Laurence, Savida, and Daithi made their way out of the tree line, following Sigurd as he came closer. But I wasn’t sure how much help they’d be since they hadn’t seen Fafnir either and wouldn’t recognize me unless I turned back to human. Laurence screamed, the girly screech someone only made when genuinely terrified, and stumbled back to hide behind a tree.
I rolled my eyes. What a chicken. “Dralie, I think you should let me take over here.”
“I cannot. If we turn back to your human form, this tree will crush you.”
Well, that threw a spanner in the works. “Unless I say something, they really might try to kill us because they think we are Fafnir. Are you sure we can’t move?”
“I’m certain.” Dralie sighed but didn’t seem too concerned about the threat to our life. He seemed to think we were invincible, despite being stuck.
Savida tiptoed toward me, as if I wouldn’t notice him in my peripheral, and whisper-shouted, “Sigurd, I don’t think throwing stones is going to do anything but make him angry.”
“I’m ensuring he is truly stuck and it is not a trick.”
“He seems injured. Perhaps we can trap him as we wait for help.”
“Wait? Why should we wait? It’s my duty to end him,” Sigurd announced proudly as he glared at me.
“Savida, stay away from him,” Daithi hissed and pulled his daemon soul mate behind him.
I couldn’t blame Sigurd for the confusion. There weren’t a lot of dragons. It was an easy assumption to make.
“Come on. My coloring is completely different! I’m golden, and he’s green. You’re supposed to have battled him. You should know. And maybe I’m a bit dirty right now, but gold and brown still don’t make green.” I sneered at Sigurd. “It’s your duty to recognize that I’m not Fafnir, you idiot. Can you believe we’re related to this guy, Dralie?”
“You are related to him, yet he thinks to harm you.”
“Honestly, I’m getting a complex about all the family members who want to maim me.” I sighed and watched as Sigurd mumbled something. I braced myself for whatever he planned.
“That is unfortunate, indeed. Perhaps you need to discuss your differences,” Dralie continued, oblivious to all the dangers. There was no explaining it to him. He’d see. I just hoped we survived it.
“You sound like Zaide.” I sighed. Trust me to get the peaceful and positive dragon. With my options limited, I made a last-ditch attempt to save us. “If talking will save us, I really should be human.”
“Unless humans can survive the weight of a tree, I do not think it is our best course of action.”
Humans can’t survive the weight of a tree, especially ones this big, so he probably made the right call. But as I watched Sigurd mumble and Daithi raise his hands, I wasn’t sure lying down and taking it was going to help us survive either.
Sigurd never killed Fafnir for good. Maybe I could hope it was an impenetrable dragon skin thing and pray we made it through.
Either way, I was stuck under a tree and in a hard place in all ways, so I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t control anything, and if Clawdia and Zaide were dead, then death seemed like a good option. I didn’t want to be the reason they died when they were going to be the reason I really started living.
With my thoughts dark and my hope dwindling, I did what I did best … pretended it was all okay and made jokes.
“The protector and I will deal with the beast,” Daithi continued, and I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, big man. Protect your soul mate from the beast. I’d rather be a beast than an arsehole, Daithi.”
I was too busy making my witty and cutting (if anyone other than my dragon could hear me) remarks to notice that Sigurd’s spell was ready. He raised his hands, and lightning came flying from him and jabbed at us. We flinched and roared. But we weren’t dead. We weren’t avada-cadabra’ed. Just injured.
“Are we bleeding?” I asked Dralie. “I feel like we’re bleeding.”
But Dralie didn’t reply. He was pissed. So pissed that his emotions bled into mine. The relief I felt at surviving the blow morphed into a red-hot pile of rage. So hot and so consuming that I forgot these were friends, allies, and that I shouldn’t want to murder them for hurting me.
Dralie and I merged into one furious consciousness. Fire burned in our belly, and we roared, spitting flames in huge plumes that scattered across the landscape. Our enemies dove out of the way, but we were still trapped and wriggling under the lumber. With another gust of fire from deep within us, we burned the tree to ashes and freed our wing.
Now they will pay.
We stood, shaking free of the debris, and turned to face them, steam billowing from our nose and a murderous rage clear in our eyes, seen from the reflection in their fearful gazes.
Just as we inhaled, magic enveloped us. Caged us in a box of shimmering blue. It stopped us in our tracks, and as we swung our tail, agitated, the magic zapped us.