"That's not happening," Kira told him. "Accept it or get out of my way."
He growled at her, but she didn't move, just folded her arms and stared him down.
Thelu-ongchose that second to strike, its head snaking forward with the speed of a cobra.
Kira dove into the water. It closed around her, cold and wet, as panic beat at her. It had been instinct to seek the water’s protection, but now it worked against her.
Thelu-ongwas aquatic, at home in its depths much like an alligator. She needed to escape before she ended up as lunch.
She kicked her legs, propelling herself for the surface. Her first gasp of air tasted like razorblades.
A dark shape loomed over her. Thelu-ong's slightly mad eyes watched her, pain and fury deep in their depths.
Kira froze. Its fear choked her as it mentally thrashed under the collar's control.
I'm here, she thought at it.
There was a brief hesitation as all that deadly focus zeroed in on her. Thelu-ongwas intelligent, she realized with a start. A fierce intellect burned inside, the likes of which threatened to break Kira's brain under the pressure.
As it stared at her, she was conscious of Graydon, absurdly small next to the great beast as he worked his way up thelu-ong's neck.
Kira shouted when she felt the dragon's attention slipping away.Here.
Thelu-ong's head snaked forward, hovering over Kira, its teeth on display.
Graydon reached the collar as that head began to descend. Kira held still, knowing if she lost thelu-ong's focus, Graydon likely wouldn't survive.
Hurry, she urged him silently as her death closed in.
He drew his arm back and hammered at the tick, cracking its shell in a single strike.
Kira dove to the right as thelu-ongplunged. Finn hit thelu-ong’s side, his face a mask of fury, his arms and hands glowing with a faint red light as he struck. Thelu-ong's teeth scored a bright line of pain along Kira's arm and torso as it dove, barely missing her.
It kept going, disappearing into the water.
Blood stained the water around her red.
She clapped a hand onto the wound on her arm as coldness invaded her limbs. "Shit. Where'd it go?"
She tried to staunch the blood, even as she struggled to find the shape of its body under her, convinced it was about to swim up from beneath and gulp her down.
The thrashing sent waves of pain coursing through her body. Graydon appeared next to her, reaching down and scooping her out.
"I don't see it," she said, trying to fight through the pain. She needed to stay awake and aware for when it returned.
"It's gone," Graydon said soothingly, clutching her to his wide chest. "You were right about the collar."
"Of course, I was. I'm always right," she said through stiff lips as relief rushed through her. She'd survived. Yippee for her.
His chuckle was rusty even as concern pinched his face.
"Thelu-onghas its own power. As soon as I broke the control collar, it wasted no time in escaping," he said, trying to distract her.
"That's nice," she said, barely able to keep her eyes open. She'd lost a lot of blood, she realized.
"Is she all right?" Finn yelled as he raced toward them.
Graydon didn't answer, worry in his face as he started to jog toward the end of the course. "Hang on, Kira. We're going to get you some help."
