Page 2 of Hot for the Dragon

Daphne crept to her front window, pushing aside a curtain of hanging ivy. Her heart stopped. A massive red dragon perched atop the post office across the street, its scales gleaming like fresh blood in the afternoon sun. As she watched, it reared back its head and belched a stream of fire that melted the weather vane.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no." Her knees wobbled as she counted more dragons - twelve in total, ranging from copper to obsidian, all wreaking havoc on her peaceful street. One of them, a bronze beast the size of a bus, crushed Mrs. Henderson's car beneath its claws. A green dragon swooped past her window, so close she could see the individual scales on its belly. The draft from its wings sent her wind chimes into a frenzied dance.

"This is bad," she muttered, backing away from the window. Her plants rustled nervously, picking up on her fear. "Really bad."

The sound of shattering glass came from somewhere down the street, followed by more screams. Through her window, Daphne watched as people ran for cover, some ducking into shops, others sprinting for their cars.

A dragon's roar shook the entire building, and her hanging baskets swayed dangerously. The succulent collection on her windowsill huddled together, their leaves curling inward protectively.

"If they come this way..." She glanced at her beloved plants, many of which were irreplaceable magical specimens. Her night-blooming cereus had taken three years to mature, and the singing snapdragons were the last of their kind in the city.

The street outside glowed orange as another gout of flame lit up the afternoon sky. Her green magic tingled beneath her skin, responding to her plants' distress.

Through her shop window, Daphne spotted a group of people huddled behind an overturned car. A copper dragon swooped low over the street, its shadow sweeping across the pavement like a dark tide.

"In here!" She flung open her shop door. "Quick, quick!"

The group sprinted inside - a mother clutching two children, an elderly man with a cane, and a teenager still wearing his fast-food uniform. The bell chimed cheerfully, completely at odds with the chaos outside.

"Behind the counter," Daphne directed, ushering them past displays of roses that trembled in sympathy with her racing heart.

A deafening roar shook the building. Through the window, a large, dark blue dragon landed on the boutique across the street, its claws puncturing the awning like tissue paper. Its head soon swiveled, and its golden eyes fixed directly on Petal & Vine.

The ivy on her walls recoiled. Her magical moonflowers began closing despite the daylight, and the Venus flytrap snapped its jaws repeatedly in warning.

"Oh no," Daphne whispered. "No, no, no."

The dragon's chest began to glow.

"Everyone out the back door!" She herded the group through her workroom. "Past the compost bins, there's an alley that leads to Maple Street!"

"But what about-" the teenager started.

"Go!"

The door barely clicked shut behind them when heat blasted through the shop. Daphne watched in horror as flames engulfed her beloved store. The roses screamed - a sound only she could hear - as fire consumed them. Her magical specimens withered, decades of careful breeding and nurturing reduced to ash in seconds.

The singing snapdragons managed one final mournful note before they burned. The moonflowers exploded in a shower of silver sparks. Her ivy, loyal to the end, tried to shield the other plants but crumbled to cinders.

Tears streamed down Daphne's light brown cheeks as everything she'd built went up in flames. The dragon watched from above, smoke curling from its nostrils, while her dreams burned with her shop.

Through her tears, Daphne watched as the massive dark blue dragon's scales began to ripple and shrink. The transformation was mesmerizing - like watching a time-lapse of a flower blooming in reverse. Where the dragon had perched, Carmen Kane now stood, her boots crushing what remained of the boutique's awning.

"Look at you all," Carmen's voice carried across the burning street. "Cowering behind your Council's precious rules and regulations." She spread her arms wide, gesturing to the destruction around her. "Where are they now? Where's their protection?"

A charred rose petal drifted past Daphne's face. The last surviving tendril of ivy wrapped around her ankle, seeking comfort. Her throat burned from the smoke.

"The Council is weak!" Carmen's laugh echoed off the buildings. "They can't even keep their own streets safe. But we can." She paced along the roof's edge, her shadow falling across Daphne's ruined shop. "When my wing returns, we'll show you what real protection looks like. What real power looks like."

The remaining dragons circled overhead, their wings casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the street.

"Dragons were meant to rule," Carmen called out. "Not hide behind human laws."

Her form shifted again, scales erupting across her skin like sapphires breaking through earth. Within seconds, the massive dark blue dragon took flight, leading her wing toward the horizon.

Daphne stood frozen, her fingers still tingling with unused green magic. A single thought kept repeating in her mind: her singing snapdragons had been the last of their kind in Saltwater Grove. The knowledge sat in her chest like a stone.

The ivy at her ankle gave one final squeeze before crumbling to ash.

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