Page 117 of Taste of Thorns

“Fuck, there it is. No wonder I didn’t know what that was – I’ve never smelled anything like it before.”

“What does it smell like?” Briony asks.

“Like … fire and smoke.”

We walk on, into the densest part of the forest where there are no paths and the trees crowd together blocking out the dark sky above. We’ve come so far we must be nearing the edge where the forest meets the first hills of the Highlands, and soon we’re stepping out from under the trees, immediately meeting the steep slope of a hillside.

“This way,” Briony beckons and we follow her around the base of the hill to the entrance of a cave.

“Shit,” Dray says, waving his hand in front of his face. “That stinks. Is he in here?”

“Yes,” Briony says, stepping over the remains of animal carcasses and into the cavernous space of the cave.

I grab her arm.

“Is this safe?” I caution.

“Perfectly,” she assures me. She casts her arm over her head and suddenly the entire cave is illuminated with white light and there, laid out on the hard cave floor in front of us, is a dragon, its golden head resting on its front paws, its long scaly body curled out behind it.

It’s the size of a shire horse – not fully grown, a little on the skinny side from what I can tell, but its scales sparkle brilliantly in the rays Briony has summoned, its large golden eyes fixated on her.

“Hello, Gorgeous,” she says, rushing towards him and stroking her hand up and down the creature’s snout as it lifts its head, its powerful tail suddenly thumping the floor. “I brought some new friends to see you.” She bops the creature on the nose. “They’re special friends, so be nice, okay?”

The creature grunts, then lumbers to his feet and both Dray and I lift our hands in unison. Briony spies the action and frowns.

“Hurt him and I will fry both of you for breakfast!”

“Fry us, huh?” Dray says, lowering his hands and grinning. “I like this new Kitten, even more feisty.”

The dragon, its tail now sweeping side to side like an excitable dog, comes bounding towards us both and stops in front of Dray.

“Hey, dude,” Dray says, meeting the dragon’s gaze and nodding at the creature. In response, the dragon drags its very wet, very slimy tongue up Dray’s cheek.

“Does he like me?” Dray asks, “or is he having a taste before he considers whether to eat me or not?”

“He likes you,” Briony says, coming to stand by the dragon and pat his stomach. The dragon swings its head towards me and I take a step away.

“Nice to meet you,” I say, “but I’m not into having my face licked.”

“He does when it’s you, little Kitten,” Dray chuckles.

“She’s a lot cuter.”

“Don’t listen to him, Blaze,” Briony says, leaning in closer to the dragon, “you’re super cute.”

“So,” my bond brother says, bouncing up and down on his toes. “What does he do?”

“Do?” Briony asks.

“Yeah, you said he’d help you out if Bardin attacked you so he must do something. Does he have super powers or something?”

“He’s a dragon, dickhead,” I say. “I’m assuming that means he can breathe fire.”

Briony nods proudly.

“Yeah,” Dray shrugs, “but so can I.”

He lifts his hand to his mouth, his shadow magic curling across his palm, then blows out a puff of air; the shadows morph into fire and shoot across the cave. The dragon growls lowly.