Page 48 of The Last Dragon (The Great Burn Chronicles #1)

This doesn’t make any sense. This place is rocky, the ground uneven and littered with jagged stones and dust—not a place a Redsnout prefers.

Why would it rest there? I rush forward into the wall of flames, heat roaring all around.

I spot a lieutenant not far from me. I need to give orders.

Restore the formation. Kill the beast. Survive.

Bring everyone home. We have time. We have time.

We have time. My heart pounds faster with every step.

We have time. The ignition needs to cool down.

My unit, without a second thought, follows me, but the increasing raging fire on the way to the Lieutenant prevents me from going forward. I’m cornered by the fire in front and the crag behind me.

“Zel!” Nida yells, grabbing my arm. From the cliff towering at the edge of the field, a loud rumble echoes, followed by the sharp crack of rock splitting.

Giant boulders tear free, smashing into the ground around us.

One slams into my legs, another skims my side, pinning my bow beneath it, crushing it.

I scramble free, heart hammering, and see Nida lying nearby.

Her body is covered in blood. No. No. I grab her, pull her up, and check if she is alright.

I whisper her name, and she responds with a grunt, her eyes slowly opening up.

What happened?

My eyes stray to the rocky cliff.

It’s not a resting spot. It’s a tool.

The beast… waited for us. It waited for us to get here. The dragon knew we were coming.

The beast slams its claws against the crag again, scraping deep into the rock to steady itself.

A shower of stones and dust tumbles toward us like deadly hail.

Arm hooked with Nida’s, I dart to the side as fast as I can, away from the stones crashing to the ground and take refuge behind larger boulders that have settled into a barricade.

The dragon is vicious. Terrifying. Like it’s determined to kill us.

The formation is completely destroyed. The smell of blood, urine, and sweat fills the air.

“Form!” I yell to the remaining soldiers and wave my hand forward, away from the rock formation. For a second, there’s silence—but Lieutenant Wain’s voice echoes my command. I turn to find her, but the dust and smoke obscure everything.

Nida’s eyes flick to a loaded crossbow lying nearby.

Without hesitation, she snatches it up and hurls it into my hands.

I catch it, pivot on my heel, and lock in my aim.

Heavy wings flap, sending dust up, obscuring my vision.

Smaller stones strike my hand, knocking the bow out of my grasp, whilst a bigger one shatters it in two.

“Fuck!” I curse, listening to the wings as the beast flies upwards. The moment the flames die down in front of us, Ilian and Eryca rush over. Ilian raises his bow, frantically aiming it up in the air, changing direction each second.

“Where is it!?” he yells, the bow clattering in his shaky hands. “Where the hell is it!?”

I squint my eyes, trying to see through the smoke and dust covering the battlefield.

“There’s too much dust!” I yell out.

Eryca grunts. “I saw a more rocky, less dusty area right behind the crag. If we could get there—”

“No,” I interrupt. “A detour like that… There’s no formation.”

“What do we do?” Eryca asks.

I scan the field as I press against the boulder, eyes fixed on the soldiers ahead.

Smoke and dust blur the formation, flames licking at wagons and scattered men.

The dragon sweeps back and forth overhead, preparing to breathe fire again.

Dozens of soldiers were crushed by the stones, and some are burning to death.

Screams of agony ring throughout the field, along with the crackling sound of a blazing fire.

Suddenly, the dragon swoops low as if to unleash its fire, a heavy beat of its wings tearing the smoke apart.

In a swift crash, it lands behind our barricade.

Its wings spread wide, shadow enough to swallow ten men.

I press myself closer to the stone. Eryca crouches.

Ilian’s bolt whistles behind my ear, shooting straight past, missing the dragon.

“Damn it!” he exclaims, loading another bolt immediately. But when he tries to cock the bow, it doesn’t work.

“It’s stuck!” he yells, wiggling the string that refuses to budge. “I can’t do anything, it’s stuck!”

I grab him by the neck and pull him down behind the safety of the boulder.

Large stones are scattered around the field, giving us the advantage to take cover.

But that’s all we can do. There’s barely any visibility from the smoke and dust. I have to do something.

I glance to my left, Nida and Eryca pressing against the stone.

Ilian to my right continues to curse under his breath, attempting to fix the string.

I grab the bow from his shaking hand, pulling the string hard enough for the bolt to snap in half, and the string uncocks.

I take another bolt from the side, place it into the main groove, and return the bow to him.

“Get to the others!” I say. “It’s too dangerous here. Get far away from here. Use the stones scattered on the battlefield as cover.” The ground shudders, the beast’s weight shifting as if it prowls back and forth.

Ilian swallows, rapidly nodding before dashing forward, taking cover behind a larger stone an arm’s reach from me. But Nida and Eryca remain.

“Go!” I say. “Get to safety! One fifty meters!”

“And how are you planning to get out without distracting it?” Eryca hisses.

“I’ll find a way.”

“We’re not leaving you,” Nida says. Damn it.

I keep my focus ahead, watching how several soldiers are getting up, coughing from the smoke consuming their lungs. Alex peeks from behind the burning planks of a wagon, dropping to his knees as the smoke takes over. He’s badly hit.

I press myself harder against the stone. My only defense. A roar slashes through the air. I close my eyes for a minute, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

It’s closer. It’s right behind me . I can hear it. I can feel it.

I quickly glance to my right, but I’m met with a wall of smoke approaching me fast. I can’t see anything. I don’t have a bow. What should I do? Do I throw a dagger? Do I rush to it and plunge a bolt in its eye like last time?

Damn it. A fleeting shadow skims over me, and when I glance up, I see Sarga circling above, waiting for a command. And I know she’s ready to strike any second. She senses the danger I’m in. Fuck .

“What now?” Nida asks, pressing herself closer to me.

A nervous chuckle escapes me. “I need a bow,” I say quietly. “I need a bow!” I yell, hoping someone will hear.

Nida lifts her head up, finger pressing against her lips as she stops breathing. Eryca holds her breath, her shoulder brushing against Nida’s.

The beast is right behind us. Its large throat looming, claws slowly digging into our only protection. We’re now under it. It’s looking for something.

Moments later, the beast slowly backs away, but I can still feel its presence behind me.

From the corner of my eye, black curls blur in the dust, and I’m met with golden eyes.

Alex is panting, shaking, more terrified than anyone I’ve seen.

But his eyes carry determination, and in his hands, a bow.

He extends the bow but doesn’t look at me.

“You called for it.” Alex coughs, hands shaking as he scans the rocks around the field. I grab it, feeling the weight in my hands I’ve been missing for the past minutes. Alex lets out a sigh and sprints to the cover in front, making his way back into the shattered formation.

“We need to get the formation back,” Nida whispers, holding her hands up above her head to protect herself from falling debris.

“Easier said than done,” I say breathlessly. “This ambush is going to be hard to recover from. Maybe Sarga can distract it, but she’s too small for this type of attack.”

Nida breathes fast, and for a moment I can hear her heartbeat—and my own up in my throat. I glance at her, and she reaches into her pocket.

My eyes grow wide, but before I can say anything, she’s up on her feet, red flag in her hand, sprinting to the right. Yelling. Screaming. But my heart yells louder.

“Hey!” Her voice takes over the battlefield. “Over here!” The sound fades the further she runs.

“Shit,” Eryca curses, reaching for water bombs attached to her belt.

Stay focused. I close my eyes, listening to the quiet rumble, how stones crack under the dragon’s claws, how the ground shifts under Nida’s feet as she moves like fluid water to grab the dragon’s attention.

Right .

Nida’s on my right. I glance over my shoulder again. Once. Twice. Scooting to the side of the barricade, I risk a look around it

I can’t see anything yet.

Fuck fuck fuck. I draw in a breath. The beast roars. I’ll have to take my chances. But before I can do anything, another voice yells out from my left.

“Look here, ugly!”

Eryca. She holds a water bomb in one hand, waving a red flag with the other. She skips to the side, yelling and waving the fabric, ready to throw the vial at any minute. She’s trying to force an ignition. I glance at my crossbow again, making sure it’s intact and ready to shoot.

It is.

Now, Eryca is sprinting. Running all the way to the other side, making herself the bait—and the dragon takes it. But instead of ignition, it launches into the air. A deafening roar shatters the air as another pair of smaller stones collide and scatter over us. Screams spread across the battlefield.

The boulder, my only defense, is useless. Too much dust. Too much debris. I glance around, bow still clutched at my chest. I need to find a place to take cover. I need to find the dragon. I need to slay it. Kill it. Destroy it.