“Get down!” Daegan yells at me, and I listen.
He charges past me so fast I barely register the movement, and then all I can see is another set of bright green eyes surrounded by darkness. I stand back up, feeling helpless as I hear grunting and tussling. I can’t do much, fearing that I might hurt Daegan in the process of trying to help.
Rhydra and Raef run up behind me with torches and their weapons drawn, and I realize they must have been held back fighting another one. “I can’t seewhat’s happening!” I yell in a panic, but then I hear another piercing scream of death, and I know Daegan’s okay.
I snatch a light from Raef and run to Daegan. He looks fine, but he’s glancing around on high alert. “It snuck up on me out of nowhere,” I say through heavy breaths.
“I know. I’m going to light this whole fucking area on fire. Smoke them out.”
“Excellent idea,” Raef says, walking up behind me and flexing his fingers.
“Are you okay?” Daegan palms my cheek and looks into my eyes as if he’ll find all the answers there.
I nod my head.
We all look down at the dead creature in wonder. It’s not often you see one of the cursed creatures of the night up close. If at all.
“It almost looks like… a plant person? Like a little… fern-Dothronite mix?” Raef comments. “Small and nimble. It’s almost… cute.”
I give him a bemused look.
“Better watch out for Lemakis. This could be his future.”
I scowl at him, because he’s wrong.
Lemakis is nothing like this. He has a pure heart. Somewhere in there.
“I’ve never read about anything like it.” I’m going back through my memory, and no, I’ve never read or heard about a small person that seems to be part plant. Its arms look wispy and green and it appears to have flowing, long leaves growing out of its head in place of hair. Its skin is an even deeper green. “And it wasn’t cute when it attacked me out of nowhere.”
“Stand back there really quick,” Daegan orders, seemingly done with examining it.
We don’t have to be told twice. Rhydra and I stand close together and step back into the darkness. Not a moment later, brilliant orange lights up the night, the sound of several more tortured screams cleaving the air.
I wince.
I can see the black silhouettes of Daegan and Raef against the brilliant fires, and I know they’re safe. For now. We should still get out of here, though. As the fires dwindle, we approach them again.
“Time to get out of here,” Daegan says with authority, echoing my thoughts. “You good?” He’s looking at Raef, who nods with confidence. Or cockiness, perhaps?
Daegan doesn’t give me time to argue before he steps back into the darkness. He throws his clothes at us and a moment later he’s shifted. Raef does the same.
Once again, I’m awestruck by the two giant dragons. I put my hands over my hips and look him in one of his eyes. “Daegan, you were exhausted. This isn’t a good idea.”
He stretches out his foreleg, planting his claw just a step in front of me. I don’t move. “You said yourself you need a rest.”
Yes, I’m choosing now to be stubborn, even though we just got attacked by scary, cursed creatures and everyone just wants to get out of here.
He shimmies his claw a little, nudging it even closer to me. I look him in his eyes again with a scathing look.
He huffs, a huge puff of air coming out of his nostrils, and then he leans down and gets right in my face. The middle of his scaly nose is directly in front of mine as he huffs out another charred, smoky puff of air through his nostrils. I think this is the equivalent of his stone-cold, no messing around expression that he normally wears, but it’s even more intimidating in dragon form. One hundred times more, actually.
He stares at me, not backing down, then gestures to his back with a very small twitch of his head.
“Fine.”
I follow Rhydra, who can’t hold back a grin, and we settle into our spots again. But this time as he takes off, I have to hold on, because he’s moving a little faster, and the motion is more jarring. It’s still bearable, but different from the soothing, slow rocking from before.
Once my heartbeat begins to steady and we fall back to a slower, steadier rhythm, the pain sets in.
