Page 21 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

Somewhere I thought no longer existed.

Lashing out in rage, I caught Dayvin by surprise. Scales peeled back and flew everywhere as two of my claws gouged a long track down his flank. He struck back hard, teeth going for my hind leg. They sunk in deep, but at the same time, we fetched up hard against a level stretch of ground.

My weight landed on him, and he opened wide, gasping for air as the weight of a second dragon on his stomach drove all the oxygen from his lungs.

I smashed his snout with my tail, then tried to clamp my jaws overtop to keep it closed, but he ducked under me and lunged upward with his entire bulk. Lifted from my feet, I flailed wildly as the blow deposited me on my back.

Leaping like a wild man, Dayvin tried to strike a fatal blow on my exposed belly with his claws outstretched.

Instead of ending the fight, he was greeted with a stream of fire that enveloped his face and caught one extended wing, wilting the ultra-thin membrane and flinging him off to one side. Then I was rolling and regaining my feet.

Tail whipped, claws slashed, and teeth sought purchase as we circled, neither of us giving up. In minutes, we were both bleeding, and crimson and cobalt scales littered the rocky ground beneath us, portions of it slick with blood. But none of the wounds were fatal or fight-stopping. Neither of us was winning.

“Will you two stop it?” Elanya called from above, furious at us. “I am not some sort of possession to be fought over!”

Except to my dragon, that was exactly what she was. She was mine. I would never let another touch her, not now that it knew her. Knew what she was. I still hadn’t quite realized the implications of it, but I could feel its determination.

I stopped dancing and threw myself at Dayvin. I used all the skills I’d learned, the training I’d gone through. I fought like a savage, taking a vicious wound to my shoulder.

But the attack left Dayvin open. Vulnerable. My neck snapped forward, and my teeth closed around his. He stilled immediately. All it would take would be one shake of my head to rip out his throat, and he knew it.

“Fine,” he spat, yielding. “Have her, then, if you care that much.”

My dragon roared triumphantly. I let him go, and the blue dragon, with one last angry glare, spread his wings and flew away gingerly. Leaving me the victor.

Looking back, my long neck curling around itself, I stared up the hill to the “prize” my dragon was so insistent to claim.

Spreading my wings, I flew back up to the ledge, careful to land on the far side from where she stood, so I didn’t buffet her with my wings too much.

“So, what now?” she asked, eyeing me up and down. “Am I just supposed to come with you instead?”

“Yes,” I rumbled, watching her eyes as I spoke to her for the first time.

There was a flicker in them. Like she thought she knew my voice. But she didn’t immediately recognize it.

“What makes you think I have any more interest in going with you than I did with him?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“For one, because I will treat you better than he ever would,” I vowed. “I will not be rude or treat you like you’re lesser than. Which we both know is exactly what Dayvin would do.”

“How can I trust that?” she asked suspiciously.

I noticed, however, she didn’t immediately call me a liar. I wanted to tell her about my dragon, and how insistent it was about her. How badly I longed to shift, to go to her and simply touch her. Staying that far away was like having spikes driven through me. The pain of not being next to her was growing with each passing second as my dragon became more insistent.

“There is a reason,” I said. “One I know will work.”

“So, tell me it.”

“Climb on my back, and I will show you,” I said, watching the skies in my peripheral vision as my ears also listened to the depths of the cavern below.

We needed to get a move on. Soon.

“That’s not any better than his offer,” Elanya pointed out. “It’s still very cryptic and secretive.”

“Perhaps,” I agreed, growing more agitated with every passing second. “But then again, I also came here and fought him. For you. Would I really do that if I intended anything ill?”

Elanya hesitated. “Probably not,” she admitted, taking several steps toward me.

I extended my wing, careful to go slowly and cautiously, so as not to scare her.

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