Page 33 of Prison Moon
Toren leaned toward her and licked her throat, sipping the moisture from her skin before working his way down her chest. She laughed and pushed him away. “I’m not doing it on the side of the mountain where anyone can see.” Even though she knew he didn’t understand what she said, he nonetheless knew what she meant. He grinned at her, gave her a quick kiss, then stood.
“We should be able to make it halfway down the other side of the mountain before nightfall. Are you hungry?”
Surprisingly she wasn’t. She shook her head.
“Come, then.” He held out his hand and helped her from the ground. “We’ll find fresh meat for later and I’ll show you where to find the ground fruits.”
The berries were easy to find once she knew where to look. They picked handfuls of them as they headed up the mountain. The wind blew through the trees more as they climbed and even though it only chilled her skin she imagined come nightfall, it may be downright cold.
Toren didn’t stop again until the ridge they were on suddenly gave way to nothing but air. He yelled her name and grabbed her with both arms. “Careful.”
They were standing on an outcropping of solid rock that jutted from the side of the mountain like a shelf suspended in mid-air. Sara could see for miles in every direction from here. Below them, the mountain gave way to a deep ravine that went several hundred feet down. Toren pushed her back from the cliff edge and set the basket down, walking a few feet away to the left to look for a way down, she assumed.
She set her basket down and turned in a circle, staring out at the strange new moon she now had to call home. The barren landscape the Big Heads had dropped them off at could be seen from here. It was hard to believe she’d come so far. It would take her weeks to walk all the way back.
She could see the jungle where she’d lost Marcy, the dark forest Toren had taken her in to escape the others chasing her, and if she looked hard enough to the horizon, she could make out what looked to be a vast ocean. Either that or an illusion created by the distance.
Toren was prowling the edge of the cliff and looking back across the mountain ridge they’d walked all day when a whooshing noise caught her attention. It was faint but grew steadier in volume the longer she stood there. A few moments later, a roar echoed somewhere in the distance and Sara took another step back from the cliff edge as she saw Toren turn toward her.
The whooshing noise grew louder, the roar she’d heard earlier again echoing off the mountain and she gasped when something huge shot up into the air from the ravine.
It only took a moment to realize it was a dragon only—different from the blue one that had caught her. This one wasn’t nearly as large and only had two legs. She remembered then what Utan had said. The wyvern, the enforcers who worked for the people who ran the prison, weren’t dragons. They were something else entirely.
Although it wasn’t as massive as the dragon, the thing was still enormous and it only took a few seconds for it to see them. It dove, wings outstretched and Sara inhaled a sharp breath as Toren ran for her. The thing in the sky dipped lower, its leg dangling, sharp talons tipping its toes. It screeched, the noise loud and piercing as it reached out with one long wing and caught Toren in the back.
Sara’s eyes widened when he stumbled. “Toren!” The wyvern’s wings lowered, its entire body tipping to one side and she watched in horror as Toren tumbled over the side of the cliff. “Toren!” She was still screaming when the wyvern grabbed her in one clawed foot and shot back into the air, her eyes locked on Toren as he fell into the ravine.
The wyvern flew higher into the air and up over the trees. Claws dug into her back and she fought to stay conscious as she screamed, her lungs depleting of air as the fact Toren fell over the cliff sank in deep. He was gone. As strong as Toren was, no one could have survived that fall. One’s life really could change in an instant. One moment she’d been blissfully content, the next—Toren was gone, and she had no idea what the thing that had her planned on doing with her.
She screamed again and beat at the foot clamped around her as those tears she never used to shed filled her eyes before falling to dampen her face. The trees below blurred as she cried and screamed, the grip the wyvern had on her near crushing but she had little reason to care. If what Utan said was true, they needed more girls and now that she was caught—
A roar similar to the one the wyvern had made echoed through the air, but it came from a distance away. The thing holding her turned, banking sharply to the left and that’s when she saw it. The blue dragon was headed straight for them, belching great blasts of fire into the sky.
The wyvern roared back, its hold on her tightening until she gasped, its grip more firm now, and she realized what a mistake gasping had been. She couldn’t breathe but wasn’t sure it even mattered as the blue dragon spat fire in their direction, the wyvern flapping its great wings to hover in mid-air before it lunged forward.
The collision jarred every bone in her body, her neck snapping back hard enough she was surprised it hadn’t broken. She ducked her head as the dragon’s massive feet neared her face, the two beasts roaring at each other as their taloned feet dug in deep to the other. A passing thought of whether they’d kill her whilst fighting was short lived when the wyvern’s hold on her suddenly loosened. Sara sucked in a breath and grabbed for one of its taloned toes as she felt herself slipping from its grasp. Then she was falling, the dragon and wyvern locked together as talons, teeth and eventually, fire filled her line of sight and grew farther away.
She didn’t even scream this time as she fell toward the earth, nor did she look to see how far down she had to fall. She locked eyes on the blue dragon, watched as his teeth sank into the wyvern’s neck, blood exploding into the air as its throat was ripped out. The wyvern fell bonelessly as the dragon roared, fire lighting the sky before it turned, tucked its wings and dove right for her.
* * *
Rage burned in Toren’s chest, the flames of his fire near consuming, his throat still burning as the wyvern’s body fell. He tucked his wings and dove, his Sarra so far away now he feared he’d not be able to reach her in time. The fire in his chest was stoked hotter at the thought.
His limbs still trembled he’d summoned the change so quickly. Getting knocked off into the ravine had disoriented him and he’d fallen for quite a ways before he realized what had happened. Seeing the wyvern race into the sky with Sarra clutched in its greedy claws had torn the dragon loose painfully but nothing hurt as much as the thought of losing his mate did.
Her eyes were closed when he was close enough to see her face. There was blood on her leg and the long shirt she wore had a rip along one side. The wyvern had handled her roughly. He roared, wanting to kill the beast all over again. Her eyes never opened when he reached for her, scooping her carefully into his hand and pulling her close to his chest.
Fear she was hurt or worse nearly choked him as he banked right and scanned the horizon. Dra’lera was still a good distance away and he scanned the skies for more wyvern or the small flying eyes that saw everything. There were a few off in the distance and even though he didn’t think they’d seen him yet, he wouldn’t risk leading them straight to Dra’lera.
His mountain lair was closer. He dove for the trees and flew as low as he dared over the mountains and wondered what shape his lair would be in. It had been a long time since he’d been there. He’d been making a home among the cliffs when the war started and hid there for a time afterward. Coming out to see if the invaders had left exposed him and he’d hidden in the old temple instead of coming back. He’d cursed himself for a fool many times for being so careless but had he not been, he’d never have found Sarra.
This part of the world looked much different from what he remembered the last time he’d seen it. He banked right and headed for the mountain’s peak. His cave was a black splotch against the umber granite. Once, the skies above the mountains had been filled with his people. Now, no one soared among the clouds.
He flew past the entrance of his cave and blew flame inside to see if anyone was there. Nothing came out or cried in pain. It was still empty. He circled back and tucked his wings, landing on the rock edge and crawled inside then looked for a place to lay Sarra but there was no soft bedding here. He’d been too busy training to be a warrior to worry about building a nest to share with a female. What little he did have was covered in dirt and dry rotted from sitting unused for so long. He should have retrieved the baskets before coming here. He’d have to go back for them regardless of the risk. They’d not survive otherwise.
The alcove where he’d left his treasure was still filled, the shiny baubles piled high. No one had come in and disturbed anything. Those who ruled this world and destroyed it once they learned of their dragon hoard had not found his. The sight of it filled him with pleasure. He placed Sarra there and stepped back, then lowered his head to see her more clearly.
The cut to her leg looked worse than it was. The blood was now dry and flakey.
He looked around the large cavern. It was bare but even without fire, it was warm. It would take very little to make it a proper nest once he gathered their things and enough food to last.
Giving Sarra one last look, he turned to the entrance and jumped back into the sky.