Page 47 of Soar

The voice was coming from the man approaching but sounded closer. It took him far too long to realize the helmet he was wearing was set up with a walkie-talkie system so the firefighters could speak to each other while still wearing the mask and respirator.

Gregori forced a smile and gave the man a thumbs-up, even though he wasn’t feeling it.

“Chief asked me to back you up,” the firefighter explained. The name Calhoun was painted on the side of his helmet.

All right, now we have a life clearly depending on us. Care to get in the game? Gregori snarled at his dragon.

This time when he called on his magic, ice blasted from his palm and fingertips, suppressing the fire in a heartbeat and coating the walls in thick ice. Much better. Calhoun cheered in his ear and Gregori breathed a small sigh of relief.

They worked their way slowly through the second floor, extinguishing every fire. Where the walls and other supports appeared weak, he added a wall of ice to provide temporary support. The air wasn’t as hot as it had been, but the ice wasn’t going to last long.

Calhoun remained on his heels every step of the way, offering his advice on where to head next and warnings when the floor looked too weak to support either of them. Gregori was gratefulfor the company. It seemed to stir his seemingly apathetic dragon enough to give him the magic he needed to put out the fires.

Yet, he could also feel the firefighter’s watchful eyes when the magic failed to come on the first and second tries on occasion. Frustration and fear mounted in Gregori’s chest. He was hundreds of years old, and he’d never had a problem like this.

Finally, they cleared the second floor and hurried to the third. The more Gregori used his magic, the better it responded. By the time he finished with the third floor, it was acting exactly as it should. Calhoun spoke with some of his fellow firefighters to get an update on how many people were in the building. The fifth floor had been completely evacuated, but there were two firefighters left on the fourth floor and they still had apartments to check.

Gregori and Calhoun moved up to the fourth floor after some firefighters helped a young woman down from the fifth. She was covered in soot and sweat, but there were no visible burns on her. Gregori prayed she suffered from nothing more than a little smoke inhalation.

On the fourth floor, the other team had beaten back the flames on one half of the building, so Gregori moved to the other half, working to extinguish the fire and shore up the support beams for a little bit longer. They didn’t get more than a few feet before they heard a frantic bark from what sounded like a small dog.

Gregori rushed forward, spreading ice everywhere, snuffing out the fire with a sharp sizzle and hiss of ice covering hot surfaces. White steam replaced black smoke with every step. Halfway down the hall, he reached a closed door, and using his right foot, he kicked it in with a massive bang. Fire rushed out togreet him, but he fought back with wave after wave of ice until even the fallen beams and black walls were crusted with frost.

He charged inside with Calhoun on his heels. A tiny Yorkie met him in the living room, but when he tried to grab for it, the dog darted away, leading him down the hall to a single bedroom, where a young man lay unconscious next to his bed.

Without missing a step, Gregori scooped up the dog and handed it over to Calhoun, then picked up the young man. His eyelids fluttered and he coughed, each breath a harsh wheeze. They took the survivors out to the hall, where they were met by the other team. Gregori and Calhoun handed over the tenants before Gregori charged back into the apartment to make one last sweep, making sure no one else lived there.

A hand grabbed his arm and jerked him around so that he faced his companion. “Time to get out!”

“We need to check the rest of the floor!” Gregori shouted back, only to fall into a harsh fit of coughing. He swayed slightly on his feet. Was the heat finally getting to him? Or the smoke? Why wasn’t his magic filtering the air for him?

“Other team confirmed this was the last one. We need to clear out now!”

Gregori hesitated, looking around the apartment. His eyes skimmed over simple furniture and a TV with a gaming system. There was a basket of laundry beside the couch. Had the guy been meaning to wash it? His brain locked up. What if they missed someone?

“We leave now!” Calhoun repeated. This time, his hand tightened around Gregori’s arm and gave him a hard pull toward the door.

Gregori stumbled and was forced to follow the firefighter out. Of course. He wasn’t in charge here. He was following their lead.

As if rising out of his own mental fog, Gregori followed Calhoun down the stairs and out of the building without furtherincident. He glimpsed people in a rough semicircle several yards away, watching the fire. Some were wrapped in blankets and streaked with soot. Others seemed to be gawkers curious about the fire. He glanced over his shoulder to find the black smoke had significantly reduced and the only flames visible were now on the fourth and fifth floors.

Even after reaching the safety of the street, Calhoun didn’t release him. He dragged Gregori over to one of the ambulances and covered his mouth with an oxygen mask. As much as he wanted to say he didn’t need it, he couldn’t deny that first deep breath was amazing. The last of the fog cleared from his brain.

The firefighter next to him pushed off his helmet and removed his respirator, so Gregori could see the smiling face of a middle-aged man with dark hair and bright brown eyes. “You doin’ okay now?”

“Yeah, better. Thanks.” It was hard to be convincing when Gregori had to stop twice to cough up some black crap from his lungs. “Calhoun?”

“Yep, but you can call me Derek.”

“Thanks for your help, Derek. Gregori Valerii,” he said, sticking his hand out to shake Derek’s.

“No problem, man. Dragons are a national treasure for all of us. Someone needed to watch your back.”

Gregori huffed out a weak laugh before placing the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose again. He didn’t feel like much of a treasure right now, but it was fine. At least he got some of the fire out and helped to save the guy and his dog.

Derek cocked his head to the side so he was in Gregori’s line of sight. “But are you sure you’re okay? I know the docs probably can’t help a dragon much, but you seemed…a little off.”

Gregori flashed his new friend a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m not feeling quite myself recently.”

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