Page 38

Nala

Still wiping the last remains of my silly emotional tears from my cheeks, I crouched next to Artek and peered out of the airlock at the camp.

The ship had dampened the sounds of the voices, the Krektar that barked orders and cracked whips.

It came at us now, though, there on that edge: Jolene and her group by the cooking fires, the pink streak of Jasmine a beacon inside the group.

Men were penned and forced to sit on the other side as they were handed strips of roasted meat for breakfast. We could hear the sound of axes hitting trees in the distance, so another group was already back to harvesting wood for a new palisade.

A dozen Krektar guarded the men, armed with whips and knives but no longer with laser rifles.

Then I noticed the glint of metal around ankles and necks; they’d brought out chains to keep their workforce under control.

A handful also guarded the women, but they were not nearly as closely watched as the men.

The gate was open, and a party was just about to return, Krektar guarding men carrying stacks of firewood.

They, too, no longer carried rifles, but they had been kitted out with bows and arrows.

As Artek and I watched, something huge and golden suddenly lifted from the woods in the distance, and it arrowed through the sky rapidly with strokes of massive wings. The dragon.

I held my breath, and Artek went tense at my side, then let out a low bark of laughter.

“Levant, you crazy bastard,” he muttered, but he sounded pleased.

If this was the doing of the other Shaman, I was going to have to thank him when we got out of here.

Getting the dragon? That would certainly provide the right kind of distraction we needed to escape.

Gold and sleek, the dragon lowered his head as he swung around over the camp.

Then fire bellowed from his giant maw and struck the palisade gate—a long, strafing shot that rained down before anyone had rallied against the threat from above.

Most had not even seen him until the flap of his wings could no longer be missed.

Women and men screamed, chaos erupted, and, in all that noise, Artek swung me into his arms and began racing down the gangplank and into the midst of the mass of running people.

Most of them were running for the ship—even the humans, even Jolene and her group.

I could not blame them for trying to seek shelter inside the metal hull of the ship.

They did not know that the dragon was a friend and that he would not harm them.

Granted, even I found it rather terrifying to see him twist in the sky overhead, flanks heaving as he prepared for another gust of flame. And then the arrows began raining down.

Some Krektar had rallied enough to try to fire back with their bows, but it was obvious that they were not skilled with their weapons.

We were halfway through the camp, and the going was getting rough.

The swarming mass of panicked humans and Krektar was beginning to block our way.

Artek was pushing against the tide, shoulders hunched low around me.

Stronger and bigger, he was still making progress, but a panicked crowd was a force to be reckoned with.

Then I suddenly saw Jolene’s face, and I shouted her name.

“The dragon is friendly!” I tried to tell her.

“This is a rescue!” She was too far away; she could not hear me.

Her expression was grim, but our eyes met, and then she nodded.

We passed her before I could see if she was trying to rally her group to turn around.

I flung my arms around Artek’s neck and tried to peer over his shoulder.

No, damn it! Jolene! Turn around. But she didn’t, caught up in the tide of pressing human bodies, urged on by the fire raging at the edge of the camp and the roars of the frightened Krektar.

Abruptly, Artek reached the edge of the crowd of fleeing humans, and we spilled onto the moss and grass.

Here, more Krektar still stood their ground, firing arrows at the wheeling dragon overhead.

I feared we’d be the ones struck by the arrows that came down from above, but each one hit Krektar flesh with precision.

Artek was fearless as he rose and pulled me back to my feet, urging me to run for the gate.

But the Krektar spun on us—a target they could actually hit—and barred our path.

Now Artek was forced to fight a dozen males, many of them bleeding from arrows sticking out of their backs.

He was lightning-fast, roaring like a beast, and fighting with knife and claw.

I ducked low, as promised, and my hands found rocks and pebbles in the grass.

I hadn’t tried the sling before, I was certain I’d be absolutely terrible at it, but what else could I do?

The fire was burning through the palisade, the gate blocked by falling debris.

A small group of humans huddled near the wall, low to the ground, a group that hadn’t stampeded like the rest of them.

Separated from the others by the cooking fires, the group was stranded.

That opening Artek had made me promise to take if I saw it, it wasn’t there.

So I gathered the rocks, rose to my knees, and began swinging my weapon, slamming rocks into broad backs.

I didn’t think it harmed them, but it was certainly distracting.

Artek had some kind of spiked thing around his lower arm, and he was swinging it into shoulders and faces.

We were whittling them down, and the crowd was still pushing to get back into the ship.

If any Krektar or even the Kertinal wanted to get out to aid in the fight, they couldn’t, because their way was blocked.

When the last Kretkar was struck down by a blow from Artek’s powerful tail, I could almost taste that freedom.

We just had to race for the gate, dodge some of the fallen debris, and we’d be in the clear.

I’d spotted Jasmine’s pink streak among the humans huddling by the wall.

I was determined that we’d at the very least take them with us when we made our escape.

Rising, I waved my arms at her. “Jasmine! This way, follow us!”

She rose as the last Krektar fell, nodding rapidly, and though I couldn’t hear it over the roaring of the fire, I saw her issue orders to the men and women huddled with her.

Artek had seen it too, and he took my hand and began urging me in their direction.

I looked him over as we ran, checking to make sure he wasn’t badly injured.

On his white scales, it was hard to tell—blood coated him in splatters and droplets all over.

Even his face was streaked, like a savage’s.

He moved easily, though, a feral, excited grin on his handsome face, his golden eyes gleaming with the same hope I felt. We were going to make it.

Then something sizzled overhead, and the dragon roared in pain.

We halted, both lifting our heads to figure out what had happened.

“There,” Artek said, and he pointed. A Krektar party was coming out of the woods, and they still carried laser rifles.

Each blast that went off shook the ground; they’d set their weapons to maximum power, and these shots were significant.

One had torn a hole clean through the sail of the dragon’s wing.

Another had struck the gold-plated belly. He was coming down, and fast.

I knew it was rather pointless, but the instinct to duck was powerful.

That dragon spun once, angling himself behind the palisade, and then he folded his wings back and came plummeting down.

I could now see the riders all along his back—two at the front, where neck met shoulder, and a dozen more on either side of his long spine, armed with bow and arrow.

They stood out because they were a much darker and more muted color against the glittering gold dragon scales.

One of the riders at the front had black scales, that had to be Levant.

“This way,” Artek said, but he was already moving before I could respond or even see where he had pointed.

The dragon’s descent was fast, and although more laser shots sizzled toward him, they missed.

My Shaman threw me over his shoulder, holding me tight and moving just as quickly.

I only had time to realize that he was moving rapidly into the path of the falling dragon, and then the beast came down above us.

Artek shouted something, but the wind of unfurling wings, abruptly spreading and beating to slow the fall, drowned it out.

I saw the claws come toward us and screamed, my lizard brain convinced we were done for, and then we were enfolded in that massive, car-sized paw.

“Hold tight,” someone shouted at us, the call timed just right to fall in the silence between two wingbeats.

I couldn’t see anything, and the only thing I could hold onto was Artek.

When the dragon moved, leaping back into the sky, I certainly felt it, though.

The beast roared, and then that roar became the blast of flame bellowing from deep inside its chest.

Tucked into that paw, gripped tightly in Artek’s arms and coils, I couldn’t see a thing.

I couldn’t help Jasmine and the others or see what was happening with the Krektar that still had functioning guns.

That moment felt like it lasted forever, curled up tight, hidden in darkness, protected by scales and bone.

When the dragon landed and released us, I was nauseous and disoriented, and adrenaline surged through me, urging me to fight, to act.

The dragon’s paw opened, and Artek and I tumbled out of it onto thick silver and purple grass. We both sprang up almost immediately. I fumbled with my sling, but there were no targets to combat. We’d made it. We were safe.

Artek hauled me against his body, spinning me protectively behind him just as I’d concluded that, and fear spiked anew.

But he was just putting himself between me and the armed warriors dismounting from the dragon, along with the others who joined them to rush into the woods.

I stared, and from the plumes of smoke rising in the distance, could only conclude that they were headed back in the direction of the ship.

“Nala!” someone shouted, a female voice, bright and clear.

“Oh, thank God, you’re okay!” they added, and, confused, I twisted to look where the sound came from.

People were ducking out from beneath the flap of a tent, which was nearly invisible against the trees.

Humans. I recognized Kalani and Cosima, who’d come to see me before on the dragon.

With them was another woman I didn’t know, and then, to my surprise, a Naga female came on their heels.

Artek released me so the girls could embrace me and check me over, but he kept his tail around my hips when I swayed a little on my weak knees.

“We’re out?” I asked. “What about the other humans? Are they going back to rescue them?” I twisted to look at where Naga males had rushed into the trees.

The ones who had come from the dragon were all yellow with orange spots, along with the golden dragon rider, but he was still here, checking over his wounded beast. The Naga who had been waiting here, though, were all in various shades and colors—green, blue, red, and even purple.

Were these reinforcements from Haven? If the girls were here, they had to be.

Artek tucked me back under his arm when Cosima released me from her tight hug.

“They can’t, not all of them,” he murmured, and I felt my stomach plummet.

No, that wasn’t right! We had to save them!

They weren’t safe with the Krektar. Especially the girls.

I felt like I owed it to Jolene and Jasmine, who were responsible for rescuing me and taking me in. I couldn’t just leave them behind.

Kalani took my hand, her expression firm and full of confidence.

“We watched from here, but you might not have seen it inside Sesethul’s paw.

” She gestured with an elegant hand at the giant golden dragon who’d sprawled onto his side in the clearing.

The gold Naga dragon rider was slithering all over him, checking his wounded belly and wing with a very serious expression.

I could hear him talk to the beast too—assurances, taunts, jokes even.

“After Ses landed in the palisade and picked you guys up, he broke the palisade, then burned the Krektar with working rifles to clear a path. A small group of humans broke out in his wake, and our warriors have gone to meet them.” Kalani’s words gave me hope; that had to be Jasmine and her group.

They’d gotten separated from Jolene and the other humans.

That was good news. I hoped fervently that it was true.