She screamed again, right in his ear, as he yanked at the door with his foreleg.
Luckily, the woman didn’t struggle too much as he shoved her through the gap.As he slumped against the doorway, blocking the exit, he noted the scurry of men and women inside the cabin.The raised, excited voices.
A soft groan squeezed up his throat, and every part of his dragon body ached.Tawera closed his eyes, unable to do more than rest.He shuddered to imagine what might have happened had he not grabbed the woman in time.He hadn’t meant to place her in danger.
The shunt in the middle of his back had him jerking from the state of partial slumber.A second jolt woke him right up, and he roared, flames tearing from his open maw.
7
A Dragon Calamity
Nyreesteppedoutsideduringa quiet moment, enjoying the whiff of sea air and the faint underlying pong of penguin droppings.With one eye on the open shop door, she scanned her surroundings, searching for Tawera.
A burst of screams and whoops had her gaze snapping toward the beach.
A wave, larger than usual, crashed to shore, causing pandemonium amongst the seals and wooly brown king penguin chicks who’d congregated on the beach.Squawks and thepeep-peepof panicked chicks filled the air while the seals grunted and barked in alarm when the wave washed them off their sunning rocks.
Excited voices filled the air, and Nyree locked the door and bolted toward the beach.
She met Keith and Carolyn and two of the scientists.
“What’s happening?Is everyone all right?”Nyree gasped out.
“It was a rogue wave,” Doug, a scientist, said.His dark hair stuck up as if he’d forgotten to comb it this morning.
“Should we be evacuating the beach?”Carolyn asked.“What if it’s a tsunami?”
“I checked,” Roger, the other portly scientist, said.“No earthquake reports anywhere.”
Each of them eyed the beach and the sea.The cruise ship crew also scanned for more waves, having suspended their operations as a precaution.
Nyree didn’t see Tawera, which worried her a little.
No, he was an intelligent adult, despite his lack of modern life knowledge.
A roar interrupted her thoughts.
“What is that?”Carolyn asked.“Is it another wave?”
“The sea is flat,” Doug replied, his hand disordering his hair as he tugged at his fringe.
“Look,” Keith said, shock making his voice shake.
Nyree stared at the cruise ship anchored offshore.Flames shot from the rear deck, and another roar echoed through the bay.She swallowed.
So that was where Tawera had gone.
“Where are the flames coming from?”a blonde in charge of an inflatable asked.She plucked a radio off her belt and called the ship.
“Are they all right?”Keith asked her.
“No injuries.The captain says something is blocking the rear deck exit, but he can’t work out why the door refuses to open.The ship isn’t on fire.”She shook her head as she relayed her conversation to a colleague.“The captain says the fire doesn’t seem dangerous.It’s not burning anything.It’s a mystery.”
Nyree might have an inkling as to the cause.At least Tawera wasn’t damaging the ship, but the roar had been one of pain.She hesitated, wavering over what to do.
The blonde woman’s radio crackled to life.“We have the flames under control, and there’s no damage.The crew has investigated outside and doesn’t know what caused the noise or the fire.Captain reports we can resume operations.”
Nyree slumped for an instant before straightening.“I’d better reopen the shop.Let me know if there are any more problems or if I need to shut.”
