my pupils narrow to slits and took off running. The old man disappeared into the crowd.

She was silent in the car, her teeth clenched until they cracked. I scolded myself for being stupid, but asked:

• What is your name? “Lily,” she whispered.
• Beautiful. But I don't believe it.

She cringed. — Real name.

I snorted and glanced in the mirror. The scales on my chest flared slightly with tension. I can't stand lies. I wonder if he'll tell the truth now?