Page 74 of Rise of a Fallen Man

“Ari! Run!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Over the hissing fire of the worms, the screams of the crowd, and the dragon’s roar, she didn’t hear me.

Frantically tearing the rags away, Nave finally exposed the mirror to the sunlight.

“He isn’t looking here!” she shouted in panic.

The dragon had already turned his back to us, taking the course to the royal platform.

I drew my remaining sword out and slashed through the ropes around Nave’s legs.

“Come. Now.”

I scrambled down the mountain as Nave followed. Normally, she wouldn’t have come down until the very end of the show. There hadn’t been the need for her to learn how to move safely across the arena with the worm fires bursting out.

“Fuck!” she squeaked, shrinking from a blast to our left.

“Stay close.” I maneuvered between the shallow craters in the sand, running but wishing I could fly faster than a dragon.

The three-winged beast headed for the royal platform. The guards rushed to help the queen and the king, who remained in his chair. They lifted him with the chair and carried him downthe stairs. The prince ran after them. Ari followed, but her focus was on the arena.

Through the patches of smoke and fire, our eyes met.

“Run!” I begged. “Run, Ari!”

Even if she could hear me, she had nowhere to run. People rushed to the exit ahead of her. The guards carrying the king were in the way, blocking the stairs.

Several gladiators, led by Noil, headed to us from the fringes of the arena.

“That way.” I gave Nave a little shove toward the path between the two short blue posts in the ground that would lead her to Noil. “Stay between the posts.”

“But where are you going?” she shrieked.

I had no time to answer.

The princess was trapped.

And the dragon was already there.

Ari ducked, shielding her face with her arm. He sank his claws into her shoulders, plucking her off the stairs.

“Ari!” I sprinted toward the stairs as if my life depended on it, because it did. I could no longer imagine life in the world without Ari.

Leaping over the barrier, I jumped up the rows of seats already vacated by the panicked public.

Wind churned under the mighty wings of the dragon. He flew over me, rising higher and higher, with my princess in his claws.

“Ari! No!”

“Salas!” she cried out in terror.

The long trail of her dress swept above me, like a shimmering sail billowing in the wind. I jumped and grabbed onto it.

The dragon roared, lurching to the side. A mirror trout was a big fish, but not nearly as big as a person. The three-winged dragons were known to carry away a sheep or even a small childoccasionally. But the combined weight of the princess and me was likely close to that of a real mountain bear.

It proved too much for the dragon. With a roar, it tried to adjust its grip on Ari but ended up letting her go.

I hit the ground and rolled all the way to the waterfall. As I scrambled to my feet to catch her, she fell into the pond with a splash.

---