Page 43 of Catastrophe

“Don’t be smug.”

“This is a free realm. I can be smug if I want to be.”

“It’s annoying.”

“Aren’t you tired?” Baelen drawled.

“I’m so tired I could die, but my skin feels itchy.”

He paused, and I could feel his eyes on me again. Creep. “Perhaps it’s a symptom of the shift?”

“Maybe.” As our conversation naturally ended, I reflected on what he talked about earlier. “You know, you still are the savior of the titans, right?”

“Hm?”

“There’s not one savior. That would be a big ask for anyone and probably a lot of stress. But there will be a team working to free titans as soon as this dragon is dealt with. Starting with Zaide’s siblings. Your dads might be pricks, but it doesn’t mean your mom was ever wrong. We’re all the saviors. We just need to figure out what to do next.”

“Thank you, Charlie,” he replied quietly, but I didn’t respond. My eyes were closed, the buzzing under my skin dulled. Before long, I was dead to the world.

A deafening roar shattered the stillness of the night, and my eyes shot open. The air seemed to grow hot, and the dull buzzing inside me suddenly felt like ants marching under my skin.

Dralie, what the fuck is happening?

But he didn’t respond. He seemed … lost? Can you lose a dragon in your head?

I jumped out of the sleeping bag and lurched to the zip, and I stumbled out into the cold air, everyone else a breath behind me.

The moon was low in the trees, and silhouetted in its glow was a dragon. Fafnir’s green wings were outstretched, and his eyes glowed as he stared down at us and almost hypnotized me.

My blood seemed to dance under my skin and heated like a sudden fever, my breaths came in pants, and my vision blurred for a moment. But I heard his large inhale and knew what was coming next.

“Run!” I yelled as I staggered toward the forest.

I didn’t check if the others were following, for I could hear the thundering sound of feet behind me, and as flames lit up the dark woodland and the heat blasted through us, we staggered to the ground, holding our heads and hiding in the undergrowth.

“I will fight him,” Sigurd announced.

“This dragon isn’t on the ground and hurt. Let’s just try to live another day!” I shouted back at him and gripped the belt hoop of his trousers to keep him from heading back toward the dragon.

“We should head back to the tunnel,” Laurence whispered.

“You can’t portal us away?” I asked, my gaze flitting between Baelen and Daithi.

“Not unless you’d like to burn as we wait for it to form?” Baelen replied, and we all ducked again as another huge gust of flames headed toward us.

The trees crackled as they caught fire and it spread from one to the other. Burning leaves and branches fell, lighting up the undergrowth. It happened in seconds, but as Fafnir’s wings fanned, the flames and smoke rose into the air rapidly. I coughed. We couldn’t deliberate. We didn’t have the time. We need to move. Now.

The dragon inhaled again, and my heart stuttered. I stumbled to my feet, my eyes streaming, and shouted, “Fucking run!”

We sprinted away, Daithi and Savida in front, leading the way, Baelen, and Sigurd striding alongside me, and Laurence panting loudly behind us. Fafnir swooped up and over the canopy, spewing fire and watching us.

Please tell me we are close. Dralie, how fast can we shift? Fast enough for me to be scaly before I’m blasted?

But Dralie didn’t reply. Silence echoed around my mind.

I couldn’t panic about it, though, since Fafnir dived into the burning and weakened trees, sending them crashing into us.

“Fuck!” I cursed as I scrambled back to avoid a burning trunk. Baelen and Sigurd pulled ahead, leaving me behind.

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