The mysterious beast dropped the bleating nerf, and the hooved traitor darted away, leaving me to take the fall for its rescue. “You’re welcome,” I grumbled. Talk about ungrateful.
Having lost its dinner and splattered with dung, the enraged predator reared back its enormous head and roared.
At the sound, my knees quaked, my bladder weakening.
“Run, Sera! Run!” Speck shouted from the hill.
Run. Right. Brilliant idea. I spun on my heel and took off at a sprint.
Powerful wings pounded the air behind me. If it wanted to eat me, it wouldn’t find me an easy meal. I’d no doubt that I was fast. In my youth, packs of free-folk children often chased me, bent on teaching me one lesson or another. All they’d taught me was to run faster.
But was I fast enough to outrun a winged monster?
Ahead of me, the flock ambled in confused circles. I veered toward the herd. Safety in numbers and all.
Surrounded by the meandering bunch, I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms over my head. The distressed animals knocked into me, and still I tucked low, hiding amongst their huddled forms.
Woosh.
The black shadow rushed over the flock, the wind from its wings glancing off my back. I dared to peer over the head of the nearest nerf. The creature banked hard, lining up to charge again.
Flark! I ducked as it swept in for another pass.
“Baaah!”My troops objected, threatening mutiny. Stampeding hooves thundered against the earth.
“Hold your ground, you bloody cowards,” I shouted at my uncooperative army.
A woolly body knocked into my shoulder, and I hit the dirt. Bells rang in my ears as the sound of the fleeing herd faded into the distance. Hot steam blasted the back of my head, tossing my wild curls over my shoulders.
Don’t look. Do. Not. Look.
My muscles quaked, and I rolled onto my back. With trembling fingers, I shoved my crimson locks off my face. Peering down at me were two reptilian eyes set into a horrifying face.Below that were a pair of smoking nostrils. Lower, a set of gleaming teeth.
The identity of the creature chipped away at the ice in my brain. No. That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be real. The stories about the mountain couldn’t possibly be true.
“Dra–dra–dra—” Oxygen seized in my lungs, my vocal cords shriveling.
“Dragon!”The word slashed through my mind, snarled by a voice that wasn’t mine.
The beast’s massive foot slammed down on top of me. Certain I was about to become Serafina jam, I screamed, curling into a ball. When my lungs continued to draw air, I forced my eyes open. Talons the size of my arms speared the earth, forming a cage. Talons that were very real. Very sharp.
The beast studied me, a malicious child eyeing the little bug he’d captured.
“Sera!” Speck’s terrified shout cut through the haze. Fact or fable, I would not be this creature’s dinner.
This little bug had teeth. I yanked my dagger from my pocket.
“Crawl back into whatever fairy tale you jumped out of, fiend!” I slammed my blade into the space between hide and claw. To my delight, it sank deep, my makeshift weapon a thorn beneath its cuticle. A miserable feeling I knew well.
The beast retracted its deadly claws, barking a pain-filled yelp at the stars.
“Serves you right, you winged bastard.” I was already running, legs burning, eyes locked on the tree line.
Go. Go. Faster. Faster.I pumped my arms, willing my muscles to a quicker pace.
Wind gusted. The sound of beating wings pounded the landscape. The blue-eyed monster was airborne again. If I could make it to cover, surely the creature would be too big to follow.Ahead of me, the trees loomed. On the ground was a large hollowed-out log. Tight fit. It would have to do.
Hot, steamy breath blasted up my skirt. He was close. Too close. The smell of a rampaging forest fire filled my senses. Teeth flashed at the edge of my vision. Jaws snapped behind me. I hit my hands and knees, diving headfirst into the log.
