Page 13 of Redeeming the Dragon

I won’t.

He won’t?I echoed, bemused.Why? Why is he keeping me alive? Where is he taking me? And for what purpose?

I attempted to reign in my scattered thoughts, to swallow down the rank taste of fear. To trust that, if the dragon had kept his word so far, he would continue to. Leaning so far down that I could rest my head against my hands, which continued to cup one of the spikes on the back of his neck, I strove to tear my awareness from the uncertainty of where we were going, and why, and concentrate on the physical sensations around me.

The beast’s smooth scales, which I could feel through my thin clothing.

His rough spikes, like the bark of the wood I stacked for the stove.

The rhythm of his mighty wings. Up, down. Up, down. Endless. Ceaseless. Perpetual. Somehow…oddly comforting.

The sound of his great breaths, pumped in and out of his lungs, like bellows on a furnace. In, out. In, out. He was not winded. He was doing what his body was naturally meant to do. Fly. Fly for hours and hours through a sky that soon lost all traces of daylight, to be replaced by millions of twinkling stars.

I had never seen such stars. Of course, on a quiet night when we sat on the beach before a small fire, the stars would peek through the black canopy above the sea, but they were never like this. Truly, it was a glorious sight to behold—nothing except stars for miles and miles.For infinity. For endless eternity. Stars that never ended as the dragon flew and flew, wings rhythmically pumping up and down, in a quiet tempo that slowly became a lullaby.

The fear of being devoured dissipated. The terror of falling and plunking into the sea disappeared. Even the dread of the unknown, of living as a slave to Aerisia’s mightiest beast, gradually receded. I wriggled a bit on the serpent’s back, readjusting my hold until my cheek rested comfortably on the back of my hands. I allowed the grip of my thighs to loosen ever so slightly. As I leaned into the dragon’s strength, trusting him to keep me aloft and alive, I noticed that deep within his body I could hear a stern, slow thumping. After a moment, I realized it was the pounding of his heart.

I couldn’t say why, but that ceaseless pattern enveloped me with an odd sense of peace. Above me were the stars. On either side were the dragon’s wings. Beneath me, in the cavity of his great body, was his heart.

Pounding. Beating. Slowly. Incessantly. Soothingly.

If I am to die soon,I thought, resting my cheek on my hands,at least let me enjoy these final moments of life.

My eyelids drifted close. Unbelievably, even though I soared into a future full of mystery, on a beast capable of ripping my flesh to shreds, or devouring me in a couple of bites, I managed to fall asleep.

Chapter 7

Lorna.

A calm, quiet voice called my name, ripping me from unconsciousness.

Lorna.

Who is that?

The voice was unfamiliar. It was not that of my father, my mother, or my sisters. It was masculine, and yet sibilant and strange.

Lorna. Wake up, Lorna.

My face scrunched in protest. I’d been so nicely asleep. Whoever was calling me was not brooking my refusal to awaken. I felt a mighty quaking. My eyelids flew open, a million thoughts racing through my head as I remembered I was on the back of a dragon, somewhere over the trackless ocean. If he shook me too hard, I’d fall off and die. A scream erupted from my lips as I jerked upright, my hands tightening on his spike.

“Stop! Don’t throw me off!” I begged.

Lorna!The voice was sterner now.We are here.

Here? We’d arrived? But where was here?

My eyes had flown open. It took a moment to see where I was. My body began to shiver, warning me of things to come before my vision had adjusted.

Winter? Snow?

I had never seen such things. Well, occasionally snow would blanket the highest mountain peaks that formed the spine of my home island. Other than that, I had no experience with it. I’d only heard of it, and read of it in books. This had to be it, though. Sparkling, white, and cold.

So cold.

I’d never experienced such cold.

My body was shaking. I was not dressed for this depth of cold. All of the clothes in my bag would not shield me from such cold.

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