Fly!
The ground grew closer.Grata, he didn’t want to die.He wanted to claim Scarlett and live a peaceful life.He lifted his wings and forced them back down.While his brain understood the process, it refused to fire and communicate with his body.
“Fly, Ransom.Fly,” Scarlett screamed.
He repeated the up-and-down flap of his wings.Had he slowed?He got a rhythm going.Up.Down.Up.Down.
Yes!Their drop was slowing.
He forced his wings to move faster, and their steep descent flattened out.
“That’s what I’m talking about!”Scarlett shouted.“You’ve got this.”
Ransom wasn’t so sure.The ground seemed to be approaching at a dizzying speed, and he forced himself to focus, to soar like a bird.To fly.
His dragon shoved at his mind, grasping for complete control.A dominant roar filled his mind, blasting him with a show of temper.
Suddenly, Ransom understood.He blanked his mind and yielded.
Their crazy free-fall became a controlled dive.
His dragon leveled out their screaming speed and angled upward.They slowed and whizzed over the heads of a leap of black leopards.Onward, they flew, their descent down the valley controlled and more leisurely, until in the distance, Ransom spotted their spaceship and another larger one parked beside it.
TheIndy.
His friends had come.
Ransom allowed his dragon to land them before saying a silent thank you.“We can join again now,”his dragon said.“We will be strong again.Better together.So tired.”
“I understand.I didn’t before.”
“Need rest.”
“And food,” Ransom said.
Scarlett slid down his side and landed with Talon perched on her shoulder.She bent and kissed a red rock.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“You thought we’d die.Admit it, you wee monster.”
While they argued back and forth, Ransom shifted.This transformation was sluggish and slower than average, but long moments later, he reformed into a humanoid.
“Are you all right?”he asked Scarlett.
“That was a rush,” she said, her eyes bright and golden.“Terrifying.A journey of many days in several panicked minutes.”
“Yes.”An understatement.
Scarlett turned to stare in the direction they’d come from.“Waves of lava are pouring over the cliff.Did I see my brothers, or did I imagine them?I was so busy clinging, I didn’t take in much scenery.”
“It looked as if your brothers had joined forces with my friends,” Ransom said.“It will take them perhaps two cycles to return, even if they push their speed.”
“Excellent.Time to recover and perhaps fossick for precious stones.I didn’t see a single gemstone on that mountaintop, and you promised.”
“I lied,” Ransom admitted.
Scarlett sniffed.“I know, but I understand.Promise me you’ll never lie again, and we’re good.It can’t have been easy learning about your father and how he handed over your mother to save himself.”
