Her spine straight, Ash met his irate stare. “Protection isn’t a leash, Race. I choose to go with Koal.”
“Ashaya—”
“No.” She flashed a hand, stopping him. Did he have to say her full name in that low, growly voice?The vexing dragon.“All I expect from you is to take me back to Earth.”
Ash picked up her backpack and turned to Koal. “Can we leave?”
He bowed and offered her his arm.
Still pissed with Race trying to keep her anchored at his side while keeping a vaulting pole between them, she gave Koal a brilliant smile and slid her hand through the crook of his arm.
“For a second there, I thought he would rip me apart,” Koal murmured, leading her between the massive bleed-cedars. Debris squelched under their boots.
“Yeah, well, he takes protection to apocalyptic levels. You know, being a Guardian and all.”
“Indeed.” Koal lifted a dewy bough so she could duck under it, and her boot skidded?—
“Eeep!” Her arms pinwheeled.
“Easy there, ground-walker.” His hand clamped her elbow, and he steadied her. He grinned. “Can’t have wet moss taking you out. I’d rather keep my hide intact, or Eracier would hang it like a trophy. I saw the dead male and the smashed trees, by the way.”
Yeah, Race probably would, considering what he’d done to that rust dragon, and then to Skaldr.
“That dragon got wind of us and followed. He attacked, and Race killed him.” She sighed, brushing off star-like seeds from her clothes that the underbrush seemed determined to toss her way.
“It’s still strange to find out he’s in this line of work,” Koal said, tone thoughtful. “Back then, he laughed more, wasn’t anything like the granite statue I see now.”
“Back then?” Ash cast him a quick look. “What do you mean?”
His brows pulled in a vee as he led them through the dense underbrush.
“Back in the day, he was…” Koal twirled a finger, searching for a word. “Laid-back, let nothing bother him. But all that’s ancient history now.”
It made sense, she supposed. However, it still didn’t add up.
Why were they afterhimto help?
He was just one person. Or one dragon… She slowed her steps when it struck her that they were actuallyhikingthrough the dense forest.
“So, why are we walking?” she asked. “Can’t you dematerialize us from one place to another?”
He chuckled. “Dematerializing’s Eracier’s trick, being a Guardian and all. He’s blessed with more abilities than us poor ‘simple dragons.’” He air-quoted with talon-tipped fingers. “We, alas, must take to the skies to get to places faster. Hard to open a sixty-foot wingspan in a thick forest.”
Ash laughed, her breath curling white in the chill. The air carried a smoky-sweet undertone, like sun-warmed sap. Koal ducked beneath a drooping bough, its gray-green leaves brushing his golden hair.
“For the record,” she puffed, “none of you are simple. Your dragons are beautiful…when they aren’t trying to barbecue me, that is.”
He grimaced. “Our pardon, Ash. Skaldr’s mind, all of ours are occupied with getting our world back from Malcarion.” He patted the back of her hand where it rested on his elbow. “But you, little mortal, outshine any dragon. You’re flawless.”
Heat crept up her cheeks, part embarrassment, part the thin, high-altitude air. “Flatterer. So, how far is this stream?”
“Ten minutes, maybe.” He angled them along a game trail, damp moss squishing under their boots and releasing a green, loamy scent. “Though this high, the ‘stream’is barely a ribbon. If you prefer, I could shift and fly you down to the lake.”
“What?” She nearly slipped on a slick stone. “Ride on your back?”
“My neck, technically.” His grin flashed with fangs, and she rolled her eyes at his teasing. Overhead, a hawk wheeled, its cry echoing off the dark cliffs.
“I’ll pass,” she said, brushing dew from her sleeve. “I’d rather not die in your world.”
