Page 62 of Dragon Heir

Chapter Thirty-Four

I froze and my eyes widened. My first thought was the missing little girl. I scoured the area for signs of the brown-haired mouse but nothing could be seen. The sound came again, however.

“We need to find him,” Will spoke up.

I furrowed my brow at him. “Do you hear him this time?”

Will nodded. “I think it’s coming from our right and deeper into the woods.”

I examined my weakened companion and didn’t like the odds. “Do you have enough fire left in you to protect us?”

“Enough for one last blast but you would have to carry me back,” he warned me.

“Uh, how do you feel about being carried by our feet?”

“Not at all confident you could get me back. You’d have to leave me.”

I adjusted his weight and glared at him. “Then you’ll just have to save what’s left and use your own legs. Now let’s go see who’s crying.”

We shambled out of the blackened hole created by Will’s magic and into the woods. The sound soon grew louder and the woods opened into a small clearing of grass and leaves. A small boy sat on the ground with his back against a stone. He was huddled like the little girl with his legs tucked against his chest and his head hidden in his limbs. His whole boy quivered like a leaf in a windstorm.

This was starting to become an epidemic of abandoned children.

“Hello?” I called out as we approached the lad. “Are you hurt?” The boy’s sobs only grew louder and he shrank into himself.

“We’ve come to help you,” Will assured him as he eased himself off my shoulder and stood on his own strength. He opened his arms and hands in front of him. “See? We don’t mean you any harm.”

The boy let out a terrible wail and buried his face deeper into his knees. Will made to move forward but I set a hand on his shoulder. “You stay here. I have practice doing this, remember?”

He pursed his lips and inspected the open area. “I will watch our surroundings.”

I nodded and strode over to the quivering boy. His jeans and shirt were soiled and mud covered his arms. I knelt before the child and offered him my hand and a bright smile. “Hello there. What are you doing out-”

The boy lifted his head and his tear-filled eyes met mine. They were big and dark like those of the girl, but there was something about their depths that sent a shiver down my spine. My smile faltered and I drew my hand back a little.

The boy drew his legs beneath him and held out his hand. “Please,” he whimpered as his lower lip trembled. “Please help me. I’m lost.”

I inched my way toward the young man and kept both my wary eyes on him. “How’d you get out here?”

He sniffled. “I. . .I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.”

“Not even your name?” I questioned the kid.

He shook his head. “No.” The boy stretched out his hand to me. “Will you help me? Please?”

Every fiber in my being told me to run. Run and don’t look back.

“Rose?” Will called out and there was a distinct tension in his voice. “Is something the matter?”

“N-nothing, just talking to him,” I replied with more assurance than I felt.

The boy stretched out both arms and wiggled his fingers at me. “Why aren’t you coming to me? Please! I need help!”

The urgency in his voice pulled at my heartstrings but my head was screaming at me to back up. To run away. “I-I-”

“Please!” The timbre in the boy’s voice changed. There was something hideously vicious in those words that came from that child-like mouth.

I flung myself back and out of the boy’s reach, but his arms lengthened and expanded into those of a full-grown man. His hands wrapped around my throat and cut off my air, sending my brain into a panic. Things were made all the worse when the thing choked me hard enough to cut off my air supply.

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