Page 20 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

“Terra…”

The Dragon screeched again, breaking into a lumbering charge, only taking a few steps before shifting. It happened in aninstant, the change occurring with a twist of the air. And then Ezren, armed with two scims of his own, barreled towards us. I would have laughed at the obscenity of it, but a blood thirst raged in his eyes, sending a chill down my spine.

He did not recognize us.

“Ah, fer fucks sake, Terra,” Leiya growled. “Get yerself behind me, and when the bloke’s distracted, get yerself a fucking weapon!”

Her tone rang clear enough. I leaped far behind her, my eyes not leaving him. Leiya bent her knees in anticipation, crossing her arms over her shoulders, and drew the pair of gleaming blades from her back. Leiya was only a few inches shorter than Ezren, and from what I gathered, equally skilled in combat. But he had an edge to him—a fury I hadn’t seen before.

And then he was upon her.

Scim collided with scim, and flashes of steel whipped around too fast to track. Leiya landed a few blows, but so did Ezren, and his were harder. I searched the ground for anything I could use as a weapon. I stumbled over a small boulder I hadn’t seen before, as if the stone rolled out to trip me. I picked it up, feeling its weight. Heavy enough to do damage, but not too heavy to be unusable.

I slipped the dirt-stained shirt over my head, silently thanking whoever had left me clothes for thinking to include a brassiere. I laid the linen unbuttoned on the soft grass and tore a single strip from the hem. I placed the rock in the middle of the shirt, gathering up the fabric and twisting it around the stone. I tied the rock in place with the torn strip and gave my make-shift bolas a few good swings. The small boulder stayed steady in place as I whipped it through the air by holding the sleeves. I had no idea if it would be effective, but it would have to do.

I looked back to Ezren and Leiya. They continued to do battle, and I knew I couldn’t swing my weapon with any accuracywhile they danced. I held it behind me and crept towards them, preparing for my opening. Ezren knocked one of Leiya’s swords to the side and landed a firm kick on her middle that sent her flying a dozen feet back. She landed with a thud, her other scim ricocheting out of her hand. She groaned, the wind knocked from her lungs.

With his back to me, Ezren approached Leiya. I ran toward him, not making a sound, wondering what I would do if he turned his blades on me. But before I could consider the potential repercussions, I whirled my weapon with as much force as I could muster.

The inelegant blow landed with a crack on his left shoulder. From the impact alone, I could tell it was a considerable strike. One of his scims dropped, and he turned to me in a wild fury, but half bent over. I was ready for him. Swinging up diagonally, I sent the boulder into his abdominals. He fell on hands and knees, releasing his other blade, wheezing. I sprinted over to Leiya, who still struggled to get up. I extended a hand, pulling her to stand. She swayed on her feet.

“Stay here. I’ll run towards the boulder field and lead him away,” I whispered to her.

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No, Terra. Can’t. Leave. Ye,” she choked out.

I spun and took off. Ezren stood again but still without his blades, his palms pressed into his thighs, heavy breaths escaping him. I shot past him, denying him the chance to grab me. I felt a comforting assistance from the ground, giving the slightest spring to my step, pushing me faster and faster. The Earth was on my side. Despite the circumstances, I smiled.

But he, too, held an advantage. The strong Dragon blood must have still been pumping through his veins. How long until his strength waned?

I ran away from the coastline, maybe a hundred yards off, towards the expansive field. Boulders, large and small, dotted mossy green grass and granite rocks towered next to slabs of flat stone. If I made it, maybe I could tire him out, weaving through the obstacles.

One of his steps cracked a nearby branch—he was gaining on me. I barely reached the edge of the clearing before Ezren tackled me to the ground. I gritted my teeth and rolled him off, ending my fall in a small crouch, weapon still in hand.

Thank the gods he didn’t have his scims. He faced me, expression untamed and wild. He was a disheveled mess, tendrils of sweat-soaked dark auburn hair dancing down his forehead and his shirt half ripped, revealing the definition in his chest. I swung my bolas in a figure eight, building the momentum. He pounced, and I aimed for his head, hoping to land a clean knockout. He ducked and then rose again. My weapon veered toward him again, nearly of its own accord. He leaned back, allowing the bludgeon to glide past, grabbing the neck of the cloth, ripping it from my hands.

The force pulled me into him, but he pushed, shoving me into the sheer face of a nearby megalith. I collided with it, back first. I would have slid down the stone, sinking to my feet, but Ezren was upon me, his body pinning me to the wall. I had to jerk my head upward to look up at him. The brutishness remained on his face, but he looked down at me with an animal desire that was not the same bloodthirsty expression he had given Leiya.

I froze, my throat tightening. The scent of male sweat and piñon lined my nostrils, and the rise and fall of his chest grazed my own. His forearms framed my head, flush with the rock, as he dipped his face to mine. Up close I could see his pupils remained in his Dragon form—vertical slits, almost like that of a cat, rather than circles.

Sweat dribbled down the sides of my face as we both panted. Droplets of blood clung to his scruff. I freed my hand, ready to twist and send a sharp hook into the ribs I knew I’d broken with my bolas. Before I could, Ezren took my cheek in his large palm, his thumb grazing the bottom of my jaw, and he tilted my head back and to the side. He shuttered his slitted eyes and ran his tongue up my neck to my temple, tasting the salt of my sweat and sending a tremor through my body.

His fingers found my neck and squeezed, his teeth snagging my earlobe.

A whimper escaped my lips, and my heart pounded so violently I thought it might explode. The sound stilled him for an instant. His body remained taut, loaded with tension. He turned my face back to his, and I opened my eyes, unaware I had closed them. His pupils were the circular kind again, set in a bed of emeralds on a face now filled with pure terror. His gaze shifted down my front, an almost undetectable linger on the space where my shirt should have been.

“Terra,” he breathed, saying my name for the first time to my ears like a prayer, his hand still cupping my cheek.

I didn’t have time to answer, for a deadly strike to the back side of his head knocked him away from me, a strike delivered by Leiya with the hilt of her blade.

I remained flush with the boulder, aghast. Leiya wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist and said, “Well, let’s get thes fucker tied up.”

Leiya hadsome rope tucked under her leathers. It seemed she had expected things to go about as they had. I helped her bind his hands and feet together.

I retrieved my shirt, now torn and decorated with blood and grime. Untangling it, I fastened what buttons were left after the whipping it delivered.

“Leuffen will be here soon, ye can rest en the meantime. He wilna give us any trouble now.” She gestured to Ezren.

I wrapped my arms around myself and nestled into the curvature of a soft boulder. The sea breeze felt warm, but a shiver danced over my skin. I grazed my face and winced; a small bruise must have been blooming on my cheekbone. I shook my head to clear the tears that were forming. Too much was happening too fast; I couldn’t keep up. One more thing to add to the list of things I didn’t understand, didn’t know how to process.

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