Page 30 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

Oh, god… this is really bad, isn’t it?

They’ll figure out I’m missing, but hours later. Sometimes, our old radios lose signals in the caves, so they’ll only figure out I’m missing after I don’t arrive back with the equipment after five.

Am I going to survive past five? Am I going to survive asingle hourstanding in the exposed cold like this?! I sent them all away in case there were dragons or Naga, which could hurt them, but now I… I could die down here.

Is anyone going to come for me before then? In time?

My heart sinks. I don’t think so. I don’t think anyone’s going to come for me before five.

I just need to try and survive. I hunker down next to the boulder, pulling my clothing tighter around myself.

I turn my face to the sky:

“HELP! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?! HELLO!”

But there’s nothing. I’m alone in these woods because I turned everyone away.

He offered.A thought rings in my head,Rufus offered to come with you, and you turned him down because you were too damn proud.

And now you’re going to die of hypothermia because no one else is coming for you.

I bite my lip, but I can’t fight the tears building in my throat. I hide my face as I start to cry.

Chapter 11 - Rufus

“Sorry, Pal,” The man behind the office tells me, “Sheriff’s not coming back with the equipment until five. You’re free to wait here for her if you have that kind of time, or you can come back later.”

“All right,” I say, “Thanks.”

“But you know,” he adds with a chuckle, “she isn’t the only cop in town. If you have a complaint, you could always go direct to the station.”

“Thanks a lot,” I murmur dismissively.

I turn and walk out of the office. I breathe deeply. Her scent hangs heavy on the air around here, her sweet, herbal smell. I start walking at first when I follow it—it’s like a beacon to me.

I only walk as far as the human’s line of sight, then duck away and shift in one huge push. As soon as my scales are released, I beat my wings and take off into the sky. The further into the forest I go, the more frigid the air becomes. By the time I reach the place where Sarah’s scent pools the most, it’s painful to breathe her smell in through my nose—like it’s crystalizing into ice inside my nostrils. It’s like the town exudes heat, and as soon as we’re in the forest, the temperature has dropped like a rock.

Brr! She’s really out there? I hope she’s dressed for it…

I keep flying until the point her scent puddles again. I soar forward just a little further, and her smell disappears; yes, she’s down there.

I turn to a nosedive and find myself in a very random patch of woodland—at first. But as I break down through thecanopy, I’m greeted by agiganticcrevice in the land. It looks like a huge crack has been gouged out of the earth.

As I land—freezing my toes on contact—I pad over to the edge of the hole. When I lean over, I can see the bottom, about ten, maybe twelve feet below me. It’s filling with snow as I watch.

I can’t see Sarah… but her scent is all over this place.

“Sarah?!” I shout, “Are you around here?!”

There’s the smallest mewling sound—a very weak noise. I feel sick to my stomach hearing it.

“Sarah!”I bellow.

The sound happens again; this time, it’s recognizable words.

“Rufus…” Her voice cracks halfway through, speaking my name.

I follow the sound of her voice, and my stomach drops when I see her. She’s curled up next to a boulder in the pit—as if that would shelter her from the snow at all. She is white, and her lips are blue. Her eyes are glassy, barely focusing as she looks at me. She’s covered in a light coating of snow.

---