Page 42 of The Dragon 2
Who is it? And do they mean me any harm?
Chapter eight
The One Who Smelled Like Fire
Sol
Sol picked up her pace. Her bare feet slapped against the broken cobblestones, each step biting into her skin. Her shawl fluttered behind her, and the air around her shoulders prickled like it had grown teeth.
Still, no sound came from whoever was watching her.
Just the hush of wind.
The hiss of dying embers.
The fading trail of dragon fire in the sky.
She turned down the older road—the one only Lowlys used after long shifts of scrubbing stone or shoveling waste.
The lanterns here were broken.
The homes further ahead were sunken and crooked.
This stench drenched the air, of soot, mixed with meat gone bad.
Even the rats had the good sense to avoid this road and the quarter.
But Sol moved on.
Even though she felt those eyes on her, she did not slow.
Who is watching me?
She cast a glance over her shoulder and saw nothing.
Is this just in my mind? Could going crazy be an effect of using too much of my magic?
All around her, the shadows breathed and shifted like smoke.
Her heart began to slow.
No. There’s no one watching me. It is in my mind.
She exhaled.
It’s just my frenzied nerves. Just the leftover tremble of power. Just. . .
A step sounded behind her.
She turned again yet saw nothing.
But she knew.
Someone was near.
The air had changed.
The road narrowed further, the trees from the Wretched Forest lined the path and leaned in like eavesdropping ghosts.
