Page 19 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

After a few moments of peace, a pain stabbed in my chest. As if my heart was being ripped from my body. I shrieked in surprise, the scream echoing in my small bubble, ringing in my ears.

The sound—or maybe the pain—woke me from my trance, and terror swelled. I could no longer sense my family reaching out for me across the edge of life. I searched, desperate for that sense of warmth. But I could not feel it. I pictured my mother’s face, eyes alight.Survive, daughter. The Terra I know does not give up.

Her words echoed, and I blinked, unsure if her voice was in my head or somehow spoken out loud. But I was alone in the dark bubble—and I knew what she told me. She told me totry.

I closed my eyes again, reaching out to the power. But this time when I saw the pulse of the Earth in my mind’s eye, I did not touch it lightly. I grabbed it, holding fast in my grip. “Release,” I whispered.

Light pierced the darkness and the ground opened up once more, revealing a yawning depth below us. And then we were falling again, and I realized the beast had lost consciousness. Somehow, its talons remained locked around me and I hit them wherever I could get purchase, desperately trying to wake my would-be rescuer. I screamed until my voice went raw. We plummeted toward what appeared to be the bottom of the crevice, and I could do nothing to stop the impact. Hysteria bubbled up my throat, the realization I didn’t actually want to die sending a bolt of panic through my spine.

I’d commanded the Earth to release us, hoping to save myself and my rescuer. Ironic, that it would lead to our ends.

“Gods save us,” I whispered, bracing for the looming collision.

But it wasn’t the gods who saved us. A moment later, we took flight.

The beast shotout of the ground as if catapulted into the sky. My eyes darted around for Dane, but we were moving too fast for me to pick anything out of the smoking debris that littered the previously flowered meadow.

I hung limp in the creature’s talons as we soared up and up, away from camp and past the edge of the forest. I hadn’t askedwhere we were, and I didn’t recognize this land.Far enough from Argention, then.We passed treetops and mountains capped with creamy white glaciers that turned into rolling green hills. The sun’s bright light reflected off the snow, and not a cloud dotted the blue sky.

Mere minutes later, an endless body of water came into focus, and the creature began its descent. The flying beast dropped me, none too gently, on the sheer cliffs bordering the coastline, covered in lush foliage and with no forest in sight. Only a field of boulders to my right and the steep drop-off to my left were visible. For a terrible moment, I thought it would fly away and leave me there, stranded.

But the creature just circled around, adjusting its approach for landing, which let me see its full form. The animal had a scaled body with imposing webbed wings that spread out longer than four of my cottages combined.

Dragon.

The rear talons that had held me collided with the ground, the impact reverberating through the plain, nearly throwing me off balance. The towering beast lowered its head, which was dotted with menacing spikes that ran down its spine in two lines. When my gaze met its face, I went ice cold.

Emerald green eyes, blazing on fire.

CHAPTER NINE

BURNING EYES

The pendant at my throat seemed to sear into my skin. Staring into the Dragon’s eyes was like looking at the hottest part of the fire, at the glowing coals that weren’t quite red, but weren’t quite blue. The coals that burn the watcher’s eyes, watering and drying them from the smoke. It sat so still, pinning me with its stare, barbed tail swishing from behind.

Maybe it’s true. Maybe the ancient gods really are divine immortals. Perhaps this is Raingar the Magnificent, from the fables we were told as children. Maybe I have gone crazy, and magic is real, or maybe I’m dead after all.

But I didn’t feel dead; I felt unsettlinglyawake.Those eyes were the same ashis, save for the pupils, which were slits instead of circles.

The Dragon continued studying me, but not with the level of recognition I would have expected from a rescuer. In my trance, I advanced a step and raised my hands slowly, exposed. But before I took another step, something caught in my peripheral—a brown blur rushing towards me. The sun reached its mid-point, and I had to shade my eyes, but the blur came into focus as a spotted falcon. It transformed mid-air, and Leiya landedgracefully in a crouch with one hand on the ground. I gaped. She wore battle dress, with two long scimitars strapped to her back. I had seen her sharpening her blades many a time but not wearing them in anticipation of use. The thin, curved blades looked menacing on her strong frame. And a cold focus gleamed in her eyes, which were fixed on the Dragon.

The Dragon’s body tensed but remained still, as did Leiya. “Terra,” she said coolly. “Slowly walk backward an’ move behind me.”

My confusion intensified, but I moved, slow steps at first, my hands still in the air. “Is that not Ezren?” Had I mistaken those eyes? Or misunderstood Dane’s lesson on Fae shifts?

“Aye, but nay will he thenk as Ezren. We need te move before he shefts.”

“What do you mean?” I whispered. “You changed and are just as you always are.”

“I dunay have time fer thes! Get yer hind behind me. Leuffen well be here soon.”

Her demanding tone sent a regrettable bolt of stubbornness through my body. “What’s wrong with him? He just saved my life. Why would he hurt me now?”

Apparently, the Dragon who was and wasn’t Ezren didn’t like my raised voice, however subtle. He gave out a sharp cry, head angled towards the sky, talons scraping at the ground like a horse preparing for battle.

Shit.

No way could we stand against a Dragon. Unless Leiya slew it with a well-positioned strike of her blade. Which I guessed would be a fatal blow to Ezren. The options did not seem optimal.

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