Page 33 of Redeeming the Dragon

Exasperated, exhausted by rising and smothered hope, I collapsed onto the bed, turned my face into the pillow, and sniffed away tears.

I will not cry. I will not cry. I am not powerless. I wrung the promise from him. He will keep it. I will not cry. I will not…

I fell asleep.

“Lorna.”

A voice. An audible voice, low and clear, loud enough to wrest me from my dreams.

“Lorna.”

“Who is it?” I gasped, sitting upright. My head whipped from side to side, seeking the speaker, but all I saw were the deep shadows of my room.

“Follow me, Lorna,” spoke the voice.

The dragon.

“Where are you?” I demanded, for his human form was not in my bed and the dragon would not fit inside this chamber.

Rather than a man or beast, I saw a light. A glow.

“Lorna, follow me,” the voice insisted.

The light moved. Was I to follow it? Was this what he meant?

Hope charged my heart like electricity charging a storm. I leapt from my bed, ignoring the cold floor on my bare feet as I ran into the curtained-off corner of my room where I’d left a change of clothes hanging, just in case. My fingers trembled, slipping as I tied laces and fastened buttons. They slipped worse as I fought to bind my hair into a braid. I’m sure the resulting effort was as messy as could be, but it was dark and who was to see?

Dashing out, I slipped on my shoes, donned the cloak, and grabbed my bag. Sliding my arm through the strap, I secured it across my chest and ran towards the light.

“I am ready,” I announced breathlessly, as if the dragon, the light, the magic—whoever was speaking to me and guiding me—didn’t know. “Let us go.”

There was no verbal reply, but the light led me down cool corridors, dank from the smell of stone and underground. We trod mazes that would have left me spinning in circles if I’d attempted them solo. The journey took so long that a niggling fear crept into my mind—that he was leading me astray and not into freedom, as I’d hoped.

Suppose this is a rouse? Suppose he’s moving your prison rather than taking you home? Suppose…

No. Stop supposing,I told myself firmly.Fear does you no good.

Encouraged, I clung to the knowledge that, frightening as he may be and unpleasant as my predicament may have been, the dragonhad not hurt me. And then I saw a path of shimmering darkness, illuminated by the moon shining on a frosty, sparkling landscape.

I stopped, cold prickling my skin. My lips parted in awe at a sight that I’d seen a million times in my life and taken for granted.

The sky. The moon. Stars, millions of them, twinkling their joy at my first breath of freedom.

I’m out of the cave! He told the truth. He’s taking me home.

Intense joy welled up from the bottom of my heart, spiraling from my core and throughout my entire being.

He’s taking me home!

“Lorna.”

The light bobbed impatiently, gleaming on the powdery white snow.

Oh!

Dashing away the tears with the edge of my hand, I sped after it to a shape that emerged from the shadow of the hillside, darker than the landscape itself.

The dragon.

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