Page 23

Damian

T he spell was broken instantly as both our heads whipped around fast enough for things to pop and crack.

“What the hell was that?” Aurora hissed, pressing her firm, feminine body up against my side.

I shoved my hormones down and her behind me, my eyes already searching across the fire for the source of the noise. Not that I didn’t already know what it was.

A shadow moved, a shape just ever so darker than the space around it. When it moved, two tiny golden circles moved with it, reflecting the firelight.

It was as I’d feared.

“How bad is it?” Aurora whispered, fingers digging into my sides as she kept behind me.

“When I tell you,” I said, shifting to keep my body between her and the shadow, “run for your life.”

“My life?” she squeaked. “Where?”

I didn’t like the answer I had to give her. “The ocean.”

She choked. “The ocean?! But that’s, like, two miles away.”

“It’s a good thing you’re a hiker then, isn’t it?” I said, reaching out and piling all the remaining logs onto the fire. “It won’t follow you into the water. Wyverns hate it.”

“Why-what’s?” she squeaked, terror taking over as she tried to repeat the word.

“Wyverns,” I repeated harshly, noting the slow side-stepping of the creature on the other side of the fire. It was nearly ready. “Get a hold of yourself, Aurora. Right now. I can’t baby you. I don’t have time for that.”

“O-okay. Run for the water.”

“When I tell you,” I added, flames jumping higher, revealing the tip of the snout of the hunter stalking us before it eased back into darkness.

“What are you going to do?”

“Buy you some time,” I said. “Look around. Do you see any rocks? Anything I could use as a weapon?”

“Are you going to be okay?” Her voice was muffled as she dug around as I asked.

“If I could shift, it wouldn’t even be near us,” I said. “Wyverns are rare creatures, and they know better than to hunt true dragons. But you aren’t one … and right now, I can’t shift to show it who’s boss.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” she said, shoving a rock into my left hand. “Will this do?”

“Perfect,” I said, hefting the chunk of stone twice the size of my fist. “Look for more.”

Then I cocked my arm back, noting the center point between the two golden orbs that were the wyvern’s eyes and, with a roar, let it fly.

The beast honked loudly as my throw clipped its snout. Recoiling, it disappeared into the darkness.

“Did you kill it?”

“No, not at all,” I said. “It’s still out there. Watching.”

“Do I run now?”

I shook my head. “I just made it mad. Now, it’ll focus on me. Giving you time to get out of here.”

Aurora clutched at my arm. “I can’t leave you here. And what about the guard?”

“I can’t protect everyone,” I said calmly. “Maybe I can get a lucky blow in, drive it off. Who knows.”

Another murderous growl echoed in the dark. The wyvern approached once more, shadows shifting, announcing its arrival. I watched, staring it down as the beast entered the light this time.

“It looks like a dragon!” Aurora cried from behind me.

Which was true. Aside from its lack of wings and smaller stature, a wyvern did resemble a dragon. It stood on four legs, a long tail and matching neck extending away from its body in opposite directions. Scales covered the beast’s body in a mottled green and black combination.

“Close. A wild cousin, I suppose.”

“Can it breathe fire, too?” she asked suddenly.

“No, thank goodness.”

Any further questions were abandoned as the wyvern stalked firmly into the circle of light around the fire, bellowing challenges at us.

“Get ready,” I told Aurora, reaching desperately inside me.

Come on. Where are you! I need you right now. We have to fight this thing! I know you don’t want to miss out!

Any dragon loved an excuse for a good fight. Dealing with a wyvern who didn’t know its place was near the top of that list, too. Something about the feral nature of the flightless cousin just infuriated the dragon-mind.

But not this time.

The wyvern charged.

“Now!” I yelled, sending another chunk of stone hurtling at its face. Behind me, Aurora screamed and ran headlong for the water two miles away.

The wyvern accepted the blow this time, taking the pain to continue its charge. I spread my arms wide, trying to focus its attention on me so Aurora could run.

Obliging, the wyvern slammed straight into me. I flew backward, slamming hard into a thick tree trunk and spinning off to one side, where I ended up face down in the long grasses.

I lay there for a second, trying to convince my lungs to work, knowing I had to move. The wyvern wouldn’t stop there. It would finish its kill. I had but seconds to gather myself.

Except the wyvern wasn’t coming after me. Its heavy footsteps grew fainter as it headed in another direction.

Toward the coast.

Fresh adrenaline spiked, inflating my lungs and bringing everything around me into hyper-awareness. It was going after Aurora.

Pounding a fist into the dirt, I pushed myself to one knee and then to my feet.

“Hey!” I shouted, starting forward one unsteady step at a time, gathering speed slowly. “Hey, you! Ugly! Over here!”

The wyvern looked over its shoulder and slowed, clearly trying to decide what it wanted to do. I used that time to run toward it at an angle, putting myself between it and the direction Aurora had taken off in.

“You aren’t getting her,” I snarled, planting my feet and staring down the wild beast. “So, don’t even try.”

The wyvern reared back on its hind legs and roared. It knew a challenge when it saw one. Beating my chest, I stuck my face forward and bellowed back, an inarticulate sound of pure fury.

“She’s not yours! She’s mine!” Something took control of me, the words boiling up and out before I could think.

Front legs slamming into the ground, the wyvern charged, and I went to meet it. The longer I distracted it, the more focus I could put on myself and the longer Aurora would have to get to the coast.

To be safe.

That was all that mattered to me. Making sure she lived.

Protecting her.

A lightning bolt shot down my spine as I ran. I wanted her safe. I would defend her with my very life if that’s what it took. Not just because she deserved it, but because I wanted to.

Something broke in my mind, a dam shattering, releasing power that had been contained.

Fury pounded my feet into the ground. I leapt into the air as the wyvern’s snout snapped down, trying to bite me in half.

As I soared through the air, I called to that power and welcomed it into my veins, into my body, letting it surge through me.

I hit the ground on the far side of the wyvern on all four paws, with wings wide and flames spewing from my snout in a torrid stream that incinerated everything it touched. Grass, shrubs, and wyvern.

The fire-breath attack ran up the beast’s flank, curling and melting scales until they popped free, scattering on the ground. The wyvern bleated in sudden terror as I stalked forward. Limping badly, it tried to run off, but it didn’t matter. There was no escaping now.

My jaws clamped shut, and with a sharp twist, it was over.

Turning my head, I looked into the darkness to the east. There was only one last thing to do now. Spreading my wings wide, I took off, determined to catch her before she got too far.