Page 78 of Upon Buried Embers
“Okay.”
“We will go on Drogonah, do not anger him.”
That’s hard when I upset him by simply breathing.
“And do not embarrass me and the clan.”
I walk out of the bedroom and suck in a sharp breath. Rohan is wearing the bone mask, and it looks like an almost flattened dragon’s head, the nose pushing out a little wherehisnose would be, and it ends just above his mouth. Two small, curved horns come from the sides of the head and curve back, just like Drogonah’s, I realize.
He must notice my questioning gaze.
“It’s the sign of a Dragonbond, only those that wear it have one. It’s created from the bones of The Graveyard.” I nod, looking into his eyes through the slanted eye shape of a dragon. “Does it scare you?” He inches closer, and I back up, banging into a chest.
I nod a little, my stomach turning.
He doesn’t stop until he’s in front of me, and his fingers trace the ties on my cloak, causing my breath to hitch at his nearness, at himloomingover me.
“Interesting… maybe you are scared, but, I think it can be a little more than that.” He tilts his head, and I watch as his eyes roam over my face. My cheeks heat at his attention.
Having his eyes on me so full of focus is like a wildfire, engulfing everything in flames.
“The color of a rose.” He brings the backs of his fingers to my cheeks. “Yes, definitely more.” He steps back, picks up his axe and turns to leave. “Come.”
We exit his home and make our way to the caves at the back. It’s early afternoon now, but people still mill around, gathering water and talking in small groups, holding firewood and baskets of food.
Entering the cave, the heat hits me instantly, and it must be warmer because of the larger number of dragons that have slept here for the night. All of the beds were full apart from one this morning.
Rohan is also warm though, when I think about the heat rolling off of him when I’m near him.
Is it a Dragonbond thing?
A roar comes from further in all of a sudden, and a smaller black dragon moves restlessly toward Rohan, who simply stands taller at the stalking dragon.
“Calm, Escor.” The dragon snarls, and I back away. I haven’t seen this one before.
Blaise, Agnar and Hakon have their ears perked, looking between Rohan and Escor, but they don’t make a move to do anything.
Escor growls again, and the heat ramps up. I must make a sound, a whimper maybe, because the dragon’s dark eyes snap to mine, his chest puffing up.
“No!” Rohan shouts in a deadly tone, and the dragon’s eyes snap from mine to his. “You do not look at her that way.”
In what way?
Roar.
Rohan growls back, a firm rumble that shocks me. It sounds so much like Drogonah’s that I look for him, only to find he’s not here.
“Escor, do not even try it.”
Rohan and Escor have some sort of dominance stare-off for a while, a challenge for something that I don’t know about. But eventually, the dragon’s ears lower and he turns, slinking back to his circular stone nest far in the back of the cave.
My hands shake as I try to control my breathing, and Rohan comes to me, grabbing my wrists and dragging me to the center of the cave where the sound of beating wings from above rattles me.
I look up to the opening and see a large dragon descending. Its own grumbling roar shakes the walls as it lands heavily in front of us, scattering small rocks.
Drogonah.
He whips around in a flash, bounding over to Escor and roars in his face, teeth bared, one clawed foot against his scaled neck to shove him down. I hold my breath, my other hand instinctively going to Rohan’s arm in search of some sort of safety.
