“Dragon!” Sprub’ex wheezes. “It’s been freed!”
“But not byyou, as agreed,” Vyrathion says. “What shall I do about that, Sprub’ex?”
“I helped!” Sprub’ex says, desperation in his voice. “I offered to look for gold! I tried to abduct Callie, as you told me to! And Iwas only cast out for my trouble! I would have freed you, dragon. But I never had the chance!”
“And did you find any gold?” the dragon asks, suddenly right next to us. “No?”
“Not yet,” Sprub’ex says, and I can feel through me how his heart beats faster. “I was looking! But here is the woman. Take her! She’s yours!” The blade digs deeper into my throat, to the limit of what I can stand. Tears spring to my eyes.
“Let go of Callie!” Crat'ax says.
The dragon taps his lips and looks me up and down. “Mine?”
“Yes!” Sprub’ex says eagerly. “Take her!”
“But you weren’t searching for gold,” the dragon says with a warm smile on his face. “You were looking for women. That’s not what we agreed.”
It’s too much for me, and I can’t hold back a sore sob.
“I-” Sprub’ex begins.
“But do you know whodidrelease me?” Vyrathion interrupts him with a chilly menace that I feel all down my spine.
“No,” Sprub’ex says. “Iwould have-”
I’ve got nothing to lose now. With my full weight and all my power, I stomp my heel into Sprub’ex’s foot, aiming for the toes. He grunts in pain and tightens his grip on me.
I don’t see the dragon move, but suddenly the blade is off my throat, and Sprub’ex’s hands are off my body. My knees buckle, but I never hit the ground. Crat'ax lunges to catch me with one arm.
Then he points the spear at the dragon. “Stay at a distance!”
I cling to him, and the strength he radiates cancels out the terror from the dragon. Still, this is the man I ran from. And I had good reasons for it.
Sprub’ex is on the ground, with a dark pool growing fast under his limp body.
Vyrathion kicks at him. “Hmm. After so long in a cage, I forget how easily I can do that. Callie, don’t ever think that I owed you anything. This was not settling a debt. This wasnothing. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” I state hoarsely, because nothing else comes to mind.
“Now you must look for gold,” the dragon adds, eyes twinkling. “I will soon check on your progress.”
“No, you willstay away,” Crat'ax growls, the tip of his spear held rock-steady one inch from Vyrathion’s chest. “You will die if you don’t.”
The two giants are staring each other down over my head, tense as bowstrings. I swear the air gets colder, and the wind stops blowing. It feels like two forces of nature about to clash in a cataclysmic battle.
“You’re the sensible dragon slayer,” the dragon finally says. “I believe you were the only slayer in your ridiculous village who realized that capturing a dragon is a fool’s errand. We will meet again.”
A dark shadow falls, and when it lifts a split second later, the dragon is gone.
Crat'ax drops the spear and embraces me with both arms. “Are you all right, my love?”
“I want to be,” I say quietly. “But I think that’s mostly up to you.”
25
- Crat'ax-
A great weight is gone from my shoulders.
