Page 41 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
Taking a deep breath, she leaped into the inky blackness. As soon as her body phased inside, a falling sensation overtook her. She swung her arms wildly but couldn’t find anything to grab, nor could she see. An eternity seemed to pass before a faint circle of light appeared below. The sound of thunder filled her ears as she approached it, the volume rising to the point of hurting her ears as she got closer.
It ended with a shockingboomwhen her feet slammed into the ground, and her knees buckled from the force. Her body crumpled into a ball, with pain shooting through her limbs. Nothing felt broken, but the landing jarred her bones. As her vision returned, small streaks of lightning zoomed across the area as the portal closed.
Ozara rolled onto her back on the scorched grass, trying to catch her breath as the magic faded and daylight surrounded her. She’d been on some terrifying missions but had never used a portal to reach her destination, and she swore never to do it again. That had been unnatural.
Glancing around, she noted a low mountain range in the distance to her right and the scent of the ocean to her left, though she couldn’t see the body of water. They’d told her to expect such features when they’d sent her to California and touse those as guides to ensure she arrived at the correct location. She was supposed to be near Monterey Bay and the Craegud jakhal.
It likely wouldn’t take the shifters long to respond to her arrival since she hadn’t exactly been subtle. She hoped they were open to her visit since the Taugud hadn’t spoken to the sister toriq in many years—not since before they’d returned to Earth.
Ozara rose to her feet with a groan. Her back and knees ached as she stumbled a few steps through a field covered in dry, overgrown grass. She had to keep moving, or the vegetation would ignite from her body heat. Her head swam as she found an open patch of earth to catch her breath. It would take a bit to recover and get her bearings.
She inspected her surroundings more thoroughly. From her vantage, she couldn’t make out any signs of human civilization close to her other than a two-lane road damaged by cracks and potholes. Aside from that, it was mostly trees and brush to break up the rugged landscape.
After gulping down some water, she forced herself to continue. At least the pavement ahead would be easier to navigate. Each step hurt, and though the road was only two hundred feet away, it took her several minutes to reach it. She glanced to her right and left, heading toward the ocean. Though she couldn’t say why, that felt like the right choice. Her instincts rarely steered her wrong.
Ozara considered shifting so she could fly and save her aching knees, but remaining in human form would be safer since she couldn’t be certain she’d landed in shifter territory. Magic was a tricky thing. Xanath had promised he’d get her somewhere close to the jakhal, but he’d warned that she could end up fifty miles away or more. This could be pure dragon land.
Soon, she came upon the outskirts of a neighborhood. The houses appeared old and worn, but a few people were out cooking on grills. Two men and a woman looked at her and stiffened. She concentrated on changing her eyes to appear like a human’s, matching them to the same shade as Bailey’s brown color instead of her reptilian yellow.
Everything else about her would seem normal except her camrium tunic and pants. Then again, if she were in shifter territory, the locals would have seen such garments before.
“Excuse me,” she said, limping toward them. “Can you tell me what this place is called?”
She knew she hadn’t landed too close to the jakhal, or the shifter guards would have noticed her grand entrance and confronted her immediately. Ozara had a basic mental map of where the Craegud resided, but she needed to know her starting point to get there.
The woman frowned. “Where did you come from?”
“It’s a long story,” she said, preferring to avoid talk of magical portals.
“You just walked from the old Fort Ord range area, but most of us avoid it because it’s full of wild animals and snakes. There are boar, mountain lions, and all kinds of dangerous stuff back there. You could have gotten hurt without a weapon.”
She’d noticed a few snakes, but they’d slithered away from her as soon as she came close. No wildlife would mess with a dragon—even in human form.
Ozara shrugged. “I can handle myself.”
“If you say so.” The woman shook her head. “Where are you heading?”
She debated her answer but decided the truth wouldn’t hurt. “I need to find the shifter fortress.”
According to the elders who visited the territory many centuries ago, the Craegud had their own version of one. They were like the Taugud in that they preferred a sturdy structure for their jakhal.
One of the men, a guy with short blond hair in his late twenties, narrowed his eyes. “That’s just south of Carmel in the Big Sur area and quite a walk from here. What business do you have with the dragons?”
“I need to speak with them,” Ozara said plainly.
The woman laughed. “They might not be as bad as those green ones, but they aren’t going to let a strange woman walk right up to the fortress. Not many humans are allowed to get close. Those who do work for them or did something to earn their trust.”
She decided she’d gotten all the information she needed from these people. “Not to worry. I don’t plan to walk, and theywillwant to talk to me.”
Ozara let the flames overtake her, amused as the human’s eyes widened in shock.
The blond man muttered, “She sure didn’t look like a shifter—her eyes weren’t like theirs.”
Their opinion hardly mattered to her now that she had the information she wanted.
A couple of minutes later, she took off into the sky, heading south. Now that she knew where she was and where to go, she agreed the humans were right. Depending on its precise location, it might take a full day or two if she walked all the wayto the fortress. Flying would get her there in less than an hour, based on her calculations after memorizing the map of the area.
As she gained altitude, she finally got a good look at the ocean to the west and gawked at the view. It was stunning, with serene blue water as far as the eye could see. This was the first time she’d been near anything larger than a lake, and it was beautiful. She prayed she made it home safely so she could describe the scenery to Phoebe and her daughter. They would love to hear about it.
