Page 2 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
After pulling his sword free, Conrad glared at me. “Happy?”
“I would be if we could leave now.”
He snorted. “Just a few more minutes, and I’ll be done. Chill, girl.”
Wanting to hurry things along, Rayna and I helped him push the dragon’s body to its side. He used a short blade to cut through the soft underbelly and then ripped it open. Blood and guts came pouring onto the pavement. Those of us with sense leaped back to avoid getting our boots dirty, but Conrad didn’t hesitate to thrust his arm inside. Once he’d grabbed the heart, he used his other hand to cut it loose from the chest cavity. The large, squishy organ was about the size of his head.
“Hmm, dinner,” he said, taking a big bite from the top as blood leaked down his hand and arm. It smeared all around his mouth as he chewed.
The twenty-five-year-old man remained impeccably clean most of the time except when fighting dragons. Now, he looked like he could have auditioned for a part in a zombie movie—if anyone still filmed those. I nearly hurled. Rayna coughed and turned away.
He ignored us and continued consuming his “treat.” My memory of eating a dragon heart six years ago resurfaced, and I recalled it didn’t taste too horrible despite my reluctance. The closest comparison might have been chicken giblets after being cooked in a soup—with disturbingly red broth. None of that made a difference as I watched the seeping blood drip to the ground from Conrad’s grip. It was enough to ruin one’s appetite, and I never wanted to eat one again.
“Oh, damn.” Conrad stumbled, half the heart still in his hand. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
His dark skin had taken on an ashen pallor, and his brown eyes turned unfocused. Could the dragon have been ill and passed the disease along? I wasn’t sure if that was possible, especially not that fast.
“What do you mean?” I asked, concern bringing me a few steps closer.
“I feel dizzy.”
Dizzy? Light-headed? Hmm.
A light bulb went off in my head, and I snapped my fingers at Rayna. “Think this is it?”
She spun around to study Conrad, whose knees had begun to wobble. The heart fell from his loosened grip, plopping to the ground with a wetthunk. He sank to his knees and bowed his head. More memories surfaced of how I’d felt the night I’d made my full transition to a slayer. It looked a lot like he did now.
“Yeah, almost definitely.” She threw her hair back behind her shoulder. “Good thing, too, because I didn’t think I could take him eating any more dragon hearts.”
On that, she and I could agree.
“We gotta get him out of here fast then,” I said, urgency in my voice.
Rayna gave a shrill whistle and then furrowed her brows, a sign of her using her telepathic ability. She was likely letting her horse, Onyx, know to come quickly. The whistle just helped him narrow down our location. We’d left the animal hours agowhile hunting, and he knew to stay a safe distance away under cover. Usually, the stallion found a nice, shady spot to munch on grass.
Conrad rubbed his head. “Why does it hurt so much?”
The pain was setting in, which meant he would be in full-blown agony before long. One didn’t get to be a slayer without making serious sacrifices every step of the way. If we wanted to be immortal, heal quickly, and gain super strength, our bodies had to transform on a cellular level. All the advantages Conrad had gained so far were what anyone born with the gene would have had before the transition. It took the rite of passage to complete the changes and give him full power.
“That’s just the beginning, my friend,” I said, kneeling to put an arm around him. “It’s gonna get a whole lot worse over the next two days.”
He let me pull him up, wincing. “Shit. I forgot how bad it was for you. Must have blanked out about it, but it’s comin’ back to me now. This is gonna fuckin’ suck big time.”
Conrad had watched my transition, staying in the room almost the entire time as my most loyal friend. From what I understood, I screamed in pain a lot, convulsed, went through a stage of being too hot and then too cold. Thankfully, I didn’t remember much of it, but everyone told me what they’d seen, and it sounded awful. It wasn’t something I’d wish on anyone, especially such a close and loyal friend, but it was what he’d spent years working to make happen. I had to respect that.
“I tried warning you, so don’t say I didn’t.”
“Yeah, yeah. I still think it’ll be worth it once it’s over.”
Rayna had retrieved her horse and brought Onyx toward us. The black stallion was a beautiful baroque Friesian with a long, lustrous mane and tail. He also had feather hair on his lower legs, covering his hooves. I never tired of looking at him, and he loved attention.
Conrad gritted his teeth. “I’m gonna have to ride that horse, aren’t I? The same one you used to pull that trick on me a few months ago?”
He’d be lucky if he had thirty minutes before the pain became unbearable. We were about five or six miles from the border with the Taugud, where it would be safer for him to transition. Walking wasn’t an option. I doubted he’d be able to stand much longer, even with me holding him, which was why Rayna hadn’t wasted any time retrieving her horse. She’d also been through the same process and knew what to expect.
“You’ll pretty much lose control of your body soon,” I said, guiding him to the other slayer. “The pain will feel like being burned alive, except it will last a whole lot longer and won’t have the good grace to kill you.”
“Thanks for that comforting description,” he grumbled.
