Page 7 of Samuel
The impact sent me spiraling, pain exploding in my ribs.
I fought to regain control, my wings beating frantically as I righted myself mid-air.
The rogue circled around, its massive jaws snapping as it prepared for another attack.
I inhaled deeply, feeling the familiar burn in my throat before I exhaled a jet of fire.
The flames engulfed the rogue’s wings, causing it to scream in fury, but it wasn’t enough to stop it.
It dove at me again, this time with a speed that caught me off guard.
Its claws tore into my back, and I felt the sting of blood running down my scales.
I roared again, twisting sharply to throw it off, but the bastard clung on, refusing to let go.
My wings faltered, and for a moment, I thought I was going to crash into the trees below.
With a final, desperate burst of strength, I managed to dislodge the rogue, sending it tumbling through the air.
I was breathing hard, pain coursing through every part of me, but I wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.
I dove after the rogue, my talons extended, ready to tear into it—when it suddenly shifted course, veering away from me and disappearing back into the thick forest below.
I hovered in mid-air, blood dripping from my wounds as I watched the rogue vanish.
It had retreated for now, but it wasn’t over. Not yet.
The battle had ended in a stalemate, but I knew it would return to finish the job.
My body ached as I flew back to the cabin, the small structure nestled deep in the woods where I’d been staying for the past few weeks.
By the time I landed in the clearing outside, my strength was nearly gone.
Shifting back into human form was an excruciating process, the wounds from the battle making every movement a fresh wave of agony.
Once inside, I headed straight for the shower, the hot water stinging as it washed the blood and dirt from my skin.
I winced as I scrubbed my wounds, each movement reminding me just how close I’d come to losing tonight.
But I’d survived. For now.
After bandaging myself up, I pulled on a pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt, too exhausted to care about anything else.
I was just about to collapse on the couch when a sound outside caught my attention.
Growls. Snarls. A commotion in the woods behind the cabin.
My dragon stirred inside me, alert, agitated. More enemies? I couldn’t shift, not now. Not after my recent and disastrous fight.
But something else caught my attention—a scent. Not the foul, rotting stench of the rogue dragon, but something else.
Something… different. I stiffened, the scent stirring something primal in me.
I stepped outside, my feet moving without thought as I followed the strange but intoxicating scent.
It was faint, carried on the wind, but the more I breathed it in, the more it gripped me, awakening a possessive hunger deep inside.
What the hell was that?
